Outline of science

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The following outline is provided as a topical overview of science:

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Science

Formal[hide]

 Logic

 Mathematics

 Mathematical logic

 Mathematical statistics

 Theoretical computer science

Physical[hide]
Astronomy

 Astrophysics

 Cosmology

 Galactic astronomy

 Planetary geology

 Planetary science

 Stellar astronomy

Chemistry

 Acid-base

 Alchemy

 Analytical

 Astrochemistry

 Biochemistry
 Crystallography

 Environmental

 Food chemistry

 Geochemistry

 Green (sustainable)

 Inorganic

 Materials science

 Molecular physics

 Nuclear

 Organic

 Photochemistry

 Physical

 Radiochemistry

 Solid-state

 Stereochemistry

 Supramolecular

 Surface science

 Theoretical

Physics

 Classical

 Modern

 Applied

 Experimental

 Theoretical

 Computational

 Atomic

 Condensed matter

 Mechanics (classical

 continuum

 fluid

 solid)

 Molecular
  Nuclear

 Particle

 Plasma

 Quantum field theory

 Quantum mechanics (introduction)

 Special relativity

 General relativity

 Rheology

 String theory

 Thermodynamics

Earth sciences

 Climatology

 Ecology

 Edaphology

 Environmental science

 Geodesy

 Geography (physical)

 Geology

 Geomorphology

 Geophysics

 Glaciology

 Hydrology

 Limnology

 Meteorology

 Oceanography

 Paleoclimatology

 Paleoecology

 Palynology

 Pedology

 Space science

Life[hide]
Biology
 Anatomy

 Astrobiology

 Biochemistry

 Biogeography

 Biological engineering

 Biophysics

 Behavioral neuroscience

 Biotechnology

 Botany

 Cell biology

 Conservation biology

 Cryobiology

 Developmental biology

 Ecology

 Ethnobiology

 Ethology

 Evolutionary biology (introduction)

 Genetics (introduction)

 Gerontology

 Immunology

 Limnology

 Marine biology

 Microbiology

 Molecular biology

 Neuroscience

 Paleontology

 Parasitology

 Physiology

 Radiobiology

 Soil biology

 Sociobiology

 Systematics
  Toxicology

 Zoology

Social[hide]
 Anthropology

 Archaeology

 Criminology

 Demography

 Economics

 Human geography

 International relations

 Law

 Linguistics

 Pedagogy

 Political science

 Psychology

 Science education

 Sociology

Applied[hide]
Engineering

 Aerospace

 Agricultural

 Biological

 Biomedical

 Chemical

 Civil

 Computer science / engineering

 Electrical

 Fire protection

 Genetic

 Industrial

 Mechanical
  Military

 Mining

 Nuclear

 Operations research

 Robotics

 Software

 Web

Healthcare

 Dentistry

 Epidemiology

 Medicine (veterinary)

 Nursing

 Pharmacy

Interdisciplinary[hide]
 Applied physics

 Artificial intelligence

 Bioethics

 Bioinformatics

 Biomedical engineering

 Biostatistics

 Cognitive science

 Complex systems

 Computational linguistics

 Cultural studies

 Cybernetics

 Environmental science

 Environmental social science

 Environmental studies

 Ethnic studies

 Evolutionary psychology

 Forestry

 Library science
 Mathematical and theoretical biology

 Mathematical physics

 Military science

 Network science

 Neural engineering

 Neuroscience

 Science studies

 Scientific modelling

 Semiotics

 Sociobiology

 Statistics

 Systems science

 Urban planning

 Web science

 Philosophy
 History
[hide]

 Citizen science

 Fringe science

 Protoscience

 Pseudoscience

 Scientific freedom

 Science policy

 Scientific method

 Technoscience

 Outline

 Portal

 Category

 V

 T

 E
Science – systematic effort of acquiring knowledge—through observation and experimentation coupled
with logic and reasoning to find out what can be proved or not proved—and the knowledge thus acquired.
The word "science" comes from the Latin word "scientia" meaningknowledge. A practitioner of science is
called a "scientist". Modern science respects objective logical reasoning, and follows a set of core
procedures or rules in order to determine the nature and underlying natural laws of the universe and
everything in it. Some scientists do not know of the rules themselves, but follow them through research
policies. These procedures are known as scientific method.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Essence of science

 2 Scientific method

 3 Branches of science

o 3.1 Natural sciences

o 3.2 Formal sciences

o 3.3 Social sciences

o 3.4 Applied sciences

 4 How scientific fields differ

 5 Politics of science

 6 History of science

o 6.1 By period

o 6.2 By field

o 6.3 By region

 7 Philosophy of science

 8 Scientific community

o 8.1 Scientific organizations

o 8.2 Scientists

 9 Science education

 10 See also

 11 References

Essence of science[edit]
Main article: Science
 Research – systematic investigation into existing or new
knowledge.
 Scientific discovery – observation of new phenomena, new actions,
or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the
knowledge gathered through such observations with previously
acquired knowledge from abstract thought and everyday
experiences.
 Laboratory – facility that provides controlled conditions in which
scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be
performed.
 Objectivity – the idea that scientists, in attempting to uncover truths
about the natural world, must aspire to eliminate personal or
cognitive biases, a priori commitments, emotional involvement, etc.
 Inquiry – any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge,
resolving doubt, or solving a problem.

Scientific method[edit]
Scientific method – body of techniques for investigating phenomena
and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating
previous knowledge. It is based on observable, empirical, measurable
evidence, and subject to laws of reasoning, both deductive and
inductive.

 Empirical method –

 Experimental method – The steps involved in order to produce a

reliable and logical conclusion include:
1. Asking a question about a natural phenomenon

2. Making observations of the phenomenon

3. Forming a hypothesis – proposed explanation for a

phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific
hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can
test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on
previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be
explained with the available scientific theories.
4. Predicting a logical consequence of the hypothesis
5. Testing the hypothesis through an experiment –
methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying,
falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. The
3 types of scientific experiments are:
 Controlled experiment – experiment that compares
the results obtained from an experimental sample
against a control sample, which is practically identical
to the experimental sample except for the one aspect
the effect of which is being tested (the independent
variable).
 Natural experiment – empirical study in which the
experimental conditions (i.e., which units receive
which treatment) are determined by nature or by other
factors out of the control of the experimenters and yet
the treatment assignment process is arguably
exogenous. Thus, natural experiments are
observational studies and are not controlled in the
traditional sense of a randomized experiment.

 Observational study – draws inferences about the

possible effect of a treatment on subjects, where
the assignment of subjects into a treated group
versus a control group is outside the control of
the investigator.

 Field experiment – applies the scientific method to

experimentally examine an intervention in the real
world (or as many experimentalists like to say,
naturally occurring environments) rather than in the
laboratory. See also field research.

6. Gather and analyze data from experiments or

observations, including indicators of uncertainty.

7. Draw conclusions by comparing data with predictions.

Possible outcomes:

 Conclusive:
  The hypothesis is falsified by the data.

 Data are consistent with the hypothesis.

 Data are consistent with alternative hypotheses.

 Inconclusive:

 Data are not relevant to the hypothesis, or data

and predictions are incommensurate.

 There is too much uncertainty in the data to draw

any conclusion.

 Deductive-nomological model

 Scientific modelling –

 Models of scientific method

 Hypothetico-deductive model – proposed description of
scientific method. According to it, scientific inquiry proceeds by
formulating a hypothesis in a form that could conceivably be
falsified by a test on observable data. A test that could and
does run contrary to predictions of the hypothesis is taken as a
falsification of the hypothesis. A test that could but does not
run contrary to the hypothesis corroborates the theory.

Branches of science[edit]
Branches of science – divisions within science with respect to the entity
or system concerned, which typically embodies its
own terminologyand nomenclature.
Natural sciences[edit]
See also: Outline of science § Social sciences

 Natural science –
Physical sciences[edit]

 Physical science –
Physics[edit]
Physics – study of matter and its motion through space-time, along with
related concepts such as energy and force
 Acoustics – study of mechanical waves in solids, liquids, and
gases (such as vibration and sound)
 Agrophysics – study of physics applied to agroecosystems

 Soil physics – study of soil physical properties and processes.

 Astrophysics – study of the physical aspects of celestial objects

Astronomy – studies the universe beyond Earth, including its formation
and development, and the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology,
and motion of celestial objects (such as galaxies, planets, etc.) and
phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth (such as the
cosmic background radiation).

 Astrodynamics – application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to

the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other
spacecraft.
 Astrometry – branch of astronomy that involves precise
measurements of the positions and movements of stars and
other celestial bodies.
 Cosmology – discipline that deals with the nature of the
Universe as a whole.

 Extragalactic astronomy – branch of astronomy concerned

with objects outside our own Milky Way Galaxy

 Galactic astronomy – study of our own Milky Way galaxy and

all its contents.

 Physical cosmology – study of the largest-scale structures and

dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental
questions about its formation and evolution.
 Planetary science – scientific study of planets (including
Earth), moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of
the Solar System and the processes that form them.

 Stellar astronomy – natural science that deals with the study of

celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star
clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside
the atmosphere of Earth (such as cosmic background
radiation)
  Atmospheric physics – study of the application of physics to
the atmosphere
 Atomic, molecular, and optical physics – study of how matter and
light interact

 Biophysics – study of physical processes relating to biology

 Medical physics – application of physics concepts, theories

and methods to medicine.

 Neurophysics – branch of biophysics dealing with the nervous

system.
 Chemical physics – branch of physics that studies chemical
processes from the point of view of physics.
 Computational physics – study and implementation of numerical
algorithms to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative
theory already exists.
 Condensed matter physics – study of the physical properties of
condensed phases of matter.

 Cryogenics – cryogenics is the study of the production of very low

temperature (below –150 °C, –238°F or 123K) and the behavior of
materials at those temperatures.

 Dynamics – study of the causes of motion and changes in motion

 Econophysics – interdisciplinary research field, applying theories

and methods originally developed by physicists in order to solve
problems in economics
 Electromagnetism – branch of science concerned with the forces
that occur between electrically charged particles.

 Geophysics – the physics of the Earth and its environment in

space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical
methods

 Materials physics – use of physics to describe materials in many

different ways such as force, heat, light and mechanics.
 Mathematical physics – application of mathematics to problems in
physics and the development of mathematical methods for such
applications and for the formulation of physical theories.
 Mechanics – branch of physics concerned with the behavior of
physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and
the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment.
 Biomechanics – study of the structure and function of
biological systems such as humans, animals, plants, organs,
and cells by means of the methods of mechanics.

 Classical mechanics – one of the two major sub-fields of

mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws
describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of
forces.
 Continuum mechanics – branch of mechanics that deals with
the analysis of the kinematics and the mechanical behavior of
materials modeled as a continuous mass rather than as
discrete particles.

 Fluid mechanics – study of fluids and the forces on them.

 Quantum mechanics – branch of physics dealing with physical

phenomena where the action is on the order of the Planck
constant.

 Thermodynamics – branch of physical science concerned with

heat and its relation to other forms of energy and work.

 Nuclear physics – field of physics that studies the building blocks

and interactions of atomic nuclei.
 Optics – branch of physics which involves the behavior and
properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the
construction of instruments that use or detect it.
 Particle physics – branch of physics that studies the existence and
interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually
referred to as matter or radiation.
 Psychophysics – quantitatively investigates the relationship
between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they
affect.
 Plasma physics – state of matter similar to gas in which a certain
portion of the particles are ionized.
 Polymer physics – field of physics that studies polymers, their
fluctuations, mechanical properties, as well as the kinetics of
reactions involving degradation and polymerisation of polymers
and monomers respectively.

 Quantum physics – branch of physics dealing with physical

phenomena where the action is on the order of the Planck
constant.
 Relativity –

 Statics – branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of loads

(force, torque/moment) on physical systems in static equilibrium,
that is, in a state where the relative positions of subsystems do not
vary over time, or where components and structures are at a
constant velocity.

 Solid state physics – study of rigid matter, or solids, through

methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography,
electromagnetism, and metallurgy.

