Huh, I never really thought deeply about this. My mother tongue is Dutch which has the word “Wetenschap” which maps directly to Wissenschaft.

But I don’t consciously distinguish that from the English “science”. Although obviously the connotation of science leans on the scientific method whilst “Wetenschap” is more on the “gaining of knowledge”.

While there is no single English-word translation I can think of, I guess “knowledge building” or “the effort to expand knowledge” might be good approximations.

Interesting, never thought about this distinction too much.