History Main / SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic

* There's an Asimov short story about a physicist who one day wakes up levitating above the bed. He spends the entire story trying to get funding and a research team to study the phenomenon, but despite being able to easily and repeatedly demonstrate his ability to levitate, everyone still refuses to believe him. (Turning the story into an instance of "Everyone but me is a FlatEarthAtheist")

** The ritual that summons Death traditionally required a human sacrifice and lots of eldritch fires, but by the time the books start this has been refined to three bits of wood and four cubic centimetres of mouse blood. A later book introduced an even more refined version that just needed two bits of wood and an egg. [[RunningGag "It has to be a fresh egg, though."]] It's even suggested that most magic can be pared down like this in a pinch, but is deliberately wrapped up in hard work, ceremony and mumbo-jumbo to keep people from trying it, for the same reason that we don't want hobbyists building nuclear bombs in their basements.

A subtrope of FantasticScience. Compare and contrast TheSparkOfGenius. Can be a direct result of RationalFic. For the sake of general cohesion, anything that more or less works thanks to magic but isn't actually [[MagicByAnyOtherName called "magic"]] by anyone in the work falls under this trope. Compare MagicFromTechnology and PostModernMagik. The research turning up the finding that magic follows the laws of physics is the subtrope ScientificallyUnderstandableSorcery.

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' although the actual origins of the Titans and the exact process of transforming into one are still unknown, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the technologically advanced Kingdom of Marley has an entire research institute dedicated to study the Titans and their powers. They can produce industrial level quantities of the serum used to transform Eldians into mindless Titans, even knowing to adjust the dosage to produce a specific class of Titan. They also make use of blood tests to determine if someone has Eldian ancestry and thus susceptible of turning into a Titan.]].
* Exorcist ninja in ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' have {{Magitek}} based on reverse-engineering ayakashi's magical items. Reo specifies her InvisibilityCloak is a recreation of a {{tengu}}'s. This is used to explain how Suzu's ayakashi-made costume has abilities nearly-identical to Matsuri's (most notably rendering her InvisibleToNormals like ayakashi themselves).
* Most of the alchemists in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' were content to discover the secret of alchemy. [[MadScientist Szilard and Huey]], on the other hand, decided to test everything related to it, from "exactly how ''fast'' do I heal from each individual injury?"[[note]]Regeneration is variable depending on both the severity of the injury and how many times it's been received before. The more times you've had your head blown off, the faster it reconstructs itself.[[/note]] to "can I combine human and dolphin DNA to create a viable homunculus?"[[note]]Yes.[[/note]]
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', the afterlife has an entire research division devoted to studying spiritual powers and coming up with technological applications for them.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', this is how Lelouch takes to his Geass power after a couple of awkward situations that made him realize it has limitations- namely, that it won't work on the same person more than once, and that it requires direct eye contact. Before making serious use of it again, he conducts several tests on random students and teachers to see what other limitations it has. [[SuperEmpowering C.C.]] is impressed.
* Much of the early part of ''Manga/DeathNote'' consist of Light conducting tests with the Death Note to see what it's capable of--he takes it to such rigors that he's able to determine restrictions and abilities that even the [[{{Shinigami}} death god]] it formerly belonged to didn't realize it had. Light's knowledge of these specific attributes is his key advantage in the mind games he plays with genius detective L.

* ''Prof. A.Donda'' by Creator/StanislawLem. The professor studied Svarnetics (as in Stochastic Verification of Automatized Rules of Negative Enchantment). He got in this due to a typo, but finding out the work is about providing a statistical framework for hexing is ''not'' a good enough reason to back off for a man versed in applied mathematics.

* The Armagus of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' is this, a type of magic which relies on ambient [[{{Mana}} seithr]] and scientific principles, is fairly simple to learn, and can be used to create {{Magitek}}. It was developed so that more people would be capable of fighting the [[EldritchAbomination Black Beast]], which was impervious to mundane attacks. "Real" magic remains mysterious and extremely powerful. Similar to ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' where the science behind the technology that produced the Gears was so fantastic it was called magic. But in the OVA and some dialog in the game it is stated as a form of man-made science and not magic but still different from "old school" science as we know it (but it's the old science that keep Zepp the flying nation in the air).

