Natural History

Natural history is the research and study of organisms including plants or animals in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. It encompasses scientific research but is not limited to it, with articles nowadays more often published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the 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 natural history dates historically from studies in the ancient Greco-Roman world and the mediaeval Arabic world, through to European Renaissance naturalists working in near isolation, today's field is more of a cross discipline umbrella of many specialty sciences. For example, geobiology has a strong multi-disciplinary nature combining scientists and scientific knowledge of many specialty sciences. A person who studies natural history is known as a naturalist or "natural historian".

Studies of nature could in turn be divided, with natural history being the descriptive counterpart to natural philosophy, the analytical study of nature. In modern terms, natural philosophy roughly corresponded to modern physics and chemistry, while natural history included the biological and geological sciences. Modern definitions of natural history come from a variety of fields and sources, and many of the modern definitions emphasize a particular aspect of the field, creating a plurality of definitions with a number of common themes among them. Modern definitions from biologists often focus on the scientific study of individual organisms in their environment, as seen in this definition by Marston Bates: "Natural history is the study of animals and Plants - of organisms. Because organisms are functionally inseparable from the environment in which they live and because their structure and function cannot be adequately interpreted without knowing some of their evolutionary history, the study of natural history embraces the study of fossils as well as physiographic and other aspects of the physical environment". A common thread in many definitions of natural history is the inclusion of a descriptive component, as seen in a recent definition by H.W. A slightly different, but equally expansive framework for natural history is also implied in the scope of work encompassed by many leading natural history museums, which often include elements of Anthropology, Geology, Paleontology and Astronomy along with Botany and Zoology, or include both cultural and natural components of the world.

Nature Plants

This is an opportunity for Nature Genetics to emphasize the use of genetic and genomic tools and resources in discovering new plant biology and solving major agricultural challenges. We are particularly interested in attracting research articles on the genetic architecture of plant traits and crop plant performance, fundamental functional genomics of plant growth and development, natural and agricultural variation in plant species, and genomic methods for studying genetic and gene-environment variation. In seeking research papers, we will progressively move from the identification of mutations and quantitative trait loci, first reference genomes and new components of existing developmental pathways to emphasize in particular the use of genomic resources for new biology (for example, see page 530) and for solving agricultural challenges. Together with marker-assisted plant breeding, research and the development of genetically modified crop plants (GMOs) have an important place in the future of plant science Expanding upon the genetic discovery effort of which we are a part, Nature Plants (http://www.nature.com/nplants/) will also engage with the social and economic dimensions of plant science, climate change, policy-ready science, food security and distribution, and the next green revolution.

Nature of Science

What is the Nature of Science?

Some teachers have asked how "The Nature of Science" differs from "The Scientific Method." However, in spite of its persistence in science textbooks and science standards, there actually is no one "scientific method." The "Nature of Science" (NoS), on the other hand, consists of those seldom-taught but very important features of working science, e.g., its realm and limits, its levels of uncertainty, its biases, its social aspects, and the reasons for its reliability. Popular ignorance of these features of science has lead to many misuses, misrepresentations and abuses of science. Science can only address natural phenomena (not supernatural phenomena, as such), and only natural explanations can be used in science. The fact that the most highly credible concepts in science today have survived such critical testing attests to the practical reliability of scientific knowledge and the processes of science that created that knowledge. Being done by people, science is also subject to any of the biases that its workers have, but its openness to critical science community oversight tends to expose those biases when they have been allowed to creep in. The elements of the nature of science are arguably more important than any particular set of steps supposedly used to solve a problem.

The Nature Principle

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” —Richard Louv The immediacy of Richard Louv's message in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder galvanized an international movement to reconnect children with nature. Now, in The Nature Principle, Louv reaches even further with a powerful call to action for the rest of us. Our society, says Louv, has developed such an outsized faith in technology that we have yet to fully realize or even adequately study how human capacities are enhanced through the power of nature. Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv shows us how tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. As he says in his introduction, The Nature Principle is "about the power of living in nature—not with it, but in it. We are entering the most creative period in history. The twenty-first century will be the century of human restoration in the natural world." Richard Louv makes a convincing case that through a nature-balanced existence—driven by sound economic, social, and environmental solutions—the human race can and will thrive. This timely, inspiring, and important work will give readers renewed hope while challenging them to rethink the way we live.

Nature World

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, material world or material universe. The term refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. Usually does not include man-made objects or human intervention, unless qualified in ways that refers to, for example, with expressions such as "human nature" or "the whole of nature". Nature is also generally distinguished from the supernatural. It extends from the subatomic to the galactic The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth".



Nature may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed..


Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis ( ), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since.