Sa isang malawak na kahulugan, ang agham ay umiiral na bago pa man ang modernongmakabagong panahon at sa maraming makasaysayang kabihasnan, subalit ang makabagong agham ay natatangi sa kanyang siyentipikong pamamaraan at naging matagumpay sa pagtukoy kung ano ang agham sa pinakatumpak na kahulugan ng salitang ito.<ref>"The historian ... requires a very broad definition of "science" — one that ... will help us to understand the modern scientific enterprise. We need to be broad and inclusive, rather than narrow and exclusive ... and we should expect that the farther back we go [in time] the broader we will need to be." — David Pingree (1992), "Hellenophilia versus the History of Science" ''Isis'' '''83''' 554-63, as cited on p.3, [[David C. Lindberg]] (2007), ''The beginnings of Western science: the European Scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context'', Second ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press ISBN 978-0-226-48205-7</ref>