PERSPECTIVES FROM HISTORY- INTERACTIONS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND

SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge of the roots of science and technology and of the general organization of society
contributes significantly to the understanding of man and of the worlds he lives in. In this unit,
we shall trace the beginning of science, technology and society from 2,500 BC up to the
present century. For this purpose, we shall conveniently divide the past into three periods
before the industrial revolution, the industrial revolution and the post industrial revolution.

This is world history from the specific perspective of the interactions of science, technology
and society

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• trace the roots of science, technology to the ancient times,

• appreciate the historical development and interaction of science, technology, and society,
and

• understand the factors leading to the Industrial Revolution.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Ancient Times

The stretch of time referred to here ranged from about 2,500,000 before Christ was born (BC)
to about the time of the birth of Christ. You may ask "why do we have to go that far and a
science of our roots."
Even at these earliest times, a pattern emerged that is not different from the pattern we see
today We refer to the pattern of the interaction of man in society with his material
environment. The pattern may be stated thus man's mode of living is determined by his ability
to use his material environment, and this ability depends on his knowledge (or lack of
knowledge) of the material environment.

We shall see this pattern unfold as we discuss the different periods of the ancient times the
Paleolithic age, the Neolithic age, the bronze age, and the iron age The Paleolithic age marked
the first appearance of man on planet earth It stretched from about 2,500,000 BC to about
8,000 BC as can readily be appreciated, the earliest man had yet the most primitive notions of
his material environment. The economy then, so to speak, was based on food-gathering and
hunting. It was wholly dependent on what was available in nature fruits and root crops to be
gathered and wild animals to be hunted.

The tools be used to enhance his physical capacity were those readily found in his environment
- stone implements shaped by accident that suited his purpose Spears, bows, slings, and others
were crafted in a most primitive form.

His food production could not support big communities It is, thus, understandable. that the
social organization in this period was that of small social groups/ Smallness suited greater
mobility from one area to another as they chased with great uncertainty food for survival
Episodic feasts and regular fast alternated as big kills came and went.

This hungry-today-filled-tomorrow mode of living did not afford time for other activities
except hunting and gathering food Thus, we do not expect great intellectual and cultural
achievements in the period. Besides, mankind was yet in its beginnings Yet, the hunting rites,
burial rites, their magic and myths were manifestations of their attempt to understand the
forces that shaped them and their environment Their plant and animal are may be said to be
the beginning of biology and medicine Their rites, magic, and myths may be said to lead to
what we now call science.

This is a first illustration of the pattern we stated above Paleolithic man's knowledge for (or
lack thereof) determined his ability to use his environment, which ability in turn determined his
mode of living in society. It may be said to be a classless society.

We now move to the Neolithic age, or new stone age, so-called because of the marked
advance in techniques as manifested in the tools used compare to the previous age. This
period covered from about 8,000 BC to about 3,000 BC The first period AGRICULTURE We
may never know how it came about but Neolithic man discovered the domestication of plants
and animals It started with shifting hoe culture and settled into permanent fields Equally
omentous was the purposeful growing of animals for food, wool, and draft use this settled-
agriculture economy gave rise to a new social organization – the Villages. It was a drastic
change from small nomadic groups to settled units called villages based on agriculture

Spinning, weaving, pottery, baking and brewing were some of the activities. The hallmark of
their technique is the use of ground stone tools, whose imprint spoke of design, standard, and
tradition. These three elements were and are important ingredients on the march of
civilization Design stands of the mental ability to abstract and manipulate images, to project
into the future Standard means the conception of an ideal - ideal spear, arc, hammer- by which
and to which skills and abilities were guided and motivated. Tradition stands for the
community that passed on the design and standard to the young generation.

The demand of sowing and harvesting gave rise to a calendar for use on agriculture The settled
life of the village, where Neolithic man had a degree of control of his food production, afforded
him time for other intellectual and cultural achievements such as geometric design, symbolism,
and myths in creation The pattern is again clearly demonstrated here. The change of
techniques in food production dictated the social arrangement of villages The Neolithic period
marked the start of the active transformation by man of his environment. Also, it marked the
emergence of social differences.

