Natural science and Related Topics

Physics

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Ancient Egyptian astronomy is evident in monuments like the ceiling of Senemut's tomb from the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Ibn al-Haytham (c. 965–c. 1040), Book of Optics Book I, [6.85], [6.86]. Book II, [3.80] describes his camera obscura experiments.

Galileo Galilei showed a modern appreciation for the proper relationship between mathematics, theoretical physics, and experimental physics.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), whose laws of motion and universal gravitation were major milestones in classical physics

Max Planck (1858–1947), the originator of the theory of quantum mechanics

Albert Einstein (1879–1955), whose work on the photoelectric effect and the theory of relativity led to a revolution in 20th century physics

Solvay Conference of 1927, with prominent physicists such as Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck, Hendrik Lorentz, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie, Erwin Schrödinger and Paul Dirac

This parabola-shaped lava flow illustrates the application of mathematics in physics—in this case, Galileo's law of falling bodies.

Mathematics and ontology are used in physics. Physics is used in chemistry and cosmology.

The distinction between mathematics and physics is clear-cut, but not always obvious, especially in mathematical physics.

Classical physics implemented in an acoustic engineering model of sound reflecting from an acoustic diffuser

Archimedes' screw, a simple machine for lifting

The astronaut and Earth are both in free fall.

Physics involves modeling the natural world with theory, usually quantitative. Here, the path of a particle is modeled with the mathematics of calculus to explain its behavior: the purview of the branch of physics known as mechanics.

A simulated event in the CMS detector of the Large Hadron Collider, featuring a possible appearance of the Higgs boson.

Velocity-distribution data of a gas of rubidium atoms, confirming the discovery of a new phase of matter, the Bose–Einstein condensate

The deepest visible-light image of the universe, the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field

Feynman diagram signed by R. P. Feynman.

A typical phenomenon described by physics: a magnet levitating above a superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect.

Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force.

Science

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Systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

The first diagram of an evolutionary tree made by Charles Darwin in 1837

First global view of the ozone hole in 1983, using a space telescope

Radio light image of M87* black hole, made by the earth-spanning Event Horizon Telescope array in 2019

Supply and demand curve in economics, crossing over at the optimal equilibrium

A steam turbine with the case opened, such turbines produce most of the electricity used today

A diagram variant of scientific method represented as an ongoing process

Cover of the first issue of Nature, 4 November 1869

For Kuhn, the addition of epicycles in Ptolemaic astronomy was "normal science" within a paradigm, whereas the Copernican revolution was a paradigm shift.

Marie Curie was the first person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes: Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911.

Picture of scientists in 200th anniversary of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, 1900

Medal of the Nobel Prize, one of the most well-known science awards

Budget of NASA as percentage of United States federal budget, peaking at 4.4% in 1966 and slowly decline since

Dinosaur exhibit in the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Modern science is typically divided into three major branches: natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics), which study the physical world; the social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies; and the formal sciences (e.g., logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science), which study formal systems, governed by axioms and rules.

An oil painting of a chemist (Ana Kansky, painted by Henrika Šantel in 1932)

Chemistry

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Scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter.

Laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Cologne in Germany.

Solutions of substances in reagent bottles, including ammonium hydroxide and nitric acid, illuminated in different colors

A diagram of an atom based on the Bohr model

Standard form of the periodic table of chemical elements. The colors represent different categories of elements

Carbon dioxide (CO2), an example of a chemical compound

A ball-and-stick representation of the caffeine molecule (C8H10N4O2).

A 2-D structural formula of a benzene molecule (C6H6)

Diagram showing relationships among the phases and the terms used to describe phase changes.

An animation of the process of ionic bonding between sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) to form sodium chloride, or common table salt. Ionic bonding involves one atom taking valence electrons from another (as opposed to sharing, which occurs in covalent bonding)

In the methane molecule (CH4), the carbon atom shares a pair of valence electrons with each of the four hydrogen atoms. Thus, the octet rule is satisfied for C-atom (it has eight electrons in its valence shell) and the duet rule is satisfied for the H-atoms (they have two electrons in their valence shells).

