Science, Technology, and Society PDF

# Science, Technology, and Society ## Preface ## Chapter 1: General Concepts and Historical Events in Science, Technology, and Society ### Lesson 1: General Concepts and Historical Events in Science, Technology, and Society - Science is as old as the world. There is no individual that can exactly...

# Science, Technology, and Society ## Preface ## Chapter 1: General Concepts and Historical Events in Science, Technology, and Society ### Lesson 1: General Concepts and Historical Events in Science, Technology, and Society - Science is as old as the world. There is no individual that can exactly identify when and where science began. - It is interwoven with the society. - Science can be defined as an idea, an intellectual activity, a body of knowledge, and a social and personal activity. - Humans have embarked in scientific activities in order to know and understand everything around them. - Scientific Revolution is claimed to have started in the early 16th century up to the 18th century in Europe. - The blooming intellectual activities done in various places of learning and the growing number of scholars in various fields of human interests are probable reasons for the scientific revolution in Europe. - This does not mean that science is a foreign idea transported from other areas of the globe. - The world’s ancient civilizations had their own sophisticated traditions and activities related to these disciplines. - Scientific revolution was the period of enlightenment when the developments in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. - The emergence or birth of modern science is a result of these developments from the disciplines mentioned. - The ideas generated during this period enabled the people to reflect, rethink, and reexamine their beliefs and their way of life. - Scientific revolution ignited vast human interests to rethink how they do science and view scientific processes. - Scientists are driven by their curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity to explore the physical and natural world. ### Lesson 2: Intellectual Revolutions That Defined Society - The ideas postulated by Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud contributed to the spark of scientific revolution. - Copernicus believed that the Earth revolves around the sun. - Darwin developed the theory of evolution. - Freud introduced the concept of psychoanalysis. - These ideas challenged the beliefs and practices of the time. - They sparked scientific revolutions in various parts of the world, including Latin America, East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. ### Lesson 3: Science, Technology, and Nation-Building - The Philippines has a long history of science and technology, even before the Spanish colonization started. - Indigenous knowledge is embedded in the way of life of the people of the Philippines. - The Spaniards introduced science and technology in formal education, but indigenous science continued to play a role in the lives of the people. - The Americans established the public education system, improved engineering works, and made health care more accessible in the Philippines. - The Philippines continues to invest in science and technology programs and projects to develop the country's scientific literacy. ### Lesson 4: Science Education in the Philippines - The Philippines is trying its best to improve the state of science education in the country. - One of the strategies to promote science education is to establish science schools that will encourage students to pursue their career in science and technology. - Science education focuses on teaching, learning, and understanding science. - The government supports the establishment of science schools in various parts of the country. ### Lesson 5: Indigenous Science and Technology in the Philippines - Indigenous knowledge refers to the system of knowledge that is embedded in the daily life experiences of young children as they grow up. - It is passed down through the generations. - Examples of indigenous knowledge include predicting weather, using herbal medicine, and building irrigation systems. - Indigenous science provides valuable insights into the relationship between people and the environment. - Indigenous science is composed of traditional knowledge and guided by community values. - Indigenous science is important in the development of science and technology in the Philippines. - The concept of indigenous science, an important part of the global scientific community, is also recognized as an important contribution to science and technology by UNESCO's Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge. ## Chapter 2: Science, Technology, and Society and the Human Condition ### Lesson 1: Human Flourishing - Human flourishing is a state of being "good spirited" as coined by the renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle. - The concept of human flourishing has evolved over time, from finding ways to live more comfortably, to exploring new places, to developing new products, to making more money. - Human flourishing today is now different from what Aristotle originally perceived. - The human flourishing of today is expected to be about a global neighborhood, and working side by side among institutions and the government to be able to reach a common goal. - Western civilization tends to be more focused on the individual while those from the east are more community-centric. - The scientific method is introduced in school as a general idea of how to do science. ### Lesson 2: Technology as a Way of Revealing - Technology changed the lives of people, not just in terms of culture, language, or rights, but more importantly in terms of people’s way of life due to the existence of science and technology. - The term “generation gap” is attributed mainly to the changes brought about by technology, but it is not true to say that everyone is comfortable in using technology. - Technology is a tool that allows humans to confront the unknown. - It is important to remember that there is no one singular scientific method. - The verification and falsification theories are the main two ways of distinguishing philosophy from science. ### Lesson 3: The Good Life - The need to understand the world and reality is bound with the need to understand the self and the good life. - To truly understand reality, man must seek to understand himself. - Aristotle divided the sciences into theoretical and practical. “Truth” is