Editing Natural science (section)

{{Short description|Branch of science about the natural world}}
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| footer            = The natural sciences seek to understand how the world and [[universe]] around us works. There are five major branches: [[physics]], [[astronomy]], [[Earth science]], [[chemistry]] and [[biology]].
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{{Science|expanded=Branches}}

'''Natural science''' or '''empirical 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/what-is-natural-science-5-definitions/|title=Definitions of the Natural Science|website=uopeople.edu|date=10 June 2021|access-date=27 December 2022|archive-date=27 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227073210/https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/what-is-natural-science-5-definitions/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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: [[list of life sciences|life science]] and [[Outline of physical science|physical science]]. Life science is alternatively known as [[biology]]. Physical science is subdivided into branches: [[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 science]]s, such as [[mathematics]] and [[logic]], converting information about nature into measurements that can be explained as clear statements of the "[[laws of science|laws of nature]]".{{sfn|Lagemaat|2006|p=283}}

Modern natural science succeeded more classical approaches to [[natural philosophy]]. [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]], [[Johannes Kepler|Kepler]], [[René Descartes|Descartes]], [[Francis Bacon|Bacon]], and [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] debated the benefits of using approaches which were more [[mathematical physics|mathematical]] and more experimental in a methodical way. Still, philosophical perspectives, [[conjecture]]s, and [[presupposition]]s, often overlooked, remain necessary in natural science.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gauch |first=Hugh G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVkugqNG9dAC&pg=PA71 |title=Scientific Method in Practice |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01708-4 |pages=71–73 |language=en |access-date=2015-07-02 |archive-date=2023-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213102802/https://books.google.com/books?id=iVkugqNG9dAC&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Oglivie|2008|pp=1–2}} Today, "natural history" suggests observational descriptions aimed at popular audiences.<ref name="Wordnet definition">{{cite web|title=Natural History|url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=natural+history|publisher=Princeton University WordNet|access-date=October 21, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303173506/http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=natural+history|archive-date=March 3, 2012}}</ref>