Evolution of science II: Insights into working of Nature

摘要

We attempt to provide a comprehensive model of evolution of science acrossmillennia taking into account the contributions of other intellectualtraditions, cultural value system and increasing in sophistication of humans intheir study of nature. We also briefly discuss the role of technology and itsinterplay in the evolution of science. We identify five primary approaches tothe study of nature, namely ad hoc formulations, religious approach, pragmaticapproach, axiomatic approach and the logic based approach. Each of theseapproaches have had their prime periods and have contributed significantly tohuman understanding of nature and have also overlapped within a society. Eachapproach has had a central role over human evolution at some stage. We surmisethat the currently dominant axiomatic method will reach its limits due tocomplexity of the system and may never be fully formalised. We suggest that thefuture progress of science will more be a logic based approach whereexperimentation and simulations rather than axiomatic firmness will be used totest our understanding of nature.