 Vehicle dynamics – dynamics of vehicles, here assumed to be

ground vehicles.
Chemistry[edit]
Chemistry – science of atomic matter (matter that is composed of
chemical elements), especially its chemical reactions, but also
including its properties, structure, composition, behavior, and changes
as they relate the chemical reactions

 Analytical chemistry – study of the separation, identification, and

quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial
materials.
 Astrochemistry – study of the abundance and reactions of
chemical elements and molecules in the universe, and their
interaction with radiation.
 Cosmochemistry – study of the chemical composition of
matter in the universe and the processes that led to those
compositions
 Atmospheric chemistry – branch of atmospheric science in which
the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is
studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on
environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer
modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology and other
disciplines
 Biochemistry – study of chemical processes in living organisms,
including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all
living organisms and living processes.

 Agrochemistry – study of both chemistry and biochemistry

which are important in agricultural production, the processing
of raw products into foods and beverages, and in
environmental monitoring and remediation.

 Bioinorganic chemistry – examines the role of metals in

biology.

 Bioorganic chemistry – rapidly growing scientific discipline that

combines organic chemistry and biochemistry.
 Biophysical chemistry – new branch of chemistry that covers a
broad spectrum of research activities involving biological
systems.

 Environmental chemistry – scientific study of the chemical and

biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places.

 Immunochemistry – branch of chemistry that involves the

study of the reactions and components on the immune system.
 Medicinal chemistry – discipline at the intersection of
chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and
pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where
 they are involved with design, chemical synthesis and
development for market of pharmaceutical agents (drugs).
 Pharmacology – branch of medicine and biology concerned
with the study of drug action.

 Natural product chemistry – chemical compound or substance

produced by a living organism - found in nature that usually
has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in
pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design.

 Neurochemistry – specific study of neurochemicals, which

include neurotransmitters and other molecules such as neuro-
active drugs that influence neuron function.
 Computational chemistry – branch of chemistry that uses principles
of computer science to assist in solving chemical problems.

 Chemo-informatics – use of computer and informational

techniques, applied to a range of problems in the field of
chemistry.
 Molecular mechanics – uses Newtonian mechanics to model
molecular systems.

 Flavor chemistry – someone who uses chemistry to engineer

artificial and natural flavors.

 Flow chemistry – chemical reaction is run in a continuously flowing

stream rather than in batch production.

 Geochemistry – study of the mechanisms behind major geological

systems using chemistry
 Aqueous geochemistry – study of the role of various elements
in watersheds, including copper, sulfur, mercury, and how
elemental fluxes are exchanged through atmospheric-
terrestrial-aquatic interactions

 Isotope geochemistry – study of the relative and absolute

concentrations of the elements and their isotopes using
chemistry and geology
 Ocean chemistry – studies the chemistry of marine
environments including the influences of different variables.
  Organic geochemistry – study of the impacts and processes
that organisms have had on Earth
 Regional, environmental and exploration geochemistry – study
of the spatial variation in the chemical composition of materials
at the surface of the Earth
 Inorganic chemistry – branch of chemistry concerned with the
properties and behavior of inorganic compounds.
 Nuclear chemistry – subfield of chemistry dealing with radioactivity,
nuclear processes and nuclear properties.
 Radiochemistry – chemistry of radioactive materials, where
radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the
properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes
(often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads
to a substance being described as being inactive as the
isotopes are stable).
 Organic chemistry – study of the structure, properties, composition,
reactions, and preparation (by synthesis or by other means) of
carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives.

 Petrochemistry – branch of chemistry that studies the

transformation of crude oil (petroleum) and natural gas into
useful products or raw materials.

 Organometallic chemistry – study of chemical compounds

containing bonds between carbon and a metal.

 Photochemistry – study of chemical reactions that proceed with the

absorption of light by atoms or molecules..
 Physical chemistry – study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and
particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical
laws and concepts.
 Chemical kinetics – the study of rates of chemical processes.

 Chemical thermodynamics – study of the interrelation of heat

and work with chemical reactions or with physical changes of
state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics.
 Electrochemistry – branch of chemistry that studies chemical
reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an
electron conductor (a metal or a semiconductor) and an ionic
conductor (the electrolyte), and which involve electron transfer
between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in
solution.
 Femtochemistry – Femtochemistry is the science that studies
chemical reactions on extremely short timescales,
approximately 10−15 seconds (one femtosecond, hence the
name).
 Mathematical chemistry – area of research engaged in novel
applications of mathematics to chemistry; it concerns itself
principally with the mathematical modeling of chemical
phenomena.
 Mechanochemistry – coupling of the mechanical and the
chemical phenomena on a molecular scale and includes
mechanical breakage, chemical behaviour of mechanically
stressed solids (e.g., stress-corrosion cracking), tribology,
polymer degradation under shear, cavitation-related
phenomena (e.g., sonochemistry and sonoluminescence),
shock wave chemistry and physics, and even the burgeoning
field of molecular machines.

 Physical organic chemistry – study of the interrelationships

between structure and reactivity in organic molecules.
 Quantum chemistry – branch of chemistry whose primary
focus is the application of quantum mechanics in physical
models and experiments of chemical systems.
 Sonochemistry – study of the effect of sonic waves and wave
properties on chemical systems.

 Stereochemistry – study of the relative spatial arrangement of

atoms within molecules.
 Supramolecular chemistry – area of chemistry beyond the
molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a
 discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or
components.
 Thermochemistry – study of the energy and heat associated
with chemical reactions and/or physical transformations.

 Phytochemistry – strict sense of the word the study of

phytochemicals.
 Polymer chemistry – multidisciplinary science that deals with the
chemical synthesis and chemical properties of polymers or
macromolecules.
 Solid-state chemistry – study of the synthesis, structure, and
properties of solid phase materials, particularly, but not necessarily
exclusively of, non-molecular solids

 Multidisciplinary fields involving chemistry

 Chemical biology – scientific discipline spanning the fields of

chemistry and biology that involves the application of chemical
techniques and tools, often compounds produced through
synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological
systems.

 Chemical engineering – branch of engineering that deals with

physical science (e.g., chemistry and physics), and life
sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology and biochemistry) with
mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw
materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms.

 Chemical oceanography – study of the behavior of the

chemical elements within the Earth's oceans.
 Chemical physics – branch of physics that studies chemical
processes from the point of view of physics.

 Materials science – interdisciplinary field applying the

properties of matter to various areas of science and
engineering.

 Nanotechnology – study of manipulating matter on an atomic

and molecular scale
  Oenology – science and study of all aspects of wine and
winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which
is a subfield called viticulture.
 Spectroscopy – study of the interaction between matter and
radiated energy
 Surface science – Surface science is the study of physical and
chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases,
including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–
vacuum interfaces, and liquid-gas interfaces.
Earth sciences[edit]
Earth science – all-embracing term for the sciences related to the
planet Earth

 Atmospheric sciences – umbrella term for the study of the

atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the
atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other
systems.
 Biogeography – study of the distribution of species (biology),
organisms, and ecosystems in geographic space and through
geological time.
 Cartography – study and practice of making maps or globes.

 Climatology – study of climate, scientifically defined as weather

conditions averaged over a period of time
 Coastal geography – study of the dynamic interface between the
ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e.
coastal geomorphology, geology and oceanography) and the
human geography (sociology and history) of the coast.
 Geodesy – scientific discipline that deals with the measurement
and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a
three-dimensional time-varying space

 Geography – science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants,

and phenomena of Earth
 Geoinformatics – science and the technology which develops and
uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of
geography, geosciences and related branches of engineering.
 Geology – study of the Earth, with the general exclusion of
present-day life, flow within the ocean, and the atmosphere.
 Planetary geology – planetary science discipline concerned
with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets
and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites.

 Geomorphology – scientific study of landforms and the processes

that shape them

 Geostatistics – branch of statistics focusing on spatial or

spatiotemporal datasets
 Geophysics – physics of the Earth and its environment in space;
also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods.
 Glaciology – study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural
phenomena that involve ice.

 Hydrology – study of the movement, distribution, and quality of

water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle,
water resources and environmental watershed sustainability.

 Hydrogeology – area of geology that deals with the distribution and

movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust
(commonly in aquifers).

 Mineralogy – study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical

(including optical) properties of minerals.
 Meteorology – interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere
which explains and forecasts weather events.

 Oceanography – branch of Earth science that studies the ocean

 Paleoclimatology – study of changes in climate taken on the scale

of the entire history of Earth

 Paleontology – study of prehistoric life

 Petrology – branch of geology that studies the origin, composition,

distribution and structure of rocks.
 Limnology – study of inland waters

 Seismology – scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation

of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like
bodies

 Soil science – study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of

the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping;
physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and
these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.

 Topography – study of surface shape and features of the Earth

and other observable astronomical objects including planets,
moons, and asteroids.
 Volcanology – study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related
geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena.
Environmental sciences[edit]
Main article: Environmental sciences

 Ecology – scientific study of the distribution and abundance of

living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are
affected by interactions between the organisms and their
environment.
 Freshwater biology – scientific biological study of freshwater
ecosystems and is a branch of Limnology

 Marine biology – scientific study of organisms in the ocean or

other marine or brackish bodies of water
 Parasitology – Parasitology is the study of parasites, their
hosts, and the relationship between them.

 Population dynamics – Population dynamics is the branch of

life sciences that studies short-term and long-term changes in
the size and age composition of populations, and the biological
and environmental processes influencing those changes.

 Environmental chemistry – Environmental chemistry is the

scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that
occur in natural places.
 Environmental soil science – Environmental soil science is the
study of the interaction of humans with the pedosphere as well as
critical aspects of the biosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere,
and the atmosphere.
 Environmental geology – Environmental geology, like
hydrogeology, is an applied science concerned with the practical
application of the principles of geology in the solving of
environmental problems.
 Toxicology – branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine
concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on
living organisms.
Life sciences[edit]
Biology – study of living organisms.

 Aerobiology – study of airborne organic particles

 Agriculture – study of producing crops from the land, with an

emphasis on practical applications

 Anatomy – study of form and function, in plants, animals, and other

organisms, or specifically in humans
 Human anatomy – scientific study of the morphology of the
adult human.

 Astrobiology – study of evolution, distribution, and future of life in

the universe—also known as exobiology, exopaleontology,
and bioastronomy

 Biochemistry – study of the chemical reactions required for life to

exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level

 Bioengineering – study of biology through the means of

engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and
especially related to biotechnology
 Biogeography – study of the distribution of species spatially and
temporally
 Bioinformatics – use of information technology for the study,
collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data
 Biomathematics or Mathematical Biology – quantitative or
mathematical study of biological processes, with an emphasis on
modeling
 Biomechanics – often considered a branch of medicine, the study
of the mechanics of living beings, with an emphasis on applied use
through prosthetics or orthotics

 Biomedical research – study of the human body in health and

disease

 Biophysics – study of biological processes through physics, by

applying the theories and methods traditionally used in the physical
sciences
 Biotechnology – new and sometimes controversial branch of
biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including
genetic modification and synthetic biology

 Building biology – study of the indoor living environment

 Botany – study of plants

 Cell biology – study of the cell as a complete unit, and the

molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell

 Conservation Biology – study of the preservation, protection, or

restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems,
vegetation, and wildlife

 Chronobiology – field of biology that examines periodic (cyclic)

phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and
lunar-related rhythms.
 Cryobiology – study of the effects of lower than normally preferred
temperatures on living beings.

 Developmental biology – study of the processes through which an

organism forms, from zygote to full structure
 Embryology – study of the development of embryo (from
fecundation to birth). See also topobiology.
 Gerontology – study of aging processes.
 Ecology – study of the interactions of living organisms with one
another and with the non-living elements of their environment
 Environmental Biology – study of the natural world, as a whole or
in a particular area, especially as affected by human activity

 Epidemiology – major component of public health research,

studying factors affecting the health of populations
 Evolution – any change across successive generations in the
heritable characteristics of biological populations.

 Evolutionary Biology – study of the origin and descent of

species over time
 Evolutionary developmental biology – field of biology that
compares the developmental processes of different
organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between
them, and to discover how developmental processes
evolved.
 Paleobiology – discipline which combines the methods and
findings of the natural science biology with the methods and
findings of the earth science paleontology.

 Paleontology – study of fossils and sometimes geographic

evidence of prehistoric life

 Genetics – study of genes and heredity

 Genomics – discipline in genetics concerned with the study of

the genomes of organisms.
 Proteomics – large-scale study of proteins, particularly their
structures and functions

 Population genetics – study of changes in gene frequencies in

 Histology – study of cells and tissues, a microscopic branch of

anatomy

 Integrative biology – study of whole organisms

 Limnology – study of inland waters

 Marine Biology – study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and

other living beings
 Microbiology – study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms)
and their interactions with other living things
 Bacteriology – study of bacteria.

