natural science

In the broadest and most correct sense, under the name E. should understand the science of the structure of the universe and the laws that govern it. The aspiration and goal of E. lies in the mechanical explanation of the structure of the cosmos in all its details, within the limits of the cognizable, by the methods and methods characteristic of the exact sciences, that is, through observation, experience and mathematical calculation. Thus, everything transcendental is not included in the area of ​​E., because his philosophy revolves within a mechanical, therefore, strictly defined and delimited circle. From this point of view, all branches of E. represent 2 main departments or 2 main groups, namely:

I. General natural science explores such properties of bodies that are assigned to them all indifferently, and therefore can be called common. This includes mechanics, physics and chemistry, which are sufficiently characterized in further relevant articles. Calculation (mathematics) and experience are the main techniques in these branches of knowledge.

II. private natural science investigates the forms, structure and movement peculiar exclusively to those diverse and innumerable bodies that we call natural, with the aim of explaining the phenomena they represent with the help of the laws and conclusions of the general E. Calculation can also be applied here, but comparatively only in rare cases, although the achievement of a possible accuracy, and here it consists in the desire to reduce everything to calculation and to the solution of problems in a synthetic way. The latter has already been achieved by one of the branches of private E., namely astronomy in its department called celestial mechanics, while physical astronomy can be developed mainly with the help of observation and experience (spectral analysis), as is characteristic of all branches of private E. Thus, the following sciences belong here: astronomy (see), mineralogy in the broad sense of this expression, i.e. with the inclusion of geology (see), botany and zoology. The three finally named sciences are still named in most cases natural history, this outdated expression should be eliminated or applied only to their purely descriptive part, which, in turn, received more rational names, depending on what is actually described: minerals, plants or animals. Each of the branches of private E. is subdivided into several departments that have acquired independent significance because of their vastness, and most importantly, because the subjects studied have to be considered from different points of view, which, moreover, require unique techniques and methods. Each of the branches of private E. has a side morphological and dynamic. The task of morphology is the knowledge of the forms and structure of all natural bodies, the task of dynamics is the knowledge of those movements that, by their activity, caused the formation of these bodies and support their existence. Morphology, through precise descriptions and classifications, obtains conclusions that are considered laws, or rather morphological rules. These rules may be more or less general, i.e., for example, apply to plants and animals, or only to one of the kingdoms of nature. There are no general rules regarding all three kingdoms, and therefore botany and zoology constitute one common branch of E., called biology. Mineralogy, therefore, constitutes a more isolated doctrine. Morphological laws or rules become more and more specific as one goes deeper into the study of the structure and form of bodies. Thus, the presence of a bone skeleton is a law that applies only to vertebrates, the presence of seeds is a rule only for seed plants, etc. The dynamics of private E. consists of geology in an inorganic environment and from physiology- in biology. In these branches experience is mainly applied, and partly even calculation. Thus, private natural sciences can be represented in the following classification:

The degree of development, as well as the properties of the objects of study of the listed sciences themselves, were the reason that, as already mentioned, the methods used by them are very different. As a result, each of them breaks up into many separate specialties, often representing significant integrity and independence. So, in physics - optics, acoustics, etc. are studied independently, although the movements that make up the essence of these phenomena are performed according to homogeneous laws. Among the particular sciences, the oldest of them, namely, celestial mechanics, which until recently constituted almost all of astronomy, has been reduced almost exclusively to mathematics, while the physical part of this science calls for chemical (spectral) analysis to its aid. The rest of the private sciences are growing with such rapidity and have reached such an extraordinary expansion that their division into specialties is intensifying almost every decade. Yes, in

In the modern world, there are thousands of different sciences, educational disciplines, sections and other structural units. However, a special place among all is occupied by those that relate directly to a person and everything that surrounds him. This is the 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 of particular importance in people's lives.

What is natural sciences?

The answer to this question is simple. These are disciplines that study a person, his health, as well as the entire environment: soil, in general, space, nature, substances that make up all living and non-living bodies, their transformations.

The study of natural sciences has been interesting to people since antiquity. How to get rid of the disease, what the body consists of from the inside, and what they are, as well as millions of similar questions - this is what interested humanity from the very beginning of its occurrence. The disciplines under consideration give answers to them.

