Before that, the study of matter was known as alchemy and was practiced mainly in China, Arabia, Egypt, and Europe.Īlchemy was a somewhat mystical and secretive approach to learning how to manipulate matter. Chemistry in its modern form, based on principles that we consider valid today, was developed in the 1600s and 1700s.
Figure 1.1 "The Relationships between Some of the Major Branches of Science" shows how many of the individual fields of science are related.Īs our understanding of the universe has changed over time, so has the practice of science. Similarly, geology and chemistry overlap in the field called geochemistry. For example, some biologists and chemists work in both fields so much that their work is called biochemistry. Mathematics is the language of science, and we will use it to communicate some of the ideas of chemistry.Īlthough we divide science into different fields, there is much overlap among them. Thus, chemistry is the study of matter, biology is the study of living things, and geology is the study of rocks and the earth. Because the physical universe is so vast, there are many different branches of science ( Figure 1.1 "The Relationships between Some of the Major Branches of Science").
is the process by which we learn about the natural universe by observing, testing, and then generating models that explain our observations. Science The process by which we learn about the natural universe by observing, testing, and then generating models that explain our observations. Because we move so easily through air, we sometimes forget that it, too, is matter.Ĭhemistry is one branch of science.
Some things are easily identified as matter-this book, for example. is anything that has mass and takes up space-that is, anything that is physically real. Matter Anything that has mass and takes up space. Being able to describe the ingredients in a cake and how they change when the cake is baked is called chemistry.
is the study of matter-what it consists of, what its properties are, and how it changes.
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