A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities forming an integrated whole activity to acquire knowledge Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of.^[1] The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science Science is a systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about nature and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories. As knowledge has increased, some methods have proved more reliable than others, and today the scientific method is the standard for science. It includes the use of careful observation, experimentation,.^[2] This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word. Scientists perform research toward a more comprehensive understanding of nature, including physical, mathematical and social realms. This is distinct from philosophers, those who use logic toward a more comprehensive understanding of intangible aspects of reality that lack a direct connection to nature, focusing on the realm of thought itself. Scientists are also distinct from engineers, those who develop devices that serve practical purposes. When science is done with a goal toward practical utility, it is called 'applied science' (short of the creation of new devices that fall into the realm of engineering). When science is done with an inclusion of intangible aspects of reality it is called 'natural philosophy'.

Social roles that partly correspond with the modern scientist can be identified going back at least until 17th century natural philosophy, but the term scientist is much more recent. Until the late 19th or early 20th century, those who pursued science were called "natural philosophers Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science. It is considered to be the precursor of natural sciences such as physics" or "men of science".^[3][4][5][6]

English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell William Whewell was an English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science. His surname is pronounced /ˈhjuːəl/ HEW-əl coined the term scientist in 1833, and it was first published in Whewell's anonymous 1834 review of Mary Somerville's On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences published in the Quarterly Review The Quarterly Review was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by the well known London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. Whewell's suggestion of the term was partly satirical, a response to changing conceptions of science itself in which natural knowledge was increasingly seen as distinct from other forms of knowledge. Whewell wrote of "an increasing proclivity of separation and dismemberment" in the sciences; while highly specific terms proliferated—chemist, mathematician, naturalist—the broad term "philosopher" was no longer satisfactory to group together those who pursued science, without the caveats of "natural" or "experimental" philosopher. Members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between scientific workers. Membership is open to all had been complaining about the lack of a good term at recent meetings, Whewell reported in his review; alluding to himself, he noted that "some ingenious gentleman proposed that, by analogy with artist, they might form [the word] scientist, and added that there could be no scruple in making free with this term since we already have such words as economist An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are many sub-fields, ranging from the broad philosophical theories to the focused study of minutiae within specific markets,, and atheist Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one—but this was not generally palatable".^[7]

Whewell proposed the word again more seriously (and not anonymously) in his 1840 The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences:

We need very much a name to describe a cultivator of science in general. I should incline to call him a Scientist. Thus we might say, that as an Artist is a Musician, Painter, or Poet, a Scientist is a Mathematician, Physicist, or Naturalist.

He also proposed the term physicist at the same time, as a counterpart to the French word physicien. Neither term gained wide acceptance until decades later; scientist became a common term in the late 19th century in the United States and around the turn of the 20th century in Great Britain.^[8][9][10] By the twentieth century, the modern notion of science as a special brand of information about the world, practiced by a distinct group and pursued through a unique method, was essentially in place.

Description

Science and technology Technology is a term referring to whatever can be said at any particular historical period, concerning the state of the art in the whole general field of practical know-how and tool use. It therefore encompasses all that can be said about arts, crafts, professions, applied sciences, and skills. By extension it can also refer to any systems or have continually modified human Humans are a species of animal known taxonomically as Homo sapiens , and are the only extant member of the Homo genus of bipedal primates in Hominidae, the great ape family. However, in some cases "human" is used to refer to any member of the genus Homo existence. As a profession the scientist of today is widely recognized. Scientists include theoreticians In philosophy, theory refers to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action. Theory is especially often contrasted to "practice" (Greek praxis, πρᾶξις) which is a concept that in its original Aristotelian context referred to actions done for their own sake. The other type of actions are those "technical" ones done who mainly develop new models to explain existing data and predict new results, and experimentalists Experiment is the step in the scientific method that arbitrates between competing models or hypotheses. Experimentation is also used to test existing theories or new hypotheses in order to support them or disprove them. An experiment or test can be carried out using the scientific method to answer a question or investigate a problem. First an who mainly test models by making measurements — though in practice the division between these activities is not clear-cut, and many scientists perform both tasks.