* The [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Armagus/Ars Magus]] of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' is this, a type of magic which relies on ambient [[{{Mana}} seithr]] and scientific principles, is fairly simple to learn, and can be used to create {{Magitek}}. It was developed so that more people would be capable of fighting the [[EldritchAbomination Black Beast]], which was impervious to mundane attacks. "Real" magic remains mysterious and extremely powerful. Similar to ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' where the science behind the technology that produced the Gears was so fantastic it was called magic. But in the OVA and some dialog in the game it is stated as a form of man-made science and not magic but still different from "old school" science as we know it (but it's the old science that keep Zepp the flying nation in the air).

* Here's an extended example: A certain crystal has the properties of Oil of Vitriol. Another crystal has properties of Saccharum Saturni. You need, for an alchemical process, a crystal with the properties of both Brimstone and Lead, which are components in both crystals. You make use of a specially-prepared solvent to separate the crystals into their component properties, and then because of the strong affinities of Lead and Brimstone, compared to between Oil of Vitriol and Saccharum Saturni, a new crystal, Anglesite, forms that cannot be separated by this solvent, so you pour off useless byproduct, and use the Anglesite crystal in your experiments.\\\
Explanation: [[spoiler:The first crystal is hydrogen sulphate (or sulfuric acid); the second one is Lead Acetate. The solvent is distilled water. When the two substances dissolve in the distilled water, they react to form hydrogen acetate (acetic acid) and lead sulfate. The lead sulfate precipitates out of the solution, while the acetic acid stays dissolved and gets poured off with the water]].

%%* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': Comes up in several books dealing with magic, notably in ''Magic and Thaumatology''.

* ComicBook/DoctorDoom is a pro at this trope. Unlike his contemporary and rival, [[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Reed Richards]], Doom has a thorough understanding of not just earthly sciences, but magic as well. He's actually used this advantage on a number of occasions to one-up Reed (and most of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse at various points), although the inherent weaknesses of magic (usually, bartering/stealing the energy from a higher power) typically come to bite Doom in the backside. Doom also blends magic and technology. For example, he uses the sensors in his armor to copy the exact hand movements of spells when he sees them cast for the first time, and his gloves can automatically guide his hands through them. Thus allowing him to [[PowerCopying copy other wizards' spells]] far more quickly than it would normally take to master them. Though there are limits to this. Copying the movement may not be enough without an understanding behind the magic or sufficient level of skill to handle the spell as Doom found out with a later attempt. In one story the infra-red vision provided by his mask allowed him to see some advance warning of when magic was about to be cast; the other wizards and sorcerers present seemed to be unaware that their moves were being telegraphed as such.

** The Speed Force from ''Franchise/TheFlash'' is, by its nature, a completely mystical interdimensional entity that bestows random people SuperSpeed, but is also a Valhalla for these speedsters, and is somewhat sentient in some way. As the Flash franchise is, at heart, about a ScienceHero LegacyCharacter, however, the Speed Force has often been treated as if it was a scientific phenomena. This has led to some stories involving it being studied for how it could be used for scientific purposes, but in particular, ComicBook/WallyWest, who unlike the others wasn't a scientist, but though a rationalist he became open-minded to the spiritualistic aspect of the Speed Force, and so he's learnt to invoke its power to a much greater effect than the others.

** This is a plot point in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. Jane Foster, rather than being a paramedic as in [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor the original comics]], is an astrophysicist. Thor, on the other hand, comes from Asgard, which seems to be a place of great magic... but as he points out to Jane, "Your ancestors called it magic... but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same", which can be seen in the "tech" Asgard uses. The Destroyer is indistinguishable from any old super-science giant robot with a death ray, and if you took the operational end of the Rainbow Bridge and dropped it in a science-fiction movie, people wouldn't blink twice and would simply consider it a teleporter or stargate. Selvig actually calls it an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, which Jane helpfully translates as "wormhole" for Darcy (and the audience).

