Outline of natural science The following outline is provided as an overview of and study biological phenomena (organic chemistry, for topical guide to natural science: example). Natural science – a major branch of science that tries to explain, and predict, nature’s phenomena based on 2.1.1 Physics empirical evidence. In natural science, hypothesis must be verified scientifically to be regarded as scientific the- • • Physics – physical science that studies matter ory. Validity, accuracy, and social mechanisms ensur- and its motion through space-time, and related ing quality control, such as peer review and repeatabil- concepts such as energy and force ity of findings, are amongst the criteria and methods used • Acoustics – study of mechanical waves in for this purpose. Natural science can be broken into 2 solids, liquids, and gases (such as vibra- main branches: life science, and physical science. Each tion and sound) of these branches, and all of their sub-branches, are re- • ferred to as natural sciences. Agrophysics – study of physics applied to agroecosystems • Soil physics – study of soil physical 1 What type of thing is natural sci- properties and processes. • Astrophysics – study of the physical as- ence? pects of celestial objects • Astronomy – studies the universe beyond Natural science can be described as all of the following: Earth, including its formation and de- velopment, and the evolution, physics, • Branch of science – systematic enterprise that builds chemistry, meteorology, and motion of and organizes knowledge in the form of testable ex- celestial objects (such as galaxies, plan- planations and predictions about the universe.[1][2][3] ets, etc.) and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as • Major category of academic disciplines – an aca- the cosmic background radiation). demic discipline is focused study in one academic • Astrodynamics – application of bal- field or profession. A discipline incorporates ex- listics and celestial mechanics to the pertise, people, projects, communities, challenges, practical problems concerning the studies, inquiry, and research areas that are strongly motion of rockets and other space- associated with academic areas of study or areas of craft. professional practice. For example, the branches of • Astrometry – branch of astronomy science are commonly referred to as the scientific that involves precise measurements disciplines. For instance, Gravitation is strongly as- of the positions and movements of sociated with the discipline of physics, and is con- stars and other celestial bodies. sidered to be part of that disciplinary knowledge. • Cosmology – discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. 2 Branches of natural science • Extragalactic astronomy – branch of astronomy concerned with objects 2.1 Physical science outside our own Milky Way Galaxy • Galactic astronomy – study of our • Physical science – branch of natural science that own Milky Way galaxy and all its studies non-living systems, in contrast to the biolog- contents. ical sciences. It in turn has many branches, each re- • Physical cosmology – study of the ferred to as a “physical science”, together called the largest-scale structures and dynamics “physical sciences”. However, the term “physical” of the universe and is concerned with creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinc- fundamental questions about its for- tion, since many branches of physical science also mation and evolution. 1 2 2 BRANCHES OF NATURAL SCIENCE • Planetary science – scientific study • Mathematical physics – application of of planets (including Earth), moons, mathematics to problems in physics and and planetary systems, in particular the development of mathematical meth- those of the Solar System and the ods for such applications and for the for- processes that form them. mulation of physical theories. • Stellar astronomy – natural science • Mechanics – branch of physics concerned that deals with the study of celes- with the behavior of physical bodies when tial objects (such as stars, planets, subjected to forces or displacements, and comets, nebulae, star clusters and the subsequent effects of the bodies on galaxies) and phenomena that origi- their environment. nate outside the atmosphere of Earth • Biomechanics – study of the struc- (such as cosmic background radia- ture and function of biological tion) systems such as humans, animals, • Atmospheric physics – study of the appli- plants, organs, and cells by means of cation of physics to the atmosphere the methods of mechanics. • • Atomic, molecular, and optical physics – Classical mechanics – one of the two study of how matter and light interact major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical • Biophysics – study of physical processes laws describing the motion of bod- relating to biology ies under the action of a system of • Medical physics – application of forces. physics concepts, theories and meth- • Continuum mechanics – branch of ods to medicine. mechanics that deals with the analy- • Neurophysics – branch of biophysics sis of the kinematics and the mechan- dealing with the nervous system. ical behavior of materials modeled as • Chemical physics – branch of physics that a continuous mass rather than as dis- studies chemical processes from the point crete particles. of view of physics. • Fluid mechanics – study of fluids and • Computational physics – study and im- the forces on them. plementation of numerical algorithms to • Quantum mechanics – branch of solve problems in physics for which a physics dealing with physical phe- quantitative theory already exists. nomena where the action is on the or- • Condensed matter physics – study of the der of the Planck constant. physical properties of condensed phases • Thermodynamics – branch of physi- of matter. cal science concerned with heat and its relation to other forms of energy • Cryogenics – cryogenics is the study of and work. the production of very low temperature • (below −150 °C, −238 °F or 123K) and Nuclear physics – field of physics that the behavior of materials at those temper- studies the building blocks and interac- atures. tions of atomic nuclei. • Optics – branch of physics which involves • Dynamics – study of the causes of motion the behavior and properties of light, in- and changes in motion cluding its interactions with matter and • Econophysics – interdisciplinary research the construction of instruments that use field, applying theories and methods orig- or detect it. inally developed by physicists in order to • Particle physics – branch of physics that solve problems in economics studies the existence and interactions of • Electromagnetism – branch of science particles that are the constituents of what concerned with the forces that occur be- is usually referred to as matter or radia- tween electrically charged particles. tion. • Geophysics – the physics of the Earth and • Psychophysics – quantitatively investi- its environment in space; also the study gates the relationship between physical of the Earth using quantitative physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions methods they affect. • Materials physics – use of physics to de- • Plasma physics – state of matter similar scribe materials in many different ways to gas in which a certain portion of the such as force, heat, light and mechanics. particles are ionized. 2.1 Physical science 3 • Polymer physics – field of physics that not limited to, living matter. Biochem- studies polymers, their fluctuations, me- istry governs all living organisms and liv- chanical properties, as well as the ki- ing processes. netics of reactions involving degrada- • Agrochemistry – study of both chem- tion and polymerisation of polymers and istry and biochemistry which are im- monomers respectively. portant in agricultural production, • Quantum physics – branch of physics the processing of raw products into dealing with physical phenomena where foods and beverages, and in environ- the action is on the order of the Planck mental monitoring and remediation. constant. • Bioinorganic chemistry – examines • Relativity – the role of metals in biology. • Statics – branch of mechanics con- • Bioorganic chemistry – rapidly grow- cerned with the analysis of loads (force, ing scientific discipline that com- torque/moment) on physical systems in bines organic chemistry and bio- static equilibrium, that is, in a state where chemistry. the relative positions of subsystems do not • Biophysical chemistry – new branch vary over time, or where components and of chemistry that covers a broad structures are at a constant velocity. spectrum of research activities in- • Solid state physics – study of rigid matter, volving biological systems. or solids, through methods such as quan- • Environmental chemistry – scientific tum mechanics, crystallography, electro- study of the chemical and biochemi- magnetism, and metallurgy. cal phenomena that occur in natural • Vehicle dynamics – dynamics of vehicles, places. here assumed to be ground vehicles. • Immunochemistry – branch of chem- istry that involves the study of the re- actions and components on the im- 2.1.2 Chemistry mune system. • Medicinal chemistry – discipline at • • Chemistry – physical science of atomic mat- the intersection of chemistry, espe- ter (matter that is composed of chemical el- cially synthetic organic chemistry, ements), especially its chemical reactions, but and pharmacology and various other also including its properties, structure, compo- biological specialties,