Scientist: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A scientist is a person who is expert in an area of science and who uses scientific methods in research.

Traditionally mathematics has been grouped with the sciences, but in modern times people tend not to regard mathematicians as scientists. Mathematical discoveries generally appear to be arrived at differently than scientific ones, and experiments as they are usually conceived are unable to supply mathematical proof. Yet the class of people called "scientists" includes theorists who never do experiments, and even pure experimentalists often employ mathematics and deduction to arrive at their conclusions. At the same time, mathematical proofs may proceed by way of an example or a demonstration, which share something in common with experiments. The distinction between math and science is therefore not clear cut.

Experts traditionally regarded as scientists include:

• Astronomers
• Biologists
• Botanists
• Chemists
• Dendrologists
• Ecologists
• Entomologists
• Geologists
• Herpetologists
• Hydrologists
• Icthyologists
• Kinesiologists
• Lepidopterists
• Limnologists
• Mathematicians
• Minerologists
• Ornithologists
• Physicists
• Rheologists
• Seisomologists
• Toxicologists
• Virologists
• Zoologists

See also:

• List of astronomers
• List of biologists
• List of chemists
• List of geologists
• List of engineers
• List of mathematicians
• List of ornithologists
• List of physicists
• List of inventors

Related topics: Nobel Prize, Fields Medal, biography, science, pseudoscience, mad scientist