Natural history 166380 225632877 2008-07-14T17:29:24Z Reddi 13833 {{otheruses3|Natural History}} {{redirect|Naturalist}} [[Image:Table of Natural History, Cyclopaedia, Volume 2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Tables of natural history, 1728 ''[[Cyclopaedia]]'']] '''Natural history''' is the the [[scientific research]] of [[plant]]s or [[animal]]s, leaning toward the [[observation]]al than [[experiment]]al usually, and encompasses more research that is published in [[magazine]]s than in [[academic journal]]s.<ref>[http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=natural%20history Natural History] WordNet Search, princeton.edu.</ref> Grouped among the [[natural sciences]], ''Natural history'' is the [[scientific research|systematic study]] of any category of natural objects or organisms. That is a very broad designation in a world filled with many narrowly focused disciplines, so while modern natural history dates [[historical]]ly from studies in the ancient [[Greco-Roman world]] and then the [[Muslim Agricultural Revolution|medieval Arabic world]] through to the scattered European [[Renaissance]] scientists working in near isolation, today's field is more of a cross discipline umbrella of many specialty sciences that like [[geobiology]] have a strong multi-disciplinary nature combining scientists and scientific knowledge of many specialty sciences. {{TOCnestright}} ==Description== ''Natural history'' involves the [[research]] and formation of statements that make elements of [[life]] and [[life style]]s comprehensible by describing the relevant [[structure]]s, operations and circumstances of various species, such as [[diet]], [[reproduction]], and [[social group]]ing.<ref>http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/glossary.cfm</ref> The term has grown to be an [[umbrella term]] for what are now often viewed as several distinct [[List of academic disciplines|scientific disciplines]] of integrative organismal biology. Most definitions include the study of living things (e.g. [[biology]], including [[botany]] and [[zoology]]); other definitions extend the topic to include [[paleontology]], [[ecology]] or [[biochemistry]], as well as parts of [[geology]] and [[climatology]]. Today, well into the [[scientific revolution]], natural history is sometimes considered an archaic term in the scientific community, since in its cross-discipline form usually leans toward the [[observation]]al rather than the [[experiment]]al, and encompasses more research that is published in general information (popular) [[magazine]]s than in [[academic journal]]s.<ref>[http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=natural%20history Natural History] WordNet Search, princeton.edu.</ref > As an umbrella science, this is perhaps inevitable, and such cross disciplinary articles have their counterpart papers in many professional journal's as well&mdash;which are frequently cited in the popular articles. That many advances, even in specialties, could not have been made without such cross-fertilization of strong points is beyond contestation. No one thirty years ago could have foreseen how genetics, has remade and impacted other science, nor radiometrics and other analytical methods that have proved useful in many fields. In the past, during the heyday of the [[gentleman scientist]]s, ''Natural history'' was strongly associated with (and hardly distinguished from) [[natural philosophy]] for many figures contributed in both areas and early papers of both fields were commonly read at early professional [[Academy of Sciences|science societies]] meetings such as the [[Royal Society]] and [[French Academy of Sciences]]&mdash;both founded during the early [[industrial revolution]] in the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth century, ''natural history'', as a term, was frequently used to refer to all descriptive aspects of the study of ''nature''&mdash;what today are called [[natural sciences]]&mdash;as opposed to political, ecclesiastical or other human-related history. In that era, where knowledge was divided into two main branches, the [[humanities]] including [[theology]]&mdash; which was ''considered by far the most important discipline '' in the [[mindset]] of the age until circa the late seventeenth century&mdash; and the studies of nature, it was the counterpart to ''the analytical study of nature'', ''[[natural philosophy]]'', which today we call the [[physical sciences]].<!