Science is progressive and tentative.
We don't stand still - there is always something new to discover - we are never sure that we have the whole truth. This is quite different from authority-based knowledge systems that think that there is nothing new to learn or to be discovered. These systems have the "truth" and that's it. Disagree and face the Inquisition. I think being a scientist would be difficult in an
"authority"-based society.

Science is parsimonious.
We don't try to have overly complex models. The ones that predict the results with the fewest factors are best. We like to yield Occam's Razor (from William of Occam, a 14th-century philosopher) in order to slice away unnecessary theoretical baggage.