B natural sciences. Natural sciences are the most important source and method of obtaining knowledge about the world around us

Natural science is a sphere human activity, aimed at obtaining new information about the world around us, living according to objective laws that do not depend on a person. In contrast to the natural sciences, the object of the study of the humanities is human activity itself, as a subjective process. However, this subjective process is studied by objective methods. It is the latter circumstance that allows us to consider the humanities as sciences, and not art. If the goal of a person's natural scientific activity is to know the world as it really is, then the goal of a person's activity in the field of art is to show how the world is subjectively perceived by a person.

Modern natural science cannot be represented as a kind of archive, where a huge amount of facts and various information about the structure of the surrounding world is simply accumulated "decomposed in half". Natural science compares facts, observations and seeks to create its MODEL, in which these facts are collected in a single, NON-CONTRACTUAL system based on theoretical concepts, provisions and generalizations. Natural science also seeks to expand and refine the created picture of the world, using this model to plan and perform new observations and experiments.

Some distinctive features(requirements) of scientific methodology in the field of natural science:

predictiveness - scientific concepts generalized in the form of a theory, models should predict the behavior of objects in the surrounding world, observed in an experiment or directly in the environment

reproducibility - scientific experiments must be performed in such a way that they can be reproduced by other researchers and in other laboratories

minimum sufficiency - in the process of describing scientific data, it is impossible to create concepts in excess of those that are necessary (the so-called "Occam's razor" principle)

objectivity - when building scientific theory, it is inadmissible for hypotheses to selectively take into account only selected (discarding other data) facts and observations, depending on personal inclinations, interests, attachments and the level of training of the scientist.

continuity - scientific work should take into account and refer to the prehistory of the issue under study as much as possible

Natural sciences are not only about getting new information, but also about getting information about how to get new information. Being both a goal and a means of human activity, natural science is a self-developing and self-accelerating process.

universe black hole space

System classification of natural sciences

Traditionally, natural sciences include physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, and other disciplines.

How objective is such a classification, where and by what principle should the boundaries between different sciences be drawn, is it possible to single out certain sections of natural science into separate sciences? Obviously, the answer to this question requires a natural classification of the hierarchy scientific knowledge which would not depend on traditions and would be objective. In other words, an objective criterion is needed to distinguish one or another area of ​​knowledge into a separate science.

This classification includes the systemic classification of sciences - not only natural ones. It is based on the following principle: the object of each science should be an integral, isolated system.

Let us dwell in more detail on the concept of "system".

A system is usually understood as a set of interacting elements, each of which is necessary for this system to perform its specific functions. As we can see, the definition of a system here consists of two parts, and the second part concerning system elements is non-trivial and non-obvious. It follows from this definition that not every component system is a system element. So, for example, a warning light on the front panel of a computer will not be its system element, since removing the light bulb or failure will not cause a failure in the execution of program tasks, while the processor, obviously, is such an element.

From our definition it follows that the number of system elements in the system is always finite, and they themselves are discrete and their choice is not random. Separate elements and their properties, when combined into a system, always give rise to a new quality, a system function that is not reducible to the quality and functions of its constituent elements.

Systems are natural and artificial, objective and subjective. The natural sciences include sciences that have natural systems as the object of their study, which are always objective. Subjective systems are objects of study in the humanities. Note that some systems, for example, information systems, can be both artificial and objective at the same time. Another example: a computer, as an integral information system, is traditionally subject to study within the framework of the science of informatics. From the point of view of system classification, it would be more accurate to distinguish not informatics in general, but computer informatics as an independent science, since Information Systems can be very different.

System elements are themselves systems; we can say that systems of different orders are nested inside each other, like nesting dolls.

For example, philosophy has as an object for its study the utmost common system consisting of only two elements - matter and consciousness. If we talk about the largest system known to us, then such is the Universe, studied as an integral object by the science of cosmology.

Systems of the lowest order known modern science, it is considered elementary particles... We still know little about internal structure elementary particles, even if we take into account the hypothesis of the existence of quarks, which have not yet been obtained in free form. Nevertheless, not only quarks, but also their properties (qualities) - charge, mass, spin and other characteristics - can be attributed to the systemic elements that make up elementary particles.

The science that studies elementary particles as integral, isolated systems is called elementary particle physics.

Elementary particles are elements of systems more high order - atomic nuclei, and even higher - atoms. Nuclear and atomic physics stand out accordingly.

