Noun
An unscientific or pseudoscientific field of study which later becomes a science (e.g. astrology becoming astronomy and alchemy becoming chemistry).
A field of study at the initial phase of the scientific method, involving information gathering and hypothesis formulation, but is not yet falsifiable, or if it is, its predictions have not yet been observed.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgKuhn concluded that protoscience, "like the arts and philosophy, lack some element which, in the mature sciences, permits the more obvious forms of progress. Source: Internet
Scientists in the 21st century can view his contributions as protoscience. Source: Internet