 Virology – study of viruses and some other virus-like agents

 Molecular Biology – study of biology and biological functions at the

molecular level, some cross over with biochemistry
 Structural biology – branch of molecular biology, biochemistry,
and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of
biological macromolecules
 Morphology – In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience
dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and
their specific structural features.

 Mycology – study of fungi

 Oceanography – study of the ocean, including ocean life,

environment, geography, weather, and other aspects influencing
the ocean

 Oncology – study of cancer processes, including virus

or mutation oncogenesis, angiogenesis and tissues remoldings

 Population biology – study of groups of conspecific organisms,

including

 Population ecology – study of how population dynamics and

extinction

 Population genetics – study of changes in gene frequencies in

populations of organisms

 Pathobiology or pathology – study of diseases, and the causes,

processes, nature, and development of disease

 Parasitology – study of parasites and parasitism

 Pharmacology – study and practical application of preparation,

use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines

 Physiology – study of the functioning of living organisms and the

organs and parts of living organisms
  Immunology – following outline is provided as an overview of
and topical guide to immunology:
 Kinesiology – Kinesiology, also known as human kinetics, is
the scientific study of human movement

 Neurobiology – study of the nervous system, including

anatomy, physiology and pathology
 Neuroscience – interdisciplinary science that studies the
nervous system

 Histology –

 Phytopathology – study of plant diseases (also called Plant

Pathology)
 Psychobiology – study of the biological bases of psychology

 Sociobiology – study of the biological bases of sociology

 Systematics – study of the diversification of living forms, both past

and present, and the relationships among living things through time

 Cladistics – method of classifying species of organisms into

groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism
and all its descendants (and nothing else)

 Phylogeny – study of evolutionary relation among groups of

organisms (e.g. species, populations), which is discovered
through molecular sequencing data and morphological data
matrices

 Taxonomy – science of identifying and naming species, and

arranging them into a classification.

 Zoology – study of animals, including classification, physiology,

development, and behavior

 Arachnology – scientific study of spiders and related animals

such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, collectively
called arachnids.
 Acarology – study of the taxon of arachnids that contains
mites and ticks
 Entomology – study of insects
  Myrmecology – scientific study of ants, a branch of
entomology
 Coleopterology – study of beetles

 Lepidopterology – study of a large order of insects that

includes moths and butterflies (called lepidopterans)
 Ethology – study of animal behavior

 Helminthology – study of worms, especially parasitic worms

 Herpetology – study of reptiles and amphibians

 Ichthyology – study of fish

 Malacology – branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with

the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-
largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after
the arthropods.
 Mammalogy – study of mammals

 Cetology – branch of marine mammal science that studies

the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and
porpoise in the scientific order Cetacea.

 Physical anthropology – studies the physical development

of the human species.

 Nematology – scientific discipline concerned with the study of

nematodes, or roundworms

 Ornithology – study of birds

Formal sciences[edit]
Formal science – branches of knowledge that are concerned with
formal systems, such as: logic, mathematics, theoretical computer
science, information theory, Game theory, systems theory, decision
theory, statistics, and some aspects of linguistics. Unlike other
sciences, the formal sciences are not concerned with the validity of
theories based on observations in the real world, but instead with the
properties of formal systems based on definitions and rules.
Computer sciences[edit]
Computer science – study of the theoretical foundations of information
and computation and their implementation and application in computer
systems.
 Theory of computation – branch that deals with whether and how
efficiently problems can be solved on a model of computation,
using an algorithm
 Automata theory – study of mathematical objects called
abstract machines or automata and the computational
problems that can be solved using them.
 Formal languages – set of strings of symbols.

 Computability theory – branch of mathematical logic and

computer science that originated in the 1930s with the study of
computable functions and Turing degrees.

 Computational complexity theory – branch of the theory of

computation in theoretical computer science and mathematics
that focuses on classifying computational problems according
to their inherent difficulty, and relating those classes to each
other
 Concurrency theory – In computer science, concurrency is a
property of systems in which several computations are
executing simultaneously, and potentially interacting with each
other

 Algorithms – step-by-step procedure for calculations

 Randomized algorithms – algorithm which employs a degree

of randomness as part of its logic.
 Distributed algorithms – algorithm designed to run on
computer hardware constructed from interconnected
processors
 Parallel algorithms – algorithm which can be executed a piece
at a time on many different processing devices, and then put
back together again at the end to get the correct result.
 Data structures – particular way of storing and organizing data in a
computer so that it can be used efficiently.

 Computer architecture – In computer science and engineering,

computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and
interconnecting hardware components to create computers that
 meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal
modeling of those systems.
 VLSI design – process of creating integrated circuits by
combining thousands of transistors into a single chip

 Operating systems – set of software that manages computer

hardware resources and provides common services for computer
programs
 Computer communications (networks) – collection of hardware
components and computers interconnected by communication
channels that allow sharing of resources and information

 Information theory – branch of applied mathematics and

electrical engineering involving the quantification of information
 Internet – global system of interconnected computer networks
that use the standard Internet protocol suite (often called
TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions
of users worldwide.
 World wide web – part of the Internet; system of
interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet.

 Wireless computing – any type of computer network that is not

connected by cables of any kind.

 Mobile computing – form of human–computer interaction

by which a computer is expected to be transported during
normal usage.
 Computer security – branch of computer technology known as
information security as applied to computers and networks.
 reliability – system design approach and associated service
implementation that ensures a prearranged level of operational
performance will be met during a contractual measurement
period.
 Cryptography – practice and study of hiding information.

 Fault-tolerant computing – property that enables a system

(often computer-based) to continue operating properly in the
 event of the failure of (or one or more faults within) some of its
components
 Distributed computing – field of computer science that studies
distributed systems

 Grid computing – federation of computer resources from

multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal
 Parallel computing – form of computation in which many
calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the
principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller
ones, which are then solved concurrently ("in parallel").

 High-performance computing – computer at the frontline of

current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation
 Quantum computing – device for computation that makes direct
use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition
and entanglement, to perform operations on data
 Computer graphics – graphics created using computers and, more
generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a
computer with help from specialized software and hardware.

 Image processing – any form of signal processing for which

the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame;
the output of image processing may be either an image or a
set of characteristics or parameters related to the image
 Scientific visualization – interdisciplinary branch of science
according to Friendly (2008) "primarily concerned with the
visualization of three-dimensional phenomena (architectural,
meteorological, medical, biological, etc.), where the emphasis
is on realistic renderings of volumes, surfaces, illumination
sources, and so forth, perhaps with a dynamic (time)
component".
 Computational geometry – branch of computer science
devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in
terms of geometry
 Software engineering – application of a systematic, disciplined,
quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and
maintenance of software; that is the application of engineering to
software
 Formal methods – particular kind of mathematically based
techniques for the specification, development and verification
of software and hardware systems
 Formal verification – act of proving or disproving the
correctness of intended algorithms underlying a system
with respect to a certain formal specification or property,
using formal methods of mathematics

 Programming languages – artificial language designed to

communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer
 Programming paradigms – fundamental style of computer
programming
 Object-oriented programming – programming paradigm
using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields
and methods together with their interactions – to design
applications and computer programs

 Functional programming – programming paradigm that

treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical
functions and avoids state and mutable data
 Program semantics – field concerned with the rigorous
mathematical study of the meaning of programming languages
 Type theory – any of several formal systems that can serve as
alternatives to naive set theory, or the study of such
formalisms in general

 Compilers – computer program (or set of programs) that

transforms source code written in a programming language
(the source language) into another computer language (the
target language, often having a binary form known as object
code)
  Concurrent programming languages – form of computing in
which programs are designed as collections of interacting
computational processes that may be executed in parallel
 Information science – interdisciplinary field primarily concerned
with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage,
retrieval and dissemination of information
 Database – organized collection of data, today typically in
digital form

 Relational database – collection of data items organized

as a set of formally described tables from which data can
be accessed easily
 Distributed database – database in which storage devices
are not all attached to a common CPU.

 Object database – database management system in

which information is represented in the form of objects as
used in object-oriented programming
 Multimedia – media and content that uses a combination of
different content forms.

 hypermedia – computer-based information retrieval system

that enables a user to gain or provide access to texts, audio
and video recordings, photographs and computer graphics
related to a particular subject.
 Data mining – process that results in the discovery of new
patterns in large data sets
 Information retrieval – area of study concerned with searching
for documents, for information within documents, and for
metadata about documents, as well as that of searching
structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide
Web.

 Artificial intelligence – branch of computer science that deals with

intelligent behavior, learning, and adaptation in machines.
  Automated reasoning – area of computer science and
mathematical logic dedicated to understand different aspects
of reasoning.
 Computer vision – field that includes methods for acquiring,
processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in
general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to
produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms
of decisions.
 Machine learning – scientific discipline concerned with the
design and development of algorithms that allow computers to
evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from
sensor data or databases
 Artificial neural network – mathematical model or
computational model that is inspired by the structure
and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks

 Natural language processing – field of computer science,

artificial intelligence (also called machine learning), and
linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers
and human (natural) languages.

 Computational linguistics – interdisciplinary field dealing

with the statistical or rule-based modeling of natural
language from a computational perspective.

 Expert systems – computer system that emulates the

decision-making ability of a human expert

 Robotics – branch of technology that deals with the design,

construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture
and application of robots
 Human-computer interaction – study, planning, and design of the
interaction between people (users) and computers.
 Numerical analysis – study of algorithms that use numerical
approximation (as opposed to general symbolic manipulations)
for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished
from discrete mathematics).
 Algebraic (symbolic) computation – relates to algorithms and
software for manipulating mathematical expressions and
equations in symbolic form, as opposed to manipulating the
approximations of specific numerical quantities represented by
those symbols. Software applications that perform symbolic
calculations are called computer algebra systems.
 Computational number theory – study of algorithms for
performing number theoretic computations
 Computational mathematics – involves mathematical research
in areas of science where computing plays a central and
essential role, emphasizing algorithms, numerical methods,
and symbolic methods
 Scientific computing (Computational science) –

 Computational biology (bioinformatics) – involves the

development and application of data-analytical and theoretical
methods, mathematical modeling and computational
simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral,
and social systems.

 Computational science – subfield of computer science

concerned with constructing mathematical models and
quantitative analysis techniques and using computers to
analyze and solve scientific problems

 Computational chemistry – branch of chemistry that uses

principles of computer science to assist in solving chemical
problems
 Computational neuroscience – study of brain function in terms
of the information processing properties of the structures that
make up the nervous system.

 Computer-aided engineering – broad usage of computer

software to aid in engineering tasks.

 Finite element analysis – numerical technique for finding

approximate solutions of partial differential equations
(PDE) as well as integral equations.
  Computational fluid dynamics – branch of fluid mechanics
that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and
analyze problems that involve fluid flows.
 Computational economics – research discipline at the
interface between computer science and economic and
management science
 Computational sociology – branch of sociology that uses
computationally intensive methods to analyze and model
social phenomena.

 Computational finance – cross-disciplinary field which relies on

computational intelligence, mathematical finance, numerical
methods and computer simulations to make trading, hedging
and investment decisions, as well as facilitating the risk
management of those decisions

 Humanities computing (Digital Humanities) – area of research,

teaching, and creation concerned with the intersection of
computing and the disciplines of the humanities

 Information systems – study of complementary networks of

hardware and software that people and organizations use to
collect, filter, process, create, and distribute data

 Business informatics – discipline combining information

technology (IT), informatics and management concepts.
 Information technology –

 Management information systems – provides information that

is needed to manage organizations efficiently and effectively
 Health informatics – discipline at the intersection of information
science, computer science, and health care.
See also Branches of Computer Science and ACM Computing
Classification System
Mathematics[edit]
Mathematics – search for fundamental truths in pattern, quantity, and
change.
 Algebra – one of the main branches of mathematics, it concerns
the study of structure, relation and quantity.
 Group theory – studies the algebraic structures known as
groups.