Next came the period called the bronze age, dating from about 3,000 BC to about 1,000 BC.
The name comes from the fact that the new dormant element is the use of the alloy bronze
Techniques/technology in food production advanced as attested by the use of irrigation,
water-lifting devices, canals and dams Improvements in transport came along as
demonstrated by roads, sail boats, wheeled carts, horse-drawn chariots. We will see the key
role of transport in the rise if commerce and the market economy

New tools, materials, and processes can be deduced from some activities engaged in this
period mining and smelting copper and bronze casting, riveting and soldering metal vessels,
brick and stone building, furniture making and glazed pottery making these practical
knowledge and techniques were completed by works of the mind such as accounting,
ideographic signs, numbers, writing and measures, arithmetic and geometry, solar calendar,
astronomy, professional medicine

This wider set of technical and intellectual activities and achievements gave rise to (supported)
and /arose from (were demanded by) the formation of cities and classes within society Gods
and temples, priests and kings, craftsmen, traders, law, property, debt, city states and war,
empires and slavery - these were the ingredients in the interplay of social forces in the more
complex organization of this period.
Techniques, technology and understanding of Nature advanced into the iron age(1,000 BC-600
AD), so-called by the new dominant element-iron. Increased forest clearance and ploughing,
waterwheels and pumps, gears and pulleys and improved sea-going ships were some of the
improvements in food production and transport Improved and cheaper tools and weapons,
catapults and other machines, improved preparation of drugs and dyes, and glass-
characterized the new tools, materials and processes Alongside, the period generated
alphabets, literature, coined money, philosophy and rational science.

In the social front, trading cities, politics, republican government, rise of plutocracy social
struggles, intensified warfare characterized the period.

Both the bronze age and the iron age again demonstrate the interlinkage between
techniques/technology and the social organization of man.

In the ancient times, we find the roots of science and technology of today, the roots of the
present social arrangement We may say that science and technology can be traced back t the
practical activities of ancient man to satisfy his material needs-food and protection from the
elements. This included even astronomy and mathematics, which are commonly regarded as
impractical and abstract Equally. our social groupings of today can be traced back to the
villages and cities of the ancient times.

MIDDLE AGES

We now move on to the period of world history known as the Middle ages, about 395 AD. We
remind ourselves that we are looking at history from a specific viewpoint that of the interaction
of science, technology, and society. This means that we focus on the main aspects of history
directly contributing to our specific objective.

Due to the intense economic and political struggles arising from the money-slave economy,
the classical civilization - Greek and Roman - declined and eventually disintegrated From the
Roman, plutocratic, slave economy's disintegration grew a new decentralized economic and
political system - the economic and political order of feudalism.

The economy of the feudal order was based on land, with the village constituting as economic
unit. Its motive power, so to speak was the sweat and labor of the peasants who were forced to
yield part of the produced to lords in the form of rent, taxes, or feudal service the hierarchy of
authority was the following the peasants to the lords-lay or clerical, the lords to the overlords
to the pope or emperor Another dominant characteristic of the period was the pervasiveness
of the religious view theology held sway over the minds of people. It is called the age of faith -
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. All intellectual life, including science was expressed in religious
dogma, was confined to churchmen.
The feudal system of production was conductive to the advance of science. Demand for useful
science was reduced to a minimum The activity of note was the codification of the classical
sciences - astronomy, medicine, mathematics - resulting in comprehensive treatises. Science
was confined to book learning and disputation Rational science was made a handmaiden to
theology in justifying the divine order of the universe whose main features are given in the
Bible.

On the other hand, other economic forms were growing up inside the feudal system, trading
and urban manufacturing economy Where feudal surplus was great, towns began to grow
again. Manufactured goods by guilds for handicrafts were exchanged with the surplus products
of the feudal economy This manufacturing movement by the guilds gave birth to the bourgeois
class that would prominently figure in the rise of capitalism in the later centuries The
movement also gave birth to utilitarian science. It equally gave significant impetus to technical
innovations.

Technical advances continued in the feudal order, even as science was stagnating they were a
source of transportation of the medieval economy. In agriculture, new developments came
along such as the three-field system, the heavy-wheeled plough The developments in the
transport and power were collar, shoes, and stirrup for the horse, mariner's compass, clock,
sternpost rudder, windmill, water mill improved sailing ship 'Other notable innovations were
the use of lenses, alcohol, paper, printing gunpowder, cannons Some of these inventions such
as gunpowder and cannons directly stimulated the growth of the sciences of physics and
chemistry-Moreover, both the cannon and gunpowder played key roles in politics and
economics-winning wars and accumulation of capital respectively.

