I think you're right to identify two distinct things in the air, but it's the other guy doing the mixing. What science is and the extent to which that is approximated in practice are indeed two things. Neither is inherently more real or true than the other, or necessarily more right, depending on the context.
But I take this particular context to be about Sagan's comments on distinguishing truth from "baloney" via science by expressing principles that best express the scientific ideal. I don't take that to be "corrected" by appealing to science as practiced, which is where the mixing up of the two comes in.
But I take this particular context to be about Sagan's comments on distinguishing truth from "baloney" via science by expressing principles that best express the scientific ideal. I don't take that to be "corrected" by appealing to science as practiced, which is where the mixing up of the two comes in.