Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Science
(1,839 words)

1. Terminology

Like the German terms Geschichte (History) and Forschung (Research), the singular noun Wissenschaft (science), denoting a comprehensive entity, first appeared in the late 18th century; it was followed by Naturwissenschaft (Natural science) and (with similarly narrowed meaning) the English noun science [10. 10, 30]. Until well into the 17th century, the distinction between Latin scientia (knowledge about a subject area, acquaintance) and ars (art, competence, abi…

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Gierl, Martin, “Science”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 30 May 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_030466>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210601



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