STS PRELIM: The Meaning of Science and Technology (PDF)

STS PRELIM The Meaning of Science and Technology ➤ Science, technology and society refers to the interaction between science and technology and social cultural, political and economic contexts which shape and are shaped by them; specific examples throughout human history of scientific and technolo...

STS PRELIM The Meaning of Science and Technology ➤ Science, technology and society refers to the interaction between science and technology and social cultural, political and economic contexts which shape and are shaped by them; specific examples throughout human history of scientific and technological developments. B. Meaning of Science Science is a systematized body of knowledge Science is an organized and dynamic inquiry (following scientific method) Science is knowledge gained through observation and experimentation Science is a human activity; scientist Science is a social enterprise: people, knowledge, skills, facilities, apparatuses and technologies Science leads to formation of concepts, methods, principles, theories, law and procedures which seek to describe and explain nature and its phenomena C. Meaning of Technology Technology as material products; results of scientific inquiry; hardware produced by a scientist Technology as the application of knowledge in solving scientific and practical problems that will help humans to survive and improve his life Technology as human cultural activities or endeavors Technology as a social enterprise - Technology is a complex system of knowledge, skills, people, methods, tools, materials and resources applied and allocated to the development, operation and production of a new or improved product, process or services. Technology as modern technology based on the advances of science since the end of WWII to the present. D. Some of the notable human successes in the field of science and technology The wheel the concept of inventing the wheel came during 3500 B.C. Humans were severely limited in how much stuff they could transport over land, and how far. The idea came to connect a non-moving platform to a rolling cylinder. People then invented the wheel and axle which is the concept of making wheels. The holes at the center of the wheels and the ends of the fixed axles had to be nearly perfectly round and smooth for the wheels to work. Wheeled carts facilitated agriculture and commerce by enabling the transportation of goods to and from markets, as well as easing the burden of people traveling great distances. ** The compass - Before, mariners navigate with the star, but that method didn't work during the day or on cloudy nights. The Chinese invented the first compass sometime between the 9th and 11th century; it was made of lodestone, a naturally-magnetized iron ore, the attractive properties of which they had been studying for centuries. Soon after, the technology passed on to the Europeans and Arabs through nautical contact. The compass enabled mariners to navigate safely far from land, increasing sea trade and contributing to the Age of Discovery. A model of an ancient Chinese compass from the Han Dynasty; it is a south-indicating ladle, or sinan, made of polished lode- stone. The printing press - It was Johannes Gutenberg, a German who invented the printing press around 1440. Though others before him-including inventors in China and Korea-have developed the movable type made from metal, Gutenberg was the first to have created a mechanized process that transferred the ink (which he made from linseed oil and soot) from the movable type to paper. Printing presses exponentially increased the speed with which book copies could be made, and thus led to the rapid and widespread dissemination of knowledge for the first time in history. The telephone Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone in 1876. Though several inventors did pioneering work on electronic voice transmission, the invention quickly took off, and revolutionized global business and communication. Penicillin - In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming noticed a bacteria-filled Petri dish in his laboratory, the sample had become contaminated with a mold, and everywhere the mold was, the bacteria was dead. That antibiotic mold turned out to be the fungus Penicillium, and over the next two decades, chemists purified it and developed the drug Penicillin, which fights a huge number of bacterial infections in humans without harming the humans themselves. Penicillin was being mass produced and advertised by 1944. The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks used by billions of people worldwide. It is impossible to credit the invention of the Internet to a single person, as countless people helped develop it. In the 1960s, a team of computer scientists working for the U.S. Defense Department's ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) built a communications network to connect the computers in the agency, called ARPANET. It used a method of data transmission called "packet switching". ARPANET was the predecessor of the Internet that eventually emerged to become the "information superhighway" Eco-Friendly Technologies/Advantages: These are sustainable technologies. This technology utilizes resources from the environment without causing negative effects to it. Some of these are: Solar Energy use of solar panels to provide electricity Geothermal energy Wind powerwind mills as source of energy E. Disadvantages and Ethical dilemmas of Science and Technology 1. Threats to human survival the invention of nuclear weapons in 1945, like the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that caused deaths of many people. This was a product of chemical and biological warfare (bio-warfare); toxic wastes produced by manufacturing companies that threaten human survival and stability of the environment. 2. Ethical dilemmas - exploitation of advanced scientific knowledge and technological devices and systems gave rise to situations in which advances seem to have turned against their beneficiaries, creating ethical dilemmas. The negative effects technology are numerous. In our march to progress we have degraded the natural world. Forests are chopped down, topsoil is washed away, rivers are polluted and our waste is dumped in the oceans. 3. Disparities in Human well being - there are advanced countries enjoying science and technology based successes and hold high esteem in contemporary society (Economic strength), versus millions of people in less developed countries who have not partaken in these benefits. 4. Social and cultural conflicts - Military power is vital for national security of many governments; Superior and highly technical weapons dictated the outcomes of some recent wars. 5. Innovating technologies can have negative consequences for certain sectors or constituencies: ➤ include pollution associated with production processes, ➤ increased unemployment from labor-saving new technologies, ➤ conversion of agricultural land into urban areas, ➤ effect on humans psychologically and emotionally the usage and addiction of new gadgets ➤ effect of overused technologies in medical industry that can cause fatal births and diseases. ➤ global warming