Introduction

This chapter offers an understanding of science as one of the many types of activities in which people are engaged. Some activities, such as eating and sleeping, are typical of all people. Other activities are typical of people acting as detectives— for instance, soliciting information and gathering evidence to reconstruct the events associated with a crime. An essential distinction must be made between the "scientific method" as an abstract concept and science as a sometimes rewarding, sometimes frustrating, always challenging process in which people are engaged. Philosophers of science often reflect on the abstract features of science and leave to sociologists and psychologists the practical problem of how science is carried out. The ability of modern science to explain and predict natural events has led some philosophers to the view that the world can be understood only through the application of scientific ideas and methods.