We explain what biology is and what its history is. In addition, the importance, auxiliary sciences and branches of biology.
What is biology?
Biology (whose name comes from the Greek: bios“life” and lodge“science, knowledge”) is one of the natural sciences, and its object of study understands the different forms and dynamics of life: the origin, evolution, adaptation and processes of living beings: nutrition, metabolism, growth, response to stimuli, reproduction, and their various possible mechanisms of existence.
Biology proposes the empirical study, adhered to the scientific method, of the foundations of life, wanting to find the norms that regulate it and the processes that determine its dynamics. That is why biologists dedicate themselves to studying the similarities and differences between the species and to organize them into various “kingdoms” of classification, which are:
- Animal kingdom. They are heterotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular beings that have a highly developed capacity for movement.
- Plant kingdom. They are autotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular and immobile beings, which generally obtain their energy from the use of sunlight (photosynthesis).
- mushroom kingdom. They are heterotrophic, eukaryotic beings, mostly multicellular and immobile, that take advantage of the available organic matter to feed themselves.
- protist kingdom. They are microscopic beings, which correspond to a great diversity of organisms. They are eukaryotes (cells with a membrane that delimits the nucleus), mainly unicellular, although they can also be colonial or simple multicellular that do not form tissues.
- bacterial kingdom. They form the simplest group of unicellular life forms, along with archaea, and are prokaryotic organisms (cells without a nuclear membrane). They are the most abundant form of life on the planet.
- Kingdom of the archaea. With a different evolutionary history from bacteria, they are very simple and primitive prokaryotic single-celled organisms, but closer in metabolism and other functions to eukaryotes.
See also: Physiology
history of biology
Human beings have always been intrigued by their origins and what distinguishes them from the other animals that populate the world. Naturalism and medical traditions date back to ancient times of ancient Egypt and Greece, although they were based on mystical or religious interpretations of reality.
The term “biology” comes from the 19th century, consequence of the Scientific Revolutions and the Age of Reason and is attributed to Karl Friedrich Burdach, although there are previous mentions. But that is when it emerges as an independent and separate study from philosophy; not like in ancient times, when truth was tried to be obtained through pure reasoning instead of experiment.
The discovery of evolution and genetics, with the studies of Darwin and Mendel respectively, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, brought biology to its modern stage and more similar to what we understand today.
Importance of biology
Biology is an important discipline because Through it we can reveal the mysteries of life as we know it including its origin (and our own) and the laws that underpin it. This way we can understand what exactly life is and we can look for it on other planets, and we can also value and care for it on ours.
On the other hand, this science provides theoretical and practical inputs to many other scientific disciplines thanks to which diseases can be fought and our quality of life improved.
See also: Viruses in biology
Branches of biology
Contemporary biology has a very high level of diversification, reflected in its numerous branches, depending on the specific type of living beings and/or ecosystems of interest, or the perspective it adopts regarding them:
- Zoology. It is the specific study of the animal kingdom in its different variants and levels.
- Botany. It is the study of the plant kingdom: plants, trees, algae and some other photosynthetic forms.
- Ecology. It is the study of the relationships of different living beings with each other and with their environment.
- Microbiology. It is the study of microscopic life, that is, life that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
- Parasitology. It is the study of animals that survive at the expense of other living beings, harming them as they invade their organisms.
- Genetics. It is the study of life in the laws of the transmission of biological information and generational inheritance.
- Biochemistry. It is the study of the chemical and molecular processes of living beings and the substances they generate.
- marine biology. It is the study of life forms found in the oceans and coasts.
- Biotechnology. It is the study of biological laws with a view to their industrial or technological use: biological pesticides, organic fertilizers, etc.
- Systematic. It deals with the classification of the species of known living beings, based on the understanding of their evolutionary or phylogenetic history.
Auxiliary sciences
biology It is part of other sciences and disciplines, such as biochemistry (sum of biology and chemistry), biophysics (sum of biology and physics), astrobiology (sum of biology and astronomy), biomedicine (sum of biology and medicine), etc.
At the same time, it borrows material from chemistry, mathematics, physics and various engineering and computer sciences to compose its analysis and measurement methods, in addition to building its own specialized tools and devices.
