  This paper proposes a new definition of science based on the distinction
between the activity of scientists and the product of that activity: the former
is denoted (lower-case) science and the latter (upper-case) Science. These
definitions are intended to clarify the nature of scientific knowledge, its
authority as well as its limitations, and how scientific knowledge differs from
other forms of human knowledge. The body of knowledge we call Science is
exemplified by elementary arithmetic: it has the following properties: (i)
Science is collective, public knowledge; (ii) Science is universal and free of
contradiction; (iii) Science emerges from science; (iv) Science is nevertheless
bathed in ignorance and subject to change. These properties imply that many
questions that are of great interest to humanity are out of reach to Science,
since they necessarily involve individual and group commitments and beliefs.
Examples are questions of ethics, religion, politics, art and even technology,
for which diversity is a fundamental virtue.
