Question

Until the 1600s, people who investigated problems related to our understanding of the natural world were called _____.

Answer 1

Natural Philosophers.

Answer 2

All peoples have studied the natural world, but most ancient peoples studied it for practical purposes, such as paying attention to natural cycles to know when to plant crops. It does not seem to have been until the 6th century BCE that the pre-Socratic philosophers (who lived in what is now Turkey and Greece) began seeking to understand nature as an end in itself.