NationMaster - Encyclopedia: History of agricultural science

Agronomy today is very different from what it was before about 1950. Intensification of agriculture since the 1960s in developed and developing countries, often referred to as the Green Revolution, was closely tied to progress made in selecting and improving crops and animals for high productivity, as well as to developing additional inputs such as artificial fertilizers and phytosanitary products. The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history which examines how humanitys understanding of science and technology has changed over the millennia. ... The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history which examines how humanitys understanding of science and technology has changed over the millennia. ... This article is about the period in history, not the process of scientific progress via revolution, proposed by Thomas Kuhn and discussed at paradigm shift The scientific revolution is the name given by historians of science to the period that roughly began with the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, and others... Astronomy is probably the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with astronomy, and not completely separate from it until about 1750‑1800 in the Western... The term biology was coined by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. ... Earth science (also known as geoscience or the geosciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. ... Antiquity Since antiquity, people have tried to understand the behavior of matter: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, and so forth. ... The anthropologist Eric Wolf once characterized anthropology as the most scientific of the humanities, and the most humanistic of the social sciences. ... The term economics was coined around 1870 and popularized by Alfred Marshall, as a substitute for the earlier term political economy which has been used through the 18-19th centuries, with Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx as its main thinkers and which today is frequently referred to as... Efforts to describe and explain the human language faculty have been undertaken throughout recorded history. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... Communication studies (or Communications) is the academic discipline which studies communication; subdisciplines include animal communication, theories of communication, group communication, information theory, intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication, marketing, organizational communication, propaganda, public affairs, public relations, speech communications, and telecommunications. ... Computer science (academically, CS, CSC or compsci) encompasses a variety of topics that relates to computation, like abstract analysis of algorithms, formal grammars, and subjects such as programming languages, program design, software and computer hardware. ... Ecology is generally spoken of as a new science, really not coming into prominence before the middle of the 20th Century. ... This article explores the history of geoography. ... Health science is the discipline of applied science which deals with human and animal health. ... The History of materials science is rooted in the history of the Earth and the culture of the peoples of the Earth. ... The Timeline below shows the date of publication of major scientific theories. ... The timeline below shows the date of publication of major scientific experiments. ... This is a list of topics in various sciences. ... The Green Revolution is a process of technological development of agricultural techniques that began in Mexico in 1944 and has since spread throughout the world. ... Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ... the plane is spreading pesticide. ...

However, environmental damage due to intensive agriculture, industrial development, and population growth have raised many questions among agronomists and have led to the development and emergence of new fields (e.g., integrated pest management, waste treatment technologies, landscape architecture, genomics). Intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the significant use of inputs, and seeking to maximize the production. ... IPM bollworm trap Cotton field Manning, South Carolina In agriculture, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a pest control strategy that uses an array of complementary methods: natural predators and parasites, pest-resistant varieties (see GMO), cultural practices, biological controls, various physical techniques, and pesticides as a last resort. ... Waste management is literally the process of managing waste materials (normally those produced as a result of human activities). ... Landscape architecture is the art, planning, design, management, preservation and rehabilitation of the land and the design of large-scale man-made constructs. ... Genomics is the study of an organisms genome and the use of the genes. ...

New technologies, such as biotechnology and computer science (for data processing and storage), and technological advances have made it possible to develop new research fields, including genetic engineering, improved statistical analysis, and precision farming. Biotechnology is technology based on agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Computer science (academically, CS, CSC or compsci) encompasses a variety of topics that relates to computation, like abstract analysis of algorithms, formal grammars, and subjects such as programming languages, program design, software and computer hardware. ... Genetic engineering, genetic modification (GM), and gene splicing (once in widespread use but now deprecated) are terms for the process of manipulating genes in an organism, usually outside of the organisms normal reproductive process. ... Statistics is the science and practice of developing knowledge through the use of empirical data expressed in quantitative form. ... Precision farming or precision agriculture is an agricultural concept relying on the existence of in-field variability. ...

Prominent agricultural scientists

Categories: History of science Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 - April 11, 1926) was an American horticulturalist who developed several new varieties of flowers and vegetables, most notably the Russet Burbank potato, now known as the Idaho potato. ... Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French microbiologist and chemist who demonstrated the germ theory of disease and developed techniques of inoculation, most notably the first vaccine against rabies. ... Gregor Johann Mendel (July 22, 1822 – January 6, 1884) was an Austrian monk who is often called the father of genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. ... René Dumont (March 13, 1904 - June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. ... George Washington Carver, 1906 George Washington Carver (January 1, 1860 - January 5, 1943) was an American botanist who introduced crop rotation to southern U.S. agriculture and developed hundreds of uses for the peanut and other plants. ...