<p><span style="font-size:14px">From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity" title="Classical antiquity">classical antiquity</a> through the 19th century, science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a> than it is now and, in fact, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_World" title="Western World">West</a> the term &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy" title="Natural philosophy">natural philosophy</a>&quot; encompassed fields of study that are today associated with science such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics" title="Physics">physics</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy" title="Astronomy">astronomy</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine" title="Medicine">medicine</a>, among many others.^{<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science#cite_note-8">[7]</a>}^:3^{<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science#cite_note-9">[b]</a>} In the 17th and 18th centuries scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_laws" title="Physical laws">laws of nature</a></em>. As a slow process over centuries, the word &quot;science&quot; became increasingly associated with what is today known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">scientific method</a>, a structured way to study the natural world.</span></p>

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