If no one can describe it, then no one can use it. Period. Science is a method of describing how something works. Science is not the process of telling you that "X doesn't work," it's the process of figuring out how X works. If "magic" is inherently unpredictable, rules for it can't be defined, and it is effectively useless.
I'll say this again: science is a method of description, not an energy force.
Science describes things using a distinct methodology. It can be applied to almost anything that affects the world. It is concerned with observing the effects of a phenomena on the environment and then extrapolating what that effect means. It is a process of discovery and understanding what those discoveries mean.
If you find that boring, you have never met a scientist. Listen to Carl Sagan or Neil Degrasse Tyson talk for THIRTY SECONDS and you will learn that being able to describe something makes it more amazing and fantastic. Seriously. Listen to them. The way scientists talk is seriously how wizards should talk. They should be amazed by everything and filled with a sense of awe and wonderment about the tiniest things.
Houdini was a freakin' wizard.Of course, I understand that achieving this ideal is more or less impossible, but as it stands Harry Houdini is a more magical person than Mordenkaien, so there's lots of room for improvement.
The only difference between science and magic is cultural.Both are prime examples of what I'm trying to avoid though. And the "science" you mention is just more magic, pretending to be something it's not.
Realistically, any process in which you ask a question and then try to achieve answers to that question using evidenciary materials collected by you or another person... IS SCIENCE.By "not punk", I don't mean "shiny and nice". I mean that I want something that's closer to the "realistic" end of the balance between Rule of Cool and Realism.
Science is the process of creating controlled situations in which phenomena are recreated and then described. If you are capable of casting spells, you are capable of creating controlled situations.
At which point, congratulations! You're doing science! You might not call it science, but that's what it is.
Hold on. I have a thing for this.Right, sufficiently advanced magic just becomes another form of technology. That's what I'm trying to avoid.
It doesn't matter if it's commonly available or not: a particle accelerator is technology, but who has access to or understands one of those? And how applicable is it to daily life? It could be the same thing for magic - how useful is it to the common person?Ah, now this is what I'm looking for. A subtler, "low-magic" approach. That would work nicely.
Keeping with the "Early Modern Europe" example, how would this approach be applied there?
Check out the stuff the Islamic alchemists were doing. These guys were trying to work out how the world around them worked, but some of their experiments were extremely bizarre and esoteric, and probably useless for most people. Also check out Heron of Alexandria. The guy was a boss. For stuff about wizards that might help you out, check out Cunning Folk. They do kind of what you're asking.
Ars Magica also has a really good approach to this, with a very esoteric magic system and the entire goal of the setting is to fiddle with the, well, fiddly bits without knowing how they work.