Which branch of science is the most wide-ranging?

Evil Sadistic Bastard · Post by **Evil Sadistic Bastard** » 2002-12-02 01:09pm

IMO there are three main branches of science: Physics, Chemistry and BIology. SO which one ahd the most subfields and applications?

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-12-02 01:13pm

Tough decision between physics and biology....I thinkt hat it would be biology, though.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-12-02 01:19pm

Id say physics, imo.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2002-12-02 01:31pm

Physics. Scale ranges from the inconceivably small (quantum physics) to the unimaginably large (cosmology). Its tendrils extend far beyond our usual conception...a pile of sand could conceivably be the subject of a PhD thesis for critical systems. It enroaches into chemistry (nuclear physics, condensed matter physics) and biology (enzyme mechanisms etc). A physics graduate can go into almost any field he wants. Watson and Crick made a vital breakthrough in biology by discovering the DNA structure, but what most people don't realise is that they were physicists, studying crystal spectrography. And yes, I'm a physics student

KG

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-12-02 01:37pm

Physics. Every legitimate science in existence is just another derivative of physics.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-12-02 01:41pm

I completely forgot about everything being made of atoms.

Silly me. Physics.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2002-12-02 01:41pm

I would bet on Mathematics.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2002-12-02 02:29pm

Physics, it encompasses all because in the end we all use it.

I may be doing biology, but I already have to reuse my physics knowledge and even (ugh!) chemistry, two subjects I used to like until they got too damn hard, maths especially for physics.

Really, the 3 main sciences can account for all and the subgroups help e.g. psychology and so on which are pseudo science for lack of a better term.

But at least with mine it is somewhat linked to all and has plenty left to find out, only two things lower entropy in the universe; gravity and life.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2002-12-02 02:41pm

Biology is just a specialist form of Chemistry.
Chemistry is just the effects of particle physics
Physics is just applied Maths
Maths is a form of Logic
Logic is a type of Philosophy
Philosophy is an effect of Psychology
Psychology is a branch of Biology

So there.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-12-02 02:52pm

Physics. Pretty much everything derives from the physical laws of the universe that are part of physics.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2002-12-02 03:01pm

Faram wrote:I would bet on Mathematics.

Math isn't a science.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2002-12-02 03:15pm

Andrew J. wrote:
Faram wrote:I would bet on Mathematics.
Math isn't a science.

This is from a Encyclopedia:

FIELDS OF SCIENCE

Scientific Method in Action The scientific method involves the interplay of theory and experimentation.

Modern scientists use a variety of advanced technologies, such as high-powered microscopes, to perform research and test their findings.

Knowledge of nature originally was largely an undifferentiated observation and interrelation of experiences.

The Pythagorean scholars distinguished only four sciences: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.

By the time of Aristotle, however, other fields could also be recognized: mechanics, optics, physics, meteorology, zoology, and botany.

Chemistry remained outside the mainstream of science until the time of Robert Boyle in the 17th century, and geology achieved the status of a science only in the 18th century.

By that time the study of heat, magnetism, and electricity had become part of physics.

During the 19th century scientists finally recognized that pure mathematics differs from the other sciences in that it is a logic of relations and does not depend for its structure on the laws of nature. Its applicability in the elaboration of scientific theories, however, has resulted in its continued classification among the sciences.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2002-12-02 03:22pm

Okay, but it wasn't one of the three mentioned in the original post for choice.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2002-12-02 03:25pm

neoolong wrote:Okay, but it wasn't one of the three mentioned in the original post for choice.

oh sorry my bad...

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2002-12-02 03:52pm

Physics...though it and Chem are just outlandish in what they want you to asorb(and why the hell did I become this with all those years of chem...oh yeah didnt want to go to Arizona)

Cpt_Frank · Post by **Cpt_Frank** » 2002-12-02 03:54pm

Hmm.... since Biology is based on Chemics which in turn is based on Physics, I have to say physics.

Larz · Post by **Larz** » 2002-12-02 04:13pm

Physics and then chemistry. To me, biology is just the red headed step child of chemistry.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2002-12-02 04:17pm

Larz wrote:Physics and then chemistry. To me, biology is just the red headed step child of chemistry.

But chemistry sucks compared to biology.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-12-02 04:18pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Larz wrote:Physics and then chemistry. To me, biology is just the red headed step child of chemistry.
But chemistry sucks compared to biology.

I say the opposite. I prefer Chem to all, and I think Chem is part of biology in some respects, but bio is part of chem in others....but Physics is part of all.

Post by **Coyote** » 2002-12-02 05:20pm

Math is not a science, it is a leftover form of torture from the Inquisition.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-12-02 05:21pm

Coyote wrote:Math is not a science, it is a leftover form of torture from the Inquisition.

That, my friend, would be Spanglish essays.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2002-12-02 05:39pm

Maths is simply boredom manifested in a horridly perplexing form that only smart and socially unacceptable people can enjoy.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-12-02 05:40pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Maths is simply boredom manifested in a horridly perplexing form that only smart and socially unacceptable people can enjoy.

Us?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2002-12-02 05:44pm

Anyone who thinks that mathematics is a science is severely delusional. Math involves absolute proof, which is essentially contrary to science. The concepts of integration and differentiation, for example, will never be disproven, because they've already been proven. In a science, everything has the capacity to be disproven. Theorems in math do not have this capacity. Math does not endeavor to describe anything in nature. It's just numbers.

This isn't to say that math is bad because it's not science. It's just not science. It's a tool that scientists use, but it's no more a science than computer "science" is.

I've found that every damned field in existence has seen fit to tack "science" on to itself. "Criminal Justice Sciences"? Who the fuck are these people kidding? As was discussed before, everyone seems to have physics envy. Economists, sociologists and communications people only wish they could model human behavior as well as physicists model the universe, so they come up with bullshit "theories" to earn themselves doctorates. Consequently, almost none of the theories in communications, economics or sociology carry the ability to be disproven; they're useless philosophical crap that contribute nothing of actual substance to their fields. The practicioners of these fields think that, by merely saying that they have theories and make use of math, they can be qualified as a science. What's next? "Philosophical Sciences"? "Artistic Sciences"?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-12-02 05:45pm

Definately physics. It describes the units of what all matter in the universe is composed of, and has a very wide range. Chemistry and biology are derivitaves of physics.