In summary, there was impressive total technical development in manufacture and transport in
the middle ages these technical developments were motive force for the transformation of the
medieval economy. These advances in technique contrast with the near stagnation of science
The widespread religious attitude and feudal system of production militated against the
development of science. Before proceeding to the next period, we would like to take a special
look at science and technology in Islamic, Indian, and Chinese socialies during the middle ages
Our special interest is focused on the issue of the influence of culture on the development of
science and technology. Our interest is based on the following observations. One, Islamic,
Indian, and Chinese societies in the middle ages had knowledge of materials and developed
techniques comparable to those in European countries at the time Two, the Chinese society, in
particular, apparently had more advanced technical capabilities than European countries China
was ahead of any country in the discovery/invention of such materials/techniques as paper
magnetic compass, printing, gunpowder, cast iron, mechanical clock.
These two observations prompt us to ask two related questions why is it that modern science
did not develop in China, given the advanced state of knowledge and techniques in China
during the middle ages? On the other hand, why did China have a more advance state of
knowledge and techniques, compared to Europe?

Joseph Needham, a scholar who studied China for 30 years, offers some tentative answer
Accordingly to him, the answer primarily lies in the social, intellectual and economic structure
of Chinese civilization Specifically, Needham singles out the non-interventionist world view of
the Chinese of human activity. Two qoutations aptly encapsulate the sense of this non-
interventionist attitude production without possession, action without self-assertion,
development without domination, and going with the grain of things instead of going against
it". The attitude so described was favorable to reflection upon the world of Nature to penetrate
as far as possible into the mechanisms of the neutral world and to utilize its sources of power
while intervening directly as little as possible, using a sit were "action at a distance"
Furthermore, Needham claims that the kind of thinking so described predisposed the Chinese
to seek the achievement of effects with an economy of means. It was conductive to
investigations of Nature for practical ends. Along this line the Chinese invented the
seismograph, casting of iron and water power. It was equally conducive to the development of
the natural sciences The Chinese predilection for "action at a distance led the discovery of the
nature of tides, to the discovery of the phenomenon of magnetism.

Thus far we have discussed the answer to the second of the two questions we asked. The other
"face" so to speak of the same non-interventionist world view equally provides the answer to
the first question. In short, the non-interventionist attitude was incapable of letting the
mercantile mentality have a leading role in Chinese society. Thus, it was not capable of fusing
together the practical techniques of the craftsmen with the methods in the mathematical and
logical reasoning of the scholars. This fusing as we shall see in the next period, was a necessary
ingredient in the birth of modern science

RENAISSANCE AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

The period covered the years from 1450 to 1690. It covered the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
The economy of feudalism was incompatible with the rise of towns, trading and industry. The
production of commodities for sale steadily increased This non-feudal economic arrangement
eventually led to a new economy As a result, the period saw the development of capitalism as
the leading method of production. In the beginning, the economic factor was dominant: the
conditions for the rise of capitalism made the rise of experimental science (modern science)
possible and necessary.
The transformation from the feudal to the capitalist economy was accompanied by a change in
world outlook. From the organic, qualitative, religious world view, it changed to the
mechanistic, quantitative, secular world outlook. The orientation changed from one of
reconciliation with the world as it was to one of controlling Nature through knowledge of its
laws The period also saw the marriage of the theory of the learned and the techniques of the
artisans As already noted, this fusion played a key role in h birth of modern science and
technology. For our discussion, we shall divide the period covering the Renaissance and the
Scientific Revolution into three phase, the first phase covered the years 1450 1540, the second
phase 1540-1650, and the third phase 1650-1690. These were phases of a single process of
transformation from the feudal to the capitalist economy.

First phase 1450-1540

The mentality of the period can be discerned from the movement to change the system of
social from one based on a fixed hereditary status to one based on buying and selling
communities and labour The major economic factor that provided the drive for the movement
was the rapid expansion of trade, made possible by a greater available surplus The greater
surplus, in turn, was the result of technical improvements in agriculture, cloth-making Greed
for more profits from overseas trade stimulated the rapid development of shipbuilding and
navigation in Europe resulting in the easy availability of the surplus produced to an ever
widening market The huge profits made possible the first accumulation of fluid capital which
was invested in productive enterprises.

The interplay of profit, manufacture, and market created an increasing demand for and an
environment conductive to inventions, innovations and understanding of the ways of Nature
this demand and environment led the marriage of the craftsmen to the scholar Social prestige
and recognition was accorded individuals who combined mental work and manual labor The
practical manual work was no longer regarded as only fit for slaves but fitted the man of
learning as well. The explosive combination of technique and theory led to the establishment
of the scientific method- of modern science as we know it today We may cite navigation's as
example it demanded the use of the science of astronomy and instrumentation!

The period saw great men such as Da Vinci, Copernicus, Vesalius Such men so to speak, were
the catalysts in the social transformation during the first phase of the period in focus
Second Phase 1540-1650

With the fusion of the practical techniques of the craftsman with the theoretical methods of
the scholar, a new class of man came to the fore- the experimental philosophers Such men as
Galileo, Gilbert, Harvey to name a few belong to this class. They spearheaded the advance in
the sciences Thinking about Nature was no longer guided by philosophical principles, but by
hard facts carefully gathered from experiments.

