Full Idea
There are three basic conceptions of scientific explanation - modal, epistemic, and ontic - which can be discerned in Aristotle, and that have persisted down the ages.
Gist of Idea
The three basic conceptions of scientific explanation are modal, epistemic, and ontic
Source
Wesley Salmon (Four Decades of Scientific Explanation [1989], 4.1)
Book Reference
Salmon,Wesley C.: 'Four Decades of Scientific Explanation', ed/tr. Humphreys,Paul [Pittsburgh 2006], p.121