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'''Science''' in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means.<ref>See, e.g., the entry ''Science'' in the Oxford English Dictionary ISBN 0-19-522217-2</ref>  In a more restricted sense, ''science'' refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on [[empiricism#Scientific usage|empiricism]], [[experiment]]ation, and methodological [[natu(contracted; show full)
[[Bertrand Russell]] quipped, in allusion to the [[abstraction]] inherent in the [[axiomatic method]], that "Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true."

Mathematics cannot be considered pure science as everything that is mathematically correct may not be physically or practically correct. It is a tool to study various fields of science and to effectively pursue the scientific method.

== Goals of science ==

[[ছবি:Glowing tobacco plant.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Science continually seeks to gain increased understanding and, where appropriate, the possibility for control of many specific aspects of the [[nature|physical world]].  Its successes in achieving this goal stem directly from its ability to elucidate the foundational mechanisms which underlie nature's processes. Here, an image of "artificial" [[bioluminescence]] which has been induced in a tobacco plant by the use of [[genetic engineering]].]]

The underlying goal or purpose of science to society and individuals is to produce ''useful models of reality''. It has been said that it is virtually impossible to make inferences from human senses which actually describe what “is.” On the other hand, people can form [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] based on ''observations'' that they make in the world. By analyzing a number of related hypotheses, scientists can form general [[theory|theories]]. These theories benefit soc(contracted; show full)[[xh:ISyensya]]
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