Where does one find Science and how does one know one has found it?
Science is a methodology, not a collection of theories. Science is the
derivation of theories by applying reasoning and experimentation to empirical evidence. The scientific method is used to test a hypothesis. If it is consistently supported by evidence, it becomes a theory describing the behavior of the natural universe.
The fundamental theory that underlies all others, in my own words, is that the natural universe is a closed system (using the layman's definition of that phrase) whose behavior can be predicted by theories derived logically from empirical evidence of its present and past behavior. But this theory is no different from any other; it is
recursive. It was derived by reasoning from empirical evidence. In the five centuries since the dawn of science, all evidence has supported it.
Once you've found it, do you have it?
You don't
find science, so much as
learn it. The methodology has been in place for centuries.
Even the fine tuning that makes science easier, without compromising its accuracy, is old. The Rule of Laplace (extraordinary assertions require extraordinary evidence) goes back 200 years, and Occam's Razor (test the simplest explanations first) is actually older than most of the rest of science.
So perhaps what you're asking is, once you've learned science, do you have it? Well, science is also an attitude. You have to be logical, you have to be methodical, you have to be reasonably intelligent, and perhaps above all you have to be honest. If you have those traits and you've learned the basics of science--either in a formal educational environment or through the efforts of a mentor--then all that's left is practice.
What if science is silent on a certain issue?
Kind of depends on the issue, doesn't it? Science is the analysis of the natural universe for the purpose of predicting its behavior. It's incorrect, or at least defeatist, to say that many of the things that are most important to us such as love, politics and philosophy are beyond science. But it's correct to say that science at this time has not yet made a lot of progress in placing those things in the context of the natural universe.
What goes on inside our heads as influenced by our endocrine systems (to avoid going too woo-woo on you by using the metaphor "and in our hearts") is clearly a collection of phenomena occurring within the natural universe. We just haven't figured out their structure yet. But not to worry, a hundred years ago we hadn't figured out the structure of DNA and now we're mapping it. Not long before that, we hadn't figured out the structure of atoms.
