People from many places of hotchpotch and indulgence.
Science has caused more solutions than problems. We wouldn’t have vaccines or modern methods to stay healthy without science (just being one example). Those who believe science has done more harm than good I think just want to stay in a simpler time and not face progress.
This historian would be using "research skills" at this stage of the process, since he or she has yet to determine all the facts, and therefore is unable to yet form a thesis.