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Natural science

Natural science is the branch of science dedicated to the study of the physical world and its phenomena, primarily through empirical observation, experimentation, and the application of the scientific method to understand natural laws governing matter, energy, and their interactions.^[1]^[2] It seeks to describe, explain, and predict occurrences in the universe, from subatomic particles to cosmic structures, distinguishing itself from social sciences by focusing exclusively on non-human natural processes and from formal sciences by emphasizing empirical evidence over abstract systems.^[3] The field is foundational to human knowledge, providing the evidence-based framework for advancements in technology, medicine, and environmental management.^[4]^[5] The primary branches of natural science include the physical sciences—such as physics, which examines fundamental forces and motion, and chemistry, which investigates the composition and reactions of substances—and the life sciences, notably biology, which explores living organisms and their processes.^[6] Additional key areas encompass earth sciences like geology and oceanography, which analyze planetary systems and resources, and space sciences including astronomy, focused on celestial bodies and the cosmos.^[3] These disciplines often intersect, as seen in fields like biochemistry or environmental science, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to complex natural phenomena.^[3] Historically, natural science evolved from ancient philosophical inquiries into nature by thinkers in civilizations like Mesopotamia and Greece, where early observations of astronomical and biological patterns laid groundwork for systematic study.^[7] It matured during the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, when pioneers such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton shifted from speculative philosophy to mathematical modeling and controlled experiments, establishing modern empirical standards.^[7]^[8] This period marked the transition from natural philosophy to rigorous science, influencing subsequent developments like Darwin's theory of evolution and Einstein's relativity.^[7] Central to natural science is the scientific method, a cyclical process beginning with observations that prompt questions, followed by hypothesis formulation, testable predictions, experimentation, data analysis, and conclusion refinement through peer review and replication.^[9]^[10] This methodology ensures objectivity and falsifiability, allowing theories to evolve with new evidence while minimizing bias.^[2] Its iterative nature has driven breakthroughs, from vaccines combating diseases to renewable energy technologies addressing climate change.^[4] The importance of natural science extends beyond academia, underpinning societal progress by informing policy on sustainability, health, and innovation; for instance, it equips individuals with critical thinking skills essential for informed decision-making in an increasingly technological world.^[11]^[12] Ongoing research continues to reveal insights into biodiversity loss, quantum mechanics, and exoplanets, highlighting its role in tackling global challenges like pandemics and resource scarcity.^[5]

Definition and Criteria

Defining Natural Science

Natural science is a major branch of science dedicated to investigating the physical universe, encompassing matter, energy, their interrelations, and the processes involving living organisms.^[6] It focuses on naturally occurring phenomena through empirical methods, distinguishing it from formal sciences, which address abstract structures like mathematics and logic, and from social sciences, which examine human behavior and societal dynamics.^[13] This discipline seeks to uncover the laws and mechanisms governing the natural world, providing testable explanations for observable events without reliance on supernatural or subjective interpretations.^[14] The scope of natural science is vast, spanning scales from subatomic particles and fundamental forces to expansive cosmic structures like galaxies and the universe's evolution, as well as intricate biological processes such as cellular functions and ecosystems.^[15] Physical sciences within this domain, including physics and chemistry, explore non-living matter and energy transformations, while life sciences like biology address the origins, development, and interactions of organisms.^[16] This broad reach allows natural science to integrate diverse phenomena, from quantum interactions to planetary formations and evolutionary adaptations, fostering a unified understanding of nature's interconnected systems.^[17] Central to natural scientific inquiry are foundational principles that ensure reliability and progress: empiricism, which prioritizes knowledge derived from sensory observation and experimentation; falsifiability, requiring hypotheses to be testable and potentially refutable by evidence; and reproducibility, demanding that findings can be independently verified through repeated trials.^[9] These tenets, rooted in the scientific method, promote objective scrutiny and self-correction, enabling theories to evolve based on accumulated evidence rather than dogmatic assertion.^[18]^[19] The term "natural science" originates from the Latin scientia naturalis, translating to "knowledge of nature," which emerged in medieval scholasticism as a translation of Aristotle's philosophia naturalis or natural philosophy—a contemplative study of the physical world.^[20] Over centuries, it evolved from this philosophical tradition into a distinct empirical discipline during the Scientific Revolution, emphasizing experimentation over pure speculation while retaining its core focus on natural phenomena.^[20]

