Science, Technology and Society
Midterm Reviewer
Interaction of Science,
Technology and Society
● The interaction of science,
technology, and society is
complex and depends on
various factors.
● Science is a structured
approach to seeking
knowledge and understanding
nature.
● Technology refers to our
ability to control and
modify nature for practical
applications.
● Society is composed of
people with values, morals,
prejudices, problems, and
priorities.
● Society is the creator,
end-user, and constraint of
science and technology.
● The interaction of STS
varies with geography,
ethnology, time, and global
affairs.
● The presentation includes
three case studies from
different time domains.
● The birth pains case study
refers to the early days of
science, known as
Aristotelian philosophy,
and the influence of the
church and Thomas Aquinas.
● The Industrial Revolution
case study focuses on the
impact of technology on
society and the rise of
capitalism.
● The modern era case study
explores the complex and
global interactions of STS,
including ethical and
environmental concerns.
● The appropriation of
science and technology is
influenced by society's
priorities and global
affairs.
● The presentation emphasizes
the need for a
multidisciplinary approach
to STS and responsible
decision-making.
From PDF:
▪ Developed in the 1960s to
1970s, student and faculty
social movements in the U.S.,
UK, and European universities
helped to launch a range of new
interdisciplinary fields that
were seen to address relevant
topics that the traditional
curriculum ignored.
▪ Driven by a sense that science
and technology were developing
in ways that were increasingly
at odds with the public’s best
interests.
 ● The program prepares
students to see science and
engineering in the context
of the economics, politics,
and social life of society.
● The STS program encourages
students to be creative,
inspired, and invested in
STS Interaction varies with: making the world a better
place.
- Geography and Ethnology
● The program prepares
- Time
students for careers in a
- State of Global Affairs
variety of fields,
Science and technology studies including law, while still
● STS program focuses on the emphasizing the importance
relationships between of science and technology.
science, technology, and
According to Professor Joe Kane,
society.
head of department for the
● It combines the fields of
department of Science and
history, philosophy, and
Technology Studies at UCL,
sociology of science to
science and technology studies
explore the development and
encompass a wide range of topics
regulation of science and
that allow individuals to
technology.
observe, think and engage with
● Students work on projects
science in various ways.
that range from
nanotechnology to public
● Philosophy of Science,
health and human rights.
Technology, and Society
● The program emphasizes
(PSTS) is a program that
community engagement and
offers a multi-disciplinary
encourages students to
approach to analyzing
connect their coursework to
technology and its effects
real-life problems.
on human behavior and
● Students have the
society.
opportunity to work on
● The program is suitable for
policy projects and
students with a background
internships in the
in engineering and natural
community.
sciences, behavioral
 sciences, or international
students who want to
understand the background
of what they've been
taught.
● Students come from diverse
backgrounds and bring
different perspectives to
the class, creating
engaging discussions.
● The program emphasizes the
importance of understanding
the relationship between
human and technology
interactions to come up
with better solutions and
design better products for
societal problems.
● After completing the
program, students will have
a better understanding and
ability to analyze things
critically, which they can
contribute to the
betterment of society.
● The program teaches
students to turn philosophy
into practice and to
develop technology with a
high-tech human touch.
The Scientific Method
● The scientific method is a
process to produce reliable
results to answer a
specific question.
● The steps of the scientific
method are observations,
research, hypothesis,
experiment, and conclusion.
● Observations involve using
the five senses to gather
information.
● Research is important to
refine experiments and use
reliable sources.
● A hypothesis is a
prediction of what will
occur, often in an
"if-then" statement.
● Experiments involve
collecting qualitative
and/or quantitative data
and defining the
independent and dependent
variables.
● A valid experiment should
have both an experimental
group and a control group.
The Times and Troubles of the
Scientific Method
The text talks about the
scientific method, which is a
process of learning about the
universe and organizing
information to build on it. The
scientific method has its rules,
and it is a technique used to
investigate scientific
phenomena. The scientific method
is not perfect, but it is the
best thing we have for now. The
scientific method is about
coming up with a plausible
explanation for an observed
phenomenon and then testing that
explanation until you either
destroy it or decide it is
indestructible. Scientists
advise going through a series of
steps to find an answer,
including asking a question,
doing research, proposing a
possible but testable
explanation, testing the
hypothesis with experiments,
collecting data, coming up with
another hypothesis if necessary,
and analyzing the data to draw a
conclusion. The text concludes
that science has not always been
done this way, and some people
credit Aristotle with inventing
the scientific method.
1. Ask a question
2. Do some research
3. Propose a possible but
testable explanation
(hypothesis)
4. Test the hypothesis with
experiments and collect
data
5. Analyze the data to draw a
conclusion
6. Communicate the results to
the scientific community
Why Study the History of Science
1 Get more accurate depiction of
the past.
2 Tell us a little bit more
about science nowadays
3 It tells that scientists are
also humans.
Studying the History of Science
● The speaker is a historian
of science who aims to get
a truer, more accurate
depiction of the past,
specifically how scientific
ideas developed, where they
came from, who developed
them, and why.
● Understanding how science
developed in the past has
several applications,
including providing
insights into science today
and helping students
understand the nature of
scientific development.
 ● The speaker believes that
young students are often
given a false idea of what
it takes to do science, and
that making science too
forbidding can dissuade
people from pursuing it.
● The history of science
shows that the development
of science is about
fallible individuals of all
kinds trying to ask
questions and understand
the world, rather than just
a few geniuses doing
something significant.
