ABSTRACT
The effort to make sense of the world "out there" is pivotal to all fields of knowledge that bear the title "science." This chapter examines whether there are clear and systematic differences with regard to the development of theory, quantification, cognitive consensus, predictability, rate of obsolescence, and rate of growth. Scientists accept the reality of that world and strive to devise ways to understand it. They disagree over methods and whether there are limits on our ability to analyze, but they accept the claim that nature exists. In the interviews, the scientists openly displayed deep and strong emotions and a powerful competitive drive. Scientists obviously must test their claims to know the world, and though they may work in private, they must present their knowledge in public. William Riker's theory of political coalitions, for instance, illustrates one of many applications of the mathematical theory of games to political analysis.