The mental framework of the new experimental philosophers-the scientist as we call them
today - found itself more and more at variance with the religious attitude Whereas religion
fostered the attitude of taking things on faith and authority, the new scientific thinking
promoted a critical questioning mind and recognized no authority including the revelation in
the Bible, except the revelation of Nature as found in experiments. The new spirit was aptly
expressed by Galileo when he said "the Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, but not how the
heavens go" The hold of religion on the minds of men gradually loosened and was displaced by
the secular preoccupation's and fascinations that science offered The period saw the parting of
ways of religion and science. Technology advanced independently of science The blast furnace
the cast iron and the use of coat instead of wood were some of he developments Real technical
advances were made by small men building up capital out of their profits. Economically, the
period was dominated by the cumulative effects of navigation for trade, It resulted in as
unprecedented increase in the wealth of those traders and manufacturers who could draw on
new raw materials and supply new markets overseas. The increased wealth grew bigger wit
further investment.

Third Phase 1650-1690

Science came of age in this period, the growth of science was intense and concentrated The
two foci were London and Paris The enabling political condition was the stable governments in
England and France at that time.

The great increase in manufacture and trade, together with the new possibilities opened by
navigation, put a high premium for mechanical invention Equally, the condition was highly
conductive for the growth of science Scientist were recognized and honored The motivation
lay in the common interests by governments in trade, navigations, manufactures and
agriculture. The organization took the form of scientific societies.

Thus, the period marked the formation of the two famous scientific societies, the Royal
Society of London and the French Royal Academy The task these scientists set for themselves
was to concentrate on the central technical problems of the time -pumping, hydraulics,
gunnery, navigation, optics, vacuum They resolved to avoid general philosophical discussions
We single out here the problem of navigation. It was a great stimulus to the advancement of
science because the attack on this problem brought two earlier sciences, mechanics and
astronomy-in the great Newtonian synthesis. With the formation of scientific societies, science
established itself as a fully recognized factor in culture, as a new institution in society.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

During the period of the Scientific Revolution, we saw the break from the forms of feudalism
and from the Church. The old ways were replaced by capitalism - the emerging economic
arrangement, and by modern science - the emerging method of acquiring knowledge and tool
for exercising dominion over the earth We note the nearly simultaneous birth of capitalism and
modern science. The question of the cause and effect relationship between the two may not be
resolved What is clear though, is that the spirit that gave birth to capitalism was the same spirit
that gave birth to modern science-which followed closely that of capitalism.

During this period until the end of the 18th century, science got more from industry than it
could yet give back. Yet, the great success in navigation by the emerging scientific method was
enough to prove its worth Consequently, new science became part of the emerging capitalist
system of social organization.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The conventional dates referred to as the time of the Industrial Revolution are from 1760 to
1840 (80 years) We will adopt the extended period, in the manner of Bernal, which ranged from
1690 to 1895 (205 years) Following JD Bernal's analysis, we will divide the period into four
phases (1) first phase, 1690-1760 (70 years) (2) second phase, 1760-1830 (70 years), (3) third
phase, 1830-1870 (40 years), and ( fourth phase, 1870-1895 (25 years) After the fourth phases,
we will discuss the conditions for industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution may be described as the rapid socio-economic transformation from
agricultural to manufacture, with the population moving from the countryside to towns/cities,
where the production of goods was on the manner of factories rather than of home workshops.
It was the outcome of the confluence of technological developments and the economic, social,
cultural, and political changes The Industrial Revolution signified a radical transformation of
man's way of working and living. The present world arrangement is largely the effect of this
transformation.
As we discuss the period, it is helpful to keep the following questions in mind What was the role
of technology/techniques, of science, of economics and socio cultural factors? What was the
interrelationship between the factors? Can the Philippines be an industrialized country?

FOUR PHASES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The first phase ranged from 1690 to 1760. It served as a transitional period to the industrial
revolution proper in these transitional years, science waned after the outburst of scientific
activity in the 17th century, Technological change, however, continued as evidence by the
rapid improvement in agricultural practices. The small manufacturers who would play a key
role in the industrial revolution are not yet aware of the existence of science and its great
possibilities. They continued developing better method - for the most part hand operated - to
cope with rising demands for cloth and manufactured articles. With greater availability of
capital, towns and cities rapidly grew Freed from the limits of wood fuel, a new heavy industry
based on coal expanded rapidly. The period saw the transition from an economy of food to an
economy of power A.

