astronomy

The generic name for the study of the universe around us. Traditionally astronomy was concerned with mapping the heavens and understanding how the the celestial objects moved. It is this early publishing of observations of the simple motions and then the development of Newton's Law of Gravity and thus the definite establishment of mass as a physical property (as important as length and time), that greatly assisted the development of the Modern Scientific era. The focus has now switched to astrophysics, which concerns itself with why things in the universe behave as they do.