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| [[Natural history]] and [[natural philosophy]] together form the principle branches of [[natural science]] and are precursors of [[modern science]]. | | #REDIRECT[[:Category:Natural History]] |
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| Natural history is the description, as opposed to the analysis, of [[nature]], whereas [[natural philosophy]] is the analysis, as opposed to the description, of nature. This description is observation rather than experiment based. Natural historians, or [[naturalist|naturalists]], may well engage in [[dissection]] and even [[vivisection]] to get a better look at the everyday operations of nature, but they have little inclination to impose highly artificial environments upon the natural phenomena which they study. So far as the natural historian is concerned, the rigorous control of variables achievable through [[experimentation]] casts a light that distorts more than it clarifies. In the search for knowledge, those willing to torture nature, like those willing to torture prisoners, deceive themselves by posing leading questions and accepting convenient answers. Natural philosophers are far more prone to pass
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| Branches of natural history include
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| ural history is the precursor of [[biology]] and [[geology]], whereas natural philosophy is a precursor of [[chemistry]] and [[physics]]. The [[reflection]] entailed in natural history and natural philosophy begins in [[CL 3|Iron age cultures]].
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| Natural History, encyclopaedic scientific work of dubious accuracy by Pliny the Elder, completed in 77 ce as Naturae historiae and conventionally known as Naturalis historia.
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| Although Pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37-volume treatise, he can be credited with the creation of the first scientific encyclopaedia. For centuries the Natural History served as the Western world’s primary source of scientific information and theory.
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| Book I summarizes the entire contents of the work, listing the authors and sometimes the titles of the books (many of which are now lost) from which Pliny derived his material. Book II is devoted to astronomy; Books III through VI, geography; VII through XI, zoology; XII through XIX, botany—and it is here that Pliny made his most substantial scientific contribution; XX through XXXII, medicine, including many moralistic comments on the deleterious effects of high living; and XXXIII through XXXVII, geology and mineralogy.
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| [[Category:Philosophy]][[Category:Nature]][[Category:CL 3]]
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