The second phase lasting 70 years from 1760 to 1830, is what is conventionally regarded as the
Industrial Revolution proper The capitalist mode of production together with the birth of the
experimental quantitative method of science in the 16th and 17th centuries pave the way to
the dramatic rise in productivity of manufactured goods. There was a five-fold increase in the
output of cotton goods between 1766 to 1787, in a span of 21 years. The suction force, so to
speak, that pulled production up was the expanding market. A steady rapid growth of he
market for manufactured products, mainly textiles, remained during the period and beyond
the widespread use of iron and the shift to coal for fuel greatly contributed to further raise the
level of economic activity.

The heart of the Industrial Revolution, or the leading edge, to use the current phraseology was
the mechanization of the textile industry from manual operation to machinery, whereby the
weariness of muscle and mind arising from repetitive and monotonous work was replaced by
the wear and tear of inanimate parts. First, the machinery was water-driven, then, it was driven
by the steam engine In essence, what happened was the replacement of the "muscle power of
man by the engine, thereby raising the productivity per unit time many times over The
replacement got ever more sophisticated as the years went by This has continued to the
present day.

On the other hand, the demand for agriculture to be efficient rose. As the manufacturing
population grew in towns/cities, demand for food for non-farm families increased. For this
reason, a new cash-crop agriculture replaced the peasants and their subsistence agriculture.
Scientist were not the creators/movers of the industrial revolution. It was the artisans and the
inventors. Indeed the leading edge developments in textiles did occur without the use of any
radically new scientific principle. At the start, science played ancillary role, it slowly increased
in importance with the introduction of the steam engine in the light and heavy industries. The
steam engine was the result of a conscious application of scientific principles. The search for a
reliable source of power was a problem raided by industry Such problems stimulated a new
outburst of scientific activity Science during the Industrial Revolution may be characterized as
an activity closely integrated into the mechanisms of production. Through power engineering,
chemistry, electricity, science was support of the industrial revolution Henceforth, science
became indispensable to industry.

The third phase market the heyday of capitalism. It lasted for forty years, from 1830 to 1870. It
was a time of explosive growth New cities were established New means of transport were
introduced-railways, steamships. Anew class of capitalist entrepreneurs rose amidst a
burgeoning industrial activity Unfortunately, It was also a time of extravagant wealth side by
side with grinding poverty.

Science and technology grew in importance The demand of industry resulted in the faster
growth of the applications of science than the growth of science itself As a consequence,
engines were in ever greater need than scientists The invention of the telegraph an application
of the science of electricity, made possible a faster mode of communication The industrial
linkage effect resulted in the established of new science-based industries such as chemical
industries for the manufacture of soda and sulfuric acid Both chemicals were in great demand
by the textile industry Science, after 200 years of opposition, finally became accepted in
universities.

The fourth phase signaled the beginnings of modern imperialism. The years were from 1870-
1895 (25 years) The use of machines in manufacturing turned out great quantities of output
The surplus production by the capitalist entrepreneurs had to find markets. At the same time,
to continue the high volume of production, the capitalist entrepreneurs had to have a ready
source of cheap raw materials in order to maximize profits. This led to the exploitation of the
backward countries as a source of cheap raw materials and as market of manufactured goods.

As to science and technology, the period saw the large-scale application of science to war. A
more reliable and stronger source of power was introduced- the internal combustion engine
This motive power would drastically change the mode of transport Another equally, if not
more, significant development was the heavy electrical industry Then, as now, this industry
was monopolistic and scientific from the outset. It spun off the so called industrial research
laboratory.
CONDITIONS FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION

Have we take a different look at the process of the Industrial Revolution? For this purpose, we
divide our discussion into, (a) the changes involved in the process ifs industrialization, (b) the
factors for industrialization. The changes involved in the industrialization process may be
classed into (a) technological changes and (b) non-technological changes fi may be said that
the technological changes were necessary ingredients, without which industrialization would
have been not possible The new materials such as iron and steel, the new energy sources such
as coal, electricity and petroleum, and the new motive power such as the steam engine and the
internal combustion engine these-constituted the core elements in the industrial production of
goods. Given these element, more efficient production was attained by a new organization of
work-division of labor and specialization of function The continuous supply of raw materials
and the marketing products heavily depended on new technological developments in
transportation and communication. Not to be overlooked, were the technological
improvements in agriculture for the production of adequate food supply for the growing non-
farming urban population.