 Group representation – describe abstract groups in terms

of linear transformations of vector spaces
 Ring theory – study of ring–algebraic structures in which
addition and multiplication are defined and have similar
properties to those familiar from the integers
 Field theory – branch of mathematics which studies the
properties of fields
 Linear algebra – branch of mathematics concerning finite or
countably infinite dimensional vector spaces, as well as linear
mappings between such spaces.
 Vector space – mathematical structure formed by a
collection of vectors: objects that may be added together
and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers, called scalars in this
context.

 Multilinear algebra – extends the methods of linear algebra

 Lie algebra – algebraic structure whose main use is in

studying geometric objects such as Lie groups and
differentiable manifolds

 Associative algebra – associative ring that has a compatible

structure of a vector space over a certain field K or, more
generally, of a module over a commutative ring R.
 Non-associative algebra – K-vector space (or more generally a
module) A equipped with a K-bilinear map
 Universal algebra – field of mathematics that studies algebraic
structures themselves, not examples ("models") of algebraic
structures

 Homological algebra – branch of mathematics which studies

homology in a general algebraic setting
  Category theory – area of study in mathematics that examines
in an abstract way the properties of particular mathematical
concepts, by formalising them as collections of objects and
arrows (also called morphisms, although this term also has a
specific, non category-theoretical sense), where these
collections satisfy some basic conditions
 Lattice theory – partially ordered set in which any two
elements have a unique supremum (also called a least upper
bound or join) and a unique infimum (also called a greatest
lower bound or meet).
 Order theory – branch of mathematics which investigates
our intuitive notion of order using binary relations.
 Differential algebra – algebras equipped with a derivation,
which is a unary function that is linear and satisfies the Leibniz
product rule.

 Analysis – branch of pure mathematics that includes the theories

of differentiation, integration and measure, limits, infinite series,
and analytic functions

 Real analysis – branch of mathematical analysis dealing with

the set of real numbers and functions of a real variable.

 Calculus – branch of mathematics focused on limits,

functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series.
 Complex analysis – branch of mathematical analysis that
investigates functions of complex numbers
 Functional analysis – branch of mathematical analysis, the
core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces
endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner
product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear operators acting
upon these spaces and respecting these structures in a
suitable sense

 Operator theory – branch of functional analysis that

focuses on bounded linear operators, but which includes
closed operators and nonlinear operators.
  Non-standard analysis – branch of classical mathematics that
formulates analysis using a rigorous notion of an infinitesimal
number.
 Harmonic analysis – branch of mathematics concerned with
the representation of functions or signals as the superposition
of basic waves, and the study of and generalization of the
notions of Fourier series and Fourier transforms.
 p-adic analysis – branch of number theory that deals with the
mathematical analysis of functions of p-adic numbers.

 Ordinary differential equations – ordinary differential equation

(ODE) is an equation in which there is only one independent
variable and one or more derivatives of a dependent variable
with respect to the independent variable, so that all the
derivatives occurring in the equation are ordinary derivatives.

 Partial differential equations – differential equation that

contains unknown multivariable functions and their partial
derivatives.

 Probability theory – branch of mathematics concerned with

probability, the analysis of random phenomena.

 Measure theory – systematic way to assign a number to each

suitable subset of that set, intuitively interpreted as its size.

 Ergodic theory – branch of mathematics that studies

dynamical systems with an invariant measure and related
problems.
 Stochastic process – collection of random variables; this is
often used to represent the evolution of some random value,
or system, over time.

 Geometry – branch of mathematics concerned with questions of

shape, size, relative position of figures, and the properties of
space. Geometry is one of the oldest mathematical sciences.
 Topology – major area of mathematics concerned with
properties that are preserved under continuous deformations
 of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no
tearing or gluing.
 General topology – branch of topology which studies
properties of topological spaces and structures defined on
them.
 Algebraic topology – branch of mathematics which uses tools
from abstract algebra to study topological spaces
 Geometric topology – study of manifolds and maps between
them, particularly embeddings of one manifold into another.
 Differential topology – field dealing with differentiable functions
on differentiable manifolds
 Algebraic geometry – branch of mathematics which combines
techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative
algebra, with the language and the problems of geometry
 Differential geometry – mathematical discipline that uses the
techniques of differential calculus and integral calculus, as well
as linear algebra and multilinear algebra, to study problems in
geometry

 Projective geometry – study of geometric properties that are

invariant under projective transformations

 Affine geometry – study of geometric properties which remain

unchanged by affine transformations

 Non-Euclidean geometry – either of two specific geometries

that are, loosely speaking, obtained by negating the Euclidean
parallel postulate, namely hyperbolic and elliptic geometry.
 Convex geometry – branch of geometry studying convex sets,
mainly in Euclidean space.
 Discrete geometry – branch of geometry that studies
combinatorial properties and constructive methods of discrete
geometric objects.

 Trigonometry –
 Number theory – branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to
the study of the integers
 Analytic number theory – branch of number theory that uses
methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about
the integers
 Algebraic number theory – major branch of number theory
which studies algebraic structures related to algebraic integers
 Geometric number theory – studies convex bodies and integer
vectors in n-dimensional space
 Logic and Foundations of mathematics – subfield of mathematics
with close connections to the foundations of mathematics,
theoretical computer science and philosophical logic.
 Set theory – branch of mathematics that studies sets, which
are collections of objects
 Proof theory – branch of mathematical logic that represents
proofs as formal mathematical objects, facilitating their
analysis by mathematical techniques

 Model theory – study of (classes of) mathematical structures

(e.g. groups, fields, graphs, universes of set theory) using
tools from mathematical logic

 Recursion theory – branch of mathematical logic and

computer science that originated in the 1930s with the study of
computable functions and Turing degrees
 Modal logic – type of formal logic primarily developed in the
1960s that extends classical propositional and predicate logic
to include operators expressing modality

 Intuitionistic logic – symbolic logic system differing from

classical logic in its definition of the meaning of a statement
being true
 Applied mathematics – branch of mathematics that concerns itself
with mathematical methods that are typically used in science,
engineering, business, and industry.
 Mathematical statistics – study of statistics from a
mathematical standpoint, using probability theory as well as
other branches of mathematics such as linear algebra and
analysis
 Probability – likelihood or chance that something is the
case or will happen
 Econometrics – application of mathematics and statistical
methods to economic data

 Actuarial science – discipline that applies mathematical

and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and
finance industries.
 Demography – statistical study of human populations and
sub-populations.

 Approximation theory – study of how functions can best be

approximated with simpler functions, and with quantitatively
characterizing the errors introduced thereby.
 Numerical analysis – study of algorithms that use numerical
approximation (as opposed to general symbolic manipulations)
for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished
from discrete mathematics).

 Optimization (Mathematical programming) – selection of a

best element from some set of available alternatives.
 Operations research – study of the application of
advanced analytical methods to help make better
decisions
 Linear programming – mathematical method for
determining a way to achieve the best outcome (such as
maximum profit or lowest cost) in a given mathematical
model for some list of requirements represented as linear
relationships
 Dynamical systems – concept in mathematics where a fixed
rule describes the time dependence of a point in a geometrical
space
  Chaos theory – study of the behavior of dynamical
systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an
effect which is popularly referred to as the butterfly effect.
 Fractal geometry – mathematical set that has a fractal
dimension that usually exceeds its topological dimension
and may fall between the integers.
 Mathematical physics – development of mathematical
methods for application to problems in physics

 Quantum field theory – theoretical framework for

constructing quantum mechanical models of systems
classically parametrized (represented) by an infinite
number of degrees of freedom, that is, fields and (in a
condensed matter context) many-body systems.
 Statistical mechanics – branch of physics that applies
probability theory, which contains mathematical tools for
dealing with large populations, to the study of the
thermodynamic behavior of systems composed of a large
number of particles.

 Information theory – branch of applied mathematics and

electrical engineering involving the quantification of
information.

 Cryptography – study of means of obscuring information, such

as codes and ciphers
 Combinatorics – branch of mathematics concerning the study
of finite or countable discrete structures
 Coding theory – study of the properties of codes and their
fitness for a specific application

 Graph theory – study of graphs, mathematical structures used

to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain
collection
 Game theory – study of strategic decision making. More
formally, it is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and
cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers."
See also Branches of Mathematics and AMS Mathematics Subject
Classification
Statistics[edit]
Statistics – collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data.

 Computational statistics – interface between statistics and

computer science.
 Data mining – process that results in the discovery of new
patterns in large data sets

 Regression – estimates the conditional expectation of the

dependent variable given the independent variables — that is,
the average value of the dependent variable when the
independent variables are held fixed.

 Simulation – Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a

real-world process or system over time. The act of simulating
something first requires that a model be developed; this model
represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected
physical or abstract system or process. The model represents
the system itself, whereas the simulation represents the
operation of the system over time.
 Bootstrap (statistics) – method for assigning measures of
accuracy to sample estimates (Efron and Tibshirani 1993).

 Design of experiments – design of any information-gathering

exercises where variation is present, whether under the full control
of the experimenter or not
 Block design – set together with a family of subsets (repeated
subsets are allowed at times) whose members are chosen to
satisfy some set of properties that are deemed useful for a
particular application.
 Analysis of variance – collection of statistical models, and their
associated procedures, in which the observed variance in a
particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to
different sources of variation.
  Response surface methodology – explores the relationships
between several explanatory variables and one or more
response variables.
 Engineering statistics – Engineering statistics combines
engineering and statistics
 Spatial statistics – any of the formal techniques which study
entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties.
 Social statistics – use of statistical measurement systems to study
human behavior in a social environment
 Statistical modelling – formalization of relationships between
variables in the form of mathematical equations
 Biostatistics – application of statistics to a wide range of topics
in biology.

 Epidemiology – study of the distribution and patterns of

health-events, health-characteristics and their causes or
influences in well-defined populations.

 Multivariate analysis – observation and analysis of more than

one statistical variable at a time.

 Structural equation model – statistical technique for

testing and estimating causal relations using a
combination of statistical data and qualitative causal
assumptions.

 Time series – sequence of data points, measured typically

at successive time instants spaced at uniform time
intervals.
 Reliability theory – describes the probability of a system
completing its expected function during an interval of time.
 Quality control – process by which entities review the quality of
all factors involved in production.

 Statistical theory – provides a basis for the whole range of

techniques, in both study design and data analysis, that are used
within applications of statistics.
  Decision theory – identifies the values, uncertainties and other
issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the
resulting optimal decision.
 Mathematical statistics – study of statistics from a
mathematical standpoint, using probability theory as well as
other branches of mathematics such as linear algebra and
analysis.
 Probability – likelihood or chance that something is the
case or will happen.

 Sample Survey – process of selecting a sample of elements from a

target population in order to conduct a survey.
 Sampling theory – study of the collection, organization,
analysis, and interpretation of data.

 Survey methodology – field that studies the sampling of

individuals from a population with a view towards making
statistical inferences about the population using the sample.
Systems science[edit]
Systems science – interdisciplinary field of science that studies the
nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science.

 Chaos theory – field of study in mathematics, with applications in

several disciplines including physics, engineering, economics,
biology, and philosophy; studies the behavior of dynamical
systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
 Complex systems and Complexity Theory – studies how
relationships between parts give rise to the collective behaviors of
a system and how the system interacts and forms relationships
with its environment.
 Cybernetics – interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory
systems.

 Biocybernetics – application of cybernetics to biological

science, composed of biological disciplines that benefit from
 the application of cybernetics: neurology, multicellular systems
and others.
 Engineering cybernetics – field of cybernetics, which deals
with the question of control engineering of mechatronic
systems as well as chemical or biological systems.
 Management cybernetics – field of cybernetics concerned with
management and organizations.
 Medical cybernetics – branch of cybernetics which has been
heavily affected by the development of the computer, which
applies the concepts of cybernetics to medical research and
practice.
 New Cybernetics – study of self-organizing systems according
to Peter Harries-Jones (1988), "looking beyond the issues of
the "first", "old" or "original" cybernetics and their politics and
sciences of control, to the autonomy and self-organization
capabilities of complex systems".
 Second-order cybernetics – investigates the construction of
models of cybernetic systems.

 Control theory – Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of

engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of
dynamical systems. The external input of a system is called the
reference. When one or more output variables of a system need to
follow a certain reference over time, a controller manipulates the
inputs to a system to obtain the desired effect on the output of the
system.
 Control engineering – engineering discipline that applies
control theory to design systems with desired behaviors.
 Control systems – device, or set of devices to manage,
command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or
system.