Mathematics Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions is often grouped with the sciences. Some of the greatest physicists Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through space-time, as well as all applicable concepts, such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves have also been creative mathematicians. There is a continuum from the most theoretical to the most empirical In philosophy, empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge arises from evidence gathered via sense experience. Empiricism is one of several competing views that predominate in the study of human knowledge, known as epistemology. Empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory perception, in the scientists with no distinct boundaries. In terms of personality Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations . The word "personality" originates from the Latin persona, which means mask. Significantly, in the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world,, interests, training and professional A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain activity, there is little difference between applied mathematicians Historically, applied mathematics consisted principally of applied analysis, most notably differential equations; approximation theory ; and applied probability. These areas of mathematics were intimately tied to the development of Newtonian physics, and in fact the distinction between mathematicians and physicists was not sharply drawn before the and theoretical physicists Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics in an attempt to explain natural phenomena. Its central core is mathematical physics,[note 1] though other conceptual techniques are also used. The goal is to rationalize, explain and predict physical phenomena. The advancement of science.

Scientists can be motivated in several ways. Many have a desire to understand why the world World is a common name for the sum of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth is as we see it and how it came to be. They exhibit a strong curiosity about reality Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be. In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has being, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. Other motivations are recognition by their peers and prestige, or the desire to apply scientific knowledge for the benefit of people's health, the nations, the world, nature or industries (academic scientist and industrial scientist).

Scientists versus engineers

Engineers An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to design and develop solutions for technological systems problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, safety and cost. The word and scientists are often confused in the minds of the general public, with the former being closer to applied science Fields of engineering are closely related to applied sciences. Applied science is important for technology development. Its use in industrial settings is usually referred to as research and development. While scientists explore nature in order to discover general principles, engineers apply established principles drawn from science in order to create new inventions and improve upon the old ones.^[11][12] In short, scientists study things whereas engineers design things. However, there are plenty of instances where significant accomplishments are made in both fields by the same individual. When a scientist has also an engineering education, the same individual would explore principles in nature to solve problems and to design new technology. Scientists often perform some engineering Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention tasks in designing experimental equipment and building prototypes A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category. The word derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος (prototypos), "original, primitive", from πρῶτος (protos), ", and some engineers An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to design and develop solutions for technological systems problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, safety and cost. The word do first-rate scientific research. Biomedical Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve healthcare diagnosis and treatment, mechanical The field requires a solid understanding of core concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, materials science, and structural analysis. Mechanical engineers use these core principles along with tools like computer-aided engineering and product lifecycle management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and, electrical Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical power supply. It now covers a range of subtopics, chemical Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science , and life sciences (e.g. biology, microbiology and biochemistry) with mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. In addition to producing useful materials, modern chemical engineering, and aerospace Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is broken into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. The former deals with craft that stay within Earth's atmosphere, and the latter deals with craft that operate engineers are often at the forefront of scientific investigation of new phenomena and materials. Peter Debye Peter Joseph William Debye was a Dutch physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry received a degree A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education. Such as with other professions, teaching in universities is only carried out by people who are properly qualified. In the same way that a carpenter would pass through the grades of apprentice and journeyman to attain the status of master carpenter when in electrical engineering Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical power supply. It now covers a range of subtopics and a doctorate A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field in physics Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through space-time, as well as all applicable concepts, such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves before eventually winning a Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. They were established in 1895 by the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The in chemistry Chemistry is the science of matter and the changes it undergoes. The science of matter is also addressed by physics, but while physics takes a more general and fundamental approach, chemistry is more specialized, being concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical. Similarly, Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was a British theoretical physicist. Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and spent the last fourteen years of his life at Florida State University, one of the founders of quantum mechanics Everyday experience creates preconceptions that fail drastically when that experience is extended to the very massive and the very fast, or when extended to the very small and the very cold. The large scale requires relativity theory, and the small scale requires quantum mechanics. Quantum physics deals with "Nature as She is—absurd.", began his academic career as an electrical engineer Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and before proceeding to mathematics and later theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics in an attempt to explain natural phenomena. Its central core is mathematical physics,[note 1] though other conceptual techniques are also used. The goal is to rationalize, explain and predict physical phenomena. The advancement of science. Claude Shannon Claude Elwood Shannon , an American mathematician and electronic engineer, is known as "the father of information theory", a theoretical engineer, founded modern information theory Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Historically, information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and communicating data. Since its inception it.

