20 Examples of Pure Sciences and Applied Sciences

It is usually distinguished between pure science (or basic) and Applied Science as different possible directions of scientific research: the so-called pure ones pursue a thorough understanding of the universe that surrounds us without any immediate utility for the human environment, while the applied ones pursue the scientific resolution of specific problems present in human society, either the creation of a product, a tool or modification of certain materials. For example: biology, geology, astronautics.

This does not mean that they are separate scientific paths, since there is a necessary feedback process, by means of which the pure sciences acquire or unravel new knowledge about the universe and the applied sciences use them in the manufacture of implements that, many times, allow the scope of new abstract discoveries and so on.

Currently there is global trend to value applied sciences over pure ones, since they allow the creation and commercialization of tools and applications, while pure ones represent a necessary expense for the development of the field of knowledge without immediate economic or industrial repercussions.

However, the balance between the two supposes the operation of the gear of knowledge to its maximum capacities.

Pure science examples

1. Chemistry. Broadly speaking, it is the science that studies the atomic interaction of matter, its forms of grouping, structuring and reacting. It is, along with physics, the mother of many, many contemporary applications of science, but it is not per se an applied science but a way of describing the molecular world.
2. General Physics. Understood as the understanding of the laws that govern the universe, it is the mother of most applied sciences, since to a certain extent it can be understood as the application of mathematics to the description of the everyday world. However, physics is not involved in the construction of artifacts, but of measurement systems and theories about the workings of the universe.
3. Math. It is a formal science, as a logical method of understanding the universe and an ordered system of reasoning applicable, basically, to anything. Its many variants have spawned everything from architecture to multiple engineering, and it is often borrowed from all other basic or pure sciences.
4. biology. The study of life, both plant, animal, microbial or of the other kingdoms. Twinned with chemistry, physics and mathematics, it constitutes one of the main sciences with which man studies his reality, which includes the interior of his own body and the other living beings in the world.
5. Astrophysics. The call celestial physics or space physics, consists of the study of the celestial stars: the planets, the stars, the cosmic phenomena that occur between them and the laws of nature that through their observation can be revealed.
6. Microbiology. The branch of biology focused on the microscopic and microbial world, of all life that exists beyond our gaze. Aided by various applied sciences, she has been able to develop numerous explanations of life and its origins, which in turn have led to numerous applications in human and animal life.
7. geology. This science is dedicated to the study of the constitutive layers of the earth, in order to obtain a better understanding of its historical formation process and, in the long run, of how it came to be what we understand today. Erosion, sedimentation, all possible processes of geological change are of interest to you.
8. Quantum physics. Similar to microbiology, this branch of science focuses on the study of what we cannot see: subatomic matter and its relationships. It is undoubtedly a field from which tremendous applications can be drawn, such as atomic energy, but in principle it only seeks to understand the invisible phenomena of matter.
9. Genetics. Another branch of biology, whose area of ​​interest and expertise is the transmission of life and its fundamental characteristics from one generation to another. Genetics studies how life can reproduce certain characteristics, physical or psychic, in its progeny, adapting better and better to the environment and allowing evolution. It is undoubtedly another pure science of numerous contemporary applications.
10. Geometry. This branch of mathematics is devoted to the detailed study of figures in the plane of space, which supposes a very high degree of abstraction, since it does not refer but to ideas, concepts and relationships. Even so, the applications of geometry have not been few throughout history and much of the architectural and industrial work of man is due in principle to geometry.

Examples of applied science

1. Electric engineering. Using the postulates of physics and quantum physics in the description of the functioning of electrons, electrical engineering seeks to take advantage of the energy of these particles to generate light, movement and heat, which in turn has millions of practical applications in homes, industries, and virtually every contemporary aspect of human life.
2. Systems engineer. It can be understood as the technological application of systems theory to engineering interests, making use of transdisciplinary tools (mainly physics, mathematics) to optimize or generate economic and practical performance systems, such as computational ones, for example.
3. Materials engineering. Drawing on deep knowledge of physics and chemistry, this branch of engineering designs and projects methods for the ideal transformation of materials and the manufacture of tools, which has a direct impact on production mechanics and new technologies. of the 21st century: superconductors, prosthetics, etc.
4. Astronautics. The branch of engineering dedicated to space flight, took its first steps in the 1960s, when in the middle of the Cold War the so-called space race between Russians and Americans began. His knowledge of physics, chemistry, medicine, computing and mathematics are crucial for successful navigation in an environment as hostile as the vacuum beyond the atmosphere.
5. Pharmacology. Starting from biochemistry and sharing many areas with medicine, pharmacology pursues the elaboration of medicines and substances that can remedy the ailments of the human body or prevent them. It is a very thorough understanding of the chemistry of life and biological processes, applied to the task of improving and lengthening the life of the human being.
6. Medicine. The first great applied science, takes from biology, chemistry and physics the theoretical and descriptive tools necessary to delve into the understanding of the human body and its functioning, and thus be able to intervene in time to mechanically avoid death, replace organs, perform prosthetic interventions or, even, understanding the biochemistry of the body for the elaboration of medicines.
7. Bioengineering. One of the sciences in vogue in the 21st century, part of the idea that the laws of genetics can be manipulated in favor of obtaining more nutritional products or more fertile crops, applying artificial selection to favor certain agricultural species over other This includes the construction of biological pesticides and other human interventions in biology.
8. electronics. A branch of physics and at the same time a specialization of engineering, uses the principles of the conduction of electrons and electricity, to study, design and map charged particle systems that, in turn, allow controlling various tools, systems or Mechanisms of such varied practical application, ranging from a television remote control to a building elevator.
9. Architecture. Although it is closer to art and technique, architecture can be understood as the application of geometry and mathematics, hand in hand with engineering and physics, to the design and projection of constructions of all kinds: houses, buildings , bridges, monuments, temples … everything we do to inhabit or functionally accompany our cities.
10. Mining engineering. Using physics and chemistry as allies, mining designs safer and more productive forms of extraction of resources found in the earth’s subsoil, in order to empower and feed a highly active mining and materials industry in the contemporary world.