 Dynamical systems – concept in mathematics where a fixed

rule describes the time dependence of a point in a geometrical
space.
 Operations research – study of the use of advanced analytical
methods to help make better decisions.
 Systems dynamics – approach to understanding the behaviour of
complex systems over time.

 Systems analysis – study of sets of interacting entities,

including computer systems analysis.
 Systems theory – interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with
the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of
systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research.
 Developmental systems theory – overarching theoretical
perspective on biological development, heredity, and evolution
 General systems theory – interdisciplinary study of systems in
general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be
applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields
of research.
 Linear time-invariant systems – investigates the response of a
linear and time-invariant system to an arbitrary input signal.

 Mathematical system theory – area of mathematics used to

describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually
by employing differential equations or difference equations.

 Systems biology – several related trends in bioscience

research, and a movement that draws on those trends.

 Systems ecology – interdisciplinary field of ecology, taking a

holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially
ecosystems.
 Systems engineering – interdisciplinary field of engineering
focusing on how complex engineering projects should be
designed and managed over their life cycles.

 Systems neuroscience – subdiscipline of neuroscience and

systems biology that studies the function of neural circuits and
systems.
 Systems psychology – branch of applied psychology that
studies human behaviour and experience in complex systems.
Social sciences[edit]
See also: Outline of science § Natural sciences

 Business studies – academic subject combining elements of

accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies and
economics
 Civics – study of the theoretical and practical aspects of
citizenship, its rights and duties; the duties of citizens to each other
as members of a political body and to the government.

 Criminology – study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of

criminal behavior in both the individual and in society.

 Cultural studies – academic field grounded in critical theory and

literary criticism.
 Demography – statistical study of human populations and sub-
populations.

 Development studies – multidisciplinary branch of social science

which addresses issues of concern to developing countries.
 Economics – analyzes the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services. It aims to explain how
economies work and how economic agents interact.
 Education – in the general sense is any act or experience that has
a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an
individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which
society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills,
and values from one generation to another.
 Environmental studies – interdisciplinary academic field which
systematically studies human interaction with the environment.
 Gender and sexuality studies – field of interdisciplinary study and
academic field devoted to gender identity and gendered
representation as central categories of analysis.
 Gerontology – study of the social, psychological and biological
aspects of aging.
 History – discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of
information about past events. History can also mean the period of
time after writing was invented.
 Geography – science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants,
and phenomena of Earth.
 Human geography – branch of the social sciences that studies
the world, its people, communities, and cultures with an
emphasis on relations of and across space and place.

 Industrial relations – multidisciplinary field that studies the

employment relationship.

 Information science – interdisciplinary field primarily concerned

with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage,
retrieval and dissemination of information.

 International studies – study of the major political, economic,

social, cultural and sacral issues that dominate the international
agenda
 Law – set of rules and principles (laws) by which a society is
governed, through enforcement by governmental authorities.

 Legal management – social sciences discipline that is designed for

students interested in the study of State and its elements, Law,
Law Practice, Legal Research and Jurisprudence, legal
Philosophy, Criminal Justice, Governance, Government structure,
Political history and theories, Business Organization and
Management, Entrepreneurship, Public Administration and Human
Resource Development.
 Paralegal studies – social sciences discipline that is designed
for students interested in the study of State and its elements,
Law, Law Practice, Legal Research and Jurisprudence, legal
Philosophy, Criminal Justice, Governance, Government
structure, Political history and theories, Business Organization
and Management, Entrepreneurship, Public Administration
and Human Resource Development.
 Library science – study of issues related to libraries and the
information fields.
 Management – act of getting people together to accomplish
desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently
and effectively.
 Media studies – academic discipline and field of study that deals
with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular,
the 'mass media'.

 Communication studies – academic field that deals with processes

of human communication, commonly defined as the sharing of
symbols to create meaning.
 Public administration – houses the implementation of government
policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation
and that prepares civil servants for this work.

 Social work – professional and academic discipline that seeks to

improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or
community by intervening through research, policy, community
organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted
with poverty or any real or perceived social injustices and violations
of their human rights.
Cognitive science[edit]
Cognitive Science – interdisciplinary scientific study of the mind and its
processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it
works.
Anthropology[edit]
Main articles: Anthropology and Outline of anthropology

 Anthropology of religion – study of religious institutions in relation

to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs
and practices across cultures

 Applied anthropology – application of the method and theory of

anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems.

 Archaeology – overview of and topical guide to archaeology

 Cultural anthropology – branch of anthropology focused on the
study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the
impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural
realities.
 Ethnobiology – scientific study of dynamic relationships between
peoples, biota, and environments, from the distant past to the
immediate present.
 Ethnography – Archaeology Biological anthropology Cultural
anthropology Linguistic anthropology Social anthropology

 Ethnology – branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes

the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social
structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.
 Ethnopoetics – method of recording text versions of oral poetry or
narrative performances (i.e., verbal lore) that uses poetic lines,
verses, and stanzas (instead of prose paragraphs) to capture the
formal, poetic performance elements which would otherwise be lost
in the written texts.

 Evolutionary anthropology – interdisciplinary study of the evolution

of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation
between hominids and non-hominid primates.

 Experimental archaeology – Experimental archaeology employs a

number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and
approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses, based upon
archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts.

 Historical archaeology – form of archaeology dealing with topics

that are already attested in written records.

 Linguistic anthropology –

 Medical anthropology – interdisciplinary field which studies "human

health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural
adaptation".
 Physical anthropology – study of the physical development of the
human species.
 Psychological anthropology – interdisciplinary subfield of
anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental
processes.
 Zooarchaeology – study of faunal remains.

 Anthrozoology – study of human-animal interaction.

Economics[edit]

 Economics – analyzes the production, distribution, and

consumption of goods and services. It aims to explain how
economies work and how economic agents interact.

 Macroeconomics – branch of economics dealing with the

performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the
whole economy
 Microeconomics – branch of economics that studies the behavior
of individual households and firms in making decisions on the
allocation of limited resources

 Behavioural economics – Behavioral economics and the related

field, behavioral finance, study the effects of social, cognitive and
emotional factors on the economic decisions of individuals and
institutions and the consequences for market prices, returns and
the resource allocation.
 Bioeconomics – applies the laws of thermodynamics to economic
theory
 Comparative economics – comparative study of different systems
of economic organization, such as capitalism, socialism, feudalism
and the mixed economy.

 Socialist economics – economic theories and practices of

hypothetical and existing socialist economic systems.

 Development economics – branch of economics which deals with

economic aspects of the development process in low-income
countries.
 Economic geography – study of the location, distribution and
spatial organization of economic activities across the world.
 Economic history – study of economies or economic phenomena in
the past.
 Economic sociology – studies both the social effects and the social
causes of various economic phenomena.

 Energy economics – broad scientific subject area which includes

topics related to supply and use of energy in societies
 Entrepreneurial Economics – study of the entrepreneur and
entrepreneurship within the economy.

 Environmental economics – subfield of economics concerned with

environmental issues.
 Evolutionary economics – part of mainstream economics as well
as heterodox school of economic thought that is inspired by
evolutionary biology.

 Financial economics – branch of economics concerned with "the

allocation and deployment of economic resources, both spatially
and across time, in an uncertain environment".

 Heterodox economics – approaches or to schools of economic

thought that are considered outside of "mainstream economics"
and sometimes contrasted by expositors with neoclassical
economics.

 Green economics – one that results in improved human well-

being and social equity, while significantly reducing
environmental risks
 Feminist economics – diverse area of economic inquiry that
highlights the androcentric biases of traditional economics
through critical examinations of economic methodology,
epistemology, history and empirical study.

 Islamic economics – body of Islamic studies literature that

"identifies and promotes an economic order that conforms to
Islamic scripture and traditions," and in the economic world an
interest-free Islamic banking system, grounded in Sharia's
condemnation of interest (riba).
 Industrial organization – field of economics that builds on the
theory of the firm in examining the structure of, and boundaries
between, firms and markets.
 International economics – study of the effects upon economic
activity of international differences in productive resources and
consumer preferences and the institutions that affect them.
 Institutional economics – study of the role of the evolutionary
process and the role of institutions in shaping economic behaviour.

 Labor economics – seeks to understand the functioning and

dynamics of the markets for labour.

 Law and Economics – application of economic methods to analysis

of law.
 Managerial economics – "application of economic concepts and
economic analysis to the problems of formulating rational
managerial decisions"
 Monetary economics – branch of economics that historically
prefigured and remains integrally linked to macroeconomics.

 Neuroeconomics – interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain

human decision making, the ability to process multiple alternatives
and to choose an optimal course of action.

 Public finance – study of the role of the government in the

economy.

 Public economics – study of government policy through the lens of

economic efficiency and equity.
 Real estate economics – application of economic techniques to
real estate markets.

 Resource economics – study of supply, demand, and allocation of

the Earth's natural resources.
 Welfare economics – branch of economics that uses
microeconomic techniques to evaluate economic well-being,
especially relative to competitive general equilibrium within an
economy as to economic efficiency and the resulting income
distribution associated with it.
 Political economy – study of the production, buying, and selling,
and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as
with the distribution of national income and wealth, including
through the budget process.
 Socioeconomics – considers behavioral interactions of individuals
and groups through social capital and social "markets" (not
excluding for example, sorting by marriage) and the formation of
social norms.
 Transport economics – branch of economics that deals with the
allocation of resources within the transport sector and has strong
linkages with civil engineering.

 Economic methodology – study of methods, especially the

scientific method, in relation to economics, including principles
underlying economic reasoning.

 Computational economics – research discipline at the

interface between computer science and economic and
management science.

 Econometrics – application of mathematics and statistical

methods to economic data

 Mathematical economics – application of mathematical

methods to represent economic theories and analyze
problems posed in economics.
 Economic statistics – topic in applied statistics that
concerns the collection, processing, compilation,
dissemination, and analysis of economic data.
 Time series – sequence of data points, measured
typically at successive time instants spaced at uniform
time intervals.

 Experimental economics – application of experimental

methods to study economic questions.
Linguistics[edit]

 Linguistics – scientific study of natural language.

 Anthropological linguistics – study of the relations between
language and culture and the relations between human biology,
cognition and language.
 Applied linguistics – interdisciplinary field of study that identifies,
investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life
problems.
 Biolinguistics – study of the biology and evolution of language.

 Clinical linguistics and speech and language pathology – sub-

discipline of linguistics which involves the application of linguistic
theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology.

 Cognitive linguistics – branch of linguistics that interprets language

in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific
to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms.

 Comparative linguistics – branch of historical linguistics that is

concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical
relatedness.
 Computational linguistics – interdisciplinary field dealing with the
statistical or rule-based modeling of natural language from a
computational perspective.

 Developmental linguistics – study of the development of linguistic

ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition of language in
childhood.


 language acquisition – the process by which humans
acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend
language, as well as to produce and use words to
communicate.
 Dialectology – scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of
sociolinguistics.

 dialectometry – the study of high levels of structure in

geographical dialect networks.
 Discourse analysis – general term for a number of approaches to
analyzing written, spoken, signed language use or any significant
semiotic event.
 Etymology – study of the history of words, their origins, and how
their form and meaning have changed over time.
 Evolutionary linguistics – the scientific study of both the origins and
development of language as well as the cultural evolution of
languages.

 Forensic linguistics – application of linguistic knowledge, methods

and insights to the forensic context of law, language, crime
investigation, trial, and judicial procedure.
 Geolinguistics – branch of human geography that studies the
geographic distribution of language or its constituent elements.

 Historical linguistics – study of language change.

 Lexis – total vocabulary or lexicon having items of lexical, rather

than grammatical, meaning.

 Linguistic typology – subfield of linguistics that studies and

classifies languages according to their structural features.

 Morphology – identification, analysis and description of the

structure of a given language's morphemes and other linguistic
units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or
implied context (words in a lexicon are the subject matter of
lexicology).
 Neurolinguistics – study of the neural mechanisms in the human
brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition
of language.

 Philology – study of language in written historical sources; it is a

combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.

 Phonetics – branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the

sounds of human speech, orthe equivalent aspects of sign.

 Phonology – branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic

organization of sounds in languages.
 Phraseology – study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms,
phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units (often
collectively referred to as phrasemes), in which the component
parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than or
otherwise not predictable from the sum of their meanings when
used independently.
 Pragmatics – subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which
context contributes to meaning.
 Psycholinguistics – study of the psychological and neurobiological
factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and
produce language.

