基礎物理学は万物の規則性の法則（英語版）を探求するのに対して、個別科学は大抵ceteris paribus（英語版）（他の条件が等しければ）な法則を含む。これらは「通常の条件」では高精度で予測的に正確だが、例外もある。例外はないものの[5] 、化学の法則はおそらく基礎物理学へと還元される（量子力学へ、そして次に量子電磁力学へ[14][15]）。したがって化学は個別科学である[7]。

生化学を介して物理科学と生物科学を繋ぐものとして、科学の諸分野に広く影響を与えるものとして、化学はセントラルサイエンスと見られてきた[16][17]。
脚注^ “ ⇒What is basic research?”. National Science Foundation. 2014年5月31日閲覧。
^ “統計局ホームページ/平成23年科学技術研究調査　用語の解説”. 2013年1月21日閲覧。
^ Hugh Davis Graham, Nancy A. Diamond, The rise of American research universities, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=e-yeBo6p-_gC&pg=PA32&hl=en 
^ Wolfgang Spohn, The Laws of Belief: Ranking Theory and Its Philosophical Applications (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p 305.
^ a b Alexander Reutlinger, Gerhard Schurz & Andreas Huttemann, ⇒"Ceteris paribus laws", sec 1.1 "Systematic introduction", in Edward N Zalta, ed, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring 2011 edn.
^ Vitor Neves, ch 12 "Sciences as open systems?the case of economics", in Olga Pombo, Juan M Torres, John Symons & Shahid Rahman, eds, Special Sciences and the Unity of Science (Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York: Springer, 2012).
^ a b Anita Traninger, "Emergence as a model for the study of culture", pp 67?82, in Birgit Neumann & Ansgar Nunning, eds, Travelling Concepts for the Study of Culture (Berlin & Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2012), pp 70?71.
^ James McCormick (2001). “Scientific medicine?fact of fiction? The contribution of science to medicine”. Occasional Paper (Royal College of General Practitioners) (80): 3?6. PMC 2560978. .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation.cs-ja1 q,.mw-parser-output .citation.cs-ja2 q{quotes:"「""」""『""』"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}PMID 19790950. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2560978/. 
^ Gerard Piel, "Science and the next fifty years", § "Applied vs basic science", Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 1954 Jan;10(1):17?20, p 18.
^ Richard Smith (Mar 2006). “The trouble with medical journals”. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 99 (3): 115?9. doi:10.1258/jrsm.99.3.115. PMC 1383755. PMID 16508048. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1383755/. 
^ Eric Holtzman (1981). “Science, philosophy, and society: Some recent books”. International Journal of Health Services 11 (1): 123?49. doi:10.2190/l5eu-e7pc-hxg6-euml. PMID 7016767. 
^ P M Strong PM; K McPherson (1982). “Natural science and medicine: Social science and medicine: Some methodological controversies”. Social Science & Medicine 16 (6): 643?57. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(82)90454-3. PMID 7089600. 
^ Lucien R Karhausen (2000). “Causation: The elusive grail of epidemiology”. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy 3 (1): 59?67. doi:10.1023/A:1009970730507. PMID 11080970. 
^ Richard P Feynman, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, exp edn w/ new intro by A Zee (Princeton & London: Princeton University Press, 2006), p 5.