Science is the art of understanding nature.
Source, in full
Attributed to Boas in Laurence M. Gould, "Science and the Culture of Our Times", UNESCO Courier (February 1968) p. 6: as cited in Carl C. Gaither and Alma E Cavazos-Gaither (eds.) Scientifically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations (2000) p. 184
Notes from Wikiquote
Cf. Eric M. Rogers and Lawrence M. Gould