Concominant with the changes in technology were the non-technological changes economic,
political, social and cultural The wider distribution of wealth, the transfer of investment from
land to industrial production, growth of large-scale international trade, and advancement of
capitalistic growth characterized the economic changes. The political changes reflected the
economic shifts-such as new institutions, novel government policies Urbanization, the rise of
working-class movements, and the emergence of new patterns of authority were some of the
features of the social changes. Lastly, changes in the culture of people were inevitable.
Workers acquired new skills and a new relation to his work from hand worker to machine
operator Man's view of Nature shifted from administration to control and exploitation. From
these changes, we move on to the factors for industrialization Then, as mow, capital, labor and
market played key roles Investment in machinery, funding to carry invention to actual
production, and the establishment of a working banking system required capital the mere
existence of capital was not enough- it had to be available for investment. Both the quantity
and quality of labor were needed in the factories. To attain profitability, the mass-produced
goods had to find markets. Raw materials, transportation linkage, and the engineers and
entrepreneurs were important factors for industrialization Mineral's and other natural
resources had to be presented and made available by the existence of a requisite technology to
exploit them. The sources of raw materials, the factories, and the markets had to be linked
together. As a result, the 18th century was a period of great road-and canal building activity.
Equally significant were the government policies and the social attitude of people During the
Industrial Revolution, first achieved in England, government policy shifted from one of bias for
agriculture to one of allowing business and industry to develop at it pleased Overall, the
government provided a milieu favorable to industrial growth. For industrialization to take root,
the social milieu had to provide a nurturing environment Profit-making was respected and
socially acceptable A secular and quantitative approach to the world, stress on material goals,
the emphasis on hand work, sobriety, thrift, and the relentless pursuit of one's calling, and the
general attitude if receptiveness to new ideas-all these were the social attitudes that
contributed greatly to the Industrial Revolution.

In summary, no single factor can account for the Industrial Revolution The confluence of a
multiplicity of factors - technological, social, economic, political, and cultural-gave birth to the
Industrial Revolution

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE 18th

CENTURIES

There were two sets of determinants on the development of science and technology The logic
of Nature and the inward dynamics of the discipline constituted the inner determinant. The
links with the historical process made up the other set. It can be said that both were operative
At the start, science got more from industry than industry got from science. The great burst of
activity from science in late 18th and mid 19th centuries was due to the capitalist mode of
financing technical and scientific advance At the end of the 19th century, science and
technology became indispensable to the very existence of industry Thus, the 18th and 19th
centuries playing an essential part in economic life.

SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY AFTER THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

The period in focus here is the 20th century, from the turn of the century up to the present Our
interest is to view the developments of the world as a whole after the successful
industrialization in Europe For the purpose of this survey, we shall divide the subject into two
sections. (a) science and technology in the age imperialism (b) science, technology and the
industrial civilization.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE AGE OF IMPERIALISM

The questions we would like to ask are the following. What was the relation between the
centers of science and technology in Europe, which are the same as the centers of industry,
and the rest of the world? Was there a transfer of science and technology? If so, in what areas?
What were the characteristics of the development of science in the rest of the world? We shall
deal briefly with each of these questions.

The pattern of relationship between the industrial centers in Europe and what now known as
the third world countries may be said to be one-sided. On the whole, the rest of the world was
the source of cheap raw materials for the advanced countries. At the same time, the third
world countries served as a ready market of the manufactured goods coming from the
industrial centers. Indirectly, thus, the advanced countries exerted control over the political
and economic life of the rest of the world.

If there was any transfer of science and technology at all, it was mainly dictated by the
commercial interest of advised countries in the exploitation of the natural resources of the rest
of the world. It is, thus, understandable, that, of the sciences, the biological and geological
sciences enjoyed some degree of transfer. The sciences transferred underwent
characteristically through three phases. In the first phase, the European scientists stayed in the
country gathering scientific knowledge in its flora and fauna. They published their results in
European journals. In the second phase, the local scientists who worked as assistants to the
European scientists, carried on the investigation of their mentors. Their standard and reference
were those of their teachers. If it reached the third phase at all, the development would have
completed of the establishment of an independent science capability.

In summary, a new pattern emerged in the relationship between nations as result of science
and technology. With a big headstart in industrialization, the advanced countries used science
and technology to further boost their economic strength over that of the rest of the world. On
the other hand, the lack of science and technology capability, coupled with the presence of
strong competition from the advanced countries, made and will make it doubly difficult for
third countries to achieve industrialization.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION

In this section, we would like to examine the world situation with the widespread propagation
of industrialization among many countries. The questions of interest are as follows. What is the
relation between the modes of social arrangement and the practice of science and technology?
What is the role and characters of S & T in the present century? What is the character of the
Industrial Civilization, or, in the phase of Toffler, the Second Wave Civilization?

