Outline of physical science

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Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences".

Contents

Definition

Physical science can be described as all of the following:

Branches of physical science

History of physical science

History of physical science – history of the branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since many branches of physical science also study biological phenomena (organic chemistry, for example). The four main branches of physical science are astronomy, physics, chemistry, and the Earth sciences, which include meteorology and geology.

General principles of the physical sciences

Basic principles of physics

Physics – branch of science that studies matter [4] and its motion through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. [5] Physics is one of the "fundamental sciences" because the other natural sciences (like biology, geology etc.) deal with systems that seem to obey the laws of physics. According to physics, the physical laws of matter, energy and the fundamental forces of nature govern the interactions between particles and physical entities (such as planets, molecules, atoms or the subatomic particles). Some of the basic pursuits of physics, which include some of the most prominent developments in modern science in the last millennium, include:

Basic principles of astronomy

Astronomyscience of celestial bodies and their interactions in space. Its studies include the following:

(Note: Astronomy should not be confused with astrology, which assumes [10] [11] [12] that people's destiny and human affairs in general correlate to the apparent positions of astronomical objects in the sky – although the two fields share a common origin, they are quite different; astronomers embrace the scientific method, while astrologers do not.)

Basic principles of chemistry

Chemistry – branch of science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. [8] [9] Chemistry is chiefly concerned with atoms and molecules and their interactions and transformations, for example, the properties of the chemical bonds formed between atoms to create chemical compounds. As such, chemistry studies the involvement of electrons and various forms of energy in photochemical reactions, oxidation-reduction reactions, changes in phases of matter, and separation of mixtures. Preparation and properties of complex substances, such as alloys, polymers, biological molecules, and pharmaceutical agents are considered in specialized fields of chemistry.

Chemistry, the central science, partial ordering of the sciences proposed by Balaban and Klein. Partial ordering of the sciences Balaban Klein Scientometrics2006 615-637.svg
Chemistry, the central science, partial ordering of the sciences proposed by Balaban and Klein.

Basic principles of Earth science

Earth science – the science of the planet Earth, as of 2018 the only identified life-bearing planet. Its studies include the following:

Notable physical scientists

Earth scientists

See also

Notes

  1. The term 'universe' is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them. However, the term 'universe' may also be used in slightly different contextual senses, denoting concepts such as the cosmos or the philosophical world.

Related Research Articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chemistry:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physics</span> Science about matter and energy

Physics is the natural science of matter, involving the study of matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, with its main goal being to understand how the universe behaves. A scientist who specializes in the field of physics is called a physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical chemistry</span> Physics applied to chemical systems

Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, analytical dynamics and chemical equilibria.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to physics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of space science</span> Overview of and topical guide to space science

The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theoretical chemistry</span> Branch of chemistry

Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface of potential energy, molecular orbitals, orbital interactions, and molecule activation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural science</span> Branch of science about the natural world

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomy</span> Scientific study of celestial objects

Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric science</span> Study of the atmosphere, its processes, and its interactions with other systems

Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Climatology is the study of atmospheric changes that define average climates and their change over time, due to both natural and anthropogenic climate variability. Aeronomy is the study of the upper layers of the atmosphere, where dissociation and ionization are important. Atmospheric science has been extended to the field of planetary science and the study of the atmospheres of the planets and natural satellites of the Solar System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophysics</span> Subfield of astronomy

Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are." Among the subjects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theoretical astronomy</span> Applied and interdisciplinary physics

Theoretical astronomy is the use of analytical and computational models based on principles from physics and chemistry to describe and explain astronomical objects and astronomical phenomena. Theorists in astronomy endeavor to create theoretical models and from the results predict observational consequences of those models. The observation of a phenomenon predicted by a model allows astronomers to select between several alternate or conflicting models as the one best able to describe the phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of astronomy</span>

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to astronomy:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Earth sciences</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles related to Earth sciences

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Earth science:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical Research Laboratory</span> Indian space research institute

The Physical Research Laboratory is a National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, supported mainly by Department of Space, Government of India. This research laboratory has ongoing research programmes in astronomy and astrophysics, atmospheric sciences and aeronomy, planetary and geosciences, Earth sciences, Solar System studies and theoretical physics. It also manages the Udaipur Solar Observatory and Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory. The PRL is located in Ahmedabad.

The following outline is provided as a topical overview of science; the discipline of science is defined as both the systematic effort of acquiring knowledge through observation, experimentation and reasoning, and the body of knowledge thus acquired, the word "science" derives from the Latin word scientia meaning knowledge. A practitioner of science is called a "scientist". Modern science respects objective logical reasoning, and follows a set of core procedures or rules to determine the nature and underlying natural laws of all things, with a scope encompassing the entire universe. These procedures, or rules, are known as the scientific method.

The branches of science, also referred to as sciences, scientific fields or scientific disciplines, are commonly divided into three major groups:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branches of physics</span> Overview of the branches of physics

Physics is a scientific discipline that seeks to construct and experimentally test theories of the physical universe. These theories vary in their scope and can be organized into several distinct branches, which are outlined in this article.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to natural science:

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to applied science:

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

References

  1. Wilson, Edward O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1st ed.). New York, NY: Vintage Books. pp.  49–71. ISBN   0-679-45077-7.
  2. "... modern science is a discovery as well as an invention. It was a discovery that nature generally acts regularly enough to be described by laws and even by mathematics; and required invention to devise the techniques, abstractions, apparatus, and organization for exhibiting the regularities and securing their law-like descriptions." —p.vii, J. L. Heilbron, (2003, editor-in-chief). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-511229-6.
  3. "science". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 2011-10-16. 3 a: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method b: such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena
  4. 1 2 At the start of The Feynman Lectures on Physics , Richard Feynman offers the atomic hypothesis as the single most prolific scientific concept: "If, in some cataclysm, all [] scientific knowledge were to be destroyed [save] one sentence   [...] what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is  [...] that all things are made up of atoms  – little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another ..." ( Feynman, Leighton & Sands 1963 , p. I-2)
  5. 1 2 "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." ( Maxwell 1878 , p. 9)
  6. Young & Freedman 2014 , p. 9
  7. "Physics is the study of your world and the world and universe around you." ( Holzner 2006 , p. 7)
  8. 1 2 Russell, John B. "What is Chemistry?". Chemweb.ucc.ie. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021.
  9. 1 2 Chemistry Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine . (n.d.). Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  10. Scharringhausen, Britt. "What's the difference between astronomy and astrology? (Beginner) – Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer". curious.astro.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  11. Temming, Maria (July 14, 2014). "Astrology vs Astronomy: What's the Difference?". Sky & Telescope.
  12. "astrology | Origin and meaning of astrology by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2017-10-17.

Works cited