* The main branch of magic in ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' works through invocation of "true names," and its mastery requires long years of intensive study and memorization.

* Mostly performed by the Inertia Society in the ''Videogame/{{Undertale}}'' fanfic [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Visiontale Visiontale]], [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/8779618/chapters/20125687 posted on Archive of Our Own]], whose members study magic with scientific rigor. Inspired by human TechnoBabble, monsters even created MagiBabble to describe magic, and use magic to create magitronic devices, like their versions of smartphones, televisions, and computers.

** By contrast, in ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'', [[AnimateInanimateObject Awakening]] was only discovered about 300 years ago, and while the basics are now thoroughly understood by its practitioners there are a lot of inticacies that are still being muddled through. Not helping matters is that people tend to keep big discoveries to themselves, limiting their potential to spread.

** It's noted in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' that mages believe that even explaining how their magic works to someone who doesn't know makes it less effective. This mentality is also present in the ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' timeline, particularly in ''LightNovel/LordElMelloiIICaseFiles'' where Waver's specialty in analyzing and predicting magic horrifies his fellow magi.

* Most of the alchemists in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' were content to discover the secret of alchemy. [[MadScientist Szilard and Huey]], on the other hand, decided to test everything related to it from, "exactly how ''fast'' do I heal from each individual injury?"[[note]]Regeneration is variable depending on both the severity of the injury and how many times it's been received before. The more times you've had your head blown off, the faster it reconstructs itself.[[/note]] to "can I combine human and dolphin DNA to create a viable homunculus?"[[note]]Yes.[[/note]]

* [[TropeNamers Named]] during the "Cinderella" non-canon arc of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. After using her SteamPunk tech-knowledge to repair the Good Fairy's magic wand, Agatha shouts "'Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!'"

** In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', sorcery is the ability to manipulate reality similar to how codes can program the software of a computer using [[PowersAsPrograms "Spells"]]. The Ancient One describes it this way ("The language of the mystic arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language "spells". But if that word offends your modern sensibilities, you can call it a program. The source code that shapes reality. We harness energy...drawn from other dimensions of the Multiverse...to cast spells...to conjure shields...and weapons...to make magic.”)

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', magic, though requiring innate ability, can be learnt from books, and this is certainly how [[TheSmartGuy Twilight Sparkle]] approaches it. She's insistent that there are rational rules to how magic works, although we aren't actually told that many of them.
** In "Feeling Pinkie Keen", Twilight spends the entire episode trying to debunk Pinkie Pie's claim of having a psychic [[SpiderSense "Pinkie Sense"]]. When Pinkie points out that [[ArbitrarySkepticism Twilight herself can do magic]], she claims that her talent is a science, instead of something [[WildMagic random]] like Pinkie's. Twilight ''tries'' to analyse how Pinkie Sense works, too, but it proves unanalysable ([[StrawVulcan at least by her narrow-minded methods]]).
** In "Bridle Gossip", Twilight again describes how rational, scientific magic differs from curses and mumbo-jumbo the others claim are coming from a stranger in the woods.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty,'' Rick devises a method in which he can scan cursed items from a spooky antiques store, figure out what each curse is, and starts a business removing them for people.
-->'''Rick:''' Hey Morty, quick question: does evil exist, and if so, can one detect and measure it? Trick question, Morty, the answer is yes, you just have to be a genius.

* One SFW page of the often NSFW ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'', [[http://oglaf.com/double-blind/ Double Blind]]. A man is traveling from oracle to oracle, asking them what picture is contained within a sealed envelope, so he can record and rate the answers for future travelers.