During chemical reactions, bonds between atoms break and form, resulting in different substances with different properties. In a blast furnace, iron oxide, a compound, reacts with carbon monoxide to form iron, one of the chemical elements, and carbon dioxide.

The crystal lattice structure of potassium chloride (KCl), a salt which is formed due to the attraction of K+ cations and Cl− anions. Note how the overall charge of the ionic compound is zero.

Hydrogen bromide exists in the gas phase as a diatomic molecule

Democritus' atomist philosophy was later adopted by Epicurus (341–270 BCE).

15th-century artistic impression of Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber), a Perso-Arab alchemist and pioneer in organic chemistry.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is considered the "Father of Modern Chemistry".

In his periodic table, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted the existence of 7 new elements, and placed all 60 elements known at the time in their correct places.

Top: Expected results: alpha particles passing through the plum pudding model of the atom undisturbed.
Bottom: Observed results: a small portion of the particles were deflected, indicating a small, concentrated charge.

It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances.

Diagram of a fly from Robert Hooke's innovative Micrographia, 1665

Biology

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Scientific study of life.

In 1842, Charles Darwin penned his first sketch of On the Origin of Species.

In the Bohr model of an atom, electrons (blue dot) orbit around an atomic nucleus (red-filled circle) in specific atomic orbitals (grey empty circles).

Model of hydrogen bonds (1) between molecules of water

Organic compounds such as glucose are vital to organisms.

A phospholipid bilayer consists of two adjacent sheets of phospholipids, with the hydrophilic tails facing inwards and the hydrophobic heads facing outwards.

The (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) tertiary, and (d) quaternary structures of a hemoglobin protein

Structure of an animal cell depicting various organelles

Example of an enzyme-catalysed exothermic reaction

Photosynthesis changes sunlight into chemical energy, splits water to liberate O2, and fixes CO2 into sugar.

In meiosis, the chromosomes duplicate and the homologous chromosomes exchange genetic information during meiosis I. The daughter cells divide again in meiosis II to form haploid gametes.

Punnett square depicting a cross between two pea plants heterozygous for purple (B) and white (b) blossoms

Bases lie between two spiraling DNA strands.

The extended central dogma of molecular biology includes all the processes involved in the flow of genetic information.

Regulation of various stages of gene expression

Construction of recombinant DNA, in which a foreign DNA fragment is inserted into a plasmid vector

Model of concentration gradient building up; fine yellow-orange outlines are cell boundaries.

Comparison of allopatric, peripatric, parapatric and sympatric speciation

Bacteria – Gemmatimonas aurantiaca (-=1 Micrometer)

Diversity of fungi. Clockwise from top left: Amanita muscaria, a basidiomycete; Sarcoscypha coccinea, an ascomycete; bread covered in mold; chytrid; Aspergillus conidiophore.

Bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell wall

The xylem (blue) transports water and minerals from the roots upwards whereas the phloem (orange) transports carbohydrates between organs.

Reproduction and development in sporophytes

Negative feedback is necessary for maintaining homeostasis such as keeping body temperature constant.

Diffusion of water and ions in and out of a freshwater fish

Different digestive systems in marine fishes

Circulatory systems in arthropods, fish, reptiles, and birds/mammals

Asynchronous muscles power flight in most insects. a: Wings b: Wing joint c: Dorsoventral muscles power upstrokes d: Dorsolongitudinal muscles power downstrokes.

Mouse pyramidal neurons (green) and GABAergic neurons (red)

Processes in the primary immune response

Brood parasites, such as the cuckoo, provide a supernormal stimulus to the parenting species.

Terrestrial biomes are shaped by temperature and precipitation.

Reaching carrying capacity through a logistic growth curve

A (a) trophic pyramid and a (b) simplified food web. The trophic pyramid represents the biomass at each level.

Fast carbon cycle showing the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of tons per year. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red are human contributions, white are stored carbon. Effects of the slow carbon cycle, such as volcanic and tectonic activity, are not included.

Efforts are made to preserve the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia, without affecting visitors' access.

It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field.

A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit

Natural philosophy

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Philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe.

The term natural philosophy preceded current usage of natural science (i.e. empirical science).