Historical development

The social roles of "scientists", and their predecessors before the emergence of modern scientific disciplines, have evolved considerably over time. Scientists of different eras (and before them, natural philosophers, mathematicians, natural historians, natural theologians, engineers, and other who contributed to the development of science) have had widely different places in society, and the social norms Social norms are the behavioral expectations and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit. Failure to follow the rules can result in severe punishments, including, ethical values, and epistemic virtues associated with scientists—and expected of them—have changed over time as well. Accordingly, many different historical figures can be identified as early scientists, depending on which elements of modern science are taken to be essential. Some historians point to the seventeenth century The 17th century was the century which lasted from 1601 to 1700 in the Gregorian calendar as the period when science in a recognizably modern form developed (what is popularly called the Scientific Revolution In the history of science, the scientific revolution was a period when new ideas in physics, astronomy, biology, human anatomy, chemistry, and other sciences led to a rejection of doctrines that had prevailed starting in Ancient Greece and continuing through the Middle Ages, and laid the foundation of modern science. According to a majority of), and hence is when the first people who can be considered scientists are to be found. If the category of "scientist" is limited to those who do scientific research as a profession, then the social role of scientist essentially emerged in the 19th century as part of the professionalization of science.^[13]

Ancient and medieval science

Knowledge about nature in Classical Antiquity was pursued by many kinds of scholars. Greek contributions to science—including works of geometry and mathematical astronomy, early accounts of biological processes and catalogs of plants and animals, and theories of knowledge and learning—were produced by philosophers and physicians, as well as practitioners of various trades. These roles, and their associations with scientific knowledge, spread with the Roman Empire and, with the spread of Christianity became closely link to religious institutions in most of Europe. Astrology and astronomy became an important area of knowledge, and the role of astronomer/astrologer developed with the support political and religions patronage. By the time of the medieval university system, knowledge was divide into the trivium—philosophy, including natural philosophy—and the quadrivium—mathematics, including astronomy. Hence, the medieval analogs of scientists were often either philosophers or mathematicians. Knowledge of plants and animals was broadly the province of physicians.

Science in medieval Islam generated some new modes of developing natural knowledge, although still within the bounds of existing social roles such as philosopher and mathematician. Many proto-scientists from the Islamic Golden Age and medieval and Renaissance Europe are considered polymaths, in part because of the lack of anything corresponding to modern scientific disciplines. Many of these early polymaths were also religious priests and theologians: for example, Alhazen and al-Biruni were mutakallimiin; the physician Avicenna was a hafiz; the physician Ibn al-Nafis was a hafiz, muhaddith and ulema; the botanist Otto Brunfels was a theologian and historian of Protestantism; the astronomer and physician Nicolaus Copernicus was a priest.

Historical scientists

Descartes was not only a pioneer of analytic geometry but formulated a theory of mechanics and advanced ideas about the origins of animal movement and perception. Vision interested the physicists Young and Helmholtz, who also studied optics, hearing and music. Newton extended Descartes' mathematics by inventing calculus (contemporaneously with Leibniz). He provided a comprehensive formulation of classical mechanics and investigated light and optics. Fourier founded a new branch of mathematics — infinite, periodic series — studied heat flow and infrared radiation, and discovered the greenhouse effect. Von Neumann, Turing, Khinchin, Markov and Wiener, all mathematicians, made major contributions to science and probability theory, including the ideas behind computers, and some of the foundations of statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. Many mathematically inclined scientists, including Galileo, were also musicians.

In the late 19th century, Louis Pasteur, an organic chemist, discovered that microorganisms can cause disease. A few years earlier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., the American physician, poet and essayist, noted that sepsis in women following childbirth was spread by the hands of doctors and nurses, four years before Semmelweis in Europe. There are many compelling stories in medicine and biology, such as the development of ideas about the circulation of blood from Galen to Harvey. The flowering of genetics and molecular biology in the 20th century is replete with famous names. Ramón y Cajal won the Nobel Prize in 1906 for his remarkable observations in neuroanatomy.

Some see a dichotomy between experimental sciences and purely "observational" sciences such as astronomy, meteorology, oceanography and seismology. But astronomers have done basic research in optics, developed charge-coupled devices, and in recent decades have sent space probes to study other planets in addition to using the Hubble Telescope to probe the origins of the Universe some 14 billion years ago. Microwave spectroscopy has now identified dozens of organic molecules in interstellar space, requiring laboratory experimentation and computer simulation to confirm the observational data and starting a new branch of chemistry. Computer modeling and numerical methods are techniques required of students in every field of quantitative science.

Those considering science as a career often look to the frontiers. These include cosmology and biology, especially molecular biology and the human genome project. Other areas of active research include the exploration of matter at the scale of elementary particles as described by high-energy physics, and nanotechnology, which hopes to develop electronics including microscopic computers, and perhaps artificial intelligence. Although there have been remarkable discoveries with regard to brain function and neurotransmitters, the nature of the mind and human thought still remain unknown.