Criteria and Methodology

Natural science adheres to strict criteria that require all investigations to focus exclusively on observable and measurable phenomena within the natural world, thereby excluding supernatural explanations or claims that cannot be empirically tested.^[21] This empirical foundation ensures that scientific knowledge is derived from evidence accessible through human senses or instruments, promoting reliability and reproducibility. A cornerstone of these criteria is the principle of falsifiability, articulated by philosopher Karl Popper, which stipulates that a hypothesis or theory qualifies as scientific only if it can, in principle, be disproven by empirical observation or experimentation.^[18] The primary methodology in natural science is the scientific method, a structured yet flexible process comprising key steps: initial observation of phenomena, formulation of a testable hypothesis, design and execution of experiments or studies, analysis of collected data, and derivation of conclusions that may support, refute, or refine the hypothesis.^[22] This approach is inherently iterative, involving repeated cycles of testing and adjustment to account for new evidence, which enhances the accuracy and depth of understanding over time.^[23] Integral to this methodology is peer review, where independent experts scrutinize research methods, results, and interpretations to uphold standards of rigor, detect errors, and prevent biases before findings are disseminated.^[24] To investigate natural phenomena, scientists utilize specialized tools and techniques adapted to specific contexts, such as controlled experiments that manipulate variables under standardized conditions to establish causal relationships.^[25] Field studies complement this by enabling direct observation and data collection in real-world environments, capturing dynamic interactions that cannot be replicated in laboratories.^[26] Additionally, computational modeling employs algorithms and simulations to predict outcomes in complex systems, such as ecological dynamics or molecular interactions, allowing for hypothesis testing without physical intervention.^[27] For instance, these techniques are applied in simulating chemical reactions to explore reaction pathways under varying conditions. Precision in natural science relies on standardized measurement systems, particularly the International System of Units (SI), defined by fixed values of fundamental constants to quantify phenomena like length, mass, and time with universal consistency.^[28] This framework, maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), facilitates comparability across global research efforts and minimizes errors in empirical data. Such standards are essential for branches like chemistry, where accurate quantification underpins experimental validity.

Branches of Natural Science

Biology

Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms, encompassing their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution across diverse environments.^[29] This discipline investigates the processes that sustain life, from molecular interactions within cells to complex interactions among species in ecosystems, providing foundational insights into the diversity and unity of living systems.^[30] By examining these phenomena, biology reveals how organisms respond to internal and external changes, underpinning advancements in medicine, agriculture, and conservation. Core subfields of biology include cell biology, which explores the structure and function of cells as the fundamental units of life; microbiology, the study of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, archaea, fungi, and protozoa;^[31] physiology, which investigates the functions, mechanisms, and life-supporting processes of organisms and their parts;^[32] genetics, which examines heredity and genetic variation mediated by DNA; systems biology, which employs computational and mathematical modeling to understand complex interactions across biological scales;^[33] ecology, which analyzes interactions between organisms and their physical surroundings; and evolutionary biology, which investigates the mechanisms driving species change over time, including the modern evolutionary synthesis of the early 20th century that integrated Darwinian natural selection with Mendelian genetics and population genetics.^[34] A pivotal contribution to evolutionary biology is Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, outlined in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, which posits that traits enhancing survival and reproduction become more common in populations through differential success in reproduction.^[35] These subfields interconnect to explain life's complexity, such as how genetic mutations fuel evolution or how ecological pressures shape adaptations. Central to biology are key concepts like the hierarchical levels of biological organization, ranging from molecules (e.g., proteins and nucleic acids) to cells, tissues, organs, organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems, illustrating the progression from simple building blocks to integrated living systems.^[36] Homeostasis, the process by which organisms maintain stable internal conditions—such as temperature or pH—despite fluctuating external environments, is crucial for metabolic efficiency and survival.^[37] Adaptation complements these by referring to heritable traits that improve an organism's fitness in its habitat, often arising through natural selection and enabling long-term persistence.^[38] Landmark discoveries include the 1953 elucidation of DNA's double-helix structure by James Watson and Francis Crick, which revealed the molecular basis for genetic inheritance and information storage in living organisms;^[39] Crick's central dogma of molecular biology (1958), positing unidirectional genetic information flow from DNA to RNA to protein;^[40] and recombinant DNA technology pioneered in the early 1970s, enabling the isolation and manipulation of specific genes.^[41] Biology also addresses global biodiversity, with estimates indicating approximately 8.7 million eukaryotic species inhabit Earth, though most remain undescribed, underscoring the urgency of conservation efforts.^[42] Essential processes like photosynthesis and cellular respiration exemplify energy dynamics in life: photosynthesis in plants captures solar energy to produce glucose via the reaction

$6CO_2 + 6H_2O \xrightarrow{\text{[light](/page/Light)}} C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2

^[43] while cellular respiration in most organisms breaks down glucose to release energy through

C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2 \rightarrow 6CO_2 + 6H_2O + \text{[energy](/page/Energy) (ATP)}.

^[44] These complementary pathways sustain the flow of energy and matter essential to all levels of biological organization.

Earth Science

Earth science encompasses the study of Earth's physical structure, composition, processes, and history, integrating disciplines such as geology, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, and planetary science to understand the planet's dynamic systems. This field examines how internal and external forces shape the planet over geological timescales, from the formation of mountains to the evolution of climates. The Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old, a determination derived from radiometric dating of meteorites and the oldest terrestrial rocks, which provides a baseline for interpreting its developmental history.^[45] Geology, a core component of Earth science, focuses on the solid Earth, including its rocks, minerals, and tectonic processes. Plate tectonics theory explains the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates, driven by convection in the mantle, which leads to phenomena like earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building.^[46] Alfred Wegener proposed the concept of continental drift in 1912, supported by evidence such as matching fossil distributions, rock sequences, and glacial deposits across now-separated continents, laying the groundwork for modern plate tectonics.^[47] The rock cycle describes the continuous transformation of rocks among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic types through processes like melting, erosion, deposition, and metamorphism, intimately linked to plate movements that expose rocks to these changes.^[48] Wilson's cycle models the long-term assembly and breakup of supercontinents over hundreds of millions of years, illustrating how ocean basins open and close through rifting and subduction.^[49] Atmospheric sciences investigate the Earth's atmosphere, emphasizing weather patterns and climate dynamics. Weather patterns arise from the uneven heating of Earth's surface, leading to atmospheric circulation that redistributes heat and moisture globally.^[50] Climate dynamics operate on longer scales, influenced by factors such as Milankovitch cycles—variations in Earth's orbit, axial tilt, and precession—that modulate solar insolation and trigger ice ages by altering seasonal contrasts.^[51] The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, drives much of this dynamics through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff, sustaining weather systems and regulating global temperatures.^[52] Oceanography explores the oceans' physical, chemical, and biological aspects, with a focus on currents and marine geology in Earth science contexts. Ocean currents, such as the global conveyor belt, transport heat from the equator to poles, influencing weather patterns and climate stability by moderating temperature extremes.^[53] Marine geology examines seafloor features like mid-ocean ridges and trenches, formed by plate interactions, which reveal the history of oceanic crust through magnetic striping and sediment layers. Planetary science within Earth science contextualizes Earth as a dynamic world in the solar system, comparing its tectonic activity and atmospheric retention to other terrestrial planets, highlighting unique features like active plate boundaries and a protective magnetic field.

