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Science〔From Latin ''scientia'', meaning "knowledge". (【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=science&allowed_in_frame=0 )〕 is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the Universe.〔"... modern science is a discovery as well as an invention. It was a discovery that nature generally acts regularly enough to be described by laws and even by mathematics; and required invention to devise the techniques, abstractions, apparatus, and organization for exhibiting the regularities and securing their law-like descriptions."— *〕〔 In an older and closely related meaning, "science" also refers to this body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied. Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences which study the material world, the social sciences which study people and societies, and the formal sciences like mathematics. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations. Disciplines which use science like engineering and medicine may also be considered to be applied sciences. From classical antiquity through the 19th century, science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to philosophy than it is now. In fact, in the West during the early modern period the terms "science" and "natural philosophy" were sometimes used interchangeably to refer to the study of natural phenomena.〔David C. Lindberg (2007), ''The beginnings of Western science: the European Scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context'', Second ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7〕〔Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), for example, is translated "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", and reflects the then-current use of the words "natural philosophy", akin to "systematic study of nature"〕 In the 17th and 18th centuries scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of ''laws of nature''. Over the course of the 19th century, the word "science" became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself, as a disciplined way to study the natural world, including physics, chemistry, geology and biology. It is in the 19th century also that the term ''scientist'' began to be applied to those who sought knowledge and understanding of nature.〔The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the origin of the word "scientist" to 1834.〕 == History == Science in a broad sense existed before the modern era, and in many historical civilizations.〔"The historian ... requires a very broad definition of "science" — one that ... will help us to understand the modern scientific enterprise. We need to be broad and inclusive, rather than narrow and exclusive ... and we should expect that the farther back we go (time ) the broader we will need to be." — David Pingree (1992), "Hellenophilia versus the History of Science" ''Isis'' 83 554–63, as cited on p.3, David C. Lindberg (2007), ''The beginnings of Western science: the European Scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context'', Second ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7 *See Edward Grant (1997) ("When did modern science begin?" ) ''The American Scholar'' pp.105-113 in JSTOR: * *'' History of science#Early cultures'' * *'' History of science#Ancient Near East'', Mesopotamia * *'' History of science#Ancient Near East'', Egypt * *'' History of Science in China'' * *'' History of science#India'' 〕 Modern science is distinct in its approach and successful in its results: 'modern science' now defines what science is in the strictest sense of the term. Science in its original sense is a word for a type of knowledge, rather than a specialized word for the pursuit of such knowledge. In particular it is one of the types of knowledge which people can communicate to each other and share. For example, knowledge about the working of natural things was gathered long before recorded history and led to the development of complex abstract thinking. This is shown by the construction of complex calendars, techniques for making poisonous plants edible, and buildings such as the pyramids. However no consistent conscientious distinction was made between knowledge of such things which are true in every community and other types of communal knowledge, such as mythologies and legal systems. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Science」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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