“Science attempts to confront the possible with the actual. The price to be paid for this outlook, however, turned out to be high. It was... renouncing a unified world view. ...Most other systems of explanation—mythic, magic, or religious—generally encompass everything. They apply to every domain. They answer any possible question. They account for the origin, the present, and the end of the universe. Science proceeds differently. It operates by detailed experimentation... it looks for partial and provisional answers about those phenomena that can be isolated and well defined. ...the beginning of modern science can be dated from the time when such general questions as, "How was the universe created? What is matter made of? What is the essence of life?" were replaced by such limited questions as "How does a stone fall? how does water flow in a tube? How does blood circulate in vessels?" ...While asking general questions led to limited answers, asking limited questions turned out to provide more and more general answers.”
UI