Natural science

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Image:Moon.crater.arp.750pix.jpg

The lunar farside as seen from Apollo 11

Natural science is the study of the physical, nonhuman aspects of the Earth and the universe around us. Natural sciences generally attempt to explain the workings of the world via natural processes rather than divine processes. The term natural science is also used to identify science as a discipline following the scientific method, in contrast to natural philosophy, or in contrast with social sciences, which use the same scientific method applied to different subjects.

Natural sciences form the basis for the applied sciences. Together, the natural and applied sciences are distinguished from the social sciences on the one hand, and from the humanities, theology and the arts on the other. Mathematics is not itself a natural science, but provides many tools and frameworks used within the natural sciences.

Alongside this traditional usage, more recently the words "natural sciences" are sometimes used in a way more closely matching their everyday meaning, stemming from natural history. In this sense "natural sciences" can be an alternative phrase for biological sciences, involved in biological processes, or perhaps also the earth sciences, as might distinguished from the physical sciences (more directly involved in the study of physical and chemical laws underlying the universe).

See Category:Science for articles about the individual Natural sciences

Natural sciences

Astronomy, the study of the stars, the cosmos, etc.
Biology, the study of life.
- Ecology, the study of the interrelationships of life.
Chemistry, the study of matter and its interactions.
Earth science, the study of earth and specialties including:
- Geology
- Science-based or Physical Geography
- Soil science
Physics, the study of physical laws.