Currently, we are witnessing the dissolution of science as an institution in its form that has been inherited since the end of the 18th century. Knowledge societies are characterized not only by the increased production and application of scientific knowledge within society but also by a changed manner of knowledge production. Alongside the scientification of society, there is a socialization of science taking place. Since the end of the 18th century, academic science has developed into a societal functional system that has increasingly differentiated internally, invented new disciplines and sub-disciplines, remained relatively closed off externally, and - at least in terms of its claims - has taken on a self-directed development. Scientific research has sought to understand the connections in nature through reduction and simplification.