Question: Are the three main aspects of Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) equally important? Is one more important that the other?

Megan Seymour answered on 11 Nov 2016:

I used to think that chemistry was most important, because all matter is made up of atoms and this determines the properties of every material, and the chemical reactions that are responsible for all of life. (And if you forced me to give a simple answer, I’d probably still say chemistry- but that’s just because I’m a chemist!).

But it wasn’t until after leaving school though that I really accepted that the separate subjects of ‘chemistry’, ‘physics’ and ‘biology’ don’t exist in isolation at all and everything is so related and overlapping that its a bit artificial to label one thing ‘chemistry’ and another ‘physics’ anyway. The science that gives us the most important technology always uses ideas from right across the different scientific disciplines. For example a hydrogen powered car, was built using engineering and physics, but uses a catalyst developed by chemists to replicate a process in nature that was first understood by biologists!