3rd century BC Greek mathematician Euclid (holding calipers), as imagined by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens (1509–1511)

Mathematics

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Area of knowledge that includes such topics as numbers , formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and the spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and their changes (calculus and analysis).

The distribution of prime numbers is a central point of study in number theory. This Ulam spiral serves to illustrate it, hinting, in particular, at the conditional independence between being prime and being a value of certain quadratic polynomials.

The quadratic formula expresses concisely the solutions of all quadratic equations

Rubik's cube: the study of its possible moves is a concrete application of group theory

The Babylonian mathematical tablet Plimpton 322, dated to 1800 BC.

Archimedes used the method of exhaustion, depicted here, to approximate the value of pi.

The numerals used in the Bakhshali manuscript, dated between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD.

Leonardo Fibonacci, the Italian mathematician who introduced the Hindu–Arabic numeral system invented between the 1st and 4th centuries by Indian mathematicians, to the Western World.

Leonhard Euler created and popularized much of the mathematical notation used today.

Carl Friedrich Gauss, known as the prince of mathematicians

Euler's identity, which American physicist Richard Feynman once called "the most remarkable formula in mathematics".

Mathematics is essential in many fields, including natural sciences, engineering, medicine, finance, computer science and social sciences.

The rocky side of a mountain creek in Costa Rica

Earth science

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A volcanic eruption is the release of stored energy from below Earth's surface.

The magnetosphere shields the surface of Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind.
(image not to scale.)

In the image above the first example their anti-parallel currents with cause them to repel. In the second example they are parallel currents which cause attraction.

Changing magnetic field through a coil of wire therefore must induce an EMF the coil which in turn causes current to flow.

Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth.

The Paranal Observatory of European Southern Observatory is shooting a laser guide star to the Galactic Center

Astronomy

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Astronomical Observatory, New South Wales, Australia 1873

19th-century Quito Astronomical Observatory is located 12 minutes south of the Equator in Quito, Ecuador.

The Suryaprajnaptisūtra, a 6th-century BC astronomy text of Jains at The Schoyen Collection, London. Above: its manuscript from c. 1500 AD.

Greek equatorial sundial, Alexandria on the Oxus, present-day Afghanistan 3rd–2nd century BC

Galileo's sketches and observations of the Moon revealed that the surface was mountainous.

An astronomical chart from an early scientific manuscript, c. 1000

The Very Large Array in New Mexico, an example of a radio telescope

ALMA Observatory is one of the highest observatory sites on Earth. Atacama, Chile.

The Subaru Telescope (left) and Keck Observatory (center) on Mauna Kea, both examples of an observatory that operates at near-infrared and visible wavelengths. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (right) is an example of a telescope that operates only at near-infrared wavelengths.

X-ray jet made from a supermassive black hole found by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, made visible by light from the early Universe

Astrophysics applies physics and chemistry to understand the measurements made by astronomy. Representation of the Observable Universe that includes images from Hubble and other telescopes.

This image shows several blue, loop-shaped objects that are multiple images of the same galaxy, duplicated by the gravitational lens effect of the cluster of yellow galaxies near the middle of the photograph. The lens is produced by the cluster's gravitational field that bends light to magnify and distort the image of a more distant object.

Observed structure of the Milky Way's spiral arms

Mz 3, often referred to as the Ant planetary nebula. Ejecting gas from the dying central star shows symmetrical patterns unlike the chaotic patterns of ordinary explosions.

An ultraviolet image of the Sun's active photosphere as viewed by the TRACE space telescope. NASA photo

Solar observatory Lomnický štít (Slovakia) built in 1962

The black spot at the top is a dust devil climbing a crater wall on Mars. This moving, swirling column of Martian atmosphere (comparable to a terrestrial tornado) created the long, dark streak.

Amateur astronomers can build their own equipment, and hold star parties and gatherings, such as Stellafane.

Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena.

Experiment

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Procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried.

The black box model for observation (input and output are observables). When there are a feedback with some observer's control, as illustrated, the observation is also an experiment.

Uses of experiments vary considerably between the natural and human sciences.

The rock cycle shows the relationship between igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Geology

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Quartz from Tibet. Quartz makes up more than 10% of the Earth's crust by mass.