In turn, the atoms combine to form molecules. Science, which has molecules as its object of study, is called chemistry. How not to recall the well-known definition: molecules are called the smallest particles of a substance that still retain Chemical properties of this substance!

We will move further along the hierarchical ladder of natural sciences. In living organisms, molecules participate in complex interactions - long sequences and cycles of reactions catalyzed by enzymes. There are, for example, the so-called. glycolytic pathway, Krebs cycle, Calvin cycle, pathways for the synthesis of amino acids, nucleic acids, and many others. All of them are complex, holistic self-organizing systems called biochemical. Accordingly, the science that studies them is called biochemistry.

Biochemical processes and complex molecular structures are combined into even more complex formations - living cells studied by cytology. Cells form tissues, which are studied as integral systems by another science - histology. The next level of the hierarchy refers to separate living complexes formed by tissues - organs. In the complex of biological disciplines, it is not customary to single out a science that could be called "organology", however, such sciences as cardiology (studies the heart and cardiovascular system), pulmonology (lungs), urology (organs of the genitourinary system), etc. are known in medicine. ...

And, finally, we have approached science, which has a living organism as an object of its study, as an integral, isolated system (individual). This science is physiology. Distinguish between the physiology of humans, animals, plants and microorganisms.

The systemic classification of natural sciences is not just some kind of abstract logical construction, but is a completely pragmatic approach to solving organizational problems.

Imagine the following situation. Two applicants come to the scientific council for the defense of dissertations for the degree of candidate of biological sciences. The first investigated the respiration process in rats subjected to high physical exertion. He studied the content of individual metabolites of the Krebs cycle, the features of the functioning of the components of the electron transport chain in mitochondria, and other biochemical features of the respiration process in rats, which were forced to high physical activity.

Another applicant studied basically all the same, using the same methods, but he was interested not in the effect of physical exertion on breathing, but in the breathing process itself, as such, regardless of physical activity or even on which organism was studied.

The first applicant is informed that his work is related to physiology and therefore is accepted for consideration in this advice with the specialization "human and animal physiology", and the other is refused, citing the discrepancy between the specialization of work ("biochemistry") with the specialization of the council.

How did it happen that very similar works were assigned to different sciences? In the first case, physical activity is a function of a living organism as an integral system, and therefore work belongs to physiology. In the second, the object of study is not the organism as a whole, but a separate biochemical system.

Further climbing the hierarchical ladder of natural sciences brings us to an interesting nodal point. Living organisms (individuals), as systemic elements, can be included in different systems higher order. A system consisting of only two elements - an individual (or a population of individuals) and the environment (its biotic and abiotic parts) is considered in ecology.

A system consisting of individuals different types(or populations of different species) is studied by the science of biocenology. Accordingly, the subject (system) of studying this science can include many systemic elements. The totality of interacting populations of different species occupying the same territory is called biocenoses. It is interesting that biocenoses are not a random set of populations. They are complex, self-organizing systems with some features of living organisms. Like individuals, biocenoses are born, develop (the so-called succession), age and die. They are discrete: between different biocenoses it is very often possible to observe a clearly pronounced border, while intermediate forms are absent or unstable. Biocenoses are usually named according to the dominant plant species - if it is, for example, oak, then the biocenosis is called oak forest, if it is feather grass, then it will be called "feather grass steppe".

The system of a higher order than the biocenosis is the Earth's biosphere. In the Russian language, however, the word "biosphereology" is absent; instead, the term "doctrine of the biosphere" is used. The priority of the creation of this science belongs to the outstanding Russian scientist, academician V.I. Vernadsky (1863-1945), who first drew attention to the fact that the biosphere is not just the sum of all biocenoses of the Earth, but a complex, self-organizing object, qualitatively different from any others. known systems.

In turn, the biosphere is only one of the systemic elements of our planet. Unfortunately, there is no science that would describe the behavior of the Earth as an integral, self-organizing system for objective reasons. Modern natural science Too little information has been accumulated about how the various planetary shells and levels of organization interact with each other - the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, mantle, core, etc.

Traditionally, it is not customary to single out our knowledge of the formation, structure and processes that determine behavior as a separate science. Solar system as a whole. Objectively, however, such a field of knowledge exists and is considered within the framework of a complex of astronomical disciplines. The same goes for our galaxy.

And finally, the largest known to us natural systems- this is the Universe, which, as we have already said, is studied by the science of cosmology.

