In this lesson we review the discipline of science and the process of scientific investigation.
Science is a system of knowledge based on facts or principles. This knowledge is generally accrued using the scientific method which involves scientific investigation. Only in the past 100 years of the few thousand that man has inhabited the earth, has science been taken seriously. Science was considered a mad man’s folly in medieval times. It was also called sorcery and magic by others. There are even recorded cases of executions because of persons practicing science. All that has changed through the passage of time and the persistence of dedicated scientists. Over the years, science has become the accepted and rational explanation of many phenomena of our world. This acceptance came from the repeated conclusions drawn by scientists that were made through inquiry and scientific investigation.
Scientific investigation occurs in all branches of science. While all parts of science are interconnected, the two main branches of science are social and natural. Natural science investigates nature. Natural sciences are physical, earth and life sciences. Below are examples of each type of natural science.