Countries may be conveniently classed into two categories. The capitalist or the socialist. Now,
these two modes of social arrangement have differing imprint on the practice of science and
technology. The reason for this is that science and technology partakes of the character both
of the object of the search and of the agent of the search. Thus, though the material may be
same, the social milieu informs the thoughts and actions scientists.

"From each and to each according to his ability" encapsulates the spirit of capitalism Here the
bottom line for any activity is profits, including the search for scientific knowledge and the use
of that knowledge. It is true that a great portion of the funding and efforts in science in the
capitalist system may be said to be motivated by the search for knowledge for knowledge's
sake Areas such as cosmology, astrophysics, elementary fields and particles belong to this
category. The greater portion, however, either directly or indirectly, is motivated by material
gains. As a result, completion and market forces are the primary factors determining the
allocation of money and human resources in funding scientific and technological activities An
upshot of this arrangement is quality consumer goods in abundance on the positive side, and,
waste of resources in non-essential goods for contrived needs on the negative side.

On the other hand, the quote "from each according to his ability and to each according to his
need" aptly expresses the essence of socialism in contrast to capitalism, the distinguishing
mark is the strong ideological orientation along the lines of the Ruling Party. As a result of the
required ideological consonance, areas of science considered bona fide fields have suffered
diminution if not eradication. The famous example is the science of genetics in Russia. The
field had been set back for decades because of the cultivation of the wrong theory perceived
correct because it was consonant with the Party ideology. The absence of the profit motive,
together with competition of the market forces is replaced by the ideal of directly satisfying
the human needs of individuals in any activity pursued, including that of science and
technology. In theory, the human-needs ideal is morally superior to the "greed" of the profit
motivation. In practice, however, the socialist arrangement so far has produced at best low
quality goods compared to those of the capitalist system, at worst, it has produced chronic
shortage of even the basic commodities. Indeed, the recent social upheavals in Russia and its
satellite countries belie the moral and practical superiority of the socialist vis-a-vis the
capitalist system. The Soviet Communist Party has recently approved the restoration of
private ownership.

The successes of science has brought upon itself a changed role and character in the present
century. We may described the new science of the 20th century by looking at the eras it went
though. About 1900's we refer to these years as the era of private science Individual scientists -
great and small worked alone in his laboratory The funding came from the private pockets - his
own or his patron The motivation was mainly curiosity and personal satisfaction By about
1920's 1930's the era of industrial corporations dominated the funding, the manpower, and the
use of results of scientific activities. It was the start of research by teams and of big projects
that went beyond the pocket of one individual About 1945's it was the beginning of
government science Realizing that science in the tool of the state both in times of peace- for
economic prosperity - and on times if war - for military strength, government have actively
intervened in the growth and application of science The intervention takes two forms direct,
though the establishment of government institutes, centers, and laboratories, indirect,
through the government funding of contracts with private corporations The governments now
are the biggest source of funding for scientific activities.

In summary, science and technology does the bidding of governments and big corporations

In both capitalist and socialist systems, the industrialized countries share a common rhythm
and pattern of life The rest of the world, through the purchase of manufactured products,
share the same rhythm and pattern in varying degrees in accordance with the stage of
development. This pattern and rhythm we call the industrial civilization, or, in the words of
Toffler, the second wave civilization Alvin Toffler asserts that the architecture of the industrial
civilization consists of three parts the techno-sphere, the socio-sphere, and the info-sphere/
The fossil fuel and the machine tools, including the vast array of hardware that both imply,
constitute the techno-sphere To put it differently, the techno-sphere consists of the system of
power sources together with the non-renewable energy source. It is here that wealth is
produced and allocated Wealth produced is in the form of manufactured goods. Wealth
allocated is in the form of wages and profits To match this techno-sphere. Toffler goes on, is
the socio-sphere consisting of (a) the nuclear family, (b) the factory-type school, and (c) the
giant corporation. The extended family, suited in the agricultural village, has outlived its
usefulness in an industrial city The new reality of factory closures and other better job offerings
elsewhere dictates a family of father, mother and a few children which can pack in no time and
roll to a new or better jib opportunity The punctuality, the discipline, and the obedience
instilled in the school prepare the young pupils for their future work in the factory. The drive for
mass production has created a third institution. The giant corporation is an "immortality"--
meaning it could last longer than its original incorporators. This makes for very long-term plans
and far bigger projects than ordinarily possible. The socio-sphere allocates the roles to
individuals I the system. To make the entire system work, information is allocated by the info
sphere-print, radio, television, telephone, satellite communication.

