History of botany scope of the subject as technology has opened up new techniques and areas of study. Modern molecular systematics, for example, entails the principles and techniques of taxonomy, molecular biology, computer science and more. Within botany there are a number of sub-disciplines that focus on particular plant groups, each with their own range of related studies (anatomy, morphology etc.). Included here are: phycology (algae), pteridology (ferns), bryology (mosses and liverworts) and palaeobotany (fossil plants) and their histories are treated elsewhere (see side bar). To this list can be added mycology, the study of fungi, which were once treated as plants, but
Experimental biology Experimental biology Experimental biology is the set of approaches in the field of biology concerned with the conduction of experiments to investigate and understand biological phenomena. The term is opposed to theoretical biology which is concerned with the mathematical modelling and abstractions of the biological systems. Due to the complexity of the investigated systems, biology is primarily an experimental science. However, as a consequence of the modern increase in computational power, it is now becoming more feasible to find approximate solutions and validate mathematical models of complex living organisms. The methods employed in experimental biology are numerous and of different