So, we have considered a whole string of natural sciences and their corresponding systems. But where are biology and physics familiar to us among them? Apparently, within the framework of an objective, systemic classification, we cannot call any one or the other discipline sciences. There is no separate isolated system (or at least a class of systems) in relation to which it would be possible to formulate the problem of physics (or biology) as a science studying this system: the principle "one science - one system" stops working. Biology and physics fall into many other sciences. Nevertheless, the traditional, subjective, classification also has every right to exist: it is convenient and will be used for a long time in natural science.

With all the variety of systems - large and small, natural and artificial, objective and subjective, there are some of their characteristics inherent in all systems in general. They are called system-wide. There is also a science that studies them - systemology. The advances in systemology help scientists working in other fields of knowledge to hypothesize and draw correct scientific conclusions. For example, among researchers in gerontology (gerontology is the science of aging), there is sometimes a point of view that the aging of animals and humans is determined by a certain aging gene, damaging which, it is possible to provide indefinitely long youth. However, the conclusions of systemology tell us something else. All complex self-developing systems, limited in spatial growth, are aging; therefore, the causes of aging in humans and animals lie much deeper. In the same time general conclusions systemologies have only methodological significance. They cannot substitute for specific knowledge. In this case, it is quite possible to assume that some genes can actually accelerate aging, but by removing these genes, or eliminating some other, specific causes of aging, we must understand that we will face other reasons and can only postpone old age.

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What are natural sciences? Natural Science Methods

V modern world there are thousands of different sciences, educational disciplines, sections and other structural links. However, a special place among all is occupied by those that relate directly to a person and everything that surrounds him. It is a system of natural sciences. Of course, all other disciplines are also important. But it is this group that has the most ancient origin, and therefore of particular importance in the life of people.

The answer to this question is simple. These are disciplines that study a person, his health, as well as the entire environment: soil, atmosphere, Earth as a whole, space, nature, substances that make up all living and inanimate bodies, their transformations.

The study of natural sciences has been interesting to people since antiquity. How to get rid of the disease, what the body consists of from the inside, why the stars shine and what they are, as well as millions of similar questions - this is what has interested humanity from the very beginning of its origin. The answers to them are given by the disciplines under consideration.

Therefore, to the question of what the natural sciences are, the answer is unequivocal. These are disciplines that study nature and all living things.

There are several main groups that relate to natural sciences:

  1. Chemical (analytical, organic, inorganic, quantum, physical colloidal chemistry, chemistry of organoelement compounds).
  2. Biological (anatomy, physiology, botany, zoology, genetics).
  3. Physical (physics, physical chemistry, physical and mathematical sciences).
  4. Earth sciences (astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, astrochemistry, space biology).
  5. Earth shell sciences (hydrology, meteorology, mineralogy, paleontology, physical geography, geology).

Only basic natural sciences are presented here. However, it should be understood that each of them has its own subsections, industries, subsidiary and subsidiary disciplines. And if you combine all of them into a single whole, then you can get a whole natural complex sciences, calculated in hundreds of units.

Moreover, it can be divided into three large groups of disciplines:

Interaction of disciplines with each other

Of course, no discipline can exist in isolation from others. All of them are in close harmonious interaction with each other, forming a single complex. So, for example, knowledge of biology would be impossible without the use of technical means constructed on the basis of physics.

At the same time, it is impossible to study transformations within living beings without knowledge of chemistry, because each organism is a whole factory of reactions occurring at a colossal speed.

The relationship between the natural sciences has always been traced. Historically, the development of one of them entailed intensive growth and accumulation of knowledge in the other. As soon as new lands began to be developed, islands and land areas were discovered, both zoology and botany were immediately developed. After all, new habitats were inhabited (albeit not all) by previously unknown representatives of the human race. Thus, geography and biology are closely linked.

If we talk about astronomy and related disciplines, it is impossible not to note the fact that they developed thanks to scientific discoveries in the field of physics, chemistry. The design of the telescope has largely determined the success in this field.

There are a lot of similar examples. They all illustrate the close relationship between all natural disciplines that make up one huge group. Below we will consider the methods of natural sciences.