* Much of the early part of ''Manga/DeathNote'' consist of Light conducting tests with the Death Note to see what it's capable of -- he takes it to such rigors that he's able to determine restrictions and abilities that even the [[{{Shinigami}} death god]] it formerly belonged to didn't realize it had. Light's knowledge of these specific attributes is his key advantage in the mind games he plays with genius detective L.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Assassin Johanna Smith-Rhodes agrees that she, personally, has all the magical ability of a concussed chicken and all the psychic awareness of a housebrick. But a combination of a good academic mind and practical experience gained from being married to Ponder Stibbons means she knows the theory and can make good intuitive guesses. Like telling him what sort of spell would work best - before he's figured it out for himself. Or knowing how to use a magical being's innate abilities to its terminal disadvantage.

** In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', sorcery is the ability to manipulate reality similar to how codes can program the software of a computer using [[PowersAsPrograms "Spells"]]. The Ancient One describes it this way (The language of the mystic arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language "spells". But if that word offends your modern sensibilities, you can call it a program. The source code that shapes reality. We harness energy...drawn from other dimensions of the Multiverse...to cast spells...to conjure shields...and weapons...to make magic.”)

* In the ''Literature/AlcatrazSeries'' there exist many different types of glass that can do things that we would call "magic", such as freeze rays, air currents to push something away, or stand upside down on an airship going 200 miles per hour. However, a point made in the series is that the locals do not consider it magic, since anyone could use the glass and is no different from say, a handgun -- the laws of physics simply aren't as immutable to them. More specifically, things like Oculator powers or Smedry Talents are classed as "magic" because only specific people can use them and it's not something that can be taught, while most silimatic glass is classed as "technology" because anyone can use it with the proper training.

** In ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'', Allomancy -- a magic system triggered by ingesting and "burning" various metals -- was thoroughly explored by [[GodEmperor the Lord Ruler]], who only allowed knowledge of ten basic metals to reach the general populace. As the series progresses, [[ActionGirl Vin]] uses her knowledge of Allomancy's logical setup of powers to discover a handful of new metals with additional abilities. From the same series, it's revealed in the final book that the torture chambers of the Steel Inquisitors were actually laboratories for researching [[BloodMagic Hemalurgy]].

* The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series has a newly created school of magical theoreticians, who use geometry to work out what the effects of various bits of magic will be. Oddly enough, they mix this trope with AchievementsInIgnorance -- the theoreticians get started because, after hundreds of years where their nation had no mages, one of the things they don't know is that there are supposedly things they ''can never'' know. There's thus an understandable degree of conflict between them and the actual mages, who take a much more intuitive approach. As the ''Mage Storms'' series reaches its climax, it's conceded by even the most diehard "intuitionists" that the theoreticians have a point, and that their research works.

* Creator/LyndonHardy's ''Literature/MagicByTheNumbers'' series starts out with five kinds of magic whose rules have been studied and formalised to such a degree that each kind of magic uses different terms to indicate its ultimate law(s) -- the Principles of thaumaturgy, the Doctrine of alchemy, the Maxim of magic, the Rule of sorcery, and the Laws of wizardry. The antagonist in the second book is attempting to conquer the world by mastering the meta-laws that govern which rules are dominant at any given time, then disconnecting them and bringing in new ways to perform these various arts that his troops have figured out but the established orders are unable to use -- essentially trying to win by having analysed magic more than the other guys. The third book takes this to the ''next'' level of meta, exploring the feedback effects of specific types of analysis on metamagic -- and by extension, local physics -- and introduces an antagonist who has meta-meta-analyzed magic sufficiently to have learned how to effectively LogicBomb parts of the multiverse out of coherence.

