We explain the relationship between physics and other sciences, what disciplines generate this relationship and the characteristics of each one.
What is the relationship of physics with other sciences?
As with many other sciences, Physics covers a vast and complex field of study whose borders are not always perfectly delimited, and this allows it to often be linked or closely linked with other neighboring sciences. In this way, new disciplines are generated and new fields of knowledge are founded, in which the scientific tools of all the disciplines involved are often used.
Of course, These imprecise margins between the sciences are not new especially if we consider how recent the current division of the sciences is. If we go back in time to earlier times, we will notice that many fields of study are grouped under more generic names such as “natural science”, “natural philosophy” or, much earlier, simply, “philosophy”.
physics (from Greek phisikósthat is, “linked to nature”), despite being one of the oldest scientific disciplines, does not escape this phenomenon.
Nowadays We understand physics as the study of the fundamental laws that govern the universe. To do this, physics itself uses the formal language of mathematics and the thinking methods of logic, which allow it to express the relationships between forces, energy and matter in universal terms.
But, at the same time, physics provides significant contributions to other areas of knowledge and collaborates closely with other sciences, giving rise to the disciplines we know as:
- Physical chemistry. It provides a look at matter and energy at the same time, and is located in the common space between chemistry and physics. In general, it applies the system models of physics to the molecules and substances that constitute the field of study of chemistry.
- Astrophysics. Although astronomy can be considered a branch of physics, astrophysics is the fruit of the collaboration of both knowledges, to the extent that they try to understand the laws that govern the stars, that is, the universe outside our planet. Astrophysics is an immensely broad field, in which questions regarding the origin and evolution of the stars, gravitational forces or even the origin of the universe have a place.
- Biophysics. The result of collaboration between physics and biology, this discipline uses the instruments of physics to study living beings, and allows the design of mechanisms and instruments to better understand the forces that act inside plants and animals. Biomechanics, the physics of hearing, and molecular motors are examples of the application of this field to understanding the functioning of living bodies.
- Geophysics. Understood as the study of planet Earth from the point of view of physics, that is, the collaboration of the latter with geology, this discipline is interested in the set of forces and thermodynamic processes that exist and existed on our planet, and that explain the geological phenomena it suffers.
- Tectonophysics. It is a subdiscipline of geophysics, specialized in the study of the tectonic dynamics of the Earth's subsoil, such as continental formation, topographic features or earthquakes.
At the same time, physics has close links with other fields of knowledge, without necessarily having to establish disciplines with their own names, as is the case with:
- Meteorology and climate sciences. These disciplines study the Earth's atmosphere using physical tools and knowledge to study the complex processes that generate climate. Thus, it is possible to understand the atmosphere as a physical system whose behavior can be described and, to a certain extent, predicted.
- Telecommunications. Perhaps this is the field of knowledge whose collaboration with physics is most important today. The possibility of communication at a distance, from the times of the telegraph to remote controls, WiFi networks and satellite transmissions, are the result of dozens of years of research in the field of physics, in particular, the propagation of electromagnetic waves.
- Engineering. The collaboration between physics and different engineering is so intense and broad that engineering could be understood as a form of physics applied to the resolution of everyday problems. From the design of engines, vehicles and tools, to the use of electromagnetism and the production of energy, everything is possible thanks to the knowledge of physics, the understanding of natural forces, and their use).
- Oceanography. This discipline inherits from physics the description of the flow of large masses of water on the planet, its impact on the atmosphere and geological dynamics.
- Orthopedics. This branch of medicine is dedicated to solving certain physical difficulties of humans through prosthetic solutions. It owes a lot to physics, especially to the branches dedicated to the study of sound and light waves. Thanks to this knowledge, the first instruments to improve hearing and vision emerged. Without knowledge of optics, for example, magnifying lenses would be impossible, as would telescopes and microscopes, tools that played a key role in the modern Scientific Revolution and in the explosion of knowledge in the other natural sciences.
Continue with: Relationship of chemistry with other sciences
References
- “Physics” on Wikipedia.
- “History of science and scientific disciplines” in Cuadernos Críticos de Geografía Humana of the University of Barcelona (Spain).
- “Relationship of physics with other areas of knowledge and technology” in the School of Physics of the University of Costa Rica.
