Natural sciences refers to sciences that study those parts of the universe obeying "laws" or "rules" of  "natural" origin as opposed to areas subject to human decisions within human society (the subject of social sciences). There is no accepted taxonomy of natural sciences, however the main "disciplines" are astronomy, biology , chemistry, and physics. Some also place interdisciplinary sciences earth sciences in the primary list which applies biology , chemistry, and physics to the scientific understanding of the earth.

Note: Because of their relative importance within the Encyclopedia of Earth, earth sciences and many other natural sciences are not included under "Natural Sciences" in the EoE taxonomy but at a equivalent level in the taxonomy.

Many environmentally-related sciences usually (but not always) included under disciplines include:

• Biology - ecology, evolutionary biology, marine biology, soil biology, zoology, etc.
• Chemistry - organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, etc.
• Physics - atmospheric physics, geophysics,
  

The are many interdisciplinary natural sciences, such as: atmospheric sciences, biochemistry, biophysics, climatology, geodesy, geology, glaciology, hydrology, materials science, meteorology, mineralogy, oceanography, soil science, volcanology, and many, many others,

Some scientific studies like geography can combine both natural and social sciences. Physical geography is entirely a natural science.