* While [[Creator/StrugatskyBrothers the Strugatsky Brothers]] primarily wrote science fiction (hard at first, then progressively soft social SF) and are known for their ''Literature/NoonUniverse'' cycle, they also wrote two seminal Soviet fantasy novels purely running on this trope, ''Literature/MondayBeginsOnSaturday'' and ''Literature/TaleOfTheTroika''. Both are set in the same universe (which is a setting separate from the Noon Universe, unlike nearly all their other output except the last few novels), with the former being something like an comedic, fairly light-hearted ScienceFantasy / UrbanFantasy [[JustForFun/XMeetsY hybrid]], which parodies, and at the same time pays homage to, the academic spirit in general and the Soviet research institute system in particular; and the latter being a much more cynical, satirical tale with acerbic swipes at Soviet bureaucracy (it was heavily censored and only released in the [[DirectorsCut original form]] in the late 80s). Interestingly enough, while this trope is prominent, MagicAIsMagicA is averted very much on purpose: the magic in this setting is not particularly consistent or rigorously scientific (what with quite a few things from the FantasyKitchenSink thrown in), but the ''research'' into it is -- which obviously doesn't fit together all that well in-universe, and thus causes some hilarious situations.

* Thomas Aquinas essentially did this to Catholicism -- he dismissed Literature/TheBible as a source of data, and approached the subject of God from the perspective of an Aristotelian empiricist. This "natural theology" has been popular among Catholic theologians ever since, and his version of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument cosmological argument]] is considered by many people (both believers and atheists) to be the strongest argument for the existence of some sort of Creator. However, he did admit that some things (such as specifically Christian doctrines like the Resurrection) could only be known by revelation, thus "revealed theology" (though he didn't focus on that)

** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'': This is the official [[PlanetOfHats hat]] of the Autumn Court -- however, because most "magic" is simple contract law, it's fairly easy.

** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'': The Null Mysteriis are an organization of scientists who want to study the supernatural, and firmly believe that there's no distinction between it and the natural -- all the universe, they think, is governed by rational, understandable laws and processes; modern science only understands some of these as yet, yes, but everything can be properly studied and categorized with time and effort. They haven't had much success so far due to that pesky {{Masquerade}}, but their attitude fits this trope perfectly. Their actual competence varies hugely DependingOnTheWriter; sometimes they're skilled scientists who're actually making progress and other times {{Flat Earth Atheist}}s who ignore obvious supernatural phenomena.

** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' is ''made'' of this -- the demons of the title are supernatural artificial intelligences that got disconnected from an entity known as [[DeusEstMachina the God-Machine]], which operates the world through [[InMysteriousWays methods both strange and occult.]] But what ''really'' makes it this trope is those machinations get results -- what looks like strange, formless ritual to outsiders is actually a means-tested way of generating supernatural resources, as perceived through the eyes of a fractured(?) god-like intelligence.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'': On the continent of Antagarich on the world of Enroth in New World Computing's setting, magic as a concept came to be ''because'' of this trope -- in one phase of religious development, the dominant religion was focused on rituals far more than faith, [[ReligionIsMagic and some of those rituals provided magical effects.]] This led some adherents to experimenting with rituals to try to figure out ''why'' some worked and others didn't, enhance the ones that did, and make ones that didn't work work, and gradually the experimentation and research became more and important until the religion faded away (and was replaced by other religions) but the art -- or science -- of magic remained.

* Tedd of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' is attempting to treat magic just like any other area of the (mad) sciences — physics, chemistry, robotics, etc. So far, we've seen him trying empirical testing of transformation spells, running numbers instead of hoping that things "just work", and so forth. It's heavily, heavily implied that "Lord Tedd" resulted in one timeline when he forgot the value of friendship in lieu of obsessing over magic-turned-science — and thus, power — to the exclusion of all else. Complicating matters is that magic itself in this universe is a semi-sentient entity, meaning that studying it is more akin to xeno-psychology than physics. [[spoiler:Further complicating matters is that magic only wants to be used and understood by a minority of people: if knowledge of magic became widespread, it rewrites all of its own rules on how it works to make sure only a select few could use it, unless given a good reason not to by an even smaller minority of "seers". Tedd provides it with one; there are just too many people these days for that to be practical.]]

