natural philosophy
ancient philosophical study of nature and physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science. It is considered to be the precursor of natural science
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Natural philosophy was the ancient study of nature and the physical universe that people pursued before modern science developed. It matters because it laid the groundwork for natural science, making it the foundational predecessor to how we investigate the natural world today.
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A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit
Natural philosophy, philosophy of nature (from Latin philosophia naturalis), or experimental philosophy, until the late modern period, was the systematic and research-based study of nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. Used since at least Aristotle (classical antiquity) until the 19th century, the term natural philosophy referred to a branch of philosophy—a broader term then, meaning all rational fields of study and contemplation—that explored topics now considered to fall under the purview of science, such as physics, biology, chemistry, and astronomy. Thus, natural philosophy served as the precursor to, and has been mostly supplanted by, modern science.