Before dwelling on the research methods used by the sciences under consideration, it is necessary to designate the objects of their study. They are:

Each of these objects has its own characteristics, and for their study it is necessary to select one or another method. Among those, as a rule, the following are distinguished:

  1. Observation is one of the simplest, most effective and ancient ways to learn about the world.
  2. Experiment is the foundation of the chemical sciences, most of the biological and physical disciplines. Allows you to get the result and draw a conclusion about the theoretical basis from it.
  3. Comparison - this method is based on the use of historically accumulated knowledge on a particular issue and comparing them with the results obtained. Based on the analysis, a conclusion is made about the innovation, quality and other characteristics of the object.
  4. Analysis. This method may include mathematical modeling, taxonomy, generalization, performance. Most often it is the final one after a number of other studies.
  5. Measurement - used to assess the parameters of specific objects of animate and inanimate nature.

There are also the most recent ones, modern methods research that is used in physics, chemistry, medicine, biochemistry and genetic engineering, genetics and other important sciences. It:

Of course, this is far from full list... There are many different adaptations for working in each area of ​​scientific knowledge. Everything requires an individual approach, which means that a set of methods is formed, equipment and equipment are selected.

Modern problems of natural science

The main problems of natural sciences on the present stage development is the search for new information, the accumulation of a theoretical knowledge base in a more in-depth, rich format. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the main problem of the disciplines under consideration was the opposition to the humanitarian branches.

However, today this obstacle is no longer relevant, since humanity has realized the importance of interdisciplinary integration in mastering knowledge about man, nature, space and other things.

Now the disciplines of the natural science cycle face a different task: how to preserve nature and protect it from the influence of man himself and his economic activity? And the problems here are the most pressing:

  • acid rain;
  • Greenhouse effect;
  • destruction of the ozone layer;
  • extinction of plant and animal species;
  • air pollution and others.

In most cases, in response to the question "What are natural sciences?" one word comes to mind at once - biology. This is the opinion of most people who are not related to science. And this is absolutely correct opinion. After all, what, if not biology, directly and very closely connects nature and man?

All disciplines that make up this science are aimed at studying living systems, their interaction with each other and with environment... Therefore, it is quite normal that it is biology that is considered the founder of the natural sciences.

In addition, it is also one of the most ancient. After all, people's interest in themselves, their bodies, surrounding plants and animals originated with a person. Genetics, medicine, botany, zoology, anatomy are closely related to the same discipline. All these branches make up biology as a whole. They also give us a complete picture of nature, and about man, and about all living systems and organisms.

These science, fundamental in the development of knowledge about bodies, substances and natural phenomena, are no less ancient than biology. They also developed along with the development of a person, his formation in a social environment. The main tasks of these sciences is the study of all bodies of inanimate and living nature from the point of view of the processes occurring in them, their relationship with the environment.

So, physics considers natural phenomena, mechanisms and causes of their occurrence. Chemistry is based on the knowledge of substances and their interconversion into each other.

That's what natural sciences are.

And finally, let's list the disciplines that allow you to learn more about our home, whose name is Earth. These include:

In total, there are about 35 different disciplines. Together they study our planet, its structure, properties and features, which is so necessary for the life of people and the development of the economy.

Natural Sciences. What sciences are called natural?

Natural sciences are called natural sciences, that is, about nature. Inanimate nature and its development is studied by astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, meteorology, volcanology, seismology, oceanology, geophysics, astrophysics, geochemistry, and a number of others. Live nature studied by biological sciences (paleontology studies extinct organisms, taxonomy - species and their classification, arachnology - spiders, ornithology - birds, entomology - insects).

Natural sciences include those that study nature and all its manifestations, that is, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, ecology, astronomy.

The opposite to the natural sciences will be the humanities, which study a person, his activities, consciousness and manifestation in various fields. These include history, psychology and others.

Natural is a word that, by itself and by its presence, tells us that something should happen in nature. Well, science, of course, is the field of activity that, this whole thing, thoroughly and scrupulously, studies and identifies general, but at the same time fundamental, regularities.

sciences studying the properties of nature and natural formations. The use of terms natural, technical, fundamental, etc. to the areas of human activity is rather arbitrary, since each of them has a fundamental component (studying problems on the border of our knowledge and ignorance), an applied component (studying the problems of applying the acquired knowledge in practical activities), a natural science component (studying problems that arise or exist independently of our desire). These terms, so to speak, are diatropic, i.e. describe only the core - the most characteristic feature or a component of the subject.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

