p As a form of social consciousness, science is a system of man’s knowledge of nature, society and thought. It reflects the world in concepts, categories and laws, whose truth is verified by practical experience.

p Contemporary science as a whole is a totality of different sciences studying concrete spheres of the material reality. In this diversity of sciences it is necessary to single out social sciences, such as history, political economy, philosophy, aesthetics, etc.—and natural sciences—mechanics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. A distinctive feature of the development of contemporary science is the growing differentiation, i.e., the division or fragmentation of the traditional sciences into ever new branches and trends. Take biology, for example. Once the single science studying living organisms it has given rise to genetics, ecology, the evolutionary theory, microbiology, physiology and others.

p Differentiation of sciences is indissolubly linked with the integration of sciences, i.e., the emergence of new disciplines synthesising the achievements of two or more existing sciences. Such are physical chemistry, chemical biology, biomechanics, cybernetics, bionics and others. Today the most important discoveries are more often made at the junction, the “border” of sciences. Such, for example, was the deciphering of the genetic code and the establishment that the structure and properties of the organism depend on the composition and pattern of the biochemical components of the germ cell. This discovery was made at the junction of biology, chemistry and physics.

p Historically, science arose out of practice and is developing on its basis. Of course, science has its own sources, its inner 391 logic of development, but its principal motive force are social requirements, the requirements of material production in the first place. In primitive society man, while gaining the means of subsistence, encountered the forces of nature which gave him his very first, superficial knowledge. This knowledge was empirical and was not yet science. As a special form of social consciousness science arose later, in the slave-owning society, when mental labour became separated from manual labour and a special group of people—scholars, who engaged only in study, appeared.

p An important feature of science is the continuity of scientific knowledge. Each new generation of people, each newly-formed society does not discard past scientific achievements, but assimilates and develops them in conformity with the new requirements of practice and with science itself. Thus, scientific knowledge belongs to humanity as a whole and scientific research is social labour.

p To a large extent scientific development depends on the economic relations which are dominant in a society and on the nature of its socio-political system. They determine the aims, direction and the pace of the development of science and the application of its achievements in society. Capitalist relations of production were a mighty factor of scientific development in the period of the establishment of capitalism when the rapidly growing capitalist production needed more and more scientific knowledge.’But with the advent of imperialism these relations became an obstacle to scientific progress.

Social sciences which express the interests of a certain class are in particularly great dependence on society. For instance, bourgeois sociology defends the capitalist system, embellishes its crumbling facade and attacks socialism and social progress. It does its utmost to uphold and disseminate an idealistic and religious world outlook and imposes idealistic and metaphysical methodology on natural scientists. Of course, many scientists in bourgeois society condemn imperialism and adhere to positions of materialism, peace and social progress, but policy in science is still made by the ruling class—the reactionary monopoly bourgeoisie.