Therefore, to the question of what the natural sciences are, the answer is unequivocal. These are disciplines that study nature and all living things.

Classification

There are several main groups that relate to the natural sciences:

1. Chemical (analytical, organic, inorganic, quantum, organoelement compounds).
2. Biological (anatomy, physiology, botany, zoology, genetics).
3. chemistry, physical and mathematical sciences).
4. Earth sciences (astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, astrochemistry,
5. 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, branches, subsidiary and child disciplines. And if you combine all of them into a single whole, then you can get a whole natural complex of sciences, numbering in hundreds of units.

At the same time, 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. So, for example, knowledge of biology would be impossible without the use of technical means designed on the basis of physics.

At the same time, transformations inside living beings cannot be studied without knowledge of chemistry, because each organism is a whole factory of reactions occurring at an enormous speed.

The relationship of the natural sciences has always been traced. Historically, the development of one of them entailed intensive growth and accumulation of knowledge in the other. As soon as new lands began to be developed, islands, land areas were discovered, both zoology and botany immediately developed. After all, new habitats were inhabited (albeit 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 and chemistry. The design of the telescope largely determined the success in this area.

There are many such examples. All of them illustrate the close relationship between all 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, it is necessary to identify the objects of their study. They are:

• Human;
• a life;
• Universe;
• matter;
• Earth.

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:

1. Observation is one of the simplest, most effective and ancient ways to know the world.
2. Experiment is the basis of the chemical sciences, most of the biological and physical disciplines. Allows you to get the result and on it to draw a conclusion about
3. Comparison - this method is based on the use of historically accumulated knowledge on a particular issue and comparing them with the results obtained. Based on the analysis, a conclusion is made about the innovation, quality and other characteristics of the object.
4. Analysis. This method may include mathematical modeling, systematics, generalization, effectiveness. Most often it is final after a number of other studies.
5. Measurement - used to assess the parameters of specific objects of living 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. This is:

• 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 every field of scientific knowledge. Everything requires an individual approach, which means that a set of methods is formed, equipment and equipment are 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 a theoretical knowledge base in a more in-depth, rich format. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the main problem of the disciplines under consideration was opposition to the humanities.

However, today this obstacle is no longer relevant, since humanity has realized the importance of interdisciplinary integration in mastering knowledge about man, nature, space and other things.

Now the disciplines of the natural science cycle face a different task: how to preserve nature and protect it from the impact of man himself and his economic activity? And here are the most pressing issues:

• acid rain;
• the greenhouse effect;
• destruction of the ozone layer;
• extinction of plant and animal species;
• air pollution and others.

Biology

In most cases, in response to the question "What is the natural sciences?" One word comes to mind: biology. This is the opinion of most people who are not connected with science. And this is absolutely correct opinion. After all, what, if not biology, directly and very closely links nature and man?

All disciplines that make up this science are aimed at studying living systems, their interaction 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 oldest. After all, to himself, his body, the surrounding plants and animals was born together with man. Genetics, medicine, botany, zoology, and anatomy are closely related to the same discipline. All these branches make up biology as a whole. They also give us a complete picture of nature, and of man, and of all living systems and organisms.

Chemistry and physics

These fundamental sciences in the development of knowledge about bodies, substances and natural phenomena are no less ancient than biology. They also developed along with the development of man, his formation in the social environment. The main tasks of these sciences are 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 causes of their occurrence. Chemistry is based on the knowledge of substances and their mutual transformations into each other.

That's what the natural sciences are.

Earth sciences

And finally, we list the disciplines that allow you to learn more about our home, whose name is Earth. These include:

• geology;
• meteorology;
• climatology;
• geodesy;
• 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 is so necessary for the life of people and the development of the economy.

In the history of science until the 19th century, natural and humanitarian areas were not distinguished, and scientists until that time gave preference to natural science, that is, the study of those that exist objectively. In the 19th century, the division of sciences began at universities: the humanities, which are responsible for the study of cultural, social, spiritual, moral and other types of human activity, stand out in a separate area. And everything else falls under the concept of natural science, the name of which comes from the Latin "essence".

The history of the natural sciences began about three thousand years ago, but there were no separate disciplines then - philosophers were engaged in all areas of knowledge. Only at the time of the development of navigation did the division of sciences begin: astronomy also appeared, these areas were necessary during travel. With the development of technology, and stood out in independent sections.