NATURAL SCIENCES

received the rights of citizenship from the 18th century. name for the totality of all sciences involved in the study of nature. The first researchers of nature (natural philosophers) included, each in his own way, the whole of nature in the circle of his mental activity. The progressive development of the natural sciences and their deepening into research led to the dismemberment of the unified science of nature, which has not yet ended, into its separate branches, depending on the subject of research or according to the principle of division of labor. The natural sciences owe their authority, on the one hand, to scientific accuracy and consistency, and on the other, to their practical significance as a means of conquering nature. The main spheres of the natural sciences - matter, life, man, the Earth, the Universe - allow them to be grouped as follows: 1) physics, chemistry, physical chemistry; 2) biology, botany, zoology; 3) anatomy, physiology, the doctrine of origin and development, the doctrine of heredity; 4) geology, mineralogy, paleontology, meteorology, geography (physical); 5) astronomy together with astrophysics and astrochemistry. Mathematics, according to a number of natural philosophers, does not belong to the natural sciences, but is a decisive tool for their thinking. In addition, among the natural sciences, depending on the method, there is the following difference: the descriptive sciences are content with the study of factual data and their relationships, which they generalize into rules and laws; exact natural sciences clothe facts and connections in mathematical form; however, the distinction is inconsistent. The pure science of nature is limited to scientific research, applied science (medicine, agriculture and forestry and technology in general) uses it to master and transform nature. Along with the sciences of nature, there are sciences of the spirit, and both are combined by philosophy into a single science, they act as special sciences; Wed Physical picture of the world.

Modern science, being part of culture, is also not homogeneous. It is primarily subdivided into humanitarian and natural science branches, accordingly, in the field of social consciousness or social being, the subject of their study lies. In our discipline, the basic concepts developed by modern natural sciences will be considered.

Enatural sciences differ in the degree of generality depending on the subject of their study... So, perhaps, the greatest degree of generality today has mathematics - the science of ratios. Everything to which the concepts can be applied: more, less, equal, not equal, belongs to the field of applicability of mathematics. Therefore, using mathematical methods has become an integral part of the majority methodology applied sciences.

Physics - the science of motion - has an enormous degree of generality. Movement is a necessary attribute of matter. It permeates all aspects of social life and is reflected in public consciousness... Therefore, developments created by physics turn out to be useful far beyond the traditional field of their application.

Take, for example, the economics of a capitalist society. The most significant role in it is played by the movement of capital and goods. The product created by the manufacturer moves to the consumer, while its monetary equivalent moves in the opposite direction.

Physics is well aware of such systems with a qualitative transformation of motion and the presence feedback between their elements. A typical example of such a system is, for example, an oscillatory circuit consisting of a capacitor, an inductor and a resistance (resistor) connected in series. Such systems are well described mathematical equations which have two types of solutions: oscillatory, if the feedback level is high and relaxation, if sufficient attenuation is introduced into the feedback loop. This attenuation is determined by the amount of energy dissipated in the feedback loop.

Capitalism of the stage of initial accumulation, described in detail by K. Marx in his famous work "Capital", had a significant level of feedback, which should have led to oscillatory processes in the economy. Indeed, such capitalism was characterized by crises of overproduction. Because of the possibility of crises, capitalism was declared “decaying”.

Analyzes of crises, mainly in the United States, have led economists to conclude that an element of dissipation should be introduced into the chain of commodity-money movement.

You can scatter the goods. Such attempts were made in the United States during the so-called Great Depression. Wheat was drowned in Hudson Bay, oranges were burned in locomotive furnaces. The destruction of material assets, of course, reduces the range of fluctuations in the commodity-money flow. However, in general, it is disadvantageous to society.

The scattering of money turned out to be more successful. It is expressed as a balance of payments deficit. Simply put, the whole society begins to live in debt. As a result of this dispersal, the crises of overproduction in the modern capitalist economy have disappeared.

After the oil Arab countries entered the arena, which were not covered by the mechanism of dispersion of the commodity-money supply, the capitalist world was again in a fever. However, diplomatic efforts and international economic sanctions made it possible to bring the economies of these countries into general scheme payment deficit. After that, comparative stability again began in the capitalist world.

The next in the generality of the subject is chemistry - the science of the structure of matter and its transformation. It is served by physics and mathematics as auxiliary tools. Chemistry has a well-defined and very broad field of application.

The field of application of biology is even more limited, but, of course, by no means less important. This is the science of living things. Her understanding requires deep knowledge in the field of mathematics, physics, chemistry. To realize the full depth of the problems facing biology, think at your leisure about how the living differs from the nonliving.

Chemistry and biology are remarkable in that they have developed and developed the concept of classification. In addition to chemistry and biology, it is widely used in computational mathematics and is of undoubted interest for students of economics.

