Early modern mathematical disciplines applied to physical or practical objects, including astronomy, optics and mechanics. The social standing and explanatory claims of practitioners varied; this is not simply a synonym for the present administrative category of applied mathematics.
An investigator of nature within historical traditions of natural philosophy, rather than necessarily a member of the later profession of physics.
A proposed proof of a physical claim, as distinguished in a particular controversy from a calculation that succeeds under a supposition. Historical standards of demonstration and the authority to judge one must be reconstructed from the participants' arguments.
University traditions that investigated nature through authoritative texts, commentary and disputed questions. Acceptance of a textual framework could coexist with disagreement about particular explanations.
A tradition of explanations of natural change drawing on Aristotle's distinctions among matter, form, capacities and causes. Its medieval and early modern versions were interpreted traditions, not identical endorsements of every ancient conclusion.[ref]
Aristotle's four explanatory questions concern what something is made of, its form, the source of change and its end. The final cause is the last of these; this is not a list of four modern interacting forces.[ref]
The end for the sake of which a process or organized activity is explained in Aristotelian natural philosophy. Such an explanation should be distinguished from a modern dynamical force law.
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Natural philosophy is an ancient term that refers to the study of nature and the physical universe that was the precursor to what we now call science. In historical contexts, it encompasses a broad range of subjects including physics, biology, chemistry, astronomy, and even aspects of what we would today consider philosophy, ethics, and metaphysics. Natural philosophers sought to understand the fundamental principles governing the natural world, often using observation, reasoning, and empirical evidence.