SCIENCE

any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation. In general, a science involves a pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws. Science is treated in a number of articles. For the history of Western and Eastern science, see science, history of. For the conceptualization of science and its interrelationships with culture, see science, philosophy of. For the basic aspects of the scientific approach, see physical science, principles of. For the historical development of the different sciences and their scope, component disciplines, methods, and principal problems, see physical science; Earth sciences; biology; medicine, history of; engineering; social science.