Chemistry
Chemistry is concerned with the study of the 'stuff ' of the material universe with all that entails. It is a study of how atoms of different elements combine to form all that is around us. In some ways the modern chemist tries to understand Nature with the hope of imitating and even surpassing what 'nature has by slow process organised'.
A knowledge of Chemistry is therefore essential in the development and production of materials such as metals, alloys, building materials, plastics, pharmaceuticals, dyes, fertilisers and much more.
In many ways Chemistry is the 'central ' science and be divided up into three main divisions - Organic (the study of carbon based compounds), Physical (the study of atomic structure, rates, equilibrium etc.) and Inorganic (the study of the reactions of the other elements in the Periodic Table).
Apart from having its own unique character it can branch off into the biological world through Biochemistry or into the Physical world through the study of Atomic structure. This has a consequence in career choice, in that many University science courses require an 'A' Level in Chemistry. (See the Careers section).