Types of scientists

• Agricultural scientists
• Archaeologists
• Astronomers
• Astrophysicists
• Biologists
  • Astrobiologists
  • Biotechnologist
  • Biophysicists
  • Botanists
  • Entomologists
  • Evolutionary biologists
  • Ecologists
  • Geneticists
  • Herpetologists
  • Ichthyologists
  • Immunologists
  • Lepidopterists
  • Marine biologists
  • Microbiologists
  • Mycologists
  • Neuroscientists
  • Ornithologists
  • Paleontologists
  • Pathologists
  • Pharmacologists
  • Physiologists
  • Zoologists
• Chemists
  • Analytical chemists
  • Biochemists
  • Inorganic chemists
  • Organic chemists
  • Physical chemist
• Computer scientists
• Earth scientists
  • Geologists
  • Glaciologists
  • Hydrologists
  • Meteorologists
  • Mimnologists
  • Mineralogists
  • Oceanographers
  • Paleontologists
  • Seismologists
  • Volcanologists
• Educational psychologists
• Library scientists
• Management scientists
• Mathematicians
  • Statisticians
• Medical scientists
• Military scientists
• Philosophers
• Physicists
• Psychologists
• Social scientists
  • Anthropologists
  • Communication scientists
  • Demographers
  • Economists
  • Geographers
  • Political economists
  • Political scientists
  • Sociologists
• Technological scientists

See also

• Academia.edu
• Engineers- though this field handles in technology, the uses of math and science (physics) is involved.
• Fields Medal
• Government Scientist
• Hippocratic Oath for Scientists
• History of science (and the History of science category)
• Lay people
• Mad scientist
• Natural science
• Naturally Obsessed (documentary film)
• Nobel Prize
• Protoscience
• Pseudoscience
• Social science
• Women in science

Related lists

• List of engineers
• List of mathematicians

References

1. ^ Isaac Newton (1687, 1713, 1726). "[4] Rules for the study of natural philosophy", Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Third edition. The General Scholium containing the 4 rules follows Book 3, The System of the World. Reprinted on pages 794-796 of I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman's 1999 translation, University of California Press ISBN 0-520-08817-4, 974 pages.
2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1989
3. ^ Nineteenth-Century Attitudes: Men of Science. http://www.rpi.edu/~rosss2/book.html
4. ^ Friedrich Ueberweg, History of Philosophy: From Thales to the Present Time. C. Scribner's sons v.1, 1887
5. ^ Steve Fuller, Kuhn VS. Popper: The Struggle For The Soul Of Science. Columbia University Press 2004. Page 43. ISBN 0231134282
6. ^ Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1917. v.45 1917 Jan-Jun. Page 274.
7. ^ Holmes, R (2008). The age of wonder: How the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science. London: Harper Press. p. 449. ISBN 9780007149537.
8. ^ Sydney Ross (1962). "Scientist: The story of a word", Annals of Science, volume 18, issue 2, pp. 65 — 85.
9. ^ "William Whewell (1794-1866) gentleman of science". http://www.victorianweb.org/science/whewell.html. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
10. ^ Tamara Preaud, Derek E. Ostergard, The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. Yale University Press 1997. 416 pages. ISBN 0300073380 Page 36.
11. ^ National Society of Professional Engineers (2006). "Frequently Asked Questions About Engineering". http://www.nspe.org/media/mr1-faqs.asp. Retrieved 2006-09-21. CRACKERS.Science is knowledge based on observed facts and tested truths arranged in an orderly system that can be validated and communicated to other people. Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles used to plan, build, direct, guide, manage, or work on systems to maintain and improve our daily lives.
12. ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor (2006). "Engineers". Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-21.
13. ^ On the historical development of the character of scientists and the predecessors, see: Steven Shapin (2008). The Scientific Life: A Moral History of a Late Modern Vocation. Chicago: Chicago University Press. ISBN 0-226-75024-8

External articles

Further reading

• Alison Gopnik, "Finding Our Inner Scientist", Daedalus, Winter 2004.
• Charles George Herbermann, The Catholic Encyclopedia. Science and the Church. The Encyclopedia press, 1913. v.13. Page 598.
• Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1962.
• Arthur Jack Meadows. The Victorian Scientist: The Growth of a Profession, 2004. ISBN 0712308946.
• Science, The Relation of Pure Science to Industrial Research. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Page 511 onwards.

Websites

• For best results, add a little inspiration - The Telegraph about What Inspired You?, a survey of key thinkers in science, technology and medicine
• Peer Review Journal Science on amateur scientists
• The philosophy of the inductive sciences, founded upon their history (1847)- Complete Text
• World Social Forum Sciences et dDémocratie

Categories: Scientists | Science occupations

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• Mark Turner (Cognitive Scientist): Encyclopedia

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