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[[Image:Nature.jpg|right]]

[[Image:Nature.jpg|right]]

==Introduction==

==Introduction==

'''Nature''', in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the '''natural world''', '''physical universe''', '''material world''' or '''material universe'''. "Nature" refers to the [[phenomenon|phenomena]] of the physical world, and also to [[life]] in general. The term generally does not include manufactured objects and human interaction unless qualified in ways such as, e.g., "[[human nature]]" or "the whole of nature". Nature is also generally distinguished from the [[supernatural]].  It ranges in scale from the [[subatomic]] to the [[galaxy|galactic]].

'''Nature''', in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the '''natural world''', '''physical universe''', '''material world''' or '''material universe'''. "Nature" refers to the [[phenomenon|phenomena]] of the physical world, and also to [[life]] in general. The term generally does not include manufactured objects and human interaction unless qualified in ways such as, e.g., "[[human nature]]" or "the whole of nature". Nature is also generally distinguished from the [[supernatural]].  It ranges in scale from the [[subatomic]] to the [[galaxy|galactic]].

The word "nature" is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "the course of things, natural character."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nature |title=Nature |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |last=Harper |first=Douglas |accessmonthday=September 23|accessyear=2006}}</ref> ''Natura'' was a Latin translation of the Greek word ''[[physis]]'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord.<ref>A useful though somewhat erratically presented account of the pre-Socratic use of the concept of φύσις may be found in Naddaf, Gerard ''The Greek Concept of Nature'', SUNY Press, 2006. The word φύσις, while first used in connection with a plant in Homer (as we have seen), occurs very early in Greek philosophy, and in several senses. Generally, these senses match rather well the current senses in which the English word ''nature'' is used, as confirmed by Guthrie, W.K.C. ''Presocratic Tradition from Parmenides to Democritus'' (volume 2 of his ''History of Greek Philosophy''), Cambridge UP, 1965.</ref> This is shown in the first written use of the word φύσις, in connection with a plant.<ref>The first known use of ''physis'' was by [[Homer]] in reference to the intrinsic qualities of a plant: ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας πόρε φάρμακον ἀργεϊφόντης ἐκ γαίης ἐρύσας, καί μοι '''φύσιν''' αὐτοῦ ἔδειξε. (So saying, Argeiphontes [=Hermes] gave me the herb, drawing it from the ground, and showed me its '''nature'''.) ''[[Odyssey]]'' 10.302-3 (ed. A.T. Murray). (The word is dealt with thoroughly in Liddell and Scott's ''[http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/pollux Greek Lexicon]''.) For later but still very early Greek uses of the term, see related below.</ref> The concept of nature as a whole, the physical [[universe]], is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern [[scientific method]] in the last several centuries.<ref>Isaac Newton's [[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica]] (1687), for example, is translated "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", and reflects the then-current use of the words "[[natural philosophy]]", akin to "systematic study of nature"</ref><ref>The etymology of the word "physical" shows its use as a synonym for "natural" in about the mid-15th century: {{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=physical |title=Physical |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |last=Harper |first=Douglas |accessmonthday=September 20|accessyear=2006}}</ref>

The word "nature" is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "the course of things, natural character."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nature |title=Nature |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |last=Harper |first=Douglas |accessmonthday=September 23|accessyear=2006}}</ref> ''Natura'' was a Latin translation of the Greek word ''[[physis]]'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord.<ref>A useful though somewhat erratically presented account of the pre-Socratic use of the concept of φύσις may be found in Naddaf, Gerard ''The Greek Concept of Nature'', SUNY Press, 2006. The word φύσις, while first used in connection with a plant in Homer (as we have seen), occurs very early in Greek philosophy, and in several senses. Generally, these senses match rather well the current senses in which the English word ''nature'' is used, as confirmed by Guthrie, W.K.C. ''Presocratic Tradition from Parmenides to Democritus'' (volume 2 of his ''History of Greek Philosophy''), Cambridge UP, 1965.</ref> This is shown in the first written use of the word φύσις, in connection with a plant.<ref>The first known use of ''physis'' was by [[Homer]] in reference to the intrinsic qualities of a plant: ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας πόρε φάρμακον ἀργεϊφόντης ἐκ γαίης ἐρύσας, καί μοι '''φύσιν''' αὐτοῦ ἔδειξε. (So saying, Argeiphontes [=Hermes] gave me the herb, drawing it from the ground, and showed me its '''nature'''.) ''[[Odyssey]]'' 10.302-3 (ed. A.T. Murray). (The word is dealt with thoroughly in Liddell and Scott's ''[http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/pollux Greek Lexicon]''.) For later but still very early Greek uses of the term, see related below.</ref> The concept of nature as a whole, the physical [[universe]], is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern [[scientific method]] in the last several centuries.<ref>Isaac Newton's [[Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica]] (1687), for example, is translated "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", and reflects the then-current use of the words "[[natural philosophy]]", akin to "systematic study of nature"</ref><ref>The etymology of the word "physical" shows its use as a synonym for "natural" in about the mid-15th century: {{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=physical |title=Physical |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |last=Harper |first=Douglas |accessmonthday=September 20|accessyear=2006}}</ref>