What is "natural history"

Natural \Nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), a. [OE. naturel, F. naturel, fr. L. naturalis, fr. natura. See Nature.]

1. Fixed or determined by nature; pertaining to the constitution of a thing; belonging to native character; according to nature; essential; characteristic; innate; not artificial, foreign, assumed, put on, or acquired; as, the natural growth of animals or plants; the natural motion of a gravitating body; natural strength or disposition; the natural heat of the body; natural color.

   With strong natural sense, and rare force of will.
   --Macaulay.

2. Conformed to the order, laws, or actual facts, of nature; consonant to the methods of nature; according to the stated course of things, or in accordance with the laws which govern events, feelings, etc.; not exceptional or violent; legitimate; normal; regular; as, the natural consequence of crime; a natural death; anger is a natural response to insult.

   What can be more natural than the circumstances in the behavior of those women who had lost their husbands on this fatal day?
   --Addison.

3. Having to do with existing system to things; dealing with, or derived from, the creation, or the world of matter and mind, as known by man; within the scope of human reason or experience; not supernatural; as, a natural law; natural science; history, theology.

   I call that natural religion which men might know . . . by the mere principles of reason, improved by consideration and experience, without the help of revelation.
   --Bp. Wilkins.

4. Conformed to truth or reality; as:

   1. Springing from true sentiment; not artificial or exaggerated; -- said of action, delivery, etc.; as, a natural gesture, tone, etc.

   2. Resembling the object imitated; true to nature; according to the life; -- said of anything copied or imitated; as, a portrait is natural.

5. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.

   To leave his wife, to leave his babes, . . . He wants the natural touch.
   --Shak.

6. Connected by the ties of consanguinity. especially, Related by birth rather than by adoption; as, one's natural mother. ``Natural friends.''
   --J. H. Newman.

7. Hence: Begotten without the sanction of law; born out of wedlock; illegitimate; bastard; as, a natural child.

8. Of or pertaining to the lower or animal nature, as contrasted with the higher or moral powers, or that which is spiritual; being in a state of nature; unregenerate.

   The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
   --1 Cor. ii. 14.

9. (Math.) Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some system, in which the base is 1; -- said of certain functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken in arcs whose radii are 1.

10. (Mus.)

    1. Produced by natural organs, as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music.

    2. Of or pertaining to a key which has neither a flat nor a sharp for its signature, as the key of C major.

    3. Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key.

    4. Neither flat nor sharp; -- of a tone.

    5. Changed to the pitch which is neither flat nor sharp, by appending the sign [natural]; as, A natural.
       --Moore (Encyc. of Music).

11. Existing in nature or created by the forces of nature, in contrast to production by man; not made, manufactured, or processed by humans; as, a natural ruby; a natural bridge; natural fibers; a deposit of natural calcium sulfate. Opposed to artificial, man-made, manufactured, processed and synthetic. [WordNet sense 2]

12. Hence: Not processed or refined; in the same statre as that existing in nature; as, natural wood; natural foods.

    Natural day, the space of twenty-four hours.
    --Chaucer.

    Natural fats, Natural gas, etc. See under Fat, Gas. etc.

    Natural Harmony (Mus.), the harmony of the triad or common chord.

    Natural history, in its broadest sense, a history or description of nature as a whole, including the sciences of botany, zo["o]logy, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, chemistry, and physics. In recent usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of botany and zo["o]logy collectively, and sometimes to the science of zoology alone.

    Natural law, that instinctive sense of justice and of right and wrong, which is native in mankind, as distinguished from specifically revealed divine law, and formulated human law.

    Natural modulation (Mus.), transition from one key to its relative keys.

    Natural order. (Nat. Hist.) See under order.

    Natural person. (Law) See under person, n.

    Natural philosophy, originally, the study of nature in general; the natural sciences; in modern usage, that branch of physical science, commonly called physics, which treats of the phenomena and laws of matter and considers those effects only which are unaccompanied by any change of a chemical nature; -- contrasted with mental philosophy and moral philosophy.

    Natural scale (Mus.), a scale which is written without flats or sharps.

    Note: Model would be a preferable term, as less likely to mislead, the so-called artificial scales (scales represented by the use of flats and sharps) being equally natural with the so-called natural scale.

    Natural science, the study of objects and phenomena existing in nature, especially biology, chemistry, physics and their interdisciplinary related sciences; natural history, in its broadest sense; -- used especially in contradistinction to social science, mathematics, philosophy, mental science or moral science.

    Natural selection (Biol.), the operation of natural laws analogous, in their operation and results, to designed selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in the survival of the fittest; the elimination over time of species unable to compete in specific environments with other species more adapted to survival; -- the essential mechanism of evolution. The principle of natural selection is neutral with respect to the mechanism by which inheritable changes occur in organisms (most commonly thought to be due to mutation of genes and reorganization of genomes), but proposes that those forms which have become so modified as to be better adapted to the existing environment have tended to survive and leave similarly adapted descendants, while those less perfectly adapted have tended to die out through lack of fitness for the environment, thus resulting in the survival of the fittest. See Darwinism.

