What is science?

First, the origin of the word science.

The word science, in English, originated from Latin scio, later evolved into scientin, and finally became the writing method today. Its original meaning is knowledge and learning. Fukuzawa Yukichi, a famous Japanese master of scientific enlightenment, translated "science" into "science". 1893, Kang Youwei introduced and used the word "science". Yan Fu also used the word "science" when translating scientific works such as Evolution. Since then, the word "science" has been widely used in China.

Why do you call it that? The original meaning of science is systematic knowledge. I think maybe, in the19th century, science has become a very huge knowledge system. It is divided into many majors, and these majors are not related to each other like other knowledge. In addition to professional concepts, the basic concepts are the same, and the basic methods are the same. "Branch" means classification or hierarchy, so I think science is more suitable for "science".

Second, the strict definition of science.

In fact, because the word science has never been strictly defined, it will cause a series of confusion and unnecessary arguments. For example, was there any science in ancient China? Is TCM a science? What's the difference between science and pseudoscience? What is the difference between science and religion? Wait a minute. And these questions are very, very attractive. Therefore, the times require us to give an appropriate definition as soon as possible to solve these disputes. Let's take a look at the definition based on the existing textbooks and some authoritative works, which I think is very strict, and then discuss its exact meaning in order to win the unanimous approval of the academic community.

Definition-Science is a knowledge system that is closest to the truth and contains no contradictions as much as possible, and it is also a social undertaking.

In this definition, the attribute "the closest to the truth does not contain self-contradiction as much as possible" is added by myself, because it is to clarify the meaning of science, that is, to clarify what kind of knowledge system science is (I still don't understand why many books dare not add it clearly). Of course, "contradiction" refers to logical contradiction.

"Knowledge system" is people's initial understanding of science. As a practical knowledge, the most important thing is to be highly organized and structured. At this point, any classic work has this feature to some extent, and the most famous one in ancient times is Geometry. Perhaps the most organized thing in China's classical works is my ignorance. I think the secrets in Orange (a chess book) have the greatest influence on me. However, the scientific knowledge system is not as small as some knowledge systems and the scope of discussion is so narrow, but a very huge knowledge system, and its ambition even attempts to cover everything. It is unique that such a huge system still needs to maintain a strong order and structure. But there is not only one knowledge system, so it is necessary to know what kind of knowledge system science is. The definition is given in the previous part, so skip a paragraph and discuss it again.

People have long recognized that science is a social undertaking, but its significance is further deepened with the development of the times. And this is also difficult for people who lack education to understand. How can the knowledge expressed in books be a social activity? It cannot be understood by others, nor can it be repeatedly verified by others. This is not knowledge in itself. Why should we emphasize its sociality? This is because science's understanding of knowledge is much stricter than others. No matter for wizards, religious people, civilians or scientists, knowledge refers to correct statements and correct predictions, that is, knowledge is what people think of as "truth". But only scientists examine "truth" very strictly. We should not only see whether its initial statement (usually called axiom) comes from intuition, experiment or good reason, but also carefully examine any details in the process of derivation and see if any conclusions it derives conflict with experiments or life experiences. This series of work can't be completed by people without scientific training, so it needs education, the cooperation of many scientists and the understanding and support of the general public. With the development of science, the higher the complexity of science, the stronger its sociality.

"Closest to the truth" emphasizes the characteristics of science. Compared with others, science emphasizes doubt most, because science is based on the premise of no foresight. It is believed that all knowledge is people's understanding of the objective world. Although science pursues the unity of subjective world and objective world, after all, subjective world and objective existence are not the same thing. No matter how correct knowledge is, it is only close to the description of the world, not the description of the objective world. For example, the ideal gas model can describe oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide at normal temperature and pressure very well, because the linearity of these gas molecules is much smaller than the distance between them. Van der Waals' revision of the ideal gas model only approximately describes the real gas such as water vapor. Scientists knew from the beginning that their theories were similar, so they never expected that the conclusions drawn from their theories were not wrong with the real world. All knowledge is man-made and the product of the subjective world. Even if there are aliens, they may just be more evolved than the people on earth, and they will be wrong. The secret of nature exists in nature itself, and nature expresses itself with its own diverse characteristics, but it will not be clearly expressed in the form of words through the mouth of God. It can be seen that the word "closest to the truth" not only emphasizes the rigor of science, but also emphasizes the significance of science to understanding the world.

The attribute of "not including self-contradiction as much as possible" embodies the pursuit of perfection in science and emphasizes that science also has a process of growth. Ordinary people often make mistakes, so do great men. The most respected figures like Newton, Einstein and Marx also have wrong theories. Russell's works often describe the contradictions of great men. For example, Malthus, who advocated birth control, added three children in four years; Schopenhauer, who advocated inaction, was ecstatic about the late honor; Bacon, known as the originator of experimental science, did not know that Harvey, who treated him, invented the theory of great blood circulation. Even so, it is difficult to collect all the scientific contents of great men's wisdom without contradiction, and the bigger the system, the more difficult it is to be error-free, especially for new disciplines, which takes time to test. Any science has a mature process. In addition, with the development of the times, the original science may be an approximation in some cases, and there may be contradictions when it is infinitely promoted, and science will never pretend not to see it, but must solve this contradiction and make science develop forward. Relativity caused by Michelson's experiment, quantum mechanics caused by blackbody radiation experiment and mathematical revolution caused by Barber's paradox all developed after eliminating those contradictions.

Science is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes the best original research papers and summarizes and analyzes current research and science policies.

The magazine was founded in 1880 by Edison Investment 10000 USD, and became the official publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific group in the United States, in 1894. The annual issue of ***5 1 is weekly, with a global circulation of over 1.5 million copies.

Most sci-tech journals charge readers for reviewing manuscripts, commenting and publishing. However, articles published in scientific journals are free. There are three sources of funds for its magazine: membership fee of AAAS; Subscription fees for printed and online editions; Advertising fee.

Science magazine belongs to a comprehensive science magazine, and its scientific news reports, summaries, analysis, book reviews and other parts are authoritative popular science materials, which are also suitable for general readers to read. "Developing science and serving society" is the aim of American Association for the Advancement of Science and Science magazine.

Internationally, the main rival of science magazine is Nature magazine in London, England, which was founded in 1869 and published a large number of articles by Darwin, Huxley and other masters. In the first four years of 2 1 century, they competed fiercely to become the first person to publish the human gene arrangement map.

Donald Conidi, editor-in-chief of Science magazine, graduated from Harvard University with a doctorate. He is the eighth president of Stanford University and a famous professor of environmental science.

Official website of Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org.

Science magazine is an international science weekly, published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and assisted by HighWire Press of Stanford University.