Chemistry

Chemistry is the scientific discipline that studies the composition, structure, properties, and transformations of matter. It explores the substances that make up the universe at the atomic and molecular levels, focusing on how atoms combine to form compounds and how these undergo chemical reactions. Central to chemistry is the understanding that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, which interact through chemical bonds to produce the vast array of materials observed in nature and synthesized in laboratories. The field is divided into several core branches, each addressing specific aspects of matter. Organic chemistry examines carbon-based compounds, which form the basis of life and numerous synthetic materials, such as hydrocarbons and polymers. Inorganic chemistry focuses on non-carbon elements and their compounds, including metals, minerals, and coordination complexes that play roles in catalysis and materials science. Physical chemistry applies principles of physics to chemical systems, particularly the thermodynamics and kinetics of reactions, to predict reaction rates and energy changes. Biochemistry, overlapping with biology, investigates chemical processes within living organisms, such as enzyme catalysis and metabolic pathways.^[54]^[55] A foundational concept in chemistry is atomic theory, first proposed by John Dalton in 1808. Dalton's postulates state that all matter consists of indivisible atoms; atoms of the same element are identical in mass and properties, while those of different elements differ; atoms combine in simple whole-number ratios to form compounds; and atoms are neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions. These ideas laid the groundwork for modern chemistry by explaining the laws of chemical combination. Another key development is the periodic table, organized by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, which arranges elements by increasing atomic mass and reveals periodic trends in properties like reactivity and electronegativity, enabling predictions of undiscovered elements./Atomic_Theory/Daltons_Atomic_Theory/Postulates_of_Daltons_Atomic_Theory)^[56] Specific quantitative insights include Avogadro's number, which defines the number of particles in one mole of substance as exactly 6.02214076 × 10^{23} mol^{-1}, providing a bridge between microscopic atoms and macroscopic quantities measurable in grams. Chemistry also encompasses the transitions between states of matter—solid, liquid, gas, and plasma—driven by changes in temperature and pressure; for example, melting converts a solid to a liquid by overcoming intermolecular forces, while vaporization turns a liquid to a gas. These phase changes are reversible and illustrate the dynamic nature of molecular interactions.^[57]/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Phase_Transitions/Fundamentals_of_Phase_Transitions) Fundamental equations underpin chemical principles. The law of conservation of mass, established by Antoine Lavoisier in the late 18th century, asserts that the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products in a closed system, as expressed conceptually in balanced chemical equations. In physical chemistry, the ideal gas law, PV = nRT, describes the behavior of gases under ideal conditions, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles, R is the gas constant (0.0821 L·atm·mol^{-1}·K^{-1}), and T is temperature in Kelvin; it integrates earlier empirical laws and facilitates calculations of gaseous systems. Biochemistry briefly references these concepts in the study of biological molecules like proteins, but detailed applications appear in biological contexts.^[58]/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/States_of_Matter/Properties_of_Gases/Gas_Laws/The_Ideal_Gas_Law)

