We explain the relationship of chemistry with other sciences, how it collaborates with them and what disciplines are formed.
What is the relationship of chemistry with other sciences?
Like many other scientific disciplines, Chemistry has such a vast and complex field of study that it can collaborate with other sciences neighbors. This intertwining, far from being problematic, engenders new disciplines and founds new fields of knowledge, in which scientific tools are used without paying attention to which discipline they belong to.
The ancestor of chemistry was alchemy, whose name came from the Arabic al-kimia, and it was supposed to be the art of transforming certain materials into others.
Today we consider chemistry as an autonomous field of inquiry into the nature of matter: studies its reactions, its constituent elements and the laws that govern its structure and transformation.
Depending on the focus on the matter, we can distinguish between organic chemistry, for example, which is the chemistry of substances based on the carbon atom (C) and inorganic chemistry, on the other hand, responsible for the study of the rest of the substances. substances, also including certain substances that contain carbon but not as a main constituent element.
In a similar way, the encounter of chemistry with other areas of knowledge allows us to talk about disciplines such as the following:
- Physical chemistry. It is a science that proposes a look at matter and energy at the same time, which places it in the common space between chemistry and physics, as its name indicates. In general, it applies the system models of physics to the molecules and substances that constitute the field of study of chemistry.
- Biochemistry. It can be understood as a meeting point between chemistry and biology, and that studies the functioning of the body of living beings at a molecular level, that is, how it is transformed and how matter is organized in the particular case of living beings.
- Geochemistry. It is the meeting between geology (which studies the layers of the Earth's surface) and chemistry. It is a discipline interested in understanding the reactions and atomic composition of terrestrial materials, such as minerals, metals and types of rocks, as well as the processes that gave rise to them.
- Astrochemistry. Hand in hand with astronomy, interested in the study of space, chemistry in this case bases the study of matter as it exists outside the planet Earth. This discipline tries to understand what the stars are made of and how they are formed.
- Petrochemistry. Also understood as a branch of chemistry, it can be thought of as the meeting between chemistry and petroleum sciences (or, simply, the petroleum industry). It consists of a field highly dependent on petroleum studies, which have to do with the refinement of crude oil and the obtaining of its numerous derivatives, thanks to the understanding of the matter that composes it.
- chemical engineering. It is the cross between chemistry and engineering. It is a branch of engineering dedicated to the study and obtaining of new materials that are useful for humanity's industries.
On the other hand, and without founding disciplines or subdisciplines with their own names, chemistry collaborates closely with the development of other knowledge:
- Medicine. Understanding the human body benefits from the specialized knowledge of chemistry and biochemistry to understand the type of reactions that take place in our body and how they can be used to combat diseases or extend lifespan. Treatments such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy, for example, would not be possible without the help of chemistry.
- Pharmacology. Another field linked to health that benefits from chemistry is the composition of medications, supplements and remedies. Just as in the case of toxicology, chemistry collaborates with these sciences to understand how different substances and materials affect the human body, and why: which of them can be used for our benefit, which, on the other hand, represent a danger and how they can be used. its effects be attenuated or eliminated.
- Ecology. The preservation of the environment and the understanding of the planetary balance that promotes life as we understand it go hand in hand with chemistry and the study of the reactions that occur in matter in nature. Thus, it is possible to understand the effect that industries have on the environment and, at the same time, design strategies to deal with pollution.
- Archeology. Despite not being a natural but a social science, the study of past civilizations and their culture based on the fossil record has been immensely benefited by the development of chemistry. Not only because by better understanding the nature of the matter that makes up the planet or that makes up living beings, we can formulate a history of the fossil materials found in the subsoil, but because it allows us to design measurement strategies based on matter, such as carbon-14 reading techniques.
Continue with: Branches of chemistry
References
- “Chemistry” on Wikipedia.
- “Chemistry: science and art of matter” at UNESCO.
- “Chemistry and the life sciences” by Bernardo Herradón-G. in Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
- “The limits of Chemistry (and other Sciences)” by Bernardo Herradón in Madrid Blogs.