the aim of the theoretical sciences and “good” is the end goal of the practical ones. - The good life is the result of human flourishing. - Happiness is the end goal of everything that we do. - There are different schools of thought that describe the good life, including materialism, hedonism, stoicism, theism, and humanism. ### Lesson 4: When Technology and Humanity Cross - Technology plays a crucial role in the lives of the people today. - There are several ethical dilemmas faced by technological devices, including the moral dilemma, the emotional component, and safety, - These dilemmas arise from misuse, dependency, and lack of awareness. - Robotics is another great product of the human mind. - Different types of robots include industrial robots, service robots, and personal service robots. - Robots have three laws, as formulated by Isaac Asimov: - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. - A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. - A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection des not conflict with the First or Second Law. - The concept of robots having rights should be considered, as they may become sentient. - The importance of ethics in the scientific and technological development is to consider all stakeholders and to ensure that the public is aware of the benefits and risks of technology. ## Chapter 3: Specific Issues in Science, Technology, and Society ### Lesson 1: The Information Age - The Information Age or the Digital Age began in the last quarter of the 20th century. - It is characterized by how information became effortlessly accessible through publications and through the management of information by computers. - The Information Age is associated with the development of computers. - Several advances in technology, like the invention of the printing press, the telegraph, and the telephone, have contributed to the development of the Information Age. ### Lesson 2: Biodiversity and the Healthy Society - Biodiversity refers to the vast variety of life forms in the entire Earth. - Biodiversity is essential to a healthy ecosystem. - Human activities are the major threats to biodiversity, including habitat loss and destruction, alterations in ecosystem composition, over-exploitation, pollution and contamination, and global climate change. - The consequences of biodiversity loss are significant and widespread. They include: - The loss of natural resources - Damage to the ecosystem - The loss of food sources - The loss of medicine - It is important to balance human needs with the protection of biodiversity. ### Lesson 3: Genetically Modified Organisms: Science, Health, and Politics - Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. - GMOs have been developed to increase crop yields, improve nutritional value, and produce pharmaceuticals. - GMOs are a source of controversy, with both proponents and opponents. - Proponents argue that GMOs can: - Increase crop yields - Reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides - Improve the nutritional value of food - Opponents argue that GMOs can: - Lead to the emergence of superweeds and resistant insects - Pose risks to human health - Have unintended consequences for the environment. - There are international initiatives, like the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, to ensure the safety of GMOs. ### Lesson 4: The Nano World - Nanotechnology refers to the science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale. - Nanotechnology manipulates nanomaterials to build materials with innovative properties. - Nanotechnology has applications in various fields like health care, environment, energy, food, water, and agriculture. - Different types of microscopes used to view nanomaterials are the electron microscope, atomic force microscope, and scanning tunneling microscope. - The two fundamental approaches to nanomanufacturing are bottom-up and top-down fabrication, with the former building up products from smaller components and the latter trimming down larger materials into smaller ones. ### Lesson 5: The Aspects of Gene Therapy - Gene therapy is a potential method to treat or cure genetic-related human illnesses. - It involves the manipulation of genes in cells. - There are two forms of gene therapy: - Somatic gene therapy: The manipulation of genes in cells that will be helpful to the patient but not inherited to the next generation - Germline gene therapy: The genetic modification of germ cells that will pass the change on to the next generation. - Stem cell therapy is another type of gene therapy. It works by using stem cells — which are mother cells that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body — to replace damaged or defective cells in a patient. - Gene therapy has the potential to cure many diseases, but there are several ethical concerns surrounding this type of therapy. ### Lesson 6: Climate Change - Climate change is a statistically significant change in climate for a continuous period of time. - Climate change can be caused by natural internal processes, external forces, and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. - Natural causes of climate change include: - Volcanic eruptions - Orbital changes - Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are the major contributors to climate change. - The greenhouse effect is the warming of the Earth’s surface due to the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. - Climate change has many effects on the society, including: - Rising sea levels - More extreme weather events - Changes in agricultural yields - Health problems - Impacts on natural ecosystems - It is important to take action to mitigate climate change and to protect human health. # Index This index includes the major terms in the book and their page numbers. - Asimov’s Laws 96 - Biodiversity 122 - Bioremediation 137 - Bioethics 166 - Biotechnology 133 - Climate Change 169 - Cloning 143 - Computers 84 - Copernicus 5 - Darwin 6 - Democritus 78 - Ecosystem 122 - Eudaimonia 50 - Falsification Theory 55 - Gene Therapy 164 - GMOs 133 - Greenhouse effect 172 - Hedonism 79 - Human flourishing 50 - Human genome 143 - Indigenous Knowledge 42 - Indigenous Science 43 - Information Age 104 - Internet 110 - Kuhn 44 - Milankovitch theory 171 - Nanotechnology 152 - Nanoscale’ 153 - Nanomanufacturing 154 - Plato 75 - Science 1 - Scientific Method 52 - Stoicism 79 - Technology 1 - Theism 80 - Verification Theory 54 - Volcanic Eruptions 170 - Wearable computers 110