Oceanic-continental convergence resulting in subduction and volcanic arcs illustrates one effect of plate tectonics.

In this diagram based on seismic tomography, subducting slabs are in blue and continental margins and a few plate boundaries are in red. The blue blob in the cutaway section is the Farallon Plate, which is subducting beneath North America. The remnants of this plate on the surface of the Earth are the Juan de Fuca Plate and Explorer Plate, both in the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada and the Cocos Plate on the west coast of Mexico.

The Earth's layered structure. (1) inner core; (2) outer core; (3) lower mantle; (4) upper mantle; (5) lithosphere; (6) crust (part of the lithosphere)

Earth layered structure. Typical wave paths from earthquakes like these gave early seismologists insights into the layered structure of the Earth

Geological time in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons and eras of the Earth's history

Cross-cutting relations can be used to determine the relative ages of rock strata and other geological structures. Explanations: A – folded rock strata cut by a thrust fault; B – large intrusion (cutting through A); C – erosional angular unconformity (cutting off A & B) on which rock strata were deposited; D – volcanic dyke (cutting through A, B & C); E – even younger rock strata (overlying C & D); F – normal fault (cutting through A, B, C & E).

The Permian through Jurassic stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau area of southeastern Utah is an example of both original horizontality and the law of superposition. These strata make up much of the famous prominent rock formations in widely spaced protected areas such as Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park. From top to bottom: Rounded tan domes of the Navajo Sandstone, layered red Kayenta Formation, cliff-forming, vertically jointed, red Wingate Sandstone, slope-forming, purplish Chinle Formation, layered, lighter-red Moenkopi Formation, and white, layered Cutler Formation sandstone. Picture from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah.

The mineral zircon is often used in radiometric dating.

An originally horizontal sequence of sedimentary rocks (in shades of tan) are affected by igneous activity. Deep below the surface is a magma chamber and large associated igneous bodies. The magma chamber feeds the volcano, and sends offshoots of magma that will later crystallize into dikes and sills. Magma also advances upwards to form intrusive igneous bodies. The diagram illustrates both a cinder cone volcano, which releases ash, and a composite volcano, which releases both lava and ash.

An illustration of the three types of faults.
A. Strike-slip faults occur when rock units slide past one another.
B. Normal faults occur when rocks are undergoing horizontal extension.
C. Reverse (or thrust) faults occur when rocks are undergoing horizontal shortening.

A diagram of folds, indicating an anticline and a syncline

Geological cross section of Kittatinny Mountain. This cross-section shows metamorphic rocks, overlain by younger sediments deposited after the metamorphic event. These rock units were later folded and faulted during the uplift of the mountain.

A standard Brunton Pocket Transit, commonly used by geologists for mapping and surveying

A typical USGS field mapping camp in the 1950s

Today, handheld computers with GPS and geographic information systems software are often used in geological field work (digital geological mapping).

A petrified log in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, U.S.A.

A diagram of an orogenic wedge. The wedge grows through faulting in the interior and along the main basal fault, called the décollement. It builds its shape into a critical taper, in which the angles within the wedge remain the same as failures inside the material balance failures along the décollement. It is analogous to a bulldozer pushing a pile of dirt, where the bulldozer is the overriding plate.

Different colors show the different minerals composing the mount Ritagli di Lecca seen from Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily

Surface of Mars as photographed by the Viking 2 lander December 9, 1977

Man panning for gold on the Mokelumne. Harper's Weekly: How We Got Gold in California. 1860

Mud log in process, a common way to study the lithology when drilling oil wells

A child drinks water from a well built as part of a hydrogeological humanitarian project in Kenya

William Smith's geological map of England, Wales, and southern Scotland. Completed in 1815, it was the second national-scale geologic map, and by far the most accurate of its time.

Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian polymath, author of the first systematic treatise in scientific geology (1763)

James Hutton, Scottish geologist and father of modern geology

John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and father of plate tectonics

The volcanologist David A. Johnston 13 hours before his death at the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time.

A report on Natural science

27 related topics with Alpha

Physics

Science

Chemistry

Biology

Natural philosophy

Mathematics

Earth science

Astronomy

Experiment

Geology