1.Anthropology The study of human beings, in particular the study of their physical character,
evolutionary history, racial classification, historical and present-day
geographic distribution, group relationships, and cultural history. Anthropology
can be characterized as the naturalistic description and interpretation
of the diverse peoples of the world.
2.Archaeology The scientific study of the material remains of past human life and activities.
These include human artifacts from the very earliest bones and stone tools
to the man-made objects that are buried or thrown away in the present day.
Archaeological investigations are a principal source of knowledge of prehistoric,
ancient, and extinct cultures.
3.Astronomy Science that deal with the origin, evolution, composition, distance, and
motion of all bodies and scattered matter in the universe. It includes
astrophysics, which discusses the physical properties and structure of
all cosmic matter. Astronomy is the most ancient of the sciences, having
existed since the dawn of recorded civilization.
4.Biology The study of living organisms and their vital processes. The two main divisions
of biology are zoology, the study of animals, and botany, the study of
plants. Other biological disciplines include physiology, cytology, embryology,
ecology, anatomy, morphology, genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology.
5.Botany The branch of biology that deals with plants. It involves the study of
the structure, properties, and the biochemical processes of all forms of
plant life, including trees. Also included within its scope are plant classification
and the study of plant diseases and of the interactions of plants with
their physical environment.
6.Ethnology There has been some confusion regarding the terms ethnography (descriptive
study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study)
and ethnology. The latter, a term more widely used in Europe, encompasses
the analytical and comparative study of cultures in general, which in U.S.
usage is the academic field known as cultural anthropology (in British
usage, social anthropology). Increasingly, however, the distinction between
the two is coming to be seen as existing more in theory than in fact.
7.Folklore An academic discipline the subject matter of which (also called folklore)
comprises the sum total of traditionally derived and orally or imitatively
transmitted literature, material culture, and custom of subcultures within
predominantly literate and technologically advanced societies; comparable
study among wholly or mainly nonliterate societies belongs to the disciplines
of ethnology and anthropology.
8.Fungi Any of about 50,000 species of saprophytic and parasitic organisms of the
kingdom fungi, or Mycota, including yeasts, rusts, smuts, molds, mushrooms,
and mildews ? that lack chlorophyll and the organized plant structures
of stems, roots, and leaves.
9.Geology Scientific study of the Earth, including its composition, structure, physical
properties, and history. The term geology is broadly inclusive and is often
regarded as embracing all of the geologic sciences. Geology is commonly
divided into a number of subdisciplines: (1) mineralogy and petrology,
(2) structural geology and volcanology, (3) geomorphology and glacial geology,
(4) paleontology, stratigraphy and astrogeology, and (5) economic geology
and its various branches.
10.Hakubutsu-gaku (Study of Natural History) The Japanese word for ‘natural history’ that first appeared in the Meiji
period (1868-1912) and had been used until it was divided into such subdisciplines
as biology and botany. It studied the natural world; e.g. animals, plants,
minerals and geographical features, through descriptions and classifications.
China has the similar study called Honzo-gaku.
11.History The discipline that studies the chronological record of events (as affecting
a nation or people), based on a critical examination of source materials
and usually presenting an explanation of their causes.
12.Honzo-gaku Pharmacology originating in China. It was introduced to Japan in the 8th
century, followed by the first encyclopedia of medicine Honzo Wamyo in print, and reached a peak in the Edo period (1603-1867). In addition
to pharmaceutical research, it encompassed natural history subjects, the
influence of Western natural history. The notable Edo scholars (their works)
include Ekiken Kaibara (Yamato Honzo), Jakusui Ino (Shobutu Ruisan) and Ranzan Ono (Honzo Komoku Keimo).
13.Lichens Any of about 15,000 species of thallophytic plants that consist of a symbiotic
association of algae (usually green) and fungi (mostly ascomycetes and
basidiomycetes). The composite body of a lichen is called a thallus. The
homoeomerous type of thallus consists of numerous algal cells (called the
phycobionts) distributed among a lesser number of fungal cells (called
the mycobionts).
14.Microorganisms A heterogeneous assemblage of simple organisms, consisting of the protozoa,
algae, fungi, rickettsiae, viruses, and bacteria. All these forms have
in common a relatively simple organization which sets them apart from true
plants and true animals: They are either unicellular or, if multicellular,
their tissues are relatively undifferentiated.[Quote from McGraw-Hill Concise
Encyclopedia of Science & Technology: 1984]
15.Mineralogy Scientific discipline that is concerned with all aspects of minerals, including
their physical properties, chemical composition, internal crystal structure,
occurrence and distribution in nature, and their origins in terms of the
physicochemical conditions of formation.
16.Petrology Scientific study of rocks that deals with their composition, texture, and
structure; their occurrence and distribution; and their origin in relation
to physicochemical conditions and geologic processes.
17.Slime molds Phylum of funguslike organisms within the kingdom Protista, commonly known
as true slime molds. They exhibit characteristics of both protozoans (one-celled
microorganisms) and fungi. Distributed worldwide, they usually occur in
decaying plant material. About 500 species have been described. Also, myxomycetes,
mycetozoa.
18.Study of religion The 19th century saw the rise of the study of religion in the modern sense,
in which the techniques of historical enquiry, the philological sciences,
literary criticism, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines
were brought to bear on the task of estimating the history, origins, and
functions of religion.