Physics

Physics is the branch of natural science that investigates the fundamental principles governing matter, energy, motion, and forces, providing the foundational laws that underpin other scientific disciplines. It seeks to understand the behavior of the universe at scales ranging from subatomic particles to cosmological structures through empirical observation and mathematical modeling. Central to physics is the development of predictive theories, such as those describing mechanical interactions, thermal processes, electromagnetic phenomena, and quantum behaviors, which have revolutionized technology and our comprehension of reality. Classical mechanics forms one of the core areas of physics, originating with Isaac Newton's three laws of motion articulated in his 1687 work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The first law states that an object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion continues in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force, embodying the principle of inertia. The second law quantifies the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, expressed as \mathbf{F} = m \mathbf{a} where \mathbf{F} is the net force, m is the mass, and \mathbf{a} is the acceleration. The third law asserts that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These laws enable the analysis of macroscopic motion and derive key conservation principles, including the conservation of momentum, which follows from the third law in isolated systems where total momentum remains constant.^[59] Thermodynamics, another foundational domain, examines heat, work, temperature, and energy transfer in physical systems. The first law of thermodynamics, formulated by Rudolf Clausius in 1850, expresses the conservation of energy in thermodynamic processes: the change in internal energy of a system equals the heat added minus the work done by the system. This law underscores that energy is neither created nor destroyed but transformed, with seminal contributions from Julius Robert von Mayer's 1842 statement on energy equivalence and James Prescott Joule's experimental verification of the mechanical equivalent of heat. The second law introduces entropy, stating that the entropy of an isolated system always increases, governing the direction of spontaneous processes and energy dissipation. These principles explain phenomena like heat engines and the limits of efficiency in energy conversion.^[60]^[61] Electromagnetism unifies electric and magnetic phenomena through James Clerk Maxwell's equations, presented in his 1865 paper "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field." These four coupled partial differential equations describe how electric and magnetic fields interact and propagate as waves, predicting electromagnetic radiation traveling at the speed of light, c = 299792458 m/s in vacuum—an exact value defined in the International System of Units. Maxwell's framework revolutionized physics by showing light as an electromagnetic wave and enabling technologies like radio and optics. Key conservation laws, such as that of energy in electromagnetic fields, emerge from these equations via Poynting's theorem.^[62]^[63] Quantum mechanics addresses the behavior of matter and energy at atomic and subatomic scales, introducing wave-particle duality where entities like electrons and photons exhibit both particle and wave properties. This duality was experimentally demonstrated in the double-slit experiment with electrons by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer in 1927, revealing interference patterns indicative of wave-like behavior despite particle detection. The Schrödinger equation, introduced by Erwin Schrödinger in his 1926 paper "An Undulatory Theory of the Mechanics of Atoms and Molecules," governs the evolution of quantum states: i \hbar \frac{\partial}{\partial t} \psi(\mathbf{r}, t) = \hat{H} \psi(\mathbf{r}, t) where \psi is the wave function, \hat{H} is the Hamiltonian operator, \hbar is the reduced Planck's constant ($1.0545718 \times 10^{-34} J s), and i is the imaginary unit; the full Planck's constant is h = 6.626 \times 10^{-34} J s. This equation encapsulates probabilistic descriptions of quantum systems, differing fundamentally from classical determinism.^[64]^[65]^[66] Relativity, developed by Albert Einstein, extends classical physics to high speeds and strong gravity. Special relativity (1905) posits that the laws of physics are invariant in inertial frames, leading to the mass-energy equivalence E = mc^2, where E is energy, m is rest mass, and c is the speed of light—derived from considerations of energy emission in moving bodies. This equation reveals that mass and energy are interchangeable, with profound implications for nuclear processes. General relativity (1915) generalizes this to curved spacetime, describing gravity as geometric curvature. Together with conservation laws like energy and momentum, relativity integrates seamlessly with quantum mechanics in modern theories, though full unification remains a pursuit.^[67]

Astronomy

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects, including stars, planets, galaxies, and the universe as a whole, encompassing their positions, motions, compositions, and physical evolution.^[68] It relies on observations across the electromagnetic spectrum to understand phenomena on cosmic scales, from the formation of solar systems to the expansion of the universe. The field divides into several core branches. Observational astronomy involves collecting data on celestial bodies using telescopes and detectors sensitive to various wavelengths, such as optical, radio, and X-ray spectra, to map their locations and properties.^[69] Astrophysics applies physical laws to interpret these observations, particularly in modeling stellar evolution—the life cycles of stars from protostar formation through main-sequence burning of hydrogen to eventual supernova explosions or white dwarf remnants in low-mass stars.^[70] Cosmology examines the large-scale structure and history of the universe, with the Big Bang theory positing that the cosmos originated from a hot, dense state approximately 13.8 billion years ago, leading to its ongoing expansion.^[71] Planetary science, often overlapping with astronomy, focuses on the origins, dynamics, and atmospheres of planets and their satellites, including the discovery of thousands of exoplanets orbiting distant stars since the first confirmation in 1992.^[72] Key concepts underpin these branches. The Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram plots stars' luminosity against their surface temperatures, revealing evolutionary sequences: main-sequence stars cluster along a diagonal band, while giants and supergiants occupy upper regions, illustrating how stellar mass determines lifespan and fate.^[73] Hubble's law describes the universe's expansion, stating that the recessional velocity v of a galaxy is proportional to its distance d from Earth:

v = H_0 d

where H_0 is the Hubble constant, approximately 70 km/s/Mpc.^[74] This relation, derived from redshift observations, supports the Big Bang model and enables distance measurements across cosmic scales.^[75] Observational evidence bolsters these frameworks. The cosmic microwave background (CMB), discovered accidentally in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson using a radio antenna, represents relic radiation from the early universe, uniform at 2.7 K and providing a snapshot of conditions 380,000 years after the Big Bang.^[76] Current estimates place the universe's age at 13.8 billion years, refined through CMB analysis by missions like NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.^[77] Theoretical models address extreme phenomena. Black holes form primarily through the gravitational collapse of massive stars' cores after supernova explosions, creating singularities where spacetime curvature prevents escape of matter or light beyond the event horizon; supermassive variants likely arise from mergers or direct collapse in dense early-universe regions.^[78] Composition models indicate that dark matter (about 27%) and dark energy (about 68%) constitute roughly 95% of the universe's energy density, inferred from gravitational effects on galaxy rotations and accelerated expansion, respectively, while ordinary matter accounts for only 5%.^[79] These elements drive ongoing research into the universe's fate and fundamental nature.

