Examples of Natural Sciences in Daily Life

Natural Sciences are in charge of dealing with the study of nature to decipher theories and laws that explain the functioning of some natural element of the world or natural phenomena.

In general, the concept is coined in opposition to that of Social Sciences, which is the group of sciences that seeks to develop laws on the relationships that appear between people living in the world. This opposition, however, leaves out some disciplines, such as logic and mathematics, which do not fully correspond to either of the two categories: they are the well-known formal sciences, which use abstract entities to explain phenomena.

The natural sciences, perhaps more than any other science, uses the scientific method to achieve its objectives. It is the best example since most of the Laws formulated in this field are falsifiable and, therefore, admit the possibility of being compared through experiments and eventually corrected.

This is precisely what gave rise to an evolution of the natural sciences with knowledge that progressively surpassed each other, something that did not happen in the same way in the social sciences (where knowledge is not entirely probable, so the complete scientific method is not admitted) nor in the formal sciences (where they are immediately probable through the laws of application in all cases).

Classification of Natural Sciences

There are four large groups into which the natural sciences are divided, existing in turn within each one different internal categories:

• Chemistry. Basic science, whose object of study is matter, explains its composition, structure, and properties. Its categories are biochemistry, physical chemistry, petrochemistry, and astrochemistry.
• Physical. Science explains the relationships between matter and the environment, particularly with space, time, and energy. Movement is one of the central topics of interest in physics, so it is necessary to develop theories with a high mathematical content. However, this is not one of the disciplines contained by physics, as seen above. The internal disciplines of physics are thermodynamics, mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum physics.
• Biology. Science that studies living beings, from their origin to their properties and their evolution over time. In turn, it has the categories of biochemistry, histology, physiology, genetics, zoology, botany, and microbiology.
• Geology. Science that deals with the study of the earth and its structure. The processes that occur in the internal rocks of our planet, the movements of the earth’s crust, and the structure of continents and oceans are part of its area, which also contains geophysics, geochemistry, geobotany, and paleontology.
• Astronomy. Science of the celestial bodies, also including their movements and the phenomena linked to them. The planets, the stars, the satellites, and everything beyond the terrestrial border is its field of application.

Natural Sciences in everyday life

Here are some examples of the value of the natural sciences in everyday life.

1. Knowledge about plants is essential for awareness about caring for them and their value to human beings.
2. The expansion of the chemical industry has great relevance in the current economy and quality of life.
3. The entire electrical structure of a city is associated with the chemical notion of electricity.
4. As we know it, fuel is not oil in its natural state but undergoes a transformation that is part of chemistry.
5. Explanations of climatic phenomena correspond to meteorology, and explanations of people’s perceptions of these phenomena concern thermodynamics.
6. Any fall of an object to the ground is the first responsibility of the Law of gravity, which is not the same on all planets. The Law is from the field of physics, but the contribution of gravity on each planet includes astronomy.
7. The possibility of reaching an unknown city and soon having an easy-to-understand map is due to the conventions arrived at from geography.
8. The construction of buildings is always associated with physical laws to minimize the risk of a collapse. In seismic zones, geology is also included to determine the eventual intensity of the movements.
9. The succession of seasons in the year is a task of astronomy due to the planet’s movement around the sun.
10. The evolution of the mining industry is closely related to geology.