Over the last two millennia, physics was a part of natural philosophy along with chemistry, certain branches of mathematics, and biology, but during the scientific revolution in the 17th century, the natural sciences emerged as unique research programs in their own right.
Že Aristotel je v svoji "Metafiziki" zapisal, da je prav radovednost prve mislece spodbudila, da so na življenje gledali s filozofskimi očmi.