Interdisciplinary Fields

Materials Science

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field that integrates principles from physics, chemistry, and engineering to design, synthesize, and characterize materials with tailored properties for practical applications, such as electronics, aerospace, and biomedical devices.^[80] At its core, the discipline emphasizes the structure-property relationships, where the atomic and microscopic arrangement of a material directly influences its mechanical, electrical, thermal, and optical behaviors.^[81] For instance, the processing methods used to create materials determine their internal structure, which in turn dictates performance under various conditions.^[82] The synthesis of key material classes—metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites—forms a foundational aspect of materials science, enabling the creation of substances with enhanced functionality. Metals are typically synthesized through melting and casting or powder metallurgy to achieve desired ductility and conductivity, while polymers are produced via polymerization reactions that link monomers into chains, yielding flexible and lightweight materials.^[80] Ceramics, known for their hardness and heat resistance, are formed through sintering of inorganic powders, and composites combine these classes, such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymers, to optimize strength-to-weight ratios for structural applications.^[83] These synthesis techniques allow engineers to manipulate material composition and microstructure to meet specific performance criteria. Central to understanding material behavior are key concepts like crystal lattices and defects, which govern how materials respond to external stimuli. In crystalline materials, atoms are arranged in repeating three-dimensional lattice structures, such as face-centered cubic in many metals, providing the framework for properties like elasticity.^[84] Defects, including point defects like vacancies (missing atoms) and line defects like dislocations, disrupt this ideal order and significantly affect properties; for example, dislocations enable plastic deformation in metals, enhancing ductility but potentially reducing strength if uncontrolled.^[85] Phase diagrams further elucidate material transitions, mapping equilibrium phases as functions of temperature, pressure, and composition to predict behaviors like melting or alloy formation during processing.^[86] Notable advancements in materials science include the development of semiconductors, exemplified by the invention of the point-contact transistor in 1947 at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley, which revolutionized electronics by enabling amplification and switching in solid-state devices.^[87] More recently, the isolation of graphene in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov using mechanical exfoliation from graphite demonstrated the potential of nanomaterials, revealing extraordinary properties like high electron mobility and tensile strength exceeding 130 GPa due to its single-layer hexagonal carbon lattice.^[88] Recent developments as of 2025 include perovskite solar cells achieving over 25% efficiency, advancing renewable energy applications.^[89] Essential techniques in materials science include X-ray diffraction (XRD) for analyzing crystal structure, where X-rays scattered by atomic planes produce diffraction patterns that reveal lattice parameters and phase composition non-destructively.^[90] Tensile strength testing, meanwhile, evaluates mechanical integrity by applying uniaxial tension to a specimen until failure, measuring stress-strain curves to quantify ultimate tensile strength and elongation, critical for assessing load-bearing capacity in engineering designs.^[91]

Environmental Science

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary branch of natural science that examines the interactions between human activities and the natural environment, integrating principles from biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences to understand ecological systems and human impacts. It focuses on how anthropogenic actions alter ecosystems, emphasizing the need for sustainable management to mitigate environmental degradation. This field addresses complex issues such as resource depletion and pollution, drawing on empirical data to inform policy and conservation efforts. Ecosystem dynamics in environmental science involve the flow of energy and matter through biotic and abiotic components, often disrupted by human interventions like habitat fragmentation and pollution. Key pollution cycles include the carbon and nitrogen cycles, where human emissions have significantly altered natural balances. For instance, anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation have increased atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) pre-industrially to 429.61 ppm in June 2025, driving global warming and ocean acidification.^[92] Similarly, excess nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers and industrial processes leads to eutrophication in water bodies, causing algal blooms and dead zones that reduce biodiversity.^[93] Climate change modeling is a cornerstone of environmental science, utilizing advanced simulations to project future environmental scenarios based on greenhouse gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) employs coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models in its Sixth Assessment Report to evaluate physical processes, regional impacts, and mitigation strategies, confirming that human activities are the primary driver of observed warming.^[94] Ozone depletion, another critical issue, was effectively addressed through the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances, leading to the gradual recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer and preventing millions of skin cancer cases.^[95] Biodiversity loss, a pressing concern in environmental science, is driven mainly by land-use change, direct exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species, with agricultural expansion accounting for over one-third of terrestrial habitat conversion since 1970.^[96] These drivers exacerbate the decline of species and ecosystems, underscoring the importance of biological diversity as a foundation for resilient natural systems. Sustainability principles, such as carrying capacity—the maximum population size an environment can sustain indefinitely without degrading—guide efforts to balance human needs with ecological limits, as highlighted in the 1987 Brundtland Report.^[97] Influential models in environmental science include the Gaia hypothesis, proposed by James Lovelock, which posits Earth as a self-regulating system where living organisms and their inorganic surroundings interact to maintain habitable conditions, as detailed in his 1979 book.^[98] Ecological footprint calculations quantify human demand on nature by measuring the biologically productive land and water area required to support consumption and absorb waste, revealing that as of 2025, humanity's global footprint exceeds the planet's biocapacity by approximately 80% (equivalent to 1.8 Earths), promoting strategies for reduced resource use.^[99]

