natural philosophers
Pre-modern knowledge seekers
Natural philosophers were scholars who studied the physical world through observation and reasoning, the forerunners of modern scientists.
Before the nineteenth century, fields we now call physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy fell under "natural philosophy"—the philosophical investigation of nature.
Newton, Galileo, and Boyle were natural philosophers.
The term survives mainly in historical contexts: The natural philosophers of the Enlightenment laid the groundwork for modern science.
Greek founder of formal logic
- BaconNotable English surname
- DescartesCogito ergo sum's author
- NewtonFamous scientific surname
- BoyleGas behavior law eponym
Leibniz · Huygens · Lavoisier · Linnaeus · Gilbert · Harvey · Royal Society · polymath
Mutual mass attraction
- motionChange in position
- celestialOf the sky above
- astronomyScience of celestial objects
- planetsStar-orbiting celestial bodies
stars · comets · orbits · heavens · universe · ether · geocentric · heliocentric
Attentive watching or remark
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
- measurementDetermining size or amount
verification · hypothesis · analysis · induction · inference · sensory · data · facts
Instrument magnifying faraway objects
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- orreryMechanical solar system model
- astrolabeAncient altitude-measuring instrument
- barometerInstrument gauging atmospheric pressure
thermometer · prism · lens · specimen · apparatus · laboratory · cabinet · collection
Desire to learn
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- discoveryAct of finding something
- explorationTraveling through unknown regions
theorizing · speculation · pondering · contemplation · investigation · reasoning · deduction · hypothesis
Aristotle
Greek founder of formal logic
Boyle · Leibniz · Huygens · Lavoisier · Linnaeus · Gilbert · Harvey · Royal Society · polymath · savant
gravity
Mutual mass attraction
planets · stars · comets · orbits · heavens · universe · ether · geocentric · heliocentric · spheres
observation
Attentive watching or remark
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
measurement · verification · hypothesis · analysis · induction · inference · sensory · data · facts · testable
telescope
Instrument magnifying faraway objects
- microscopeInstrument for viewing minute objects
- orreryMechanical solar system model
- astrolabeAncient altitude-measuring instrument
barometer · thermometer · prism · lens · specimen · apparatus · laboratory · cabinet · collection · notebook
curiosity
Desire to learn
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- discoveryAct of finding something
exploration · theorizing · speculation · pondering · contemplation · investigation · reasoning · deduction · hypothesis · conjecture
- natural historynaturalists, flora, fauna, species, fossil
- Medieval Scholarsscholastic, schoolman, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham
natural philosophersmetaphysicians
Philosophers studying fundamental reality
theologians · ethicists · scholastics · divines · logicians
natural philosophersengineers
Technical problem solvers
industrialists · inventors · manufacturers · technologists · craftsmen
natural, philosophers, nature, philosopher, philosophy, philosophical, philosophically, philosophize, philosophies