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A formal science is a theoretical study that is concerned with theoretical formal systems, for instance, logic, mathematics, systems theory and the theoretical branches of computer science, information theory, and statistics. In formal logic, a formal system (also called a logical system, a logistic system, or simply a logic Formal systems in mathematics consist Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Systems theory is an Interdisciplinary field of Science and the study of the nature of Complex systems in Nature, Society, and Theoretical computer science is the collection of topics of Computer science that focuses on the more abstract logical and mathematical aspects of Computing, such Information theory is a branch of Applied mathematics and Electrical engineering involving the quantification of Information. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data.

Contents

Overview

The formal sciences are built up of theoretical symbols and rules.

The formal sciences can sometimes be applied to the reality, and, within certain limitations, they can be useful. People often make the mistake of confusing theoretical systems with reality, applying theoretical models as if they represent reality perfectly, or believing that the theoretical model is in fact the reality.

The difference between formal sciences and natural science is that formal sciences start from theoretical ideas and it leads to other theoretical ideas through thinking processes, while natural science starts from observation of the real world and leads to more or less useful models for a part of reality. You can never learn anything about reality from studying formal sciences alone. You can never prove anything about reality through the use of formal sciences.

Applied mathematics is to try to apply some theoretical mathematical model to reality. Applied mathematics is a branch of Mathematics that concerns itself with the mathematical techniques typically used in the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains It is possible within certain limits and with certain restrictions and with a certain limit of precision.

If the map and the reality does not fit it is the map which is wrong, not the reality. A map is a theoretical representation (model) of reality. The Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL was a rebel group in Liberia that became active in March 2003, launching attacks from Côte d'Ivoire.

History

The study of applied science began earlier than formal science and the formulation of scientific method, with the most ancient mathematical texts available dates back to 1500BC-500 BC (ancient India), 1300-1200 BC (ancient Egypt), and 1800 BC (Mesopotamia). Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding From then on different cultures such as the Indian, Greek, Islamic made major contributions to mathematics. This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation.

Besides mathematics, logic is another oldest subject in formal science. Logic as an explicit analysis of the methods of reasoning received sustained development originally in three places: India in the 6th century BC, China in the 5th century BC, and Greece between the 4th century BC and the 1st century BC. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The formally sophisticated treatment of modern logic descends from the Greek tradition, being informed from the transmission of Aristotelian logic while the tradition from other cultures do not survive into the modern era. The Organon is the name given by Aristotle 's followers the Peripatetics to the standard collection of his six works on Logic.

As other disciplines of formal science rely heavily on mathematics, they did not exist until mathematics had developed into a relatively advanced level. Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal (1654), and Christiaan Huygens (1657) started the earliest study of probability theory (statistics) in the 17th century. Pierre de Fermat pjɛːʁ dəfɛʁ'ma ( 17 August 1601 or 1607/8 &ndash 12 January 1665) was a French Lawyer at the Blaise Pascal (blɛz paskal (June 19 1623 &ndash August 19 1662 was a French Mathematician, Physicist, and religious Philosopher Christiaan Huygens (ˈhaɪgənz in English ˈhœyɣəns in Dutch) ( April 14, 1629 &ndash July 8, 1695) was a Dutch Probability theory is the branch of Mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena

In the mid-twentieth century, mathematically-based studies such as operations research and systems engineering were developed. Operations Research (OR in North America South Africa and Australia and Operational Research in Europe is an interdisciplinary branch of applied Mathematics and Systems engineering is an Interdisciplinary field of Engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed The rise of the computer gave a great impetus to these sciences and to theoretical computer science and information theory, allowing the study of complex systems beyond the range of traditional mathematical techniques. Theoretical computer science is the collection of topics of Computer science that focuses on the more abstract logical and mathematical aspects of Computing, such Information theory is a branch of Applied mathematics and Electrical engineering involving the quantification of Information. The rise of these disciplines made it clear that mathematics was only one of a range of formal or mathematical sciences, which differed from natural sciences in basing their knowledge on proof and computer simulation rather than real-life experiments.

Relation with science

It is arguable whether formal science is, besides natural science and social science, the third branch of science and some of the disciplines of formal science like mathematics and statistics are often even referred as natural science. In Science, the term natural science refers to a naturalistic approach to the study of the Universe, which is understood as obeying rules or law of The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. For instance, Carl Friedrich Gauss referred to mathematics as "the Queen of the Sciences". Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (ˈɡaʊs, Gauß Carolus Fridericus Gauss ( 30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) was a German [1] In some notable universities, e. g. Imperial College London and Tokyo University, their department of mathematics/statistics run under the faculty of natural science/science. Imperial College London (officially The Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine as given in its Royal Charter It is one of only three universities to have reached The, abbreviated as, is a major Research university located in Tokyo, Japan. An academic department is a division of a University or School faculty devoted to a particular Academic discipline. A faculty is a division within a University. The concept of a university with different faculties for different subjects dates back to Al-Azhar University, which had

The changing definition of the word 'science' maybe primarily induces such a confusion. In the original Latin Regina Scientiarum, as well as in German Königin der Wissenschaften, the word corresponding to science means (field of) knowledge. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Indeed, this is also the original meaning in English, and there is no doubt that mathematics is in this sense a science. The specialization restricting the meaning to modern scientific method is of later date.

The notion that formal science is also natural science is also attributed to the close relation between formal science and disciplines such as physics or chemistry. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties Nowadays, mathematics and statistics are heavily applied in natural and social science and are deemed important and necessary by most of the scholars in those areas. Without adequate knowledge in mathematics, it is impossible to make sense of the subject matters. This close relation explains the notion and why formal science is often taught under the faculty of science in universities.

The original intention of scholars to study mathematics would be another reason for the notion. From the very early history of mathematics, until the recent centuries, mathematicians believed that the physical world is constructed according to mathematics. The area of study known as the history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of new discoveries in Mathematics and to a lesser extent an investigation A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. For example, Pythagoras believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality; he once said that "number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and demons. "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor. " In later history, Isaac Newton also thought that God used mathematics to design the world. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Therefore, the study of mathematics is identical to the study of nature. So it is not surprising that mathematics and other related formal science would be regarded as branches of natural science.

However, many scholars oppose including formal science as a branch of science. They admit that formal science is a very powerful tool to natural and social science, but it does not mean formal science is science. Most importantly, they define science as the discipline using scientific method which bases on observation and empirical study. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena A central concept in Science and the Scientific method is that all Evidence must be empirical, or empirically based that is dependent on evidence As knowledge in formal science is a priori and always constructed by rules of deduction from axioms and definition without any empirical study, they refuse to classify formal science as a branch of science. Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding "A priori" redirects here For other uses see A priori. In traditional Logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject A definition is a statement of the meaning of a Word or Phrase.

See also

References

  1. ^ Waltershausen

Further reading

External links

Dictionary

formal science

-noun

  1. A study that is concerned with theoretical formal systems, such as logic, mathematics, systems theory and the theoretical branches of computer science, information theory, microeconomics, statistics, and linguistics.
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