** It seems as if most Erfworlders are born (or "popped") with an innate understanding of the most basic rules of the world and the skills they need to practice their specialties, and this inherent knowledge tends to discourage further questioning ("Why ask questions when you already know most of the answers that matter?"). But Parson is ignorant of even the most basic aspects of Erfworld - and in asking ''those'' questions, he's also asking the sort of questions that lead to discoveries and tactics no one else in the world ever dreamed of.

* Vaarsuvius of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' points out "any sufficiently advanced -- and ''repeatable'' -- magic is indistinguishable from technology."

*** And [[spoiler: the scientific - if somewhat haphazard - study of Spirit Vines and Spirit Energy, leading to an energy source that is a functional analogy for nuclear power in our own world]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'', Valerian is a scientist, inventor, and alchemist, and on multiple occasions he has attempted to apply science to try to understand to the magical mysteries of Corona.

* Most of the alchemists in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' were content to discover the secret of alchemy. [[MadScientist Szilard and Huey]], on the other hand, decided to test everything related to it from, "exactly how ''fast'' do I heal from each individual injury?"[[note]]Regeneration is variable depending on both the severity of the injury and how many times it's been received before. The more times you've had your head blown off, the faster it reconstructs itself.[[/note]] to "can I combine human and dolphin DNA to create a viable homunculus?"[[note]]:Yes.[[/note]]

** It's noted in ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' that mages believe that even explaining how their magic works to someone who doesn't know makes it less effective. This mentality is also present in the ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' timeline, particularly in ''LightNovel/LordElMelloiIICaseFiles'' where Waver's specialty in analyzing and predicting magic horrifies his fellow magi.

* A ZigZaggingTrope in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Magic changes its rules randomly in response to scientific study, still the Wizards in the High Energy Magic building have managed to start working out the laws governing how it changes. (Apparently it has something to do with "quantum".)
** Goodie Whemper ("[[RunningGag maysherestinpeace]]") was a "research witch" who lived in Mad Stoat, Lancre. She investigated such things as exactly what species are eligible for the "EyeOfNewt". One of her triumphs was discovering the exact breed of apple and type of knife to use in the old "predict your future husband's name with a thrown apple peel" if you wanted it to actually work; otherwise it would inevitably spell SCSSSC. Magrat inherited her cottage after her premature death during an experiment to find out how many bristles you could pull out of a broomstick midflight (not quite that many as it turns out).

* The Cryptics from ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'' seek nothing less than to ''reverse-engineer Creation''. Yes, the World of Darkness was made by {{God}}. And these demons try to analyze how [[AmbiguousGender they]] did it.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', this is what separates Wizards from other spellcasters. To a greater extent, this is separates Archmages and practicers of metamagic from other spellcasters. To a much, much greater extent, this is what separates Artificers from all other practitioners of magic.
** ''Net Wizard's Handbook'' categorized fantasy settings by "Controllability of magic". The highest state was "Magic is a Science", i.e. no fundamental differences between teaching engineers how to work with electrical forces and teaching wizards how to work with magical forces.
** TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} is pretty much based on this. Magic has literally been commercialized and {{Magitek}} is widespread. Traveling on a magic-powered passenger train or sending a message to someone via a magical equivalent of a telegraph is seen as perfectly normal by most people.
* [[MagicAIsMagicA The way magic works in]] ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' fits in perfectly with this philosophy, and the most powerful users of magic in the First Age (who, incidentally, are called sorcerer-''engineers'') had a decidedly empirical approach to their craft... to the extent that they harnessed the power of faith, magic, and technology to create the factory-cathedrals, the greatest workshops ever created in any universe. That's right, they actually analyzed the relationship between gods and their worshippers and used it to power {{Magitek}} assembly lines.
* Comes up in several ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' books dealing with magic, notably in ''Magic and Thaumatology''.

