---
title: "Natural science"
chunk: 1/7
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:57:09.374916+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Natural science or empirical science is a branch 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 reproducibility of findings are used to try to ensure the validity of scientific advances.
Natural science can be divided into two main branches: life science and physical science. Life science is alternatively known as biology. Physical science is subdivided into physics, astronomy, Earth science, and chemistry. These branches of natural science may be further divided into more specialized branches, also known as fields. As empirical sciences, natural sciences use tools from the formal sciences, such as mathematics and logic, converting information about nature into measurements that can be explained as clear statements of the "laws of nature".
Modern natural science succeeded more classical approaches to natural philosophy. Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton debated the benefits of a more mathematical as against a more experimental method in investigating nature. Still, philosophical perspectives, conjectures, and presuppositions, often overlooked, remain necessary in natural science. Systematic data collection, including discovery science, succeeded natural history, which emerged in the 16th century by describing and classifying plants, animals, minerals, and so on. Today, "natural history" suggests observational descriptions aimed at popular audiences.

== Criteria ==

Philosophers of science have suggested several criteria, including Karl Popper's controversial falsifiability criterion, to help them differentiate scientific endeavors from non-scientific ones. Validity, accuracy, and quality control, such as peer review and reproducibility of findings, are amongst the most respected criteria in today's global scientific community.
In natural science, impossibility assertions come to be widely accepted as overwhelmingly probable rather than considered proven to the point of being unchallengeable. The basis for this strong acceptance is a combination of extensive evidence of something not occurring, combined with an underlying theory, very successful in making predictions, whose assumptions lead logically to the conclusion that something is impossible. While an impossibility assertion in natural science can never be proved, it could be refuted by the observation of a single counterexample. Such a counterexample would require that the assumptions underlying the theory that implied the impossibility be re-examined.

== Branches of natural science ==

=== Biology ===

This field encompasses a diverse set of disciplines that examine phenomena related to living organisms. The scale of study can range from sub-component biophysics up to complex ecologies. Biology is concerned with the characteristics, classification, and behaviors of organisms, as well as how species were formed and their interactions with each other and the environment.
The biological fields of botany, zoology, and medicine date back to early periods of civilization, while microbiology was introduced in the 17th century with the invention of the microscope. However, it was not until the 19th century that biology became a unified science. Once scientists discovered commonalities between all living things, it was decided they were best studied as a whole.
Some key developments in biology were the discovery of genetics, evolution through natural selection, the germ theory of disease, and the application of the techniques of chemistry and physics at the level of the cell or organic molecule.
Modern biology is divided into subdisciplines by the type of organism and by the scale being studied. Molecular biology is the study of the fundamental chemistry of life, while cellular biology is the examination of the cell; the basic building block of all life. At a higher level, anatomy and physiology look at the internal structures, and their functions, of an organism, while ecology looks at how various organisms interrelate.

=== Earth science ===

Earth science (also known as geoscience) is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth, including geology, geography, geophysics, geochemistry, climatology, glaciology, hydrology, meteorology and oceanography.
Although mining and precious stones have been human interests throughout the history of civilization, the development of the related sciences of economic geology and mineralogy did not occur until the 18th century. The study of the earth, particularly paleontology, blossomed in the 19th century. The growth of other disciplines, such as geophysics, in the 20th century led to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, which has had a similar effect on the Earth sciences as the theory of evolution had on biology. Earth sciences today are closely linked to petroleum and mineral resources, climate research, and to environmental assessment and remediation.

==== Atmospheric sciences ====

Although sometimes considered in conjunction with the Earth sciences, due to the independent development of its concepts, techniques, and practices and also the fact of it having a wide range of sub-disciplines under its wing, atmospheric science is also considered a separate branch of natural science. This field studies the characteristics of different layers of the atmosphere from ground level to the edge of space. The timescale of the study also varies from day to century. Sometimes, the field also includes the study of climatic patterns on planets other than Earth.

==== Oceanography ====

The serious study of oceans began in the 19th century. As a field of natural science, it is relatively young, but stand-alone programs offer specializations in the subject. Though some controversies remain as to the categorization of the field under earth sciences, interdisciplinary sciences, or as a separate field in its own right, most modern workers in the field agree that it has matured to a state where it has its own paradigms and practices.

==== Planetary science ====