Science is not what politicians say it is. It is a philosophy about understanding the natural world.
There are a lot of perversions brought about by people, many of whom are scientists and many of whom are politicians. But that isn't science. It's just human fallibility.
Moreover, there is no sense trying to "listen to the science." Science says nothing. It is utterly silent, and if anyone claims to say, science told me this, they should be locked up in the looney bin for hearing voices. Scientists on the other hand say a lot. Most of it is BS like it is from any fallible human, which, save our Redeemer, we all are.
>> It is a philosophy about understanding the natural world.
I figured you were aiming strictly for the dedicated, daily grind related to honest research, creativity, discovery, etc — which of course is real science in practice. But to add the aspect of philosophy is intriguing in that my view of mathematics is exactly that — a philosophy of virtually indisputable truisms.
To a limited degree, I’ve studied the history of math. I learned about its practical origins as far as we can tell, and also learned about the recurring controversy that plagued the discipline since the Babylonian era. Mathematicians also suffered political consequences & whims. Physics was the very latent afterthought despite the head injuries the Romans must have suffered. Why not study the gravitational effects of the keystone?
If you were to say: Math is political, I’d disagree. Well... we’re currently suffering from Common Core, so I might offer exceptions — though, I get the ass-backwards nature of Common Core math.
Science as a discipline is a different animal than both physics & math. Science is the undisciplined process that is inevitably subject to the availability of both resources and time — an unfortunate but real complication. And for that reason, Science is effectively politically driven.