What Does Phil Plait Say Is the Ultimate Goal of Science?

On TED Talks Daily, Phil Plait says the ultimate goal of science is to understand objective reality as well as we can, from evidence. Science is not a pile of facts. It is a process and a way of thinking, and collecting facts is only one piece. Because people are good at fooling themselves, the process includes a way to limit bias. You observe something, such as a blue sky, and you question it. You offer a hypothesis, predict what that hypothesis would imply, and then you test the prediction. His sample idea is that the sky might only be reflecting the blue of the ocean.