Science Atlas

How We Know What We Know
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Discipline

Earth Science

Also Known As Geoscience
Earth Sciences

Earth science, also called geoscience, is the umbrella field for the natural sciences of the planet: the study of its solid geosphere, its water in the hydrosphere and cryosphere, its atmosphere, and the living biosphere as these interact. Its constituent branches, geology, geophysics, oceanography, meteorology and atmospheric science, and paleontology among them, each grew up on their own timeline rather than under one founding moment; atmospheric science, for instance, only took shape in the late nineteenth century once weather forecasting demanded it, while hydrology traces working knowledge back to ancient water engineering long before it became a science. This entity is the parent this atlas's own separately-founded earth-science disciplines belong to; no single founding year is recorded here for that reason.

Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own account
How do the solid Earth, oceans, atmosphere and living things interact as one coupled system, and how has that system changed across the planet's 4.5 billion year history? 1
ScopeSourced to the subject's own account
Earth science is the umbrella term for the sciences of the planet Earth, including geology, oceanography, meteorology, glaciology and soil science, studied both as separate spheres and as one interacting Earth system. 1
SignificanceSourced to the subject's own account
Alexander von Humboldt's early nineteenth century expeditions across the Americas, recording climate, geology, magnetism and vegetation together rather than in isolation, are widely credited with establishing the holistic, comparative approach that later Earth system science formalized. 1
Connections

Founded By

Alexander von Humboldt, Scientists

Credited with establishing the field's holistic comparative method rather than with founding any one of its constituent sciences.

Source Earth Science (Wikipedia)

Has Scientist

Source Wikipedia: Christopher Hawkesworth
Source Wikipedia: James Jackson (geophysicist)
Source James Lovelock (Wikipedia)
Source Manuel Berberian (Wikipedia)
Source Roger Revelle (Wikipedia)
Source William R. Dickinson (Wikipedia)

Has Theory

Source Gaia Hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Earth Science (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead and Historical development
    Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth. ... Atmospheric science initially developed in the late-19th century as a means to forecast the weather through meteorology, the study of weather.
  • lead
    Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth.
  • In Category: Disciplines
  • Founded By: Alexander von Humboldt
  • In Group: Solid Earth Sciences, Article text
    Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth.
View the Source
Geophysics (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncompasses: GeophysicsView the Source
Georges Cuvier (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncompasses: PaleontologyView the Source
Challenger Expedition (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncompasses: OceanographyView the Source
Meteorology (Wikipedia)
WikipediaEncompasses: MeteorologyView the Source
James Hutton (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncompasses: GeologyView the Source
Roger Revelle (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Roger Revelle, Lead
Quote, Has Scientist: Roger Revelle, Lead
was among the early scientists to study anthropogenic global warming, as well as the movement of Earth's tectonic plates
View the Source
Wikipedia: Christopher Hawkesworth
Has Scientist: Christopher Hawkesworth, Lead sentence
Quote, Has Scientist: Christopher Hawkesworth, Lead sentence
Christopher John Hawkesworth FRS FRSE (born 18 December 1947) is a British earth scientist, and former Deputy Principal and Vice-Principal for Research, at University of St Andrews.
View the Source
Manuel Berberian (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: Manuel Berberian, Lead sentence
Quote, Has Scientist: Manuel Berberian, Lead sentence
Manuel Berberian is an Iranian-Armenian earth scientist.
View the Source
James Lovelock (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: James Lovelock, Infobox: field
Quote, Has Scientist: James Lovelock, Infobox: field
Chemistry earth science
View the Source
Wikipedia: James Jackson (geophysicist)
Has Scientist: James A. Jackson, Lead, sentence 1
Quote, Has Scientist: James A. Jackson, Lead, sentence 1
James Anthony Jackson CBE FRS (born 12 December 1954) is Emeritus Professor of Active Tectonics and formerly head of Bullard Laboratories, and Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University.
View the Source
William R. Dickinson (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist: William R. Dickinson, Lead, sentence 1
Quote, Has Scientist: William R. Dickinson, Lead, sentence 1
William Richard Dickinson (October 26, 1931, July 21, 2015) was a professor emeritus of geoscience at the University of Arizona and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
View the Source
Gaia Hypothesis (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Gaia Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 1
Quote, Has Theory: Gaia Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 1
The Gaia hypothesis (), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.
View the Source

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.