SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION
SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION Science is the study of the natural world through observation and experiment. One of the goals of science is an explanation. Scientists explain to other scientists how a particular gene regulates a phenotype, how patterns in the luminance of a particular star indicate the presence of planets, how the sizes of the populations of two particular linked species vary with environmental changes. And also the place of our planet and sun among the stars, and the effects of ecology on our lives and livelihoods. We offer explanations to each other and to ourselves in our daily lives and in our various specialized fields. But the importance of science and the differences between scientific practices and other practices have led many to consider scientific explanation as a topic of study in its own right. By understanding scientific explanation we may shed light on other forms of explanation, or on the distinction between science and non-science. These goals are ...