| Abstract from DBPedia | 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. Natural science can be divided into two main branches: life science and physical science. Life science is alternatively known as biology, and physical science is subdivided into branches: physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy. 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 which can be explained as clear statements of the "laws of nature". Modern natural science succeeded more classical approaches to natural philosophy, usually traced to Taoists traditions in Asia and in the West to ancient Greece. Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, and Newton debated the benefits of using approaches which were more mathematical and more experimental in a methodical way. 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.自然科学（しぜんかがく、（英: natural science〔ナチュラルサイエンス〕, science〔サイエンス〕）または理学とは、自然に属しているあらゆる対象を取り扱い、その法則性を明らかにする学問。『精選版 日本国語大辞典』において自然科学は、狭義には自然現象の法則を探求する数学・物理学・天文学・化学・生物学・地球科学などを指し、広義にはそれらを実生活へ応用する工学・農学・医学なども指し得る。 また、別の定義における自然科学とは、自然における観測可能な対象や過程に関する科学または知識であり、例えば生物学や物理学など。この意味での自然科学は、数学や哲学のような「抽象的または理論的な諸科学」（"the abstract or theoretical sciences"）とは異なる。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Natural_science) |