The underlying principles that govern the overall pattern of the life of individuals in de an
industrialized world has been identified by Toffler First is the principle of standardization
Millions of identical products are turned out by various companies every year. We are
surrounded by standard products-- from birthday cards, toys, to home appliances Standard
procedures we follow, standard advertisement we see and hear, standard currency, weights,
and measures we use Seemingly unrelated in the principle of specialization Industrialization
requires specialization for the efficient production of standard goods or for the efficient
provisions of services. The standard organization of factories in the division of labor- any one
individual does one step or at most few steps in the making of a product the consisting of tens,
hundreds, or thousands of steps. Like wise, professionals cultivate expertise in a narrow area of
a given discipline. The third principle is synchronization. People in the third worlds countries
are notorious for not keeping appointments on time This only indicates the absence of the
need of the exact timing of sequence of activities in third world countries The complex network
of factories linked to each other, where delay in one link means delay in the whole chain, which
delay may mean a lot of money lost, requires such timing A Fourth rule in second wave
civilization is concentration Industrialization set off tendency towards concentration of people
in urban areas, of work factories of children in school, of criminals in prison, of the mentally ill
in lunatic asylums, of capital in a few giant corporations, Underlying this tendency is the idea
that concentration leads to "efficiency" (Maximization is another principle of second wave
civilization. It is what economists call the "economics of scale" Bigness is the yardstick by which
the status of anything in measured The aim to become megacities, to organized megaprojects,
to manage megabusiness. The sixth principle is centralization in politics, in business, in the
national economy, the bulk of the decisions is made by the central planners- the central
government, the top management, the central bank, etc The structure of the pyramid is the
model organization everywhere.
The set of six guiding principles governs to one degree or another all the second wave
countries. These principles-- standardization, specialization, synchronization, concentration,
maximization and centralization-- operate in both the capitalist and socialist industrialized
societies For as Toffler asserts, they spring not from political ideology, but from the split
between the producer and the consumer and thereby the ever increasing role of the market.

SUMMARY

We have viewed the historical development of the world through a special "lens" the
interaction of science, technology, and society To guide us though, we must used the markers-
-before, during and after the Industrial Revolution. We have purposely employed the historic
event of the Industrial Revolution as the reference point to bring out early the ideal of third
world countries like he Philippines- industrialization

Before the Industrial Revolution was a long stretch of time about 2,500,000 BC to about 1700
AD This covered the ancient times (2,500,000 BC to 300 AD), the middle ages (395 to 1500),
and the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution (1450 to 1690) We saw that the main
elements of the present civilization find their roots in the ancient times. In particular,
technology can be traced back to the everyday actions of paleolithic man to maintain his
precarious life. Similarly, science can be traced back to the crude awakening of Paleolithic man
of the arrangement and flow of Nature for his survival Even at this earliest times, we discern a
pattern that holds until today, the means by which man secures his material needs determined
at the same time his social organization. The means increased in sophistication by sheer
accumulation of techniques and by virtue of the accumulated understanding of the ways of
Nature. The techniques metamorphosed into technology, the bits of understanding evolved
into science Correspondingly, man's social organization increasingly became complex from the
small nomadic groups during the hunting/gathering era, to the settled villages of the
agricultural stage, to the trading cities of the industrial period, and to the megalopolis of the
present industrial civilization

We noted the independent development of techniques/technology on the one hand, and

science on the other We saw this parallel independent development from the ancient times,
through the middle ages till the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. As the level of
techniques rose, together with the level of understanding, the level of interaction between
science and technology proportionally picked up
Society - which stands for the culture, the political institutions the social organization of a
people - influenced the development of science and technology The case of China is a good
example The dominance of the non-interventionist world view of the Chinese, according to
Needham, did not allow the mercantile mentality a leading role on society and thus, did not
allow the fusion of the practical techniques of the craftsman with the theoretical methods of
the scholar.

Such a fusion was made possible by the trading and manufacturing environment in Europe The
capitalist mode of production put a high premium on individual ingenuity and invention. The
same spirit gave birth to modern science.

During Industrialization Revolution, spanning 205 years from 1690 to 1895, saw the relation of
science and technology transformed from one of loose interaction at the beginning of the 18th
century, to one of mutual functional dependence at the end of the 18th century and beyond
The conjunction of technological, cultural economic, political and social factors gave birth to
the Industrial Revolution.

After the Industrial Revolution, that is the period of the 20th century, industrialism rapidly
spread to other countries under the ideology either of capitalism or of socialism. The whole
world quickly divided itself into industrialized countries and non-industrialized countries, into
countries with strong capability in science and technology and countries with weak or no
capability in science and technology Both contrasting descriptions refer to the same set of
countries Having gained some historical perspectives on the interaction of science, technology,
and society, we will now focus directly on science and technology.