-- yes, sentence is somewhat rephrased from form repeated below, but needs to be here and there too, page is used to introduce other sciences and their place in history --> Spurred by the [[industrial revolution]], the later became ascendant, natural history grew alongside it&mdash;mostly spurred by needs to analyze rock strata and find mineable mineral deposits, and the [[modern era|modern world]] gradually took place with a very different set of priorities and mindsets, as new sciences such as [[psychology]] emerged with expanding knowledge. Furthermore, in modern usage as a term, natural history's sense has become narrowed and more tightly focused, and more often refers to matters relating to [[biology]] (the study of living organisms such as [[plant]]s, [[animal]]s, [[fungi]], [[bacteria]], etc. and their relationships in natural systems ("[[ecosystems]]")&mdash;but such also encompasses [[paleobiology]], [[paleozoology]], etcetera and so weds the field strongly with many [[earth sciences]] like [[geology]] and its disciplines such as [[stratigraphy]] and [[petrology]]. In contrast, until the twentieth century, it had the designation as the study of ALL things in the natural world, such as rocks and minerals ([[geology]]), atoms and molecules ([[chemistry]]) and even the universe at large ([[astronomy]]), ([[physics]]), ([[astrophysics]]), etc.) It has [[historical]]ly been an often somewhat haphazard or less strictly organized study, description, and [[classification]] of [[natural]] [[Object (philosophy)|object]]s, such as animals, plants, [[mineral]]s, and placed an importance and significance on [[fieldwork]] as opposed to the more systematic scientific investigation such as experimental or [[laboratory|lab work]].<ref name="alphafduedu">[http://alpha.fdu.edu/~jbecker/nature/natureglossary.html nature glossary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A person interested in natural history is known as a '''naturalist''' or '''natural historian'''. Natural History is not now commonly applied to the fields of [[astronomy]], [[physics]], or [[chemistry]].,<ref name="alphafduedu" /> as briefly discussed above. However, it sometimes even includes the disciplines of [[anthropology]] and [[archaeology]]. ''Natural history'' involves the [[research]] and formation of statements that make elements of [[life]] and the world of living beings comprehensible by describing the relevant [[structure]]s, operations, relationships (in natural or "eco"systems, as well as the [[biosphere]] as a whole (i.e. the sum total of life on our planet))and circumstances of various species, such as [[diet]], [[reproduction]], and [[social group]]ing.<ref >{{cite web |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/glossary.cfm |accessdate=2008-06-21 |title=Great Apes & Other Primates|oldtitle=Primate Glossary - National Zoo| FONZ<!-- Bot generated title --> }}</ref > The term has grown to be an [[umbrella term]] for what are now often viewed as several distinct [[List of academic disciplines|scientific disciplines]] of integrative organismal biology. Most definitions include the study of living things (e.g. [[biology]], including [[botany]] and [[zoology]]); other definitions extend the topic to include [[paleontology]], [[ecology]] or [[biochemistry]], as well as parts of [[geology]] and [[climatology]]. {{cquote|Natural history is the scientific study of plants and animals in their natural environments. It is concerned with levels of organization from the individual organism to the ecosystem, and stresses identification, life history, distribution, abundance, and inter-relationships. It often and appropriately includes an aesthetic component.|Stephen G. Herman, 2002}} ==History of natural history== The roots of natural history go back to [[Aristotle]] and other ancient philosophers who analyzed the diversity of the natural world. From the ancient Greeks until the work of [[Carolus Linnaeus]] and other 18th century naturalists, the central concept tying together the various domains of natural history was the ''scala naturae'' or [[Great Chain of Being]], which arranged minerals, vegetables, more primitive or "lower" forms of animals, and more advanced or "higher" life forms on a linear scale of increasing "perfection", culminating in our species. While natural history was basically static in [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], it continued to flourish in the [[Islamic Golden Age|medieval Arabic world]] during the [[Muslim Agricultural Revolution|Arab Agricultural Revolution]]. In [[zoology]], [[Al-Jahiz]] described early [[evolution]]ary ideas<ref>Mehmet Bayrakdar, "Al-Jahiz And the Rise of Biological Evolutionism", ''The Islamic Quarterly'', Third Quarter, 1983, [[London]].</ref> such as the [[The Origin of Species#Struggle for existence, and natural selection|struggle for existence]].<ref>Conway Zirkle (1941), Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species", ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' '''84''' (1): 71-123.</ref> He also introduced the idea of a [[food chain]],<ref>Frank N. Egerton, "A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 6: Arabic Language Science - Origins and Zoological", ''Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America'', April 2002: 142-146 [143]</ref> and was an early adherent of [[environmental determinism]].<ref>Lawrence I. Conrad (1982), "Taun and Waba: Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' '''25''' (3), pp. 268-307 [278].</ref> [[Al-Dinawari]] is considered the founder of Arabic [[botany]] for his ''Book of Plants'', in which he described at least 637 plants and discussed [[plant evolution]] from its birth to its death, describing the phases of [[plant growth]] and the production of flowers and fruit.