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I removed this:
According to historians of science, basic science really did not become a true form of science until the second half of the 19th century.
I spent I few years in grad school studying the philosophy of science, and I don't believe this. It needs a citation from at least one historian of science who actually says it. user: Gene Ward Smith
I agree the general point of the above comments. This entire article needs to be redone. "Natural Philosophy" has meant a lot of different things. Throughout most of the 19th century, the people we recognize as physicists called themselves natural philosophers (James Clerk Maxwell, for instance, and just about anyone before the mid-19th century). Natural Philosophy was a school subject, alongside chemistry and physiology. But many natural philosophers were doing experimental science. -User:Ragesoss 17 Dec 2005
I'm unhappy at the section entitled revival describing the use of the natural philosophy term to cover creationism. The action appears to me rather to be crafty misappropiation! I did my science degree at a university where the original use is still carefully kept alive - and it wouldn't extend to covering the supernatural except as a critical footnote in history. Linuxlad 12:10, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
More material has been added to the 'Revival' section which is apparently intended to further a creationist argument. Whatever its merits (or otherwise) it is out of context here - I suggest it be moved to a new article within the next week, after which the material in the revival section should be pruned to a first paragraph and a link out. Linuxlad 19:50, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
Recently the Nature article was split and a major part of it was put onto an article called Philosophy of Nature. I tend to think the article should be re-named Nature (Philosophy), in this way we keep the material closer to it's intended use, and perhaps distinct from the present article? Or perhaps it should be merged to this article? --Andrew Lancaster 15:23, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
This article needs much more emphasis on Aristotle! Aristotle was "the philosopher" in the Middle Ages and almost all science (i.e. natural philosophy) of the Middle Ages was in some way related to his legacy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.50.144.31 (talk) 21:50, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
How about a section on more recent revivals of natural philosophy? Two figures that deserve to be included (that I can think of off the top of my head) are Hans Jonas and Brian David Ellis. JKeck (talk) 23:49, 3 January 2010 (UTC)
Also, please add something about what is meant by having a degree in Natural Philosophy? I have heard that Sir Muir Russel is a physicist but according to his Wikipedia page, he took first in Natural Philosophy at University of Glasgow. What is that degree if natural philosophy is a precursor to science but is no longer the term used to describe science?
Is it something like a BS Physics? Or more like a degree in Philosophy? 210.1.93.23 (talk) 04:29, 4 January 2010 (UTC)
The most misleading part of this article is the suggestion that never and at no time in history was the term "natural philosophy" synonymous with our modern conception of "science."
This is simply not true. Sure, natural philosophy wasn't always the same thing as modern science, but a lot of fully mature science was done under the name of "natural philosophy."
I think omitting this explanation is just going to result in a heck of a lot of confused readers when, for example, they read Michael Faraday's famous Candle Lectures and see the sentence, "...there is no more open door by which you can enter natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomenon of a candle." (Lecture 1, first paragraph). And so what will the reader think, that Faraday is making reference to "proto-science" rather than the fully mature science in which he made seminal breakthroughs?
I will consider making this alteration myself, but I can only do so to a limited extent since my history of the formative centuries of modern science is scant.--Scyldscefing (talk) 04:21, 8 May 2010 (UTC)
I see the distinction between natural philosophy and science as: anything you read in a science book preceded by "The Theory of" is natural philosophy, anything proceeded by "The Law of" is science. It was necessary long ago to tie the absolute of science to the highly likely of theory to get very logical natural philosophy such as Darwin's theory into the classroom past theist who believe everything came into existence in six days. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.151.248.4 (talk) 02:06, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
--That is absoloutely wrong. Theories in science are not simply guesses. Scientist hypothesize based on an initial consideration of known data and known science. Then they test those hypotheses. Hypotheses either become laws or theories depending on the nature of the hypothesis. Laws of science are simple mathematical statements which have been verified by many many experiments. For example F=Ma and E=Mc^2 are laws of science. In theories, on the other hand, the hypothesis is usually called a postulate. The consequences of the postulates of a theory are worked out mathematically into a number of hypothetical predictions. Each of those number of hypotheses must test true for a a hypothesized set of postulates to become a bonnified theory. So if anything Laws are science and theories are even more science! :) --2601:D:2A80:DFF:A9AE:5D5C:D27F:F06D (talk) 11:06, 11 July 2014 (UTC)
The term “Natural Philosophy” was used as a synonym for “Physics” on an everyday basis at the University of Glasgow until at least the early 1980s. The main building that now houses the combined Department of Physics and Astronomy was referred to then as the “Nat Phil” building. And in Scottish high schools, a common text book for Ordinary Grade (O-Grade) Physics teaching was titled “Nat Phil ‘0’”. Physics graduates from Glasgow had the opportunity to have their degree registered as either Physics or Natural Philosophy. I’d add this to the article, but I have no sources other than my own direct experience. 70.112.38.105 (talk) 03:49, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
Yes. The Department of Natural Philosophy and the Department of Astronomy at Glasgow University (where Kelvin was based) merged in the late 80s into the Department (now School) of Physics and Astronomy, and I think the name of the degree was changed at the same time from Nat. Phil. to Physics, with the change of name of both the department and the degree motivated in part by the difficulty of explaining to, eg, employers, just what 'Nat. Phil.' meant. There is still a chair of 'Natural Philosophy' (see eg Sheila Rowan and Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow)). I don't have an online link for any of this, but I suspect that The University of Glasgow : 1451-2001 (A.L. Brown and Michael Moss, 2001, ISBN 9780748608713) will have details. NormanGray (talk) 19:04, 10 December 2019 (UTC)
I have included links to Taoist traditions, as we know their history with natuural science and medicine. Shenqijing (talk) 10:15, 24 August 2020 (UTC)
This article has plenty of good and accurate information, I think there are parts in this article that could be expanded upon like the Section on Scope: There could be a section describing some of the thoughts that natural philosophers had about the world such as inventions to help the make measurements of the planet, cosmos, and even materials that make up these things. Orcandiver (talk) 16:46, 25 September 2020 (UTC)
Not only does it read strange – if it is supposed to mean "physics in the Aristotelian sense," it should be written as "physics (in an Aristotelian sense)" or similar rather than just "physics (Aristotle)" – but it also links to the page for the work "Physics" by Aristotle, making it seem as if natural philosophy is the study of said work, which it most certainly is not.
Therefore, I suggest these two changes: 1. Editing the first sentence of the introduction so that it says: "Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin philosophia naturalis) is the philosophical study of physics (in the Aristotelian sense), that is, nature and the physical universe." 2. Making "physics (in the Aristotelian sense)" link onto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_(Aristotle)#The_meaning_of_physics_in_Aristotle
Please let me know what you think about these suggestions. I will think it over and may edit it if none object.
Thank you, Hven Petrowicz Hven Petrowicz (talk) 10:54, 1 May 2022 (UTC)
Alternatively, it could link onto: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelian_physics
Let me know your thoughts.
Thank you, Hven Petrowicz Hven Petrowicz (talk) 12:46, 2 May 2022 (UTC)
Alternatively, it could read as "physics (in an Aristotelian sense)
Let me know your opinions.
Thank you, Hven Petrowicz Hven Petrowicz (talk) 16:44, 19 May 2022 (UTC)