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Survey of published definitions of science
On this page is a collection of published definitions of science, obtained via internet and library browsing and searches. It is not systematic, complete or necessarily representative.

  • Popper (1957) in The aim of science [1] said that the aim is:
to find satisfactory explanations of whatever strikes us as being in need of explanation
although in a later work, The growth of scientific knowledge (1960) [2], he gave a slightly different view:
The conscious task before the scientist is always the solution of a problem through the construction of a theory which solves the problem, for example, by explaining unexpected and unexplained observations.

  • Dorland (1965) [3]:
[L. scientia knowledge]. An accumulating body of knowledge, especially that which seeks to establish general laws connecting a number of particular facts.

  • Usborne (1992) [4]:
Science is the process of gathering knowledge and answering questions about the world and how it works.

  • Larousse (1995) [5]:
The ordered arrangement of ascertained knowledge, including the methods by which such knowledge is extended and the criteria by which its truth is tested. The older term natural philosophy implied the contemplation of natural processes per se, but modern science includes such study and control of nature as is, or might be, useful to mankind.

  • The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) [6]
the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

  • The Science Council (2009) [7]:
Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.

  • Ben Goldacre (2011) [8] This is perhaps better described as a description than a definition:
Science isn't about authority, or white coats, its about following a method. That method is built on core principles: precision and transparency; being clear about your methods; being honest about your results; and drawing a clear line between the results, on the one hand, and your judgement calls about how those results support a hypothesis.

  • Cambridge Dictionaries Online (Cambridge University Press) (2011) [9]:
(knowledge from) the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical world, especially by watching, measuring and doing experiments, and the development of theories to describe the results of these activities

  • Collins English Dictionary (2011) [10]
1. the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms
2. the knowledge so obtained or the practice of obtaining it
3. any particular branch of this knowledge
4. any body of knowledge organized in a systematic manner
5. skill or technique
6. archaic knowledge

  • Wikipedia (2012) [11]
Science (from Latin scientia, meaning knowledge) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe


References


[1] Popper (1957) The aim of science presented in Popper selections (1985) Ed. David Miller, Princetown University Press
[2] Popper (1960) The growth of scientific knowledge presented in Popper selections (1985) Ed. David Miller, Princetown University Press
[3] Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 24th Ed (1965) WB Saunders Company, Philadelphia and London
[4] The Usborne Book of Scientists (1992) Usborne, London
[5] Dictionary of Science and Technology (1995) Larousse, Edinburgh
[6] The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998), Ed. Judy Pearsall, Clarendon Press. Oxford. There is also an identical definition at http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/science?q=science, viewed 9.3.2012.
[7] The Science Council (2009) www.sciencecouncil.org
[8] Ben Goldacre The Guardian 5 November 2011
[9] http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/science?q=science viewed 9.3.2012
[10] http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/science viewed 9.3.2012
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science#cite_note-0 viewed 13.2.2012






Last updated: 23 Apr 2018