I am continually impressed by the disconnect that I see evidenced often between what the public thinks science is, and what science actually consists of. Most interesting is the surprised looks I get when I explain gently that trying to understand the universe/nature per se is not science. That science is the intellectual practice of constructing theories, developing hypotheses from those theories and then designing experiments with the explicit goal of falsifying the cherished hypothesis.
The lay public too often confuses science with religion, technology, clinical practice and just plain curiosity. Karl Popper would be rolling in his grave.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 