Historical Development

Ancient and Medieval Foundations

The origins of natural science emerged in ancient Mesopotamia, where Babylonian astronomers made foundational observations of celestial phenomena to support practical needs like agriculture and timekeeping. By the 8th century BCE, they established lunar calendars that reconciled lunar and solar cycles, recognizing that 235 lunar months closely approximate 19 solar years, allowing predictions of eclipses and seasonal events with notable accuracy.^[100] These efforts, documented in cuneiform tablets dating back to around 2000 BCE, represented early systematic recording of astronomical data without reliance on supernatural explanations.^[101] In ancient Greece, from the 6th century BCE, philosophers shifted toward naturalistic explanations of the cosmos, laying philosophical groundwork for science. Thales of Miletus proposed water as the arche, or originating principle, of all matter, arguing that it transformed into other substances through processes like evaporation and condensation, thus providing a unified material basis for natural phenomena.^[102] Building on such ideas, Democritus around 400 BCE formulated an atomic theory with his teacher Leucippus, asserting that the universe consists of indivisible, eternal particles (atomos) differing in shape, size, and arrangement, moving through empty space to form all observable diversity without divine intervention./04:_Atomic_Structure/4.01:_Democritus_Idea_of_the_Atom) Aristotle (384–322 BCE) synthesized and expanded these concepts into a comprehensive system that shaped natural philosophy for over a millennium. He theorized that all terrestrial matter comprises four elements—earth, water, air, and fire—each possessing inherent qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry) and natural motions toward their respective places (e.g., earth downward, fire upward), explaining change and mixture in the sublunary realm.^[103] Central to his approach was teleology, the view that natural entities and processes exist or occur for a purpose (telos), such as organs serving biological functions, which integrated explanation across physics, biology, and cosmology until its decline around 1100 CE amid emerging challenges.^[104]^[105] This framework emphasized qualitative analysis and hierarchical order in nature, influencing subsequent inquiry profoundly. Medieval advancements built on these ancient foundations, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age (c. 800–1100 CE), when scholars preserved, critiqued, and extended Greek texts through translation and innovation. Ibn al-Haytham (965–1040 CE), known as Alhazen, revolutionized optics in his seminal Book of Optics (completed c. 1015 CE), employing experimental methods to demonstrate that vision occurs via light rays entering the eye, debunking emission theories, and laying groundwork for perspective and refraction studies.^[106]^[107] Similarly, Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980–1037 CE) advanced medicine in his Canon of Medicine, a comprehensive encyclopedia synthesizing Aristotelian, Galenic, and empirical knowledge, which classified diseases, advocated clinical observation, and introduced quarantine for contagious illnesses, serving as a standard text in both Islamic and European universities for centuries.^[108] In medieval Europe, Scholasticism from the 12th century onward reconciled Aristotelian natural philosophy with Christian doctrine, fostering intellectual synthesis. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE), in works like the Summa Theologica, integrated Aristotle's teleological view of nature—where entities achieve perfection through purposeful motion—with theology, portraying the natural world as rationally ordered by divine intelligence, thus legitimizing scientific-like inquiry within a faith-based framework and sustaining Aristotelian dominance in biology and physics education.^[109] This approach emphasized logical argumentation and authority from recovered texts, bridging ancient insights to later developments.

Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

The Scientific Revolution, spanning roughly from the early 17th to the mid-18th century, marked a profound transformation in the study of natural science, shifting from speculative philosophy rooted in ancient traditions toward empirical observation, mathematical rigor, and experimentation. This era began with astronomers challenging the geocentric model inherited from antiquity, emphasizing direct evidence from the heavens to describe natural phenomena quantitatively rather than qualitatively. Pioneering figures like Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton laid the groundwork for mechanistic explanations of the universe, integrating mathematics with physical laws to predict and explain motions in both terrestrial and celestial realms.^[7] A pivotal event was Galileo's use of the telescope in 1609–1610, culminating in his publication of Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger) in 1610, where he detailed observations of the Moon's cratered surface, the phases of Venus, and the four largest moons of Jupiter—evidence supporting a heliocentric solar system and undermining Aristotelian notions of perfect celestial spheres. Building on this, Kepler formulated his three laws of planetary motion between 1609 and 1619, published in Astronomia Nova (1609) and Harmonices Mundi (1619), describing elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus, equal areas swept in equal times, and the harmonic relation between orbital periods and distances—derived from meticulous analysis of Tycho Brahe's data. These astronomical breakthroughs shifted natural science toward precise, predictive models, as Kepler's laws provided a mathematical framework for planetary behavior without reliance on circular orbits or epicycles.^[110]^[111] The methodological foundation for this empirical turn was advanced by Francis Bacon in his Novum Organum (1620), which advocated an inductive approach: systematically collecting observations, excluding preconceptions (idols of the mind), and building generalizations from particular facts to uncover nature's laws through cooperative, organized inquiry. In physics, Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) synthesized these ideas by unifying terrestrial mechanics with celestial motion via his three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, positing that every particle attracts every other with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them—thus explaining Kepler's orbits as consequences of a single gravitational principle. During the Enlightenment, this quantitative ethos extended to biology with Carl Linnaeus's Species Plantarum (1753), introducing binomial nomenclature (genus and species names, e.g., Homo sapiens) to classify organisms systematically based on observable reproductive traits, standardizing natural history for global scientific exchange.^[112]^[59]^[113] The impacts of these developments were institutional as well as intellectual, fostering a transition from qualitative descriptions to quantitative measurements that enabled reproducible results and technological applications. The establishment of scientific academies exemplified this shift; the Royal Society of London, founded on November 28, 1660, by a group including Christopher Wren and Robert Boyle, promoted experimental philosophy through regular meetings and publications like Philosophical Transactions (from 1665), emphasizing verification over authority. This era's emphasis on induction and mathematics not only democratized knowledge production but also set the stage for natural science as a collaborative, evidence-based enterprise, profoundly influencing subsequent disciplines.^[114]^[115]

