Science, Technology, & Society Unit 1: Copernicus, Darwin, & Freud

Ancient Chinese Civilization

• In 1304 AD, the Arabs produced the first gun (a bamboo tube reinforced with iron that used a charge of black powder to shoot an arrow)
• Creation of magnificent bronze vessels (some with removable lids)
• Discovery of lacquer
• Development of horse-drawn war chariots
• Improved farming technology
• Scholars applied their intellectual skills in astronomy, mathematics, engineering, medicine, alchemy, geology, and technology

Chinese Medicine

• Acupuncture and apothecaries (selling of drugs)
• Diagnosis of disease through looking, smelling, touching, and asking
• Medications were obtained mostly from plants
• In 132 AD, an instrument called the “earthquake weathercock” was invented – a seismograph - a bronze vessel fitted with a weighted pendulum inside

Technology and Inventions

• Paper making (105 AD)
• Invention of printing press (700 AD)
• By 976 AD, Chinese are already compiling an encyclopedia
• Invention of gunpowder
• Naturally magnetic iron ore to magnetize a floating needle (prototype of the magnetic needle in compass) to indicate location

Ancient Egyptian Civilization

• Buried their dead in small pits in the desert, which dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'
• Developed writing systems, including hieroglyphics
• Astronomy: knew when the rainy season was about to arrive, divided the solar year into 12 months, and established the length of the solar year

Greek Civilization

• 1100 BC: turning point in the history of world civilization (transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age)
• Separated scientific ideas from superstition
• Hippocrates (father of Greek medicine) regarded medicine as science and separate from religion
• Galen (Greek Physician) performed scientific studies of animals through dissection
• Aristotle gathered and studied plants and animals – early taxonomy
• Greeks separated mathematics for practical applications and uses in reasoning: Thales, Pythagoras, Euclid, etc.
• In 100 AD, Ptolemy summarized his ideas about the model of the universe

Greek Philosophers

• Thales (640-546 BC), dubbed the "father of science", was the first to postulate non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena
• Pythagoras of Samos founded the Pythagorean school, which investigated mathematics for its own sake, and postulated that the Earth is spherical in shape
• Leucippus (5th century BC) introduced atomism, the theory that all matter is made of indivisible, imperishable units called atoms
• Plato and Aristotle produced the first systematic discussions of natural philosophy

Indus-Hindu Civilization

• Most remarkable accomplishment was the construction layout of its cities, featuring water wells, bathrooms, and wastepipes in nearly every house
• Recognized by the later classical West as the home of advanced knowledge and practice of medicine
• Indian surgeons successfully performed various operations

Scientific Revolution

• Period of enlightenment when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature
• Scientists and philosophers of science: manipulate variables, do experiments, and draw conclusions
• Philosopher-scientists ask questions like: “What is the law of nature?” and formulate theories based on their data

Science, Technology, and Society

• Definition of Science: systematic explanation and observation of the world; systematic study of the world; body of knowledge; personal and social activity to improve and survive life
• Development of knowledge among hunter-gatherers
• Later hunter-gatherers, such as H.neanderthalensis (the Neandertals) and H.sapiens, progressed in several areas of technology and science