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edge that I prefer Brahms over Bartok, and I can give a dozen systemati 
cally arranged reasons why. I "know" that the mountains are beautiful
any time of year; given a year I could prove it to you. Does this "know-
ing" make me a scientist? Perhaps, but usually such matters of taste
and judgment are excluded from science. Apparently we must specify
the subject matter of science also.To many people science is not "knowledge" at all; science is an
activity. "Science is investigation"; "Science is discovering new knowl-
edge"; "Science is what scientists do." All these definitons have been
suggested by college students. The last leads to some difficulties in logic
when the next question, "What is a scientist?" is answered, "A person
who works in science."Probably the easiest way to resolve this problem is to refer to the
work of a philosopher of science who has given considerable thought
to this subject. Although we have our choice of many of these, Lach-
man presents a concise yet comprehensive statement: "Science refers
to those systematically organized bodies of accumulated knowledge con-
cerning the finite universe which have been derived exclusively through
techniques of direct objective observation." 1. This description implies a
continuous activity of adding to the body of knowledge.Inasmuch as science concerns itself with the whole finite universe,
no one can hope to comprehend it all. We must recognize our human
limitations; for this reason, science is subdivided in a number of ways.
There are physical sciences, biological sciences, and behavioral or social
sciences. There is pure or basic science and its partner, applied science
or technology.Biological sciences are also subdivided--on several different bases--
into specialties, examples of which are given here:
1. On the basis of the kind of organisms studied:
Zoology--animals Botany--plants
Entomology--insects Bacteriology--bacteria
Protozoology--protozoa Bryology--bryophytes
2. On the basis of the approach or the features of the organisms:
Taxonomy--naming and classification
Morphology--structure and form
Physiology--functions or processes
Ecology--relationships to environment
____________________
1 Sheldon J. Lachman, The Foundations of Science ( Detroit: Hamilton Press,
1956),p.15

-2-

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Publication Information: Book Title: Experimental Biology. Contributors: Richard W. Van Norman - author. Publisher: Prentice Hall. Place of Publication: Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Publication Year: 1963. Page Number: 2.
    
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