Natural science

Natural science is one of a branches of science concerned with a description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation together with experimentation. Mechanisms such(a) as peer review together with repeatability of findings are used to attempt to ensure the validity of scientific advances.

Natural science can be divided up into two main branches: life science and physical science. Life science is alternatively so-called as biology, and physical science is subdivided into branches: physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy. These branches of natural science may be further divided up into more specialized branches also call as fields. As empirical sciences, natural sciences usage tools from the formal sciences, such(a) as mathematics and logic, converting information about kind into measurements which can be explained as construct statements of the "laws of nature".

Modern natural science succeeded more classical approaches to natural philosophy, commonly traced to Taoists traditions in Asia and in the West to ancient Greece. Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, and Newton debated the benefits of using approaches which were more mathematical and more experimental in a methodical way. Still, philosophical perspectives, conjectures, and presuppositions, often overlooked, extend necessary in natural science. Systematic data collection, including discovery science, succeeded natural history, which emerged in the 16th century by describing and classifying plants, animals, minerals, and so on. Today, "natural history" suggests observational descriptions aimed at popular audiences.

History

Some scholars trace the origins of natural science as far back as pre-literate human societies, where understanding the natural world was necessary for survival. People observed and built up cognition about the behavior of animals and the utility of plants as food and medicine, which was passed down from breed to generation. These primitive understandings presents way to more formalized inquiry around 3500 to 3000 BC in the Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian cultures, which provided the first known sum evidence of natural philosophy, the precursor of natural science. While the writings show an interest in astronomy, mathematics, and other aspects of the physical world, the ultimate intention of inquiry about nature's works was in any cases religious or mythological, not scientific.

A tradition of scientific inquiry also emerged in Ancient China, where Taoist alchemists and philosophers experimented with elixirs to extend life and cure ailments. They focused on the yin and yang, or contrasting elements in nature; the yin was associated with femininity and coldness, while yang was associated with masculinity and warmth. The five phases – fire, earth, metal, wood, and water – mentioned a cycle of transformatios in nature. The water turned into wood, which turned into the fire when it burned. The ashes left by fire were earth. Using these principles, Chinese philosophers and doctors explored human anatomy, characterizing organs as predominantly yin or yang, and understood the relationship between the pulse, the heart, and the flow of blood in the body centuries previously it became accepted in the West.