Changes

A community's [[Scientific Mosaic|mosaic]] consists of the set of all accepted [[Theory|theories]] accepted and employed [[Method|methods]] employed by the that community at some particular time. How do disciplinary boundaries exist within the mosaic: are they expressible as theories and/or methods? Is the statement of disciplinary boundaries a mere definition of a discipline, a description of what a discipline has been doing, or a normative prescription of what a discipline ought to do. For example, when physicists say "Physics is the study of physical processesthe nature and properties of matter and energy", it's not quite clear whether this is meant as a definition, description or prescription. It can have three different meanings:* '''definition''': physics, ''by definition'', is the study of physical processesthe nature and properties of matter and energy;* '''description''': physics ''has been'' studying physical processesthe nature and properties of matter and energy; * '''prescription''': physics ''ought to'' study physical processesthe nature and properties of matter and energy.