“Science is merely a process of asking questions and searching answers, along with the combined knowledge accumulated from this search.”
“The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz” by Aaron Swartz, Lawrence Lessig
I like how casual this definition is. Science is often portrayed as something only professional scientists can do, but that’s not entirely true. Science is hard work, but anyone can follow the basic process of asking questions and searching for answers while considering what’s already known. Building on collective knowledge is science’s best trick. Yet, there’s one important aspect missing from this definition: observation. Good questions arise from observation. That’s why descriptive work—despite being undervalued—is a crucial part of science. A single, careful observational study can enable and sustain hypothesis-driven research for decades.
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