The principle of philosophical naturalism is applied to the study of the natural sciences: this means that the laws of nature must be investigated without mixing them with the laws of man and excluding the action of the human will. Natural science has two main goals: the first is to explore and systematize data about the world, and the second is to use the knowledge gained for practical purposes to conquer nature.

Types of natural sciences

There are basic ones that have existed as independent areas for a long time. This is physics, chemistry, geography, astronomy, geology. But often the areas of their research intersect, forming at the junctions of new sciences - biochemistry, geophysics, geochemistry, astrophysics and others.

Physics is one of the most important natural sciences, its modern development began with Newton's classical theory of gravity. Faraday, Maxwell and Ohm continued the development of this science, and by the XX in the field of physics, when it became known that Newtonian mechanics is limited and imperfect.

Chemistry began to develop on the basis of alchemy, its modern history begins with 1661, when Boyle's The Skeptical Chemist came out. Biology appeared only in the 19th century, when the distinction between living and non-living matter was finally established. Geography was formed during the search for new lands and the development of navigation, and geology stood out as a separate area thanks to Leonardo da Vinci.

Science is a sphere of human activity, which is aimed at the theoretical systematization of knowledge about reality, which is of an objective nature.

Science and scientific knowledge

The basis of any science is the collection of facts, their processing, systematization, as well as critical analysis, which allows you to build a causal relationship.

Hypotheses and theories, which are confirmed by facts or experiments, are formulated in the form of the laws of society or the laws of nature.

Scientific knowledge is a system of knowledge about the laws of society, nature, thinking. It is scientific knowledge that reflects the laws of the development of the world and constitutes its scientific picture.

Scientific knowledge arises as a result of comprehension of human activity and the surrounding reality. Scientific knowledge has different types of certainty.

System of sciences

In its subject matter, science is not homogeneous; it forms many separate systems of sciences. In the period of antiquity, all scientific knowledge was united by philosophy - that is, there was a single scientific system.

Over time, mathematics, medicine and astrology separated from philosophy. During the Renaissance, separate systems of sciences became chemistry and physics.

At the end of the 19th century, sociology, psychology and biology acquired the status of independent scientific knowledge. Conventionally, all sciences, according to their subject of study, can be divided into three large systems:

Social sciences (sociology, history, religious studies, social studies);

Engineering sciences (agronomy, mechanics, construction and architecture);

Natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics)

Natural Sciences

Natural sciences are a system of sciences that study the influence of external natural phenomena on human life. The basis of the natural sciences is the correlation of the laws of nature with the laws that man has deduced in the course of his activities.

The basis of all natural sciences is natural science - a science that directly studies natural phenomena. The most significant contribution to the development of the natural sciences was made by such great scientists as Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal and Mikhail Lomonosov.

Social Sciences

Social sciences are a system of sciences, the main subject of which is the study of the laws governing the functioning of society, as well as its main components. Humanity has been interested in the problems of society since antiquity.

It was then that questions began to be raised for the first time about what is the role of the individual in public life, what should be the state, what is needed in order to create a welfare society.

The founders of modern social sciences are Rousseau, Locke and Hobbes. It was they who first formulated the philosophical basis for the development of society.

Research methods

In modern science, there are two main research methods: theoretical and empirical. The empirical method of research is the accumulation of facts, the observation of a phenomenon and the search for a logical connection between the fact and the phenomenon.

1. Natural sciences - concept and subject of study 3

2. History of the birth of natural science 3

3. Patterns and features of the development of natural science 6

4. Classification of natural sciences 7

5. Basic methods of natural science 9

Literature

Arutsev A.A., Ermolaev B.V., et al. Concepts of modern natural science. - M., 1999.

Matyukhin S.I., Frolenkov K.Yu. Concepts of modern natural science. - Orlov, 1999.

1. Natural sciences - the concept and subject of study

Natural science is the natural sciences or the totality of sciences about nature. At the present stage of development, all sciences are divided into public or humanitarian, and natural.

The subject of study of social sciences is human society and the laws of its development, as well as phenomena, one way or another connected with human activity.

The subject of study of the natural sciences is the Nature surrounding us, that is, various types of matter, the forms and laws of their movement, their connections. The system of natural sciences, taken in their mutual connection as a whole, forms the basis of one of the main areas of scientific knowledge about the World - natural science.

