Fields of Study

Photo by Philippe Bout / Unsplash

Hello! I was watching Big Bang Theory this week, where I learned about Vexillology, the study of flags. That's an interesting topic to study. I wanted to explore a list of other fields of study in similar or more interesting and weird areas. Here are a few that caught my attention.

  1. Agnoiology — The theoretical study of the quality and conditions of ignorance of humans. Ironical.
  2. Alethiology — The study of truth, or the study of nature of truth, i.e., what makes something the fact, etc.
  3. Campanology – The scientific and musical study of bells.
  4. Coniology (or Koniology) — The study of atmospheric dust and its effects. Sometimes it also includes dust from space.
  5. Hippology — The study of horses. I share your confusion. However, I learned that Hippo means horse in Greek, and Hippopotamus translates to "water horse" in Greek. Why Hippos have been named water horses, given that they are not even closely related, is something Greece should answer.
  6. Semiology — The study of signs (symbols, actions, gestures, etc., from what I understood), the meaning they convey, and how signs are interpreted.
  7. Thanatology — The scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death. Maybe "Thanos" was named intentionally.
  8. Xylology — The study of the composition of wood. Sounds too specific and generic at the same time.

I hope you found them as interesting as I did. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

Vivek Arvind

Vivek Arvind

Santa Clara, CA