19th-Century Advances

The 19th century marked a period of rapid expansion in natural science, fueled by the Industrial Revolution's demand for practical knowledge and theoretical unification across disciplines. Scientists shifted from Enlightenment-era foundations toward empirical experimentation and mathematical rigor, establishing key principles that integrated diverse phenomena. This era saw the professionalization of science through dedicated institutions and the application of discoveries to industrial processes, laying the groundwork for modern technology. In physics, Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 revolutionized understanding of electricity and magnetism, demonstrating that a changing magnetic field could induce an electric current in a conductor. Faraday conducted experiments by moving magnets near coiled wires, observing deflections in a galvanometer that confirmed the principle, which became foundational for electric motors, generators, and transformers. This work unified electricity and magnetism experimentally, paving the way for later theoretical formulations.^[116]^[117] Thermodynamics emerged as a cornerstone of 19th-century physics, addressing energy conversion in heat engines amid industrial needs. Sadi Carnot introduced the concept of the ideal heat engine cycle in 1824, analyzing the efficiency limits of steam engines operating between two temperatures and establishing that no engine could exceed the efficiency of a reversible cycle. Building on this, Rudolf Clausius formalized the second law of thermodynamics in the 1850s, introducing the entropy concept to quantify irreversible processes and energy dissipation, which explained why perpetual motion machines are impossible. These developments optimized steam engine designs, such as those by James Watt's successors, enhancing power output for factories and railways.^[118] Chemistry advanced through Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table, presented in 1869 to the Russian Chemical Society, which organized elements by atomic weight and predicted undiscovered ones like gallium based on property trends. Mendeleev's system revealed periodicity in chemical behavior, enabling synthesis of new compounds and understanding of atomic structure, though full atomic number basis came later. This framework spurred industrial chemistry, particularly in dyes, where William Perkin's 1856 mauveine synthesis from coal tar initiated synthetic colorants, transforming textiles and pharmaceuticals.^[119]^[120] In biology, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) proposed natural selection as the mechanism for evolution, arguing that species descend from common ancestors through variation, inheritance, and environmental pressures. Drawing from observations during the HMS Beagle voyage, Darwin evidenced descent with modification via fossil records and biogeography, challenging static creationism and integrating biology with geology. This theory unified life sciences, influencing fields from genetics to ecology.^[121] Geology progressed with Charles Lyell's uniformitarianism, outlined in Principles of Geology (1830–1833), which posited that Earth's features result from gradual, uniform processes observable today, rather than sudden catastrophes. Lyell used evidence from rock strata and erosion to argue for an ancient Earth, influencing Darwin's evolutionary timescale by emphasizing slow change over vast time. This approach professionalized geology, emphasizing fieldwork and empirical data.^[122]^[123] The era's scientific professionalization was evident in the rise of dedicated laboratories, starting with university facilities like Justus Liebig's in Giessen (1820s) for chemical analysis and expanding to industrial labs in Germany by the 1870s for applied research. Societies such as the Chemical Society of London (1841) and journals like Nature (1869) standardized practices, training, and peer review, shifting science from gentlemanly pursuits to a salaried profession.^[124]^[125] These advances drove industrial impacts, with thermodynamic improvements boosting steam engine efficiency to over 10% by mid-century, powering mechanized production and transport. Chemical innovations fueled the fossil fuel era's onset, as coal dominated energy (supplying 90% of Britain's needs by 1850) and oil extraction began with Edwin Drake's 1859 Pennsylvania well, enabling kerosene lighting and later engines. Synthetic dyes from coal derivatives exemplified resource extraction's scale, with Germany's industry producing thousands of tons annually by 1900, marking science's role in economic transformation.^[126]^[127]^[128]

