Outline of physical science “Physical Science” redirects here. It is not to be confused • Astronomy – study of celestial objects (such as stars, with Physics. galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets and neb- ulae), the physics, chemistry, and evolution of such Physical science is a branch of natural science that stud- objects, and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth, including supernovae explo- ies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a “physical sions, gamma ray bursts, and cosmic microwave background radiation. science”, together called the “physical sciences”. How- ever, the term “physical” creates an unintended, some- • Branches of astronomy what arbitrary distinction, since many branches of physi- cal science also study biological phenomena and branches • Chemistry – studies the composition, structure, of chemistry such as organic chemistry. properties and change of matter.[8][9] In this realm, chemistry deals with such topics as the properties of individual atoms, the manner in which atoms form 1 What is physical science? chemical bonds in the formation of compounds, the interactions of substances through intermolecular forces to give matter its general properties, and the Physical science can be described as all of the following: interactions between substances through chemical reactions to form different substances. • A branch of science (a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of • Branches of chemistry testable explanations and predictions about the • universe).[1][2][3] Earth science – all-embracing term referring to the fields of science dealing with planet Earth. Earth • A branch of natural science – natural science science is the study of how the natural environ- is a major branch of science that tries to ex- ment (ecosphere or Earth system) works and how it plain and predict nature’s phenomena, based evolved to its current state. It includes the study of on empirical evidence. In natural science, the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and bio- hypotheses must be verified scientifically to sphere. be regarded as scientific theory. Validity, ac- • curacy, and social mechanisms ensuring qual- Branches of Earth science ity control, such as peer review and repeata- bility of findings, are amongst the criteria and methods used for this purpose. Natural sci- 3 History of physical science ence can be broken into two main branches: life science, for example biology and physical History of physical science – history of the branch of nat- science. Each of these branches, and all of ural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to their sub-branches, are referred to as natural the biological sciences. It in turn has many branches, each sciences. referred to as a “physical science”, together called the “physical sciences”. However, the term “physical” cre- ates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since 2 Branches of physical science many branches of physical science also study biological phenomena (organic chemistry, for example). • Physics – natural and physical science that involves the study of matter[4] and its motion through space • History of physics – history of the physical science and time, along with related concepts such as energy that studies matter and its motion through space- and force.[5] More broadly, it is the general analysis time, and related concepts such as energy and force of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.[lower-alpha 1][6][7] • History of acoustics – history of the study of mechanical waves in solids, liquids, and gases • Branches of physics (such as vibration and sound) 1 2 3 HISTORY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE • History of agrophysics – history of the study • History of atomic, molecular, and optical of physics applied to agroecosystems physics – history of the study of how matter and light interact • History of soil physics – history of the study of soil physical properties and pro- • History of biophysics – history of the study of cesses. physical processes relating to biology • • History of astrophysics – history of the study History of medical physics – history of of the physical aspects of celestial objects the application of physics concepts, the- ories and methods to medicine. • History of astronomy – history of the studies • History of neurophysics – history of the the universe beyond Earth, including its for- branch of biophysics dealing with the ner- mation and development, and the evolution, vous system. physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion • History of chemical physics – history of the of celestial objects (such as galaxies, planets, branch of physics that studies chemical pro- etc.) and phenomena that originate outside the cesses from the point of view of physics. atmosphere of Earth (such as the cosmic back- ground radiation). • History of computational physics – history of the study and implementation of numerical • History of astrodynamics – history of the algorithms to solve problems in physics for application of ballistics and celestial me- which a quantitative theory already exists. chanics to the practical problems con- • cerning the motion of rockets and other History of condensed matter physics – history spacecraft. of the study of the physical properties of con- densed phases of matter. • History of astrometry – history of the branch of astronomy that involves precise • History of cryogenics – history of the cryo- measurements of the positions and move- genics is the study of the production of very ments of stars and other celestial bodies. low temperature (below −150 °C, −238 °F or 123K) and the behavior of materials at those • History of cosmology – history of the dis- temperatures. cipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. • Dynamics – history of the study of the causes • History of extragalactic astronomy – his- of motion and changes in motion tory of the branch of astronomy con- • History of econophysics – history of the inter- cerned with objects outside our own disciplinary research field, applying theories Milky Way Galaxy and methods originally developed by physi- • History of galactic astronomy – history of cists in order to solve problems in economics the study of our own Milky Way galaxy • History of electromagnetism – history of the and all its contents. branch of science concerned with the forces • History of physical cosmology – history that occur between electrically charged parti- of the study of the largest-scale structures cles. and dynamics of the universe and is con- • History of geophysics – history of the physics cerned with fundamental questions about of the Earth and its environment in space; also its formation and evolution. the study of the Earth using quantitative phys- • History of planetary science – history of ical methods the scientific study of planets (including • History of materials physics – history of the Earth), moons, and planetary systems, in use of physics to describe materials in many particular those of the Solar System and different ways such as force, heat, light and the processes that form them. mechanics. • History of stellar astronomy – history of • History of mathematical physics – history of the natural science that deals with the the application of mathematics to problems in study of celestial objects (such as stars, physics and the development of mathematical planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and methods for such applications and for the for- galaxies) and phenomena that originate mulation of physical theories. outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as • History of mechanics – history of the branch cosmic background radiation) of physics concerned with the behavior of • History of atmospheric physics – history of the physical bodies when subjected to forces or study of the application of physics to the atmo- displacements, and the subsequent effects of sphere the bodies on their environment. 3 • History of biomechanics – history of the nomena where the action is on the order of the study of the structure and function of bio- Planck constant. logical systems such as humans, animals, • Relativity – plants, organs, and cells by means of the • methods of mechanics. History of statics – history of the branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of • History of classical mechanics – history loads (force, torque/moment) on physical sys- of the one of the two major sub-fields of tems in static equilibrium, that is, in a state mechanics, which is concerned with the where the relative positions of subsystems do set of physical laws describing the motion not vary over time, or where components and of bodies under the action of a system of structures are at a constant velocity. forces. • History of solid state physics – history of the • History of continuum mechanics – his- study of rigid matter, or solids, through meth- tory of the branch of mechanics that ods such as quantum mechanics, crystallogra- deals with the analysis of the kinematics phy, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. and the mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuous mass rather than • History of vehicle dynamics – history of the as discrete particles. dynamics of vehicles, here assumed to be • History of fluid mechanics – history of the ground vehicles. study of fluids and the forces on them. • • History of quantum mechanics – history History of chemistry – history of the physical sci- of the branch of physics dealing with ence of atomic matter (matter that