 Sociolinguistics – descriptive study of the effect of any and all

aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and
context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language
use on society.

 Speech science – Speech science refers to the study of

production, transmission and perception of speech. Speech
science involves anatomy, in particular the anatomy of the oro-
facial region and neuroanatomy, physiology, and acoustics.

 Stylistics – study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic

perspective.

 Syntax – "the study of the principles and processes by which

sentences are constructed in particular languages."
 Semantics – study of meaning.

 Writing systems and orthography – representation of language in a

textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols
(known as a writing system).
Psychology[edit]
See also: Subfields of psychology

Psychology – science of behavior and mental processes

 Behavior analysis – philosophy of psychology based on the

proposition that all things that organisms do can and should be
 regarded as behaviors, and that psychological disorders are best
treated by altering behavior patterns or modifying the environment.
 Biopsychology – application of the principles of biology (in
particular neurobiology), to the study of physiological, genetic, and
developmental mechanisms of behavior in human and non-human
animals.
 Cognitive psychology – subdiscipline of psychology exploring
internal mental processes.

 Clinical psychology – integration of science, theory and clinical

knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and
relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to
promote subjective well-being and personal development.
 Cultural psychology – field of psychology which assumes the idea
that culture and mind are inseparable, and that psychological
theories grounded in one culture are likely to be limited in
applicability when applied to a different culture.
 Developmental psychology – scientific study of systematic
psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception
changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life
span.

 Educational psychology – study of how humans learn in

educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions,
the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools
as organizations.

 Evolutionary psychology – approach in the social and natural

sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory,
perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective.
 Experimental psychology – application of experimental methods to
the study of behavior and the processes that underlie it.
 Forensic psychology – intersection between psychology and the
courtroom—criminal, civil, family and Federal.
 Health psychology – concerned with understanding how biological,
psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in
physical health and illness.
 Humanistic psychology – psychological perspective which rose to
prominence in the mid-20th century in the context of the tertiary
sector beginning to produce in the most developed countries in the
world more than the secondary sector was producing, for the first
time in human history demanding creativity and new understanding
of human capital.

 Industrial and organizational psychology – scientific study of

employees, workplaces, and organizations.

 Music therapy – allied health profession and one of the expressive

therapies, consisting of an interpersonal process in which a trained
music therapist uses music to help clients to improve or maintain
their health.

 Neuropsychology – studies the structure and function of the brain

as they relate to specific psychological processes and behaviors.

 Personality psychology – branch of psychology that studies

personality and individual differences.

 Psychometrics – field of study concerned with the theory and

technique of psychological measurement, which includes the
measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits,
and educational measurement.
 Psychology of religion – application of psychological methods and
interpretive frameworks to religious traditions, as well as to both
religious and irreligious individuals.

 Psychophysics – quantitatively investigates the relationship

between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they
affect.
 Sensation and perception psychology –
Applied psychology[edit]
Applied psychology – use of psychological principles and theories to
overcome problems in other areas, such as mental health, business
management, education, health, product design, ergonomics, and law.
 Psychological testing – field characterized by the use of samples of
behavior in order to assess psychological construct(s), such as
cognitive and emotional functioning, about a given individual.
 Clinical psychology – integration of science, theory and clinical
knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and
relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to
promote subjective well-being and personal development.
 Community psychology – Sense of community Social capital

 Consumer behaviour – study of when, why, how, and where

people do or do not buy a product.

 Counseling psychology – psychological specialty that

encompasses research and applied work in several broad
domains: counseling process and outcome; supervision and
training; career development and counseling; and prevention and
health.
 Educational psychology – study of how humans learn in
educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions,
the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools
as organizations.

 Forensic psychology – intersection between psychology and the

courtroom—criminal, civil, family and Federal.

 Health psychology – concerned with understanding how biological,

psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in
physical health and illness.
 Industrial and organizational psychology – scientific study of
employees, workplaces, and organizations.

 Legal psychology – involves empirical, psychological research of

the law, legal institutions, and people who come into contact with
the law.

 Media psychology – seeks an understanding of how people

perceive, interpret, use, and respond to a media-rich world.
 Military psychology – research, design and application of
psychological theories and experimentation data towards
 understanding, predicting and countering behaviours either in
friendly or enemy forces or civilian population that may be
undesirable, threatening or potentially dangerous to the conduct of
military operations.
 Occupational health psychology – concerned with the psychosocial
characteristics of workplaces that contribute to the development of
health-related problems in people who work.
 Pastoral psychology – application of psychological methods and
interpretive frameworks to religious traditions, as well as to both
religious and irreligious individuals.
 Political psychology – interdisciplinary academic field dedicated to
understanding political science, politicians and political behavior
through the use of psychological theories.
 Psychometrics – field of study concerned with the theory and
technique of psychological measurement, which includes the
measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits,
and educational measurement.

 School psychology – field that applies principles of clinical

psychology and educational psychology to the diagnosis and
treatment of children's and adolescents' behavioral and learning
problems.

 Sport psychology – interdisciplinary science that draws on

knowledge from the fields of Kinesiology and Psychology.
 Systems psychology – branch of applied psychology that studies
human behaviour and experience in complex systems.
 Traffic psychology – study of the behavior of road users and the
psychological processes underlying that behavior (Rothengatter,
1997, 223) as well as to the relationship between behavior and
accidents
Geography[edit]
Geography – study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena
of Earth.
 Cartography – study and practice of making maps or globes.

 Human geography – branch of the social sciences that studies the

world, its people, communities, and cultures with an emphasis on
relations of and across space and place.

 Critical geography – takes a critical theory (Frankfurt School)

approach to the study and analysis of geography.
 Cultural geography – study of cultural products and norms and
their variations across and relations to spaces and places.

 Feminist geography – approach in human geography which

applies the theories, methods and critiques of feminism to the
study of the human environment, society and geographical
space.
 Economic geography – study of the location, distribution and
spatial organization of economic activities across the world.
 Development geography – branch of geography with reference
to the standard of living and quality of life of its human
inhabitants.

 Historical geography – study of the human, physical, fictional,

theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past.

 Time geography –

 Political geography & geopolitics – field of human geography

that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven
outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political
processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.
 Marxist geography – strand of critical geography that uses the
theories and philosophy of Marxism to examine the spatial
relations of human geography.
 Military geography – sub-field of geography that is used by,
not only the military, but also academics and politicians to
understand the geopolitical sphere through the militaristic lens.

 Strategic geography – concerned with the control of, or access

to, spatial areas that have an impact on the security and
prosperity of nations.
  Population geography – study of the ways in which spatial
variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and
growth of populations are related to the nature of places.
 Social geography – branch of human geography that is most
closely related to social theory in general and sociology in
particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomena and
its spatial components.
 Behavioral geography – approach to human geography that
examines human behavior using a disaggregate approach.

 Children's geographies – area of study within human

geography and Childhood Studies which involves researching
the places and spaces of children's lives.
 Health geography – application of geographical information,
perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and
health care.
 Tourism geography – study of travel and tourism, as an
industry and as a social and cultural activity.

 Urban geography – study of areas which have a high

concentration of buildings and infrastructure.

 Environmental geography – branch of geography that describes

the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural
world.
 Physical geography – branch of natural science which deals with
the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like
the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the
cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography.

 Biogeography – study of the distribution of species (biology),

organisms, and ecosystems in geographic space and through
geological time.

 Climatology – Atmospheric physics Atmospheric dynamics

(category)
 Palaeoclimatology – study of changes in climate taken on the
scale of the entire history of Earth.
  Coastal geography – study of the dynamic interface between
the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical
geography (i.e. coastal geomorphology, geology and
oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and
history) of the coast.

 Geomorphology – scientific study of landforms and the

processes that shape them.
 Geodesy – scientific discipline that deals with the
measurement and representation of the Earth, including its
gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space.
 Hydrology – study of the movement, distribution, and quality of
water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic
cycle, water resources and environmental watershed
sustainability.

 Hydrography – mapping (charting) of water topographic

features through the measurement of the depths, the tides and
currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river
or lake bed topography and morphology.

 Glaciology – study of glaciers, or more generally ice and

natural phenomena that involve ice.

 Limnology – study of inland waters.

 Oceanography – branch of Earth science that studies the

ocean.

 Pedology – study of soils in their natural environment.

 Landscape ecology – science of studying and improving

relationships between ecological processes in the environment
and particular ecosystems.

 Palaeogeography – study of what the geography was in times

past.
 Regional geography – study of world regions.
Philosophy[edit]
Not considered a science by some thinkers,[1] instead considered a
precursor of it. Several fields of philosophy are more directly relevant to
the natural and social sciences than others. These include:
Philosophy – study of general and fundamental problems concerning
matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and
language.

 Epistemology – study of how we know what we know; study of the

nature and scope of knowledge.

 Ethics – major branch of philosophy, encompassing right conduct

and good life. It is significantly broader than the common
conception of analyzing right and wrong.
 Logic – formal science of using reason

 Philosophy of mind – branch of philosophy that studies the nature

of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties,
consciousness and their relationship to the physical body,
particularly the brain.
 Philosophy of science – questions the assumptions, foundations,
methods and implications of science; questions the use and merit
of science; sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by
questioning whether scientific results are actually a study of truth.
Political science[edit]
See also: Outline of politics

Political science – social science discipline concerned with the study of

the state, government, and politics.

 Comparative politics – field and a method used in political science,

characterized by an empirical approach based on the comparative
method.

 Game theory – study of strategic decision making.

 Geopolitics – theory that describes the relation between politics

and territory whether on local or international scale.

 political geography – field of human geography that is

concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven
outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political
processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.
 Ideology – set of ideas that constitute one's goals, expectations,
and actions.
 Political economy – Political economy originally was the term for
studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with
law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of
national income and wealth, including through the budget process.
Political economy originated in moral philosophy. It developed in
the 18th century as the study of the economies of states, polities,
hence political economy.

 Political psychology, bureaucratic, administrative and judicial

behaviour –

 Psephology – branch of political science which deals with the study

and scientific analysis of elections.
 Voting systems – methods by which voters make a choice between
options, often in an election or on a policy referendum.
 Public administration – houses the implementation of government
policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation
and that prepares civil servants for this work.

 Public policy – generally the principled guide to action taken

by the administrative or executive branches of the state with
regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and
institutional customs.
 Local government studies – form of public administration
which in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of
administration within the a given state.
 International politics – study of relationships between
countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental
organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental
organizations (INGOs), non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs).

 International relations theory – study of international relations from

a theoretical perspective; it attempts to provide a conceptual
framework upon which international relations can be analyzed.
Sociology[edit]
See also: Subfields of sociology

Sociology – studies society using various methods of empirical

investigation and critical analysis to understand human social activity,
from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro
level of systems and social structure.

 Criminology – study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of

criminal behavior in both the individual and in society.

 Demography – statistical study of human populations and sub-

populations.
Applied sciences[edit]
Applied sciences – application of scientific knowledge transferred into a
physical environment.
Agronomy[edit]
Agronomy – science and technology of producing and using plants for
food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation.

 Animal husbandry – agricultural practice of breeding and raising

livestock.

 Aquaculture – also known as aquafarming, is the farming of

aquatic organisms such
as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.[2][3]

 Algaculture – form of aquaculture involving the farming of

species of algae.
 Mariculture – cultivation of marine organisms for food and
other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the
ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with
seawater.

 Agriculture – science of farming

 Cuniculture – also known as rabbit farming, is the breeding

and raising domestic rabbits, usually for their meat or fur.
 Fungiculture – process of producing food, medicine, and other
products by the cultivation of mushrooms and other fungi.
 Heliciculture – also called snail farming, is the process of
farming or raising land snails specifically for human
 consumption, and more recently, to obtain snail slime for
cosmetics use.
 Olericulture – science of vegetable growing, dealing with the
culture of non-woody (herbaceous) plants for food.

 Sericulture – also called silk farming, is the rearing of

silkworms for the production of silk. Although there are several
commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most
widely used and intensively studied.

 Food science – study concerned with all technical aspects of

foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with
its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as
"from field to fork".
 Forestry – art and science of managing forests, tree plantations,
and related natural resources.

 Arboriculture – cultivation, management, and study of

individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody
plants.

