This article is about the general term, particularly as it refers to experimental sciences.

For other uses, see Science (disambiguation).

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[1]

Science (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge" ) is a systematic enterprise that builds and [2][3] organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning, "science" also refers to a body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied. Since classical antiquity, science as a type of knowledge has been closely linked to philosophy. In the early modern period the words "science" and "philosophy" were [4] sometimes used interchangeably. By the 17th century, natural philosophy (which is today called "natural [5] science") was considered a separate branch of philosophy. However, "science" continued to be used in a broad sense denoting reliable knowledge about a topic, in the same way it is still used in modern terms such aslibrary science or political science.