12 WHAT IS SCIENCE? 



that started his inquiry and his search for explana- 

 tion. If, then, it is this external world which is the 

 special province of science, we should expect to find that 

 learning would become more distinctively scientific (in 

 the modern sense) as we trace it back through the ages, 

 and that branches, other than science, which are now 

 separated from the common stem, would appear at only 

 a relatively late stage in the growth. Actually, of course, 

 we find exactly the opposite ; what is now recognized 

 as science, as the study of nature and the external world, 

 is the youngest and not the oldest of the departments 

 of pure learning. Again, there are undoubtedly studies, 

 usually accepted as sciences, which specifically deal with 

 man and not with the external world which is contrasted 

 with him ; psychology and anthropology are examples ; 

 how are they consistent with the view that science is 

 characteristically non-human ? Lastly, it is generally 

 recognized to-day that science differs from other branches, 

 not only in the subject-matter that it studies, but also 

 in the manner in which it deals with this subject-matter. 

 Even if we could define the subject-matter of science as 

 being the external world of nature, we should still be 

 left with the inquiry, which is really more interesting, 

 why the difference in the subject-matter involves so great 

 a difference in the attitude towards it. 



SCIENCE OR SCIENCES ? 



These difficulties show that we cannot obtain the 

 answer that we require to our question, What is Science ? 

 by simply accepting the answer that might have been 

 given a hundred years ago. On the other hand, it is 

 indubitable that this answer is part of the truth. To 

 that inquiry we shall proceed in the next chapter, and 

 with it shall start the serious part of our discussion. 

 But before we proceed, we shall do well to consider very 