 Silviculture – practice of controlling the establishment, growth,

composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse
needs and values. It includes regenerating, tending and
harvesting techniques.

 Horticulture – art, science, technology and business of intensive

plant cultivation for human use

 Floriculture – discipline of horticulture concerned with the

cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and
for floristry, comprising the floral industry.

 Hydroculture – growing of plants in a soilless medium, or an

aquatic based environment. Plant nutrients are distributed via
water. Hydroculture is aquatic horticulture.

 Hydroponics – subset of hydroculture and is a method of

growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water,
without soil.
 Permaculture – branch of ecological design and ecological
engineering, which develop sustainable human settlements and
self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural
ecosystems.
Architecture[edit]
Architecture – process and product of planning, designing and
construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are
often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art.

 Architectural engineering – application of engineering principles

and technology to building design and construction.

 Building science – collection of scientific knowledge that focuses

on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting
buildings.
Education[edit]
Education – any act or experience that has a formative effect on the
mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical
sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits
its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to
another.
Engineering[edit]
Engineering – discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and
applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical
knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices,
systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to
the lives of people.

 Aeronautical engineering – Aerospace engineering is the primary

branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction, and
science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and
overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical
engineering. The former deals with craft that stay within Earth's
atmosphere, and the latter with craft that operate outside it.

 Aerospace engineering – Aerospace engineering is the primary

branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction, and
science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and
overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical
 engineering. The former deals with craft that stay within Earth's
atmosphere, and the latter with craft that operate outside it.
 Agricultural engineering – engineering discipline that applies
engineering science and technology to agricultural production and
processing.
 Agricultural science – broad multidisciplinary field that
encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social
sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of
agriculture.

 Biomedical engineering – application of engineering principles and

design concepts to medicine and biology.
 Bioengineering – application of concepts and methods of biology
(and secondarily of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and
computer science) to solve real-world problems related to the life
sciences and/or the application thereof, using engineering's own
analytical and synthetic methodologies and also its traditional
sensitivity to the cost and practicality of the solution(s) arrived at.

 Chemical engineering – application of physical science (e.g.,

chemistry and physics), and life sciences (e.g., biology,
microbiology and biochemistry) with mathematics and economics,
to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more
useful or valuable forms.

 Civil engineering – professional engineering discipline that deals

with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and
naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges,
canals, dams, and buildings.

 Computer engineering – design and development of computer

systems

 Control engineering – engineering discipline that applies control

theory to design systems with desired behaviors.

 Electrical engineering – field of engineering that generally deals

with the study and application of electricity, electronics and
electromagnetism.
 Industrial engineering – branch of engineering dealing with the
optimization of complex processes or systems
 Language engineering – deliberate effort to influence the function,
structure, or acquisition of languages or language variety within a
speech community.
 Marine engineering – engineering of boats, ships, oil rigs and any
other marine vessel
 Materials engineering – interdisciplinary field applying the
properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering.
 Mechanical engineering – discipline of engineering that applies the
principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design,
manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems.
 Mining engineering – engineering discipline that involves the
practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of
extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring
environment.
 Nuclear engineering – branch of engineering concerned with the
application of the breakdown (fission) as well as the fusion of
atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics,
based on the principles of nuclear physics.

 Polymer engineering – subfield of materials science concerned

with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics.
 Software engineering – application of a systematic, disciplined,
quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and
maintenance of software; that is the application of engineering to
software.

 Systems engineering – interdisciplinary field of engineering

focusing on how complex engineering projects should be designed
and managed over their life cycles.
Health sciences[edit]
Health science – application of science, technology, engineering or
mathematics to the delivery of healthcare
 Conservation medicine – emerging, interdisciplinary field that
studies the relationship between human and animal health, and
environmental conditions.
 Dentistry – branch of medicine that is involved in the study,
diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and
conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent
and associated structures and their impact on the human body.
 Optometry – health care profession concerned with the health of
the eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems,
and vision information processing in humans.
 Medicine – science of healing.

 Anatomy – branch of biology and medicine that is the

consideration of the structure of living things.

 Human anatomy – scientific study of the morphology of

the adult human.
 Dermatology – branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its
diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical
aspects.

 Cardiology – medical specialty dealing with disorders of the

heart (specifically the human heart).

 Gastroenterology – branch of medicine whereby the digestive

system and its disorders are studied.

 Gynecology – medical practice dealing with the health of the

female reproductive system (uterus, vagina, and ovaries).
 Immunology – study of the immune system.

 Internal medicine – medical specialty dealing with the

prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases.

 Neurology – medical specialty dealing with disorders of the

nervous system.

 Ophthalmology – branch of medicine that deals with the

anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye.
 Pathology – precise study and diagnosis of disease.
  Pathophysiology – study of the changes of normal mechanical,
physiological, and biochemical functions, either caused by a
disease, or resulting from an abnormal syndrome.
 Pediatrics – branch of medicine that deals with the medical
care of infants, children, and adolescents.
 Pharmacy – health profession that links the health sciences
with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the
safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs.

 Physiology – science of the function of living systems.

 Psychiatry – medical specialty devoted to the study and

treatment of mental disorders.
 Radiology – medical specialty that employs the use of imaging
to both diagnose and treat disease visualised within the
human body.
 Toxicology – branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine
concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals
on living organisms.

 Urology – medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the

urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive
system of males.

 Nutrition – studies the relationship between diet and states of

health and disease.

 Nursing – Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care

of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain,
maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life.
 Pharmacology – branch of medicine and biology concerned with
the study of drug action
 Physical therapy – Military Physical Therapists working with
patients on balance problems, orthopedic/musculoskeletal injuries,
amputee, compression wrapping to control edema, and during
evaluation/assessment of strength, flexibility, and joint range of
motion, massages, etc. .
 Veterinary medicine – branch of science that deals with the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury
in non-human animals.
Management[edit]
Management – getting people together to accomplish desired goals
and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.

 Accounting – process of communicating financial information about

a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers.

 Outline of management – getting people together to accomplish

desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently
and effectively.
 Business Strategy – field that deals with the major intended and
emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of
owners, involving utilization of resources, to enhance the
performance of firms in their external environments.
 Finance – addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses
and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over
time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects.
 Marketing – social and managerial processes by which products,
services and value are exchanged in order to fulfil individuals' or
group's needs and wants. These processes include, but are not
limited to, advertising, promotion, distribution, and sales.

 Organizational Behavior – field of study that investigates the

impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior
within an organization.

 Operations – those ongoing recurring (cyclic) activities involved in

the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the
stakeholders.
Military sciences[edit]
Military science – study of the technique, psychology, practice and
other phenomena which constitute war and armed conflict.
 Military Organization – structuring of the armed forces of a state so
as to offer military capability required by the national defence
policy.
 Military Education and Training – Recruit training, more commonly
known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the
initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel,
enlisted and officer.
 Military History – humanities discipline within the scope of general
historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and
its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing
intra and international relationships.

 Military Engineering – collection of equipment, vehicles, structures

and communication systems that are designed for use in warfare.
 Military Strategy and Tactics – set of ideas implemented by military
organizations to pursue desired strategic goals
Spatial science[edit]
Main article: Spatial science

 GIS – geographic information system is a system designed to

capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types
of geographical data.
 Remote sensing – acquisition of information about an object or
phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object.

 Photogrammetry – practice of determining the geometric properties

of objects from photographic images.

How scientific fields differ[edit]

 Exact science – any field of science capable of accurate

quantitative expression or precise predictions and rigorous
methods of testing hypotheses, especially reproducible
experiments involving quantifiable predictions and measurements.

 Fundamental science – science that describes the most basic

objects, forces, relations between them and laws governing them,
 such that all other phenomena may be in principle derived from
them following the logic of scientific reductionism.
 Hard and soft science – colloquial terms often used when
comparing scientific fields of academic research or scholarship,
with hard meaning perceived as being more scientific, rigorous, or
accurate.

Politics of science[edit]

 Disruptive technology – innovation that helps create a new market

and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing
market and value network (over a few years or decades),
displacing an earlier technology.
 Kansas evolution hearings – series of hearings held in Topeka,
Kansas, United States May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Kansas State
Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing
Committee to change how evolution and the origin of life would be
taught in the state's public high school science classes.

 List of books about the politics of science – list of books about the
politics of science.

 Politicization of science – politicization of science is the

manipulation of science for political gain.

 Science by press release – refers to scientists who put an unusual

focus on publicizing results of research in the media.

History of science[edit]
Main article: History of science

 History of science in general – Mathematics Mathematical

logic Mathematical statistics Computer science
 History of scientific method – history of scientific method is
a history of the methodology of scientific inquiry, as
differentiated from a history of science in general.
  Theories/sociology of science – sociology and philosophy
of science, as well as the entire field of science studies,
have in the 20th century been occupied with the question
of large-scale patterns and trends in the development of
science, and asking questions about how science "works"
both in a philosophical and practical sense.
 Historiography – study of the history and methodology of
the sub-discipline of history, known as the history of
science, including its disciplinary aspects and practices
(methods, theories, schools) and to the study of its own
historical development ("History of History of Science",
i.e., the history of the discipline called History of Science).

 History of pseudoscience – history of pseudoscience is

the study of pseudoscientific theories over time. A
pseudoscience is a set of ideas that presents itself as
science, while it does not meet the criteria to properly be
called such.

 Timeline of scientific discoveries – shows the date of

publication of major scientific theories and discoveries,
along with the discoverer. In many cases, the discoveries
spanned several years.

 Timeline of scientific thought – lists the major landmarks

across all scientific philosophy and methodological
sciences.
By period[edit]

 History of science in early cultures – history of science in early

cultures refers to the study of protoscience in ancient history,
prior to the development of science in the Middle Ages.
 History of science in Classical Antiquity – history of science in
classical antiquity encompasses both those inquiries into the
workings of the universe aimed at such practical goals as
establishing a reliable calendar or determining how to cure a
 variety of illnesses and those abstract investigations known as
natural philosophy.
 History of science in the Middle Ages – Science in the Middle
Ages comprised the study of nature, including practical
disciplines, the mathematics and natural philosophy in
medieval Europe.
 History of science in the Renaissance – During the
Renaissance, great advances occurred in geography,
astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, manufacturing,
and engineering.
 Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci – Italian
polymath, regarded as the epitome of the "Renaissance
Man", displaying skills in numerous diverse areas of study.
 Scientific revolution – scientific revolution is an era associated
primarily with the 16th and 17th centuries during which new
ideas and knowledge in physics, astronomy, biology, medicine
and chemistry transformed medieval and ancient views of
nature and laid the foundations for modern science.

 Governmental impact on science during WWII – Governmental

impact on science during World War II represents the effect of
public administration on technological development that
provided many advantages to the armed forces, economies
and societies in their strategies during the war.
By date[edit]

 List of years in science – events related to science or

technology which occurred in the listed year.
 Timeline of scientific discoveries – shows the date of
publication of major scientific theories and discoveries, along
with the discoverer. In many cases, the discoveries spanned
several years.

 Timeline of scientific experiments – shows the date of

publication of major scientific experiments.
 Timeline of the history of scientific method – shows an
overview of the cultural inventions that have contributed to the
development of the scientific method.
By field[edit]

 History of natural science – study of nature and the physical

universe that was dominant before the development of modern
science.
 Natural philosophy – the study of nature and the physical
universe that was dominant before the development of
modern science.

 History of biology – traces the study of the living world

from ancient to modern times.

 Natural history – scientific research of plants or

animals, leaning more towards observational rather
than experimental methods of study, and
encompasses more research published in magazines
than in academic journals.

 History of ecology – history of the science of ecology.

 History of molecular biology – begins in the 1930s

with the convergence of various, previously distinct
biological disciplines: biochemistry, genetics,
microbiology, and virology.
 History of physical science –

 History of nature – describes the most important

events and fundamental stages in the development of
the planet Earth from its formation to the present day.
 History of astronomy, Timeline –

 History of chemistry – By 1000 BC, ancient

civilizations used technologies that would eventually
form the basis of the various branches of chemistry.
 History of geography –

 History of geology, Timeline –

  History of meteorology, Timeline –

 History of physics – As forms of science historically

developed out of philosophy, physics was originally
referred to as natural philosophy, a field of study
concerned with "the workings of nature."
 History of the social sciences – has origin in the common
stock of Western philosophy and shares various precursors,
but began most intentionally in the early 19th century with the
positivist philosophy of science.