20th- and 21st-Century Developments

The 20th century marked a transformative era in natural science, characterized by paradigm-shifting theories and experimental discoveries that redefined fundamental understandings of the universe, matter, and life. Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, published in 1905, revolutionized physics by establishing that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers and that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, leading to concepts like time dilation and mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²). His general theory of relativity, introduced in 1915, further extended this framework by describing gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by mass and energy, predicting phenomena such as black holes and the bending of light around massive objects, later confirmed by observations like the 1919 solar eclipse expedition. In parallel, the development of quantum mechanics in the early 20th century overturned classical determinism; Niels Bohr's 1913 atomic model incorporated quantized energy levels to explain atomic spectra, while Werner Heisenberg's 1927 uncertainty principle asserted that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot be simultaneously measured with arbitrary precision, laying the groundwork for probabilistic interpretations of subatomic behavior. Biology and cosmology also saw monumental advances during this period. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick proposed the double-helix structure of DNA, elucidating how genetic information is stored and replicated, which became the cornerstone of molecular biology and enabled subsequent genetic engineering techniques. This progress was recognized by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John Jumper for developing methods for computational protein structure prediction and design, including AlphaFold.^[129] Cosmologically, the accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson provided empirical confirmation of the Big Bang theory, revealing the universe's thermal remnant from its hot, dense origin approximately 13.8 billion years ago and supporting the expanding universe model. These breakthroughs not only resolved longstanding puzzles but also spurred technological innovations, such as nuclear energy from relativity and semiconductors from quantum principles. Entering the 21st century, natural science accelerated through large-scale collaborative efforts and precision technologies, integrating biology, physics, and earth sciences. The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, sequenced the entire human genome, identifying about 20,000–25,000 genes and providing a foundational reference for understanding genetic diseases, evolution, and personalized medicine. In genetics, the 2012 development of CRISPR-Cas9 by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier introduced a precise, programmable tool for genome editing, derived from bacterial immune systems, enabling targeted modifications in DNA with applications in treating genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia. Astronomy advanced dramatically with NASA's Kepler mission (2009–2018), which detected over 2,600 exoplanets, including potentially habitable ones in systems like TRAPPIST-1, transforming our view of planetary diversity and the search for extraterrestrial life. Concurrently, climate science progressed through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (2021–2023) and the '10 New Insights in Climate Science 2024/2025' report, which refined global climate models to project warming scenarios, attributing over 1.1°C of observed rise to human activities, emphasizing tipping points like permafrost thaw, and addressing record warm years 2023/2024.^[130] Emerging trends in the 2020s highlight the convergence of natural science with computational paradigms, promising to address complex systems at unprecedented scales. Quantum computing applications have gained traction, with demonstrations like Google's 2019 quantum supremacy experiment on the Sycamore processor solving specific problems faster than classical supercomputers, paving the way for simulations in quantum chemistry and materials design. In astrobiology, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), operational since 2022, has revealed biosignatures such as water vapor and carbon dioxide in exoplanet atmospheres (e.g., WASP-39b in 2022) and early galaxy formations dating to 300 million years post-Big Bang; by 2025, it provided evidence for the universe's first stars and directly imaged exoplanets like TWA 7 b, enhancing prospects for detecting habitable worlds.^[131]^[132] Artificial intelligence has revolutionized scientific simulations, as seen in AlphaFold2's 2021 prediction of protein structures with near-experimental accuracy, accelerating drug discovery and biological modeling across disciplines. Amid these advances, modern natural science grapples with profound challenges, particularly ethical and environmental imperatives. Biotechnology innovations like CRISPR raise ethical concerns over germline editing, which could introduce heritable changes, prompting calls for international moratoriums to prevent unintended ecological or social harms, as outlined in World Health Organization guidelines. The climate crisis demands urgent responses, with IPCC assessments from 2023–2025 stressing the need for net-zero emissions by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5°C, including adaptive strategies like carbon capture and resilient agriculture to mitigate impacts on biodiversity and human societies. These issues underscore the interdisciplinary imperative to balance innovation with responsible stewardship in natural science.

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In. 1831, Michael Faraday discovered that, by varying magnetic field with time, an electric field could be generated. The phenomenon is known as ...
[103]
https://www.reed.edu/philosophy/scharle/publications/elemental-teleology.pdf
[104]
Mendeleev's Periodic Table | Origins
Mar 18, 2019 · In March 1869, Mendeleev delivered a full paper to the Russian Chemical Society spelling out the most significant aspect of his system, that ...
[105]
Mendeleev's First Periodic Table - Le Moyne
This table and the accompanying observations were first presented to the Russian Chemical Society in March 1869. (Actually, Mendeleev was ill, and his colleague ...
[106]
Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" - Brandeis University
Mar 29, 2012 · In 1859, Charles Darwin published his seminal work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the ...Missing: primary source
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Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell - Understanding Evolution
Lyell's version of geology came to be known as uniformitarianism, because of his fierce insistence that the processes that alter the Earth are uniform ...
[108]
Charles Lyell (1797-1875) | The Foundation of Modern Geology
In 1830, Lyell published his book entitled Principles of Geology. In this book Lyell describes an earth system that is governed by physical, chemical and ...
[109]
Emergence of Professionalism in Late 19th and Early 20th Century ...
College and university programs were instituted, conventions were held, and journals were created so that the profession could identify those with expertise, ...
[110]
[PDF] Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization - Questrom World
The first organized industrial research laboratories appeared in Germany in the 1870s in firms that sought to commercialize inventions based on recent ...
[111]
S&I History - Bradley University
... steam engine that set the standard for future industrial and mining steam engines. ... The chemical dye industry grew into a major center of chemical research.
[112]
Energy History – Energy History Online
In 1859, the completion of the first successful petroleum well in northwestern Pennsylvania set off a wild speculative oil boom. Independent oil producers ...
[113]
[PDF] The Origins of Fossil Capital: From Water to Steam in the British ...
This article tries to approach the dynamics of the fossil economy by examining the causes of the transition from water to steam in the British cotton industry ...
[114]
Microbiology - Collection Development Guidelines of the National Library of Medicine
Definition of microbiology as the study of microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and viruses.
[115]
Physiology - Collection Development Guidelines of the National Library of Medicine
Definition of physiology as the biological science concerned with the life-supporting properties, functions, and processes of living organisms or their parts.
[116]
Systems Biology as Defined by NIH
Systems biology as an approach to understanding the larger picture in biomedical research by putting its pieces together.
[117]
A New Evolutionary Synthesis - Developmental Biology - NCBI
The Modern Synthesis of population genetics and evolutionary biology formed a new framework for research in evolutionary biology.
[118]
Central Dogma - Genome.gov
The central dogma states that genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to protein.
[119]
1972: First Recombinant DNA - Genome.gov
The first production of recombinant DNA molecules occurred in the early 1970s.