Physical scientists work in a specific area of science.
A physical scientist is someone who works as a scientist in any specific area of science that falls under the heading of physics or sometimes chemistry. This job can involve a wide range of subjects, but all fall under the larger category of physical science. Biology and computer sciences are often left out of this group. Biochemistry is sometimes considered a physical science, but most other biological sciences and technology-specific fields are not.
Types
The main types of physical scientists are: geologist, meteorologist, physiologist, physicist, chemist and material scientists. These are all types of scientists that require experimentation and deal with physical science.
Scientists in History
Scientists traditionally didn't do as many experiments as they do now. But there were many that did thought experiments as well as traditional experiments. Isaac Newton is an important one as was Aristotle and perhaps the most well-known scientist is Albert Einstein. Many of the major contributions to science needed to be tested to verify them, which is one of the duties of a physical scientist.
Education
Physical scientists need to have a strong education in, of course, physics. But it is just as important to have a background in math and other sciences. Chemistry is a necessary subject as is proper laboratory procedures. Computer skills are also a must as a lot of science nowadays is done in conjunction with computers.
Pay
Becoming a physical scientist requires a lot of schooling. A job as a physical scientist can pay around $97,000 a year. There were only 27,000 openings in 2008 but the field is expected to grow annually by 7 to 13 percent, according to O*Net Online.
Wide-ranging
A job as a physical scientist is hard to define since it is such a wide-ranging job. Because this is true, there may be a lot of openings for one type of physical scientist but not for another. This job is often renamed research scientist because it often involves a large amount of research. Thus, in order to get some of the advanced positions, a graduate degree may be necessary to build research experience.
Tags: physical scientist, physical science, area science, physical scientist, Physical scientists
