What is Science?

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Most people have an understanding of what science has helped mankind achieve, we all know that science has had an impact on every facet of human life. Through science we have understood and been able to make better use of the world and its resources. However not many can competently describe what science is.

Science is the structured study of the naturally occurring elements, events and conditions in and around the world that we live in. It involves observing, experimenting, testing, concluding and applying knowledge of the natural world by use of systems that have been developed over time. Any scientific information must be systematic and verifiable via a logical process. Science has been a part of mankind from the very beginning. Though it may have had other names or descriptions, it was still science since it involved the fundamental principles of science. Today we find that science has evolved and grown so much that it can no longer be applied as a single subject.

Due to the growth that has been experienced in science, it has been split into three general fields as per the subject of focus. These three fields are biology, chemistry and physics. Biology is basically the study of living things. These living things are animal and plants as well as anything that maybe in between, from the simplest forms of life to the most complex. Chemistry on the other hand is the study of substances, what they are composed of, their properties or characteristics and how they react with other substances. This includes both living and non living substances. Physics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy. Matter in any state will poses some sort of energy and there will be other energy sources around it, it is the interactions between the energy and matter that physics focuses on. These three disciplines are further broken into many other more specific areas of study to the extent, we currently have scientists who study almost every single manmade or naturally occurring element, event or condition.

Now that we have established that science involves study and application, you may be wondering what is the purpose of all this. The purpose is actually the same as the process, to study and learn about our world and then apply this knowledge to make our lives better today and in the long term. Initially science was driven to finding the best way to exploit natural resources, this has however changed with the realization that the resources of the world are not infinite. Today science is all about finding sustainable ways of enjoying the resources available while preserving as much of nature as we possibly can.
Science has since its inception been an expensive affair. Most new scientific facts take many years to verify and even longer to apply. At the time of their discovery they usually defy the accepted and established laws of science and seem controversial or even out right insane, the scientists of the past paid the ultimate price for their discoveries and theories. Even today, those who have new theories and discoveries are often shunned and ridiculed though time has come to prove many of them right.

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