 History of science and technology –

 History of scientific method – history of the methodology

of scientific inquiry, as differentiated from a history of
science in general.

 History of archaeology, Timeline –

 History of cognitive science –

 History of criminal justice – Throughout the history of

criminal justice, evolving forms of punishment, added
rights for offenders and victims, and policing reforms have
reflected changing customs, political ideals, and economic
conditions.

 History of economics – study of different thinkers and

theories in the subject that became political economy and
economics from the ancient world to the present day.
 History of education – development of systematic
methods of teaching and learning.
 History of law – study of how law has evolved and why it
changed.
 History of linguistics – endeavors to describe and explain
the human faculty of language.

 History of marketing – as a recognized discipline, along

with concomitant changes in marketing theory and
practice.
  History of parapsychology –

 History of political science – social science discipline

concerned with the study of the state, government, and
politics.

 History of psychology, Timeline –

 History of sociology, Timeline –

See also: Outline of technology:: History of technology
By region[edit]
History of science in present states, by continent[edit]
See - Category:Science and technology by continent
History of science in historic states[edit]

 Science and technology of the Han Dynasty

 Science and technology in the Ottoman Empire

 Science and technology of the Song Dynasty

 Science and technology in the Soviet Union

 Science and technology of the Tang Dynasty

Philosophy of science[edit]

 Philosophy of science – questions the assumptions,

foundations, methods and implications of science.

Scientific community[edit]

 Scientific community – group of all interacting scientists.

 Big Science – a series of changes in science that occurred in

industrial nations during and after World War II.
Scientific organizations[edit]

 Academy of Sciences – national academy or another learned

society dedicated to sciences.
Scientists[edit]
 Scientist – practitioner of science; an individual who
uses scientific method to objectively inquire into the nature of
reality—be it the fundamental laws of physics or how people
behave. There are many names for scientists, often named in
relation to the job that they do. One example of this is
a biologist, a scientist who studies biology (the study of living
organisms and their environments).
Types of scientist[edit]
By field[edit]
The scientific fields mentioned below are generally described by
the science they study.

 Agricultural scientist – broad multidisciplinary field that

encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social
sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of
agriculture.
 Archaeologist – study of human activity, primarily through the
recovery and analysis of the material culture and
environmental data that they have left behind, which includes
artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the
archaeological record).

 Astronomer – astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial

bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.

 Astrophysicist – branch of astronomy that deals with the

physics of the universe, including the physical properties
of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and
behavior.

 Biologist – scientist devoted to the study of living organisms

and their relationship to their environment.

 Astrobiologist – study of the origin, evolution, distribution,

and future of extraterrestrial life.

 Biophysicist – interdisciplinary science that uses the

methods of physical science to study biological systems.
 Biotechnologist – field of applied biology that involves the
use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering,
technology, medicine and other fields requiring
bioproducts.
 Botanist – discipline of biology, is the science of plant life.

 Cognitive scientists – scientific study of the mind and its

processes.
 Ecologist – scientific study of the relations that living
organisms have with respect to each other and their
natural environment.

 Entomologist – scientific study of insects, a branch of

arthropodology.
 Evolutionary biologist – sub-field of biology concerned
with the study of the evolutionary processes that have
given rise to the diversity of life on Earth.
 Geneticist – biologist who studies genetics, the science of
genes, heredity, and variation of organisms.

 Herpetologist – branch of zoology concerned with the

study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders,
newts, and gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes,
lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises,
crocodilians, and the tuataras).
 Immunologist – branch of biomedical science that covers
the study of all aspects of the immune system in all
organisms.
 Ichthyologist – study of fish.

 Lepidopterist – person who specialises in the study of

Lepidoptera, members of an order encompassing moths
and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper
butterflies, and moth-butterflies.

 Marine biologist – scientific study of organisms in the

ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water.
  Medical scientist – basic research, applied research, or
translational research conducted to aid and support the
body of knowledge in the field of medicine.
 Microbiologist – study of microscopic organisms.

 Mycologist – branch of biology concerned with the study

of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical
properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a
source for tinder, medicinals (e.g., penicillin), food (e.g.,
beer, wine, cheese, edible mushrooms) and entheogens,
as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection.
 Neuroscientist – individual who studies the scientific field
of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields.
 Ornithologist – branch of zoology that concerns the study
of birds.

 Paleontologist – study of prehistoric life.

 Pathologist – precise study and diagnosis of disease.

 Pharmacologist – branch of medicine and biology

concerned with the study of drug action.

 Physiologist – science of the function of living systems.

 Zoologist – branch of biology that relates to the animal

kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution,
classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both
living and extinct.
 Chemist – scientist trained in the study of chemistry.

 Analytical chemist – study of the separation, identification,

and quantification of the chemical components of natural
and artificial materials.

 Biochemist – study of chemical processes in living

organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter.

 Inorganic chemist – branch of chemistry concerned with

the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds.
  Organic chemist – subdiscipline within chemistry involving
the scientific study of the structure, properties,
composition, reactions, and preparation (by synthesis or
by other means) of carbon-based compounds,
hydrocarbons, and their derivatives.

 Physical chemist – study of macroscopic, atomic,

subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical
systems in terms of physical laws and concepts.
 Earth scientist – all-embracing term for the sciences related to
the planet Earth.
 Geologist – scientist who studies the solid and liquid
matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes
and history that has shaped it.
 Glaciologist – study of glaciers, or more generally ice and
natural phenomena that involve ice.
 Hydrologist – study of the movement, distribution, and
quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the
hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental
watershed sustainability.

 Limnologist – study of inland waters

 Meteorologist – study of weather

 Mineralogist – study of chemistry, crystal structure, and

physical (including optical) properties of minerals.
 Oceanographer – branch of Earth science that studies the
ocean
 Paleontologist – study of prehistoric life

 Seismologist – scientific study of earthquakes and the

propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through
other planet-like bodies.

 Volcanologist – study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and

related geological, geophysical and geochemical
phenomena.
 Informatician – science of information, the practice of
information processing, and the engineering of information
systems.
 Computer scientist – scientist who has acquired
knowledge of computer science, the study of the
theoretical foundations of information and computation
 Library scientist – interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that
applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management,
information technology, education, and other areas to libraries;
the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of
information resources; and the political economy of
information.
 Management scientist – study of advanced analytical methods
to help make better decisions.

 Mathematician – person with an extensive knowledge of

mathematics, a field that has been informally defined as being
concerned with numbers, data, collection, quantity, structure,
space, and change.

 Statistician – someone who works with theoretical or

applied statistics.

 Military scientist – process of translating national defence

policy to produce military capability by employing military
scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental
scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test
technicians, and military personnel responsible for prototyping.
 Physicist – scientist who does research in physics

 Psychologist – professional or academic title used by

individuals who practice psychology

 Abnormal psychologist – branch of psychology that

studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and
thought, which may or may not be understood as
precipitating a mental disorder.
 Educational psychologist – psychologist whose
differentiating functions may include diagnostic and
psycho-educational assessment, psychological counseling
in educational communities (students, teachers, parents
and academic authorities), community-type psycho-
educational intervention, and mediation, coordination, and
referral to other professionals, at all levels of the
educational system.
 Biopsychologist – application of the principles of biology
(in particular neurobiology), to the study of physiological,
genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in
human and non-human animals.

 Clinical psychologist – integration of science, theory and

clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding,
preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or
dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and
personal development.

 Comparative psychologist – scientific study of the

behavior and mental processes of non-human animals,
especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history,
adaptive significance, and development of behavior.

 Cognitive psychologist – subdiscipline of psychology

exploring internal mental processes. It is the study of how
people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve
problems.
 Developmental psychologist – scientific study of
systematic psychological changes, emotional changes,
and perception changes that occur in human beings over
the course of their life span.
 Evolutionary psychologist – approach in the social and
natural sciences that examines psychological traits such
as memory, perception, and language from a modern
evolutionary perspective.
  Experimental psychologist – study of behavior and the
processes that underlie it, by means of experiment
 Neuropsychologist – studies the structure and function of
the brain as they relate to specific psychological
processes and behaviors.
 Social psychologist – scientific study of how people's
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the
actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

 Social scientist – field of study concerned with society and

human behaviours.

 Anthropologist – study of humanity.

 Ethnologist – branch of anthropology that compares

and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology,
religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic,
racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.
 Communication scientist – academic field that deals with
processes of human communication, commonly defined
as the sharing of symbols to create meaning.

 Criminologist – study of criminal behavior

 Demographer – statistical study of populations

 Economist – professional in the social science discipline

of economics.

 Geographer – geographer is a scholar whose area of

study is geography, the study of Earth's natural
environment and human society.

 Political economist – study of production, buying, and

selling, and their relations with law, custom, and
government, as well as with the distribution of national
income and wealth, including through the budget process.

 Political scientist – social science discipline concerned

with the study of the state, government, and politics.
 Sociologist –
 Technologist

 Architectural technologist, a specialist in the technology of

building design and construction

 Educational technologist, a specialist in tools to enhance

learning

 Engineering technologist, a specialist who implements

technology within a field of engineering

 Industrial technologist, a specialist in the management,

operation, and maintenance of complex operation systems

 Medical Technologist, a healthcare professional who

performs diagnostic analysis on a variety of body fluids

 Radiologic technologist, a medical professional who

applies doses of radiation for imaging and treatment

 Surgical technologist, a health specialist who facilitates

the conduct of invasive surgical procedures
By employment status[edit]

 Academic – community of students and scholars engaged in

higher education and research.
 Layperson – someone who is not an expert or someone who
has not had professional training

 Gentleman scientist – financially independent scientist who

pursues scientific study as a hobby.
 Government scientist – scientist employed by a country's
government
Famous scientists[edit]
Main list: Lists of scientists

 Aristotle – Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of

Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

 Archimedes – Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer,

inventor, and astronomer.
 Andreas Vesalius – Flemish anatomist, physician, and
author of one of the most influential books on human
anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Structure of
the Human Body).
 Nicolaus Copernicus – Renaissance astronomer and the
first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric
cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of
the universe.
 Galileo Galilei – Italian physicist, mathematician,
astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in
the Scientific Revolution.

 Johannes Kepler – German mathematician, astronomer

and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific
revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of
planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on
his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and
Epitome of Copernican Astronomy.

 René Descartes – French philosopher, mathematician,

and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch
Republic.

 Isaac Newton – English physicist, mathematician,

astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and
theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the
greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."
 Leonhard Euler – pioneering Swiss mathematician and
physicist.

 Pierre-Simon Laplace – French mathematician and

astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of
mathematical astronomy and statistics.

 Alexander von Humboldt – German geographer, naturalist

and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian
minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt.
 Charles Darwin – Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12
February 1809 -€ “ 19 April 1882) was an English
naturalist.[I] He established that all species of life have
descended over time from common ancestors, and
proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern
of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural
selection.
 James Clerk Maxwell – Scottish physicist and
mathematician.

 Marie Curie – Polish physicist and chemist famous for her

pioneering research on radioactivity.

 Albert Einstein – German-born theoretical physicist who

developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a
revolution in physics

 Linus Pauling – American chemist, biochemist, peace

activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most
influential chemists in history and ranks among the most
important scientists of the 20th century.

 John Bardeen – American physicist and electrical

engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in
Physics twice

 Frederick Sanger – English biochemist and a two-time

Nobel laureate in chemistry, the only person to have been
so.

 Stephen Hawking – British theoretical physicist,

cosmologist, and author.

Science education[edit]
Science education –

 Scientific literacy – encompasses written, numerical, and

digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its
methodology, observations, and theories.
 See also[edit]
Science portal

 Sci-Mate – open collaboration of scientists using Web 2.0

software to address well known challenges in academic
publishing and technology transfer
 Science Daily – news website for topical science articles

 Science.tv – virtual community for people interested in

science

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Friedland, New York Times, April 2012

2. Jump up^ Environmental Impact of Aquaculture

3. Jump up^ Aquaculture’s growth continuing: improved

management techniques can reduce environmental effects

of the practice.(UPDATE)." Resource: Engineering &

Technology for a Sustainable World 16.5 (2009): 20-22.

Gale Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 1 October 2009.

<http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/start.do?prodId=EAIM.>.

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