Evolution of science II: insights into working of nature

摘要

We attempt to provide a comprehensive model for evolution of science across millennia, taking into account the contribution of intellectual traditions, cultural value systems and increasing sophistication of humans in their study of nature. We also briefly discuss the role of technology and its interplay in the evolution of science. We identify five primary approaches to the study of nature, namely, ad hoc formulations, religious approach, pragmatic approach, axiomatic approach and the logic-based approach. Each of these approaches has had its prime periods and has contributed significantly to human understanding of nature and has also overlapped within a society, playing a central role over human evolution at some stage. We surmise that the currently dominant axiomatic method will reach its limit due to its complexity and may never be fully formalized. We suggest that future progress of science will be more logic-based, where we will use experimentation and simulations, rather than axiomatic firmness, to test our understanding of nature.