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The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
化学は科学の一分野です。
Chemistry is a field of science.
科学者たちは新しい理論を発見した。
Scientists discovered a new theory.
Refers to both the body of knowledge and the method of inquiry.
科学 refers to the broader field of science, while 理科 typically refers to natural sciences taught in schools (physics, chemistry, biology).
科学 (science) is the pursuit of knowledge, while 技術 (technology) is the application of that knowledge. Avoid conflating the two.
From Chinese 科學 (kēxué), combining 科 (kē, 'branch of study') and 學/学 (xué, 'learning'). Introduced to Japanese in the Meiji era (late 19th century) and later adopted into Chinese.
Used broadly to refer to both the academic discipline and the methodology. In Japanese, it often appears in compound words like 科学技術 (science and technology) or 科学者 (scientist).