The immediate or immediate goal of natural science is knowledge of objective Truth , the search for the essence of the phenomena of Nature, the formulation of the basic laws of Nature, which makes it possible to foresee or create new phenomena. The ultimate goal of natural science is practical use of learned laws , forces and substances of Nature (production-applied side of knowledge).

Natural science, therefore, is the natural scientific foundation of the philosophical understanding of Nature and Man as part of this Nature, the theoretical basis of industry and agriculture, technology and medicine.

1. 2. History of the birth of natural science

The origins of modern science are the ancient Greeks. More ancient knowledge has come down to us only in the form of fragments. They are unsystematic, naive and alien to us in spirit. The Greeks were the first to invent proof. Neither in Egypt, nor in Mesopotamia, nor in China such a concept existed. Maybe because all these civilizations were based on tyranny and unconditional submission to authorities. In such circumstances, even the very idea of ​​reasonable evidence seems seditious.

In Athens, for the first time in the history of the world, a republic arose. Despite the fact that it flourished on the labor of slaves, in ancient Greece conditions developed under which a free exchange of opinions became possible, and this led to an unprecedented flowering of the sciences.

In the Middle Ages, the need for a rational knowledge of nature completely died out along with attempts to comprehend the destiny of man within the framework of various religious denominations. For almost ten centuries, religion has given exhaustive answers to all questions of life that were not subject to criticism or even discussion.

The writings of Euclid, the author of the geometry that is now studied in all schools, were translated into Latin and became known in Europe only in the 12th century. However, at that time they were perceived simply as a set of witty rules that had to be memorized - they were so alien to the spirit of medieval Europe, accustomed to believe, and not to seek the roots of Truth. But the volume of knowledge grew rapidly, and they could no longer be reconciled with the direction of thought of medieval minds.

The end of the Middle Ages is usually associated with the discovery of America in 1492. Some indicate an even more precise date: December 13, 1250, the day King Frederick II of Hohenstaufen died in the castle of Florentino near Lucera. Of course, one should not take such dates seriously, but several such dates taken together create an undoubted feeling of the authenticity of the turning point that occurred in the minds of people at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. In history, this period is called the Renaissance. Obeying the internal laws of development and for no apparent reason, Europe in just two centuries revived the rudiments of ancient knowledge, which had been forgotten for more than ten centuries and later called scientific.

During the Renaissance in the minds of people there was a turn from the desire to realize their place in the world to attempts to understand its rational structure without reference to miracles and divine revelation. At first, the coup was aristocratic in nature, but the invention of printing spread it to all strata of society. The essence of the turning point is the liberation from the pressure of authorities and the transition from the medieval faith to the knowledge of modern times.

The Church opposed the new trends in every possible way, she strictly judged philosophers who recognized that there are things true from the point of view of philosophy, but false from the point of view of faith. But the collapsed dam of faith could no longer be repaired, and the liberated spirit began to look for new ways for its development.

Already in the 13th century, the English philosopher Roger Bacon wrote: “There is a natural and imperfect experience that is not aware of its power and is not aware of its methods: it is used by artisans, not scientists ... Above all speculative knowledge and arts is the ability to produce experiments, and this science is the queen of sciences...

Philosophers must know that their science is powerless unless they apply powerful mathematics to it... It is impossible to distinguish sophism from proof without verifying the conclusion by experience and application.”

In 1440, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) wrote the book On Scientific Ignorance, in which he insisted that all knowledge about nature must be written down in numbers, and all experiments on it should be carried out with scales in hand.

However, the adoption of new views was slow. Arabic numerals, for example, came into general use already in the 10th century, but even in the 16th century, calculations were carried out everywhere not on paper, but with the help of special tokens, even less perfect than clerical accounts.

It is customary to begin the real history of natural science with Galileo and Newton. According to the same tradition, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) is considered the founder of experimental physics, and Isaac Newton (1643-1727) the founder of theoretical physics. Of course, in their time (see historical reference) there was no such division of the single science of physics into two parts, there was not even physics itself - it was called natural philosophy. But such a division has a deep meaning: it helps to understand the features of the scientific method and, in essence, is equivalent to the division of science into experience and mathematics, which was formulated by Roger Bacon.