Geoscience or earth science is a widely embraced term for the fields of science related to the planet Earth. Earth science can be considered to be a branch of planetary science but with a much older history. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences. The Earth sciences can include the study of geology the lithosphere and the large-scale structure of the Earth's interior as well as the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Typically, Earth scientists use tools from geography, chronology, physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the Earth works and evolves.