Definition of Auxiliary Sciences

Scientific disciplines may need other complementary scientific knowledge. These other knowledge are known as auxiliary sciences. Its function is to support and complement a specific science, that is, to provide an instrumental dimension.

The role of auxiliary sciences in the whole of knowledge

In general, all sciences draw on other auxiliary sciences. This is what happens with the different branches of biology, a science that uses auxiliary disciplines such as statistics, the computing or taxonomy.

In the field of physics, some sciences also have an auxiliary character. This is what happens with mathematics, biology or statistics.

The right It is scientific in nature and in its development it is necessary to resort to complementary legal disciplines, such as the anthropology criminal or forensic medicine.

The astronomy it needs two auxiliary sciences, physics and mathematics. At the same time, physics also makes use of other knowledge, such as chemistry or biology.

If we think about the sciences as a whole, there are certain scientific disciplines that are characterized by their status as auxiliary tools, such as logic, mathematics or science. computing. These three disciplines are auxiliary sciences (also considered as formal sciences) in the sense that their postulates are applicable to any scientific field.

The auxiliary sciences of history

History as a science has the objective of knowing some aspect related to the past. To achieve this purpose, historians need to resort to very diverse auxiliary sciences. If a historian wants to know the context in which the discovery of America occurred, he will need to familiarize himself with the mapping, the science that studies maps and charts.

To the investigate about the Roman Empire, the historian should bear in mind the roman law. These examples allow us to remember that history is a general science and that it requires specific and more specialized scientific instruments.

History has a wide range of auxiliary sciences, such as heraldry, genealogy, numismatics, archival science or papyrology.

It must be borne in mind that knowledge of a stage in history can only be achieved with an interdisciplinary perspective. In other words, several disciplines must converge with their different contributions so that it is possible to offer an explanation about what happened in the past.

The auxiliary sciences of history can be understood in a double sense: as areas of study at the service of the historian and, in parallel, as an autonomous science that can be studied regardless of its hypothetical utility as a tool. historical.

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