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'''s [[BoldExplorer Void Engineers]] live in a world shaped by [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief]]. So they went ahead and invented machines and [[ArtificialHuman organisms]] that could [[YourMindMakesItReal believe things]] for them.
* This is the color Blue's take on magic in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' when it isn't dishing out elemental attacks of wind or water. Being the color of logic, reason, and raw brainpower, Blue is full of scholars and wizards attempting to understand the very underpinnings of magic itself. This is represented mechanically with Blue excelling at card draw (research/learning), returning cards on the battlefield to the players' hands (by tampering with the magical connection between summoner and summoning), the almost exclusive ability to counter spells as they're being played (by short-circuiting the magic of the casting itself), and the most interaction of all the colors with artifact cards that ''doesn't'' involve smashing them to pieces or blowing them up (the second most being Red, which is ironic because it is also tied with Green in destroying artifacts).
* In the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' there's usually one {{splat}} per gameline whose mission is to analyze their particular brand of magic. Due to balance issues, this never really gives them much of an advantage.
** The Ordo Dracul in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem''. Their ethos is, "Okay, we're cursed to avoid sunlight, given an inhuman hunger for blood, have a ravaging beast in the back of our heads, and are capable of superhuman feats. The question is, ''why''? And just what else can we accomplish?"
** This is a favored ethos of the Free Council in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening''; as postmodernists, revolutionaries and inventors, they take an interest in applying scientific properties to magic and [[{{Magitek}} making an exquisite blend]].

** In ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', this is the official [[PlanetOfHats hat]] of the Autumn Court- however, because most "magic" is simple contract law, it's fairly easy.
** In ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'', the titular {{golem}}s naturally turn their attention to understanding how their own particular magical nature works in order to understand what they need to do in order to BecomeARealBoy. In fact, of the ten Refinements[[note]]philosophical pursuits dedicated to understanding one's soul in order to achieve humanity[[/note]], no fewer than ''seven'' effectively fall under this trope. Five of these are particular flavors of the inherent magical nature of Prometheans, with Plumbum (the Refinement of Lead) being most focused on "what is a Promethean?", one (Argentum, Refinement of Silver) applies this philosophy to studying the other creatures of the World of Darkness, and then there's Centimanus. The Refinement of Flux tries to understand the darker side of Pyros, such that the most common stereotype for Centimanus besides "monster who has given up on humanity" is "scholar trying to better define what humans are ''not''".
** The Null Mysteriis in ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' are an organization of scientists who want to study the supernatural. They haven't had much success so far due to that pesky {{Masquerade}} but their attitude fits this trope perfectly. Their actual competence varies hugely DependingOnTheWriter; sometimes they're skilled scientists who're actually making progress and other times [[FlatEarthAtheist flat earth atheists]] who ignore obvious supernatural phenomena.
** Necromancers in ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', the sample character actually is a former university academic.

** The fan game ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' breaks the mould here: ''all'' the splats, especially the Scholastics, follow this ethos. Ironically, mad science consists almost entirely of non-repeatable phenomena making it much harder to study than most of the magic and powers from other gamelines.
* Hermetic mages in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' take this approach as opposed to the more intuitive "magic as art/religion" approach of shamans.

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation recovers and studies anomalous objects in the world, many of them being the origin of folktales and urban legends around the world, and some of which have been directly responsible for some of our more recent innovations.

In his tower, the [[TheArchmage wizard Istar]] casts his fortieth fireball today while his apprentice diligently notes the exact qualities of each. On his workbench are piles of fireball spells yet untested, but Istar plans to catalogue them all. Only then can he begin to study what makes one fireball stronger than another.

The inverse of ClarkesThirdLaw. One of the many sides arguing over UnEqualRites. Contrast with MagicVersusScience where this attitude belongs only to the scientists, and ArbitrarySkepticism, where fans of "science" will loudly [[ScienceCannotComprehendPhlebotinum deny magic exists rather than accept empirical evidence]]. Not quite related to MagiTek or PostModernMagik but may show up alongside either or cause them. Compare to DoingInTheWizard, DoingInTheScientist, and {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s.