Protoscience

In the philosophy of science, protoscience is a research field that has the characteristics of an undeveloped science that may ultimately develop into an established science. Philosophers use protoscience to understand the history of science and distinguish protoscience from science and pseudoscience.^[1] The word "protoscience" is a hybrid Greek-Latin compound of the roots proto- + scientia, meaning a first or primeval rational knowledge.

Common examples of protoscience include alchemy, Wegener's original theory of continental drift, and political economy (the predecessor to the modern economic sciences).