natural philosopher
Early science practitioner
A natural philosopher is what we would now call a scientist—someone who studies the physical world through observation and reason.
The term was standard from the ancient Greeks through the 19th century, when "scientist" replaced it.
Newton, Galileo, and Darwin were all natural philosophers.
The phrase survives mainly in historical contexts: Newton's natural philosophy laid the groundwork for modern physics.
Desire to learn
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
- discoveryAct of finding something
theorizing · speculation · reasoning · observation · hypothesis · investigation · analysis · empiricism
Basis or justification
- intellectMental reasoning capacity
- knowledgeUnderstood facts and skills
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- truthAccordance with reality
certainty · skepticism · empiricism · rationalism · metaphysics · ontology · epistemology · logic
Attentive watching or remark
- experimentSystematic investigation procedure
- telescopeInstrument magnifying faraway objects
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- specimenIndividual for examination
fieldwork · notebook · laboratory · measurement · apparatus · collection · cabinet · demonstration
curiosity
Desire to learn
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
discovery · theorizing · speculation · reasoning · observation · hypothesis · investigation · analysis · empiricism · experimentation
reason
Basis or justification
- intellectMental reasoning capacity
- knowledgeUnderstood facts and skills
- understandingMental comprehension of something
truth · certainty · skepticism · empiricism · rationalism · metaphysics · ontology · epistemology · logic · syllogism
observation
Attentive watching or remark
- experimentSystematic investigation procedure
- telescopeInstrument magnifying faraway objects
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
specimen · fieldwork · notebook · laboratory · measurement · apparatus · collection · cabinet · demonstration · dissection
Aristotle
Greek founder of formal logic
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
- NewtonFamous scientific surname
- GalileoRenaissance astronomer from Italy
Bacon · Boyle · Leibniz · Descartes · Kepler · Copernicus · Avicenna · Lucretius · Democritus · Pythagoras
physics
Science of matter and energy
astronomy · optics · alchemy · chemistry · geology · botany · zoology · taxonomy · classification · planetary orbits
- Natural PhilosophersIsaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Joseph Priestley, Michael Faraday, Carl Linnaeus
- Mad Scientistsmad scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein
- Medieval Scholarsscholastic, schoolman, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham
natural philosophertheologian
Expert in religious doctrine
metaphysician · divine · scholastic · mystic · occultist
natural, nature, naturalism, naturalist, naturalistic, naturally, naturalness, naturalize, naturalization