It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following characterizations of scientific truth?

The correct option is

It is rarely obvious and
transparent

Option (a) and (b) are negated in the second paragraph or the author goes against option (a) and (b) in the second paragraph.
Looking at the following lines from the third paragraph –
“However, science’s accumulation of lasting truths about the world is not by any means a straightforward matter. We certainly need to get beyond the naive view that the truth will automatically reveal itself to any scientist who looks in the right direction; most often, in fact, a whole series of prior discoveries is needed to tease reality’s truths from experiment and observation”.
We can clearly find that (c) is the correct option and (d) is wrong.

Option (a) and (b) are negated in the second paragraph or the author goes against option (a) and (b) in the second paragraph.Looking at the following lines from the third paragraph -“However, science’s accumulation of lasting truths about the world is not by any means a straightforward matter. We certainly need to get beyond the naive view that the truth will automatically reveal itself to any scientist who looks in the right direction; most often, in fact, a whole series of prior discoveries is needed to tease reality’s truths from experiment and observation”.We can clearly find that (c) is the correct option and (d) is wrong.