In addition to the listed fundamental natural sciences, there is also a large number of applied sciences. For example, geology and geography are the sciences of the Earth and its structure. Anatomy and physiology study the biological characteristics of a person. Today, the so-called frontier scientific disciplines are very popular. As they said before: "Disciplines arising at the intersection of sciences." These are biophysics, biochemistry, physical chemistry, mathematical physics, etc. A special role among them is modern ecology - a science designed to solve the global environmental problem, created by mankind literally in the last decades.

At the end of the last century, the Earth was mainly an agricultural planet with a relatively small number of cities and a low level of industrial production. Agriculture was practically waste-free. For example, go to a modern village (I do not mean holiday villages). As a rule, you will not find landfills there. Items that are part of the peasant use are almost completely and completely disposed of.

A completely different picture is observed in cities. Humanity has approached the line from which it can be crushed by the waste of its own life, primarily household waste and waste of modern chemical and processing industries. Common for the so-called developed countries the tendency to displace harmful industries to underdeveloped countries (including Russia) does not save the day. The solution can only be found by the united efforts of all mankind.

Lecture 2. Methods of natural sciences

Lecture 1. Natural science and humanitarian culture

Culture is a system of means of human activity, thanks to which the activity of an individual, groups, humanity is programmed, implemented, stimulated in their interaction with nature and among themselves.

These means are created by people, are constantly being improved and consist of three meaningful types of cultures - material, social and spiritual.

Material culture is a set of material and energy means of being of a person and society.

Social culture is a system of rules for the behavior of people in different types communication and specialized spheres of social activity.

Spiritual culture is an integral part of the cultural achievements of mankind

The relationship between natural science and humanitarian cultures is as follows:

· They have a single basis, expressed in the needs and interests of man and mankind in creating optimal conditions for self-preservation and improvement;

· Carry out an interchange of the achieved results (this has found its expression, for example, in the ethics of natural science, rationalization of humanitarian culture, etc.);

· Mutually coordinate in the historical and cultural process;

Are independent parts unified system knowledge of science;

· Are of fundamental value for man, because he expresses the unity of nature and society.

Lecture 2. Methods of natural sciences

Natural science uses both general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, induction, deduction, analogy, logical method, historical method, analogy, modeling, classification) and specific scientific methods inherent in specific sciences (spectroscopy, the method of tagged atoms , crystallography, etc.). Scientific Methods, according to the ratio of empirical and theoretical, are divided into methods of empirical (experimental) research: observation, experiment, measurement, description, comparison, theoretical methods(idealization, formalization, axiomatization, hypothetical-deductive method), as well as mixed methods.

Analysis- mental or real decomposition of an object into its constituent parts.

Synthesis- unification of the elements learned as a result of the analysis into a single whole.

Generalization- the process of mental transition from the single to the general, from the less general, to the more general, for example: the transition from the judgment "this metal conducts electricity" to the judgment "all metals conduct electricity", from the judgment: "the mechanical form of energy turns into heat" to the judgment “every form of energy turns into heat”.

Abstraction (idealization)- mental introduction of certain changes in the studied object in accordance with the objectives of the study. As a result of idealization, some properties, features of objects that are not essential for this study can be excluded from consideration.

Induction- removal process general position from the observation of a number of particular individual facts, i.e. knowledge from the particular to the general. In practice, incomplete induction is most often used, which involves a conclusion about all the objects of a set on the basis of knowledge of only a part of the objects. Incomplete induction based on experimental research and including a theoretical foundation is called scientific induction. The conclusions of such induction are often probabilistic.

Deduction- the process of analytical reasoning from the general to the particular or less general. It is closely related to generalization.

Analogy- a probable, plausible conclusion about the similarity of two objects or phenomena in any feature, based on their established similarity in other features ..

Modeling- reproduction of the properties of the object of knowledge on its specially arranged analogue - the model. Models can be real (material) and ideal (abstract).

Historical method implies reproducing the history of the object under study in all its versatility, taking into account all the details and accidents.

Logical method is, in essence, a logical reproduction of the history of the object under study. At the same time, this story is freed from everything that is accidental and insignificant.

Classification is the process of organizing information. In the process of studying new objects in relation to each such object, a conclusion is made: whether it belongs to already established classification groups. In some cases, this reveals the need to restructure the classification system. There is a special classification theory - taxonomy ... She examines the principles of classification and systematization of complex areas of reality.