title: What Science Is and How It Works
author: Gregory N. Derry
description: "Science," writes physicist Gregory Derry, "is the active and creative engagement of our minds with nature in an attempt to understand." Not to understand anything in particular, mind you--just to understand, to gain a sense of our place in the world. Whether viewed as a body of knowledge, a collection of techniques, or a way of seeing, Derry adds, science is just plain interesting. It is also difficult to live in the modern world, which is so entangled economically and culturally in technology, without some grasp of science, technology's sire.
zlib_text: When studying the world of living things, biologists and
  other scientists use the scientific method. Observations
  along with previous data are used to formulate a hypoth-
  esis. New observations and/or experiments are carried
  out in order to test the hypothesis. Scientists often do
  controlled experiments. The control group does not go
  through the step being tested, and this acts as a safeguard
  against a wrong conclusion.
  The new data may support a hypothesis or they may
  prove it false. Hypotheses cannot be proven true. Several
  conclusions in a particular area may allow scientists to
  arrive at a scientific theory—a generalization such as
  the cell theory, gene theory, or the theory of evolution.
  Evolution is the unifying theory of biology.
  Science is objective and uses conclusions based on
  data to arrive at theories about the natural world. Any expla-
  nation based on supernatural beliefs cannot be considered
  science because such belief are not tested in the usual
  scientific way.
  Science d