[_ Old Earth _] What is Science?

[bibleberean]

Science is a multifaceted word with multiple applications.

This is what the word meant in 1828

From Websters 1828 Dicitionary

science

SCI'ENCE, n. L. scientia, from scio, to know.

1. In a general sense, knowledge, or certain knowledge; the comprehension or understanding of truth or facts by the mind. The science of God must be perfect.

2. In philosophy, a collection of the general principles or leading truths relating to any subject. Pure science, as the mathematics, is built on self-evident truths; but the term science is also applied to other subjects founded on generally acknowledged truths, as metaphysics; or on experiment and observation, as chimistry and natural philosophy; or even to an assemblage of the general principles of an art, as the science of agriculture; the science of navigation. Arts relate to practice, as painting and sculpture.

A principle in science is a rule in art.

3. Art derived from precepts or built on principles.

Science perfects genius.

4. Any art or species of knowledge.

No science doth make known the first principles on which it buildeth.

5. One of the seven liberal branches of knowledge, viz grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

Note - Authors have not always been careful to use the terms art and science with due discrimination and precision. Music is an art as well as a science. In general, an art is that which depends on practice or performance, and science that which depends on abstract or speculative principles. The theory of music is a science; the practice of it an art.

 

[bibleberean]

This is what the word Theory meant in 1828

theory

THE'ORY, n. L. theoria; Gr. to see or contemplate.

1. Speculation; a doctrine or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice. It is here taken in an unfavorable sense, as implying something visionary.

2. An exposition of the general principles of any science; as the theory of music.

3. The science distinguished from the art; as the theory and practice of medicine.

4. The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Smith's theory of moral sentiments.

Theory is distinguished from hypothesis thus; a theory is founded on inferences drawn from principles which have been established on independent evidence; a hypothesis is a proposition assumed to account for certain phenomena, and has no other evidence of its truth, than that it affords a satisfactory explanation of those phenomena.

 

[SyntaxVorlon]

*cough*Bit out of date those definitions or at the very least the examples given are obscure.

Dictionary.com has given fairly good accounts, though they certainly don't flesh out all the problems with the idea of science, theories or knowledge.

 

[bibleberean]

Science is a multifaceted word with multiple applications.

This is what the word meant in 1828

From Websters 1828 Dicitionary

science

SCI'ENCE, n. L. scientia, from scio, to know.

1. In a general sense, knowledge, or certain knowledge; the comprehension or understanding of truth or facts by the mind. The science of God must be perfect.

2. In philosophy, a collection of the general principles or leading truths relating to any subject. Pure science, as the mathematics, is built on self-evident truths; but the term science is also applied to other subjects founded on generally acknowledged truths, as metaphysics; or on experiment and observation, as chimistry and natural philosophy; or even to an assemblage of the general principles of an art, as the science of agriculture; the science of navigation. Arts relate to practice, as painting and sculpture.

A principle in science is a rule in art.

3. Art derived from precepts or built on principles.

Science perfects genius.

4. Any art or species of knowledge.

No science doth make known the first principles on which it buildeth.

5. One of the seven liberal branches of knowledge, viz grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

Note - Authors have not always been careful to use the terms art and science with due discrimination and precision. Music is an art as well as a science. In general, an art is that which depends on practice or performance, and science that which depends on abstract or speculative principles. The theory of music is a science; the practice of it an art.

Science from today's dictionary

Main Entry: sci·ence

Pronunciation: 'sI-&n(t)s

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin scientia, from scient-, sciens having knowledge, from present participle of scire to know; probably akin to Sanskrit chyati he cuts off, Latin scindere to split -- more at SHED

1 : the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding

2 a : a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study <the science of theology> b : something (as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge <have it down to a science>

3 a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method b : such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena : NATURAL SCIENCE
4 : a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws <culinary science>

5 capitalized : CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

 

[bibleberean]

This is what the word Theory meant in 1828

theory

THE'ORY, n. L. theoria; Gr. to see or contemplate.

1. Speculation; a doctrine or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice. It is here taken in an unfavorable sense, as implying something visionary.

2. An exposition of the general principles of any science; as the theory of music.

3. The science distinguished from the art; as the theory and practice of medicine.

4. The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Smith's theory of moral sentiments.

Theory is distinguished from hypothesis thus; a theory is founded on inferences drawn from principles which have been established on independent evidence; a hypothesis is a proposition assumed to account for certain phenomena, and has no other evidence of its truth, than that it affords a satisfactory explanation of those phenomena.

Todays dictionary

Main Entry: the·o·ry

Pronunciation: 'thE-&-rE, 'thi(-&)r-E

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
Etymology: Late Latin theoria, from Greek theOria, from theOrein

1 : the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another

2 : abstract thought : SPECULATION

3 : the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art <music theory>
4 a : a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action <her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn> b : an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances -- often used in the phrase in theory <in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all>

5 : a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <wave theory of light>

6 a : a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation b : an unproved assumption : CONJECTURE c : a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject <theory of equations>
synonym see HYPOTHESIS

 

[PHIL121]

Interesting program on PBS tonight about Einstein's famous E=mc^2 equation.

In the part about how energy was 'discovered'; the show spent quite a bit of time profiling Faraday, and his struggle against the scientific establishment.

Faraday's religious beliefs played a substanial role in his dicovery of electro-magnetism.

 

[SyntaxVorlon]

BB as far as science is concerned the definition for theory is the 5th on that list.

 

[bibleberean]

BB as far as science is concerned the definition for theory is the 5th on that list.

Well, that would rule out the implausible theory of evolution... :angel:

 

[PHIL121]

Of course, the wave theory of light doesn't DEFINE light, it's only a model to understand it.

And I'm sure Syntax Vorlon KNOWS that Einstien won his Nobel Prize NOT for relativitely, but for the photoelectric effect (which shows light acts like Particles INSTEAD of waves)