Why Do Biologists Need to Have a Good Understanding of Chemistry?

What is Biology?

Biology is a discipline of science that was first introduced in the 18^th century. The word “Biology” is derived from two Greek words, they are “bios” which means life and “logos” which means science or knowledge. From that derivation we can say that Biology is a discipline of science that studies about all living organism that lives on earth and their interaction in the environment.

Besides that, Biology also studies the interaction between living organism, nonliving organism, and an object. The first usage of the word “Biology” is first recorded in 1736 which is used by Linnaeus in his work entitled Bibliotheca Botanica. Before the word “Biology” is even introduced, people across civilization already studied about the nature and living organism in the past.

These studies are known to develop in ancient Chinese, Egyptian, and Indian civilization. But the more modern approach of these studies was pioneered by Aristotle and Hippocrates from the ancient Greek civilization, which Aristoteles named as the “Philosophy of Nature”. (Read: Aristotle Brief Biography) Biology is a tentative discipline, which means it will always change along with the current development.

Branches of Biology

The scope of studying Biology that is always expending demands biologists to make a specialization in reviewing Biology according to the observed object. Take a tree as a metaphor, Biology is a big tree of knowledge that has a lot of branches and that branches also develop newer branches that grows rapidly.

Some branches of Biology can be seen as listed below.

• Botany: A branch of Biology which studies the life of plants
• Zoology: A branch of Biology which studies about animals
• Morphology: A branch of Biology which studies the shape and structure of a living organism
• Physiology: A branch of Biology which studies the function and working ways of a living organism’s body
• Embryology: A branch of Biology which studies the development of a living organism starting from zygote until becoming a mature living organism
• Ecology: A branch of Biology which studies the interaction between living organism and their environment
• Microbiology: A branch of Biology which studies every aspect of life of microorganisms
• Taxonomy: A branch of Biology which studies the classification of living organism
• Genetics: A branch of Biology which studies the descending trait of living organism
• Evolution: A branch of Biology which studies about changes of certain species from time to time
• Cytology: A branch of Biology which studies the structure and function of an organism’s cell
• Pathology: A branch of Biology which studies about the cause of a disease

Also read:

• Basic Laws of Chemistry
• Chemists who Work in The Biotechnology Field

Why do biologists need to have a good understanding of chemistry?

Why do Biologists need to have a good understanding of chemistry? Although Biology is a discipline of science that can stands on its own, biologists also have to had a good understanding of chemistry. The combination of Biology and Chemistry is called Biochemistry. Biochemistry, or Biological Chemistry, is a branch of science which studies the chemical process that occurs within or relating a living organism.

Also read:

• Branches of Biochemistry
• Applications of Biochemistry

And while biologist studies relating to a living organism, the organism itself is made up of several chemical compositions. That chemical composition itself is making a reaction that takes place whether inside or outside an organism body. So that, to have a more understanding on a living organism, biologists need to have a good understanding of chemistry.