    Natural system (Bot. & Zo["o]l.), a classification based upon real affinities, as shown in the structure of all parts of the organisms, and by their embryology.

    It should be borne in mind that the natural system of botany is natural only in the constitution of its genera, tribes, orders, etc., and in its grand divisions.
    --Gray.

    Natural theology, or Natural religion, that part of theological science which treats of those evidences of the existence and attributes of the Supreme Being which are exhibited in nature; -- distinguished from revealed religion. See Quotation under Natural, a., 3.

    Natural vowel, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir, her, etc.; -- so called as being uttered in the easiest open position of the mouth organs. See Neutral vowel, under Neutral and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 17.

    Syn: See Native.

n. 1 The study of all living things, especially their origins, evolution and interrelationships. 2 The study of all natural phenomena. 3 A treatise or similar work that summarizes the known facts of either of the above.

n. the systematic account of natural phenomena

The Natural History is an early encyclopedia in Latin by Pliny the Elder, who died in 79 AD.

It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The work's subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life".

The work is divided into 37 books, organised into ten volumes. These cover topics including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, painting, and precious stones.

The Natural History became a model for later encyclopedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, its referencing of original authors, and its index. The work is dedicated to the emperor Titus, son of Pliny's close friend, the emperor Vespasian, in the first year of Titus's reign. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived and the last that he published. He began it in 77, and had not made a final revision at the time of his death during the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius.

Natural history is the research and study of organisms including animals, fungi and plants in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. It encompasses scientific research but is not limited to it, with articles nowadays more often published in science magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms. That is a very broad designation in a world filled with many narrowly focused disciplines. So while natural history dates historically from studies in the ancient Greco-Roman world and the mediaeval Arabic world, through to European Renaissance naturalists working in near isolation, today's field is more of a cross discipline umbrella of many specialty sciences. For example, geobiology has a strong multi-disciplinary nature combining scientists and scientific knowledge of many specialty sciences.

A person who studies natural history is known as a naturalist or natural historian.

Natural History is a natural history magazine published in the United States. The stated mission of the magazine is to promote public understanding and appreciation of nature and science.

"Natural History" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 120th episode overall. It aired on November 8, 2010.

Natural History is an album by J. D. Souther, released in 2011. It includes new recordings of some of his best known songs, many most prominently recorded by other artists; " Best of My Love" and " New Kid in Town" by the Eagles, " Faithless Love" and "Prisoner in Disguise" by Linda Ronstadt. The arrangements are spare featuring acoustic guitar and piano.

Natural history is the scientific study of plants or animals.

Natural History may also refer to:

In science and medicine:

• Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia, a 1st-century work by Pliny the Elder
• Natural History (Lonitzer), a 16th-century work by Adam Lonitzer
• Naturalis Historia Scotiae, a 1684 work by Robert Sibbald
• The Natural History of Iceland, a 1752 work by Niels Horrebow
• Natural History (magazine), an American magazine
• Natural History Review, a 19th-century UK quarterly journal
• Natural History Publications (Borneo), a publishing house based in Borneo
• Natural history of disease, the uninterrupted progression of a medical condition in an individual
  • Natural history group, subjects in a drug trial that receive no treatment of any kind, whose illness is left to run its course

In music:

• Natural History (I Am Kloot album), a 2001 album by I Am Kloot
• Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk, a 1990 album by Talk Talk
• The Natural History (band), an American rock band
  • The Natural History (EP), the band's 2002 debut EP
• Natural History, a 2011 album by J. D. Souther

In literature:

• A 1992 novel by American writer Maureen Howard
• A 2003 novel by British writer Justina Robson
• A 2007 novel by British writer Neil Cross

In television:

• Natural History (How I Met Your Mother), a 2010 episode of How I Met Your Mother

Companies:

• NHNZ, formerly Natural History New Zealand, a New Zealand-based factual television production company

Natural History is the debut album by English rock band I Am Kloot, released to much eagerness from the British music press in 2001. The album was produced by Guy Garvey, lead singer for the Manchester-based band Elbow.

Although reaching a low chart placing outside the top 100, the band built up a dedicated and loyal fanbase through touring and promotion. The album itself is widely viewed as some of I Am Kloot's best work to date. Prior to the album's release, the band released two singles on Ugly Man Records: "Titanic"/"To You" in November 1999, and "Twist"/"86 TV's" in March 2000. The album itself spawned two further singles: "Dark Star" in February 2001, and " Morning Rain" in July 2001.

All songs written by John Harold Arnold Bramwell.