DraconologyThe word draconology refers to the study of dragons and related creatures. It is sometimes also spelt dracology. Since my dictionary contains neither I wouldn't like to say which is the "correct" form, however most dracophiles seem to prefer "draconology" to "dracology". The words are formed from draco and drakon which are the Latin and Greek for "dragon".
 Is Draconology a Science?Many dracophiles refer to draconology as a science. This is an area of some disagreement.There is certainly no recognised science of draconology in the modern world, however just because something isn't recognised by the current scientific establishment doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we define a science in terms of producing theories and devising experiments to test them then draconology is probably not a science. There are, as far as we know, no living dragons on which experiments could be carried out (unless we count certain lizards). If we take the broader definition of science as a body of knowledge and area of study then draconology certainly fits. There are many fields in which controlled experiments are difficult if not impossible - archaeology, sociology and economics spring to mind. There also many accepted areas of study that aren't normally called science - such as history or media studies. And being mythological certainly doesn't prevent something from being a valid field for scholarly research. So draconology is arguably a valid field of research but not technically a science. Perhaps most importantly, draconology is good fun! Of course, not everyone takes the subject entirely seriously. There are a number of books etc you can buy that purport to be written by real world dracolonogists but are in fact fiction. And I think they're great!
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