<ref name=Fahd-815>{{citation|last=Fahd|first=Toufic|contribution=Botany and agriculture|pages=815}}, in {{Harvard reference |last1=Morelon |first1=Régis |last2=Rashed |first2=Roshdi |year=1996 |title=[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]] |volume=3 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0415124107}}</ref> [[Muslim Agricultural Revolution|Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati]] developed an early [[scientific method]] for botany, introducing [[empirical]] and [[experiment]]al techniques in the testing, description and identification of numerous [[materia medica]], and separating unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and observations.<ref>{{Citation |first=Toby |last=Huff |year=2003 |title=The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West |page=218 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0521529948 |pages=813–852}}</ref> His student [[Ibn al-Baitar]] wrote a [[Pharmacy|pharmaceutical]] encyclopedia describing 1,400 [[plant]]s, [[food]]s, and [[drug]]s, 300 of which were his own original discoveries. A [[Latin]] translation of his work was useful to European biologists and pharmacists in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>Diane Boulanger (2002), "The Islamic Contribution to Science, Mathematics and Technology", ''OISE Papers'', in ''STSE Education'', Vol. 3.</ref> From the 13th century, the work of Aristotle was adapted rather rigidly into [[Christian philosophy]], particularly by [[Thomas Aquinas]], forming the basis for [[natural theology]]. In the Renaissance, scholars (herbalists and humanists, particularly) returned to direct observation of plants and animals for natural history, and many began to accumulate large collections of exotic specimens and unusual [[monster| monsters]]. The rapid increase in the number of known organisms prompted many attempts at classifying and organizing species into [[taxonomy|taxonomic groups]], culminating in the system of the Swedish naturalist Carl [[Linnaeus]]. In the eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth century, ''natural history'' as a term was frequently used to refer to all descriptive aspects of the study of ''nature'', as opposed to political, ecclesiastical or other human-related history; it was the counterpart to the analytical study of nature, ''[[natural philosophy]]''. Roughly, it may be said that ''natural philosophy'' corresponded to modern physics and chemistry, while ''natural history'' included the biological and [[geological]] sciences, although the terminology was, and remains fairly flexible. In modern Europe, professional disciplines such as [[physiology]], [[botany]], [[zoology]], [[geology]], and [[palaeontology]] were formed. ''Natural history'', formerly the main subject taught by college science professors, was increasingly scorned by scientists of a more specialized manner and relegated to an "amateur" activity, rather than a part of science proper. Particularly in Britain and the United States, this grew into specialist hobbies such as the [[Ornithology|study of birds]], butterflies, seashells ([[malacology]]/[[conchology]]), beetles and wildflowers; meanwhile, scientists tried to define a unified discipline of [[biology]] (though with only partial success, at least until the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]]). Still, the traditions of natural history continued to play a part in late nineteenth- and early twentieth century biology, especially [[ecology]] (the study of natural systems involving living organisms and the inorganic components of the earth's biosphere that support them), [[ethology]] (the scientific study of animal behavior), and [[evolutionary biology]] (the study of the relationships between life-forms over very long periods of time), and re-emerges today as [[integrative organismal biology]]. Amateur collectors and natural history entrepreneurs played an important role in building the large natural history collections of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, particularly the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Museum of Natural History]]. == Natural history museums == {{Main|:Category:Natural history museums|Natural history museum}} The term "natural history" forms the descriptive part of institution names, such as the [[Natural History Museum]] in [[London]], the [[Humboldt Museum|Humboldt Museum für Naturkunde]] in Berlin, the [[Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History]] in Bucharest, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., the [[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]], the [[Carnegie Museum of Natural History]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]], the [[Field Museum of Natural History]] in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], the [[Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture]] in [[Seattle]], the [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]] in [[New Haven]], and the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[New York City]], which also publishes a magazine called '''''Natural History'''''. Natural history museums, which evolved from [[cabinet of curiosities|cabinets of curiosities]], played an important role in the emergence of professional biological disciplines and research programs. Particularly in the 19th century, scientists began to use their natural history collections as teaching tools for advanced students and the basis for their own [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] research. == Natural history and naturalist societies == The term "natural history" alone, or sometimes together with archeology, forms the name of many national, regional and local natural history societies that maintain records for [[birds]] ([[ornithology]]), [[mammal]]s (mammalogy), [[insect]]s ([[entomology]]), [[fungi]] ([[mycology]]) and [[plant]]s ([[botany]]). They may also have [[microscope|microscopical]] and [[geological]] sections. Examples of these societies in Britain include the [[British Entomological and Natural History Society]] founded in 1872, [[Birmingham]] Natural History Society, [[Glasgow]] Natural History Society, [[London]] Natural History Society founded in 1858, [[Manchester]] Microscopical and Natural History Society established in 1880, [[Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society]] and the [[Sorby Natural History Society]], [[Sheffield]], founded in 1918. The growth of natural history societies was also spurred due to the growth of British colonies in tropical regions with numerous new species to be discovered. Many [[civil servants]] took an interest in their new surroundings, sending specimens back to museums in [[UK|Britain]]. (See also [[Indian natural history]]) == See also == {{Commonscat|Natural history}} *[[Natural philosophy]] *[[Natural science]] *[[Naturalism (philosophy)]] *[[Nature documentary]] *[[Nature Writing|Nature writing]] *[[Nature]] *[[Nature study]] *[[Big History]] *[[Timeline of evolution]] ==References== ;Citations and notes {{reflist}} ;General information * Herman, Stephen G. Wildlife biology and natural history: time for a reunion. Journal of Wildlife Management (2002) 66(4):933–946 * Kohler, Robert E. ''Landscapes and Labscapes: Exploring the Lab-Field Border in Biology''. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2002. * Mayr, Ernst. ''The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance''. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. * Rainger, Ronald; Keith R. Benson; and Jane Maienschein, editors. ''The American Development of Biology''. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 1988. == External links == <div style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> * [http://esapubs.org/bulletin/current/history_links_list.htm A History of the Ecological Sciences by Frank N. Egerton] * [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ Natural History Museum, London] * [http://www.lnhs.org.uk/ London Natural History Society] * [http://freespace.virgin.net/clare.h/bnhs.htm Birmingham Natural History Society] * [http://www.bnhs.org Bombay Natural History Society, India] * [http://www.gnhs.freeuk.com/ Glasgow Natural History Society] * [http://www.manchestermicroscopical.org.uk/ Manchester Microscopical & Natural History Society] * [http://www.sfns.org.uk/ Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society] * [http://www.sorby.org.uk/ Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield] * [http://www.amnh.org American Museum of Natural History, New York] * [http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/ Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle] * [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/ Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago] * [http://www.uri.edu/ce/rinhs/index.htm Rhode Island Natural History Survey] * [http://www.nhnz.tv Natural History New Zealand Ltd] * [http://www.naturalistnet.com The Naturalist's Net Online Forum] * [http://www.ups.edu/slatermuseum.xml Slater Museum of Natural History, Tacoma] * [http://natural-history.uoregon.edu/ University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Eugene] * [http://www.naturalhistory.bc.ca/VNHS/ Vancouver Natural History Society, Vancouver Canada] * [http://www.wsn-online.org/ Western Society of Naturalists] </div> {{clear}} {{History of biology}} [[Category:Natural history| ]] [[Category:History of science]] [[Category:History of earth science]] [[Category:History of biology]] [[ar:تاريخ طبيعي]] [[ca:Història natural]] [[da:Naturhistorie]] [[de:Naturgeschichte]] [[el:Φυσική ιστορία]] [[es:Historia natural]] [[fr:Histoire naturelle]] [[ia:Historia natural]] [[it:Storia naturale]] [[nl:Natuurlijke historie]] [[ja:博物学]] [[no:Naturhistorie]] [[uz:Tabiatshunoslik]] [[pl:Historia naturalna]] [[pt:História natural]] [[ru:Естествознание]] [[simple:Natural history]] [[fi:Luonnonhistoria]] [[sv:Naturhistoria]] [[th:ธรรมชาติวิทยา]] [[zh:博物学]]