In the modern world there are thousands of the most diverse sciences, educational disciplines, sections, and other structural units. However, a special place among all is occupied by those that relate directly to the person and everything that surrounds him. This is a system of natural sciences. Of course, all other disciplines are also important. But it is this group that has the most ancient origin, and therefore is of particular importance in the life of people.
What is the natural sciences?
The answer to this question is simple. These are such disciplines that study man, his health, and also the whole environment: soil, atmosphere, earth as a whole, space, nature, substances that make up all living and non-living bodies, their transformations.
The study of natural sciences was interesting to people from antiquity. How to get rid of the disease, what the body consists of from the inside, why the stars shine and what they are, as well as millions of similar questions - this is what has been of interest to mankind from the very sources of its occurrence. The answers to them are given by the disciplines in question.
Therefore, the answer to the question of what natural sciences are is unambiguous. These are the disciplines that study nature and all living things.
Classification
There are several main groups that relate to the natural sciences:
- Chemical (analytical, organic, inorganic, quantum, physical colloid chemistry, chemistry of organoelement compounds).
- Biological (anatomy, physiology, botany, zoology, genetics).
- Physical (physics, physical chemistry, physical and mathematical sciences).
- Earth sciences (astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, astrochemistry, space biology).
- Earth shell sciences (hydrology, meteorology, mineralogy, paleontology, physical geography, geology).
Only the basic natural sciences are represented here. However, it should be understood that each of them has its own subsections, industries, secondary and subsidiary disciplines. And if you combine all of them into a single whole, you can get a whole natural complex of sciences, calculated in hundreds of units.
Moreover, it can be divided into three large groups of disciplines:
- applied;
- descriptive;
- accurate.
Interaction of disciplines among themselves
Of course, no discipline can exist in isolation from others. All of them are in close harmonious interaction with each other, forming a single complex. For example, knowledge of biology would not be possible without the use of technical means designed on the basis of physics.
At the same time, it is impossible to study the transformations inside living beings without knowledge of chemistry, because every organism is a whole factory of reactions occurring at tremendous speed.
The interconnection of the natural sciences has always been traced. Historically, the development of one of them entailed the intensive growth and accumulation of knowledge in the other. As soon as new lands began to be developed, islands and land areas opened up, both zoology and botany immediately developed. Indeed, new habitats were populated (though not all) by previously unknown representatives of the human race. Thus, geography and biology were closely linked together.
If we talk about astronomy and related disciplines, it is impossible not to note the fact that they developed thanks to scientific discoveries in the field of physics, chemistry. The design of the telescope has largely determined success in this area.
There are many similar examples. All of them illustrate the close relationship between all the natural disciplines that make up one huge group. Below we consider the methods of natural sciences.
Research methods
Before dwelling on the research methods used by the sciences in question, the objects of their study should be identified. They are:
- human;
- a life;
- Universe;
- matter;
- Land.
Each of these objects has its own characteristics, and for their study it is necessary to select one or another method. Among these, as a rule, the following are distinguished:
- Observation is one of the simplest, most effective and ancient ways to know the world.
- The experiment is the basis of the chemical sciences, most biological and physical disciplines. It allows you to get a result and on it to draw a conclusion about the theoretical basis.
- Comparison - this method is based on the use of historically accumulated knowledge on a particular issue and comparing them with the results. Based on the analysis, a conclusion is made about the innovation, quality and other characteristics of the object.
- Analysis. This method may include mathematical modeling, systematics, generalization, performance. Most often, it is the outcome after a number of other studies.
- Measurement - used to evaluate the parameters of specific objects of animate and inanimate nature.
There are also the latest, modern research methods that are used in physics, chemistry, medicine, biochemistry and genetic engineering, genetics and other important sciences. It:
- electron and laser microscopy;
- centrifugation;
- biochemical analysis;
- X-ray structural analysis;
- spectrometry;
- chromatography and others.
Of course, this is not a complete list. There are many different devices for working in each field of scientific knowledge. An individual approach is necessary to everything, which means that a set of methods is being formed, equipment and equipment are being selected.
Modern problems of natural science
The main problems of the natural sciences at the present stage of development are the search for new information, the accumulation of the theoretical knowledge base in a more in-depth, saturated format. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the main problem of the disciplines under consideration was the confrontation with the humanitarian sectors.
However, today this obstacle is no longer relevant, since humanity has realized the importance of interdisciplinary integration in the acquisition of knowledge about man, nature, space and other things.
Now, the disciplines of the natural science cycle have a different task: how to preserve nature and protect it from the effects of man himself and his economic activity? And the problems here are the most pressing:
- acid rain;
- the greenhouse effect;
- destruction of the ozone layer;
- extinction of plant and animal species;
- air pollution and others.
Biology
In most cases, the answer to the question "What is the natural sciences?" one word immediately comes to mind - biology. This is the opinion of most people who are not related to science. And this is a completely correct opinion. After all, what, if not biology, directly and very closely connects nature and man?
All disciplines that make up this science are aimed at studying living systems, their interactions with each other and with the environment. Therefore, it is quite normal that biology is considered the founder of the natural sciences.
In addition, it is also one of the most ancient. After all , people's interest in themselves, their bodies, surrounding plants and animals originated with man. Genetics, medicine, botany, zoology, and anatomy are closely connected with this discipline. All these industries make up biology as a whole. They give us a complete picture of nature, and of man, and of all living systems and organisms.
Chemistry and Physics
These fundamental in the development of knowledge about bodies, substances and natural phenomena of science are no less ancient than biology. They also developed along with the development of man, his becoming in the social environment. The main objectives of these sciences is the study of all bodies of inanimate and living nature from the point of view of the processes occurring in them, their connection with the environment.
So, physics considers natural phenomena, mechanisms and the causes of their occurrence. Chemistry is based on knowledge of substances and their interconversions into each other.
This is what natural sciences are.
Earth sciences
And finally, we list the disciplines that allow you to learn more about our house, whose name is Earth. These include:
- geology;
- meteorology;
- climatology;
- surveying;
- hydrochemistry;
- cartography;
- mineralogy;
- seismology;
- soil science;
- paleontology;
- tectonics and others.
In total, there are about 35 different disciplines. Together, they study our planet, its structure, properties and features, which are so necessary for human life and the development of the economy.