What is science?

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.^[a]

Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences which study nature in the broadest sense, the social sciences which study people and societies, and the formal sciences like mathematics which study abstract concepts.

Some do not consider formal sciences to be true science as theories within these disciplines cannot be tested with physical observations, although others dispute this view. Either way, mathematics is a crucial tool for modern science and nowadays all science students need to take at least some basic mathematics courses during their studies. Disciplines which use science like engineering and medicine may also be considered to be applied sciences.^[6] Science is related to research, and is normally organized by a university, a college, or a research institute.

From classical antiquity through the 19th century, science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to philosophy than it is now and, in fact, in the West the term "natural philosophy" encompassed fields of study that are today associated with science such as physics, astronomy, medicine, among many others.^[7]:3[b] In the 17th and 18th centuries scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of laws of nature. As a slow process over centuries, the word "science" became increasingly associated with what is today known as the scientific method, a structured way to study the natural world.