Intro to History of Science
Timeline of World History
● The history of science is
not only a story of
humanity's collective
movement from ignorance to
knowledge, but it's also
not a stable or single
idea.
● science is a body of
knowledge about the world
and the methods used to
create that knowledge.
● Two main practices that
systematically generate
knowledge are observing
specific aspects of the
world and conducting
experiments to answer
questions about the world.
● The Royal Society, founded
in 1660, is a group of
knowledge-makers that was
created as a place to
debate new ideas about
nature and witness the
proofs behind their
theories.
● The Royal Society's motto
is "NULLIUS IN VERBA,"
which means "on no one's
word," and represents the
importance of anyone being
able to be a scientist.
● The wonder of the
reproducible experiment is
the ability to repeat
experiments to achieve
similar results.
● The chart uses a vertical
scale to represent the flow
of time, with every white
line representing 100
years.
● Horizontally, the chart is
divided into different
parts of the world, with
each line representing a
specific culture,
civilization, or empire.
● AD means Anno Domini (in
the year of the Lord) and
is used to measure years
from the birth of Jesus. BC
stands for Before Christ.
● Scholars today have
concluded that Jesus was
 probably born in 4 BC, so
the scale is a bit off.
● Nowadays, historians use
the terms CE (Common Era)
and BCE (Before the Common
Era) to be more neutral.
● The starting point for
history on the chart is the
year 3300 BCE, which is
approximately when writing
first appeared.
● Everything before the
emergence of the first
writing systems is
categorized as prehistory.
● History on the chart is
divided into six main time
periods: the Early Bronze
Age, the Bronze Age, the
Iron Age, Classical
Antiquity, the Middle Ages,
and the Modern Period.
● The Bronze Age gets its
name based on the fact that
humans first started to
make things out of bronze
around the same time that
they first developed
writing.
● During the early Bronze
Age, the Sumerians had
already invented the wheel,
the plough, and the sail,
and also went on to develop
astronomy and mathematics.
● The Great Pyramids of Giza
were built during the early
Bronze Age in Egypt.
● The only other place in the
world to have large cities
during the early Bronze Age
was in what is today Peru,
where the Norte Chico
civilization was thriving.
● The 4.2 kiloyear event
occurred approximately 4.2
thousand years ago and
resulted in approximately
200-300 years of drought
and famine in several parts
of the world.
● The end of the Bronze Age
is marked by a series of
catastrophic events that
led to the collapse of many
Bronze Age civilizations,
including invasions,
migrations, and natural
disasters.
● The Iron Age saw the
widespread use of iron
tools and weapons, as well
as the emergence of new
empires such as the
Assyrians, Babylonians, and
Persians.
● Classical Antiquity saw the
rise and fall of some of
the most famous empires in
history, including the
Greeks, Romans, and Han
Chinese.
● The Middle Ages saw the
emergence of feudalism and
the growth of Christianity
in Europe, as well as the
 rise of the Islamic
Caliphate in the Middle
East.
● The Modern Period is marked
by the Industrial
Revolution and the rise of
modern nation-states.
● in the transitions between
each time period, often
they involved a combination
of climate events, mass
migrations, and pandemics
Fire
● Fire is the greatest gift
that Mother Nature gave to
mankind.
● Fire is a crucial human
advantage that allowed the
cooking of meat over flame,
which was the beginning of
any kind of society.
● Our ancestors experimented
with natural sources of
fire, which extended the
daytime, kept away
predators, and provided
When Early Humans Discovered
other benefits.
Fire
● Fire destroys harmful
bacteria, neutralizes
toxins, makes food taste
better, and breaks down
carbohydrates that have a
major effect on the brain.
● The brain size began to
increase from a million
years ago when we have the
first evidence of fire in
humans.
● Cooking around fires meant
groups had to gather
together, pool their
resources, and work
together to gather and cook
food. This was really the
beginning of human society.
● Home and hearth are places
of comfort where we can
seek food and mutual
support from other people
like ourselves.
● Sitting around a campfire
as a group is like creating
the first school ever,
because storytelling is one
of the best ways for groups
to communicate.
● Storytelling was not just a
comfort but also the key to
their survival.
● Control of fire must rank
among the most important
revolutions in human
origins.
● Fire is one of the most
important discoveries made
by humans.
● Controlled fire has been
used for cooking, heating,
machinery, art,
 celebrations, light, and off predators or rival
decoration. groups of humans.
● Fire has become a staple in ● It wasn't until 1.5 million
human weaponry but can be years ago that our
disastrous when ancestors began to interact
uncontrolled. with the flames directly.
● Natural fires have existed
on Earth for over 420 Fire-Maker: How Humans Were
million years. Designed to Harness Fire &
● Evidence of charcoal and Transform Our Planet
silurian rock deposits show
● The San people of the
that vegetation on land
Kalahari are an ancient
burned when conditions were
race that have used fire
right.
for thousands of years.
● Fires across tall dry
● The mastery of fire was one
grasses were common during
of the greatest turning
the pleistocene epoch,
points in human history.
which led to our early
● Fire enabled cooking,
ancestors frequently
ceramics, glass-making, and
observing deadly wildfires.
metallurgy, which led to
● As our ancestors followed
the creation of tools,
the fire, they may have
weapons, utensils, and many
collected corpses and plant
other inventions.
matter burnt up in the
● Humans are the only known
flames, which would have
animal capable of
saved energy.
harnessing the power of
● Primitive men and women may
fire.
have noticed that some
● Earth is the only known
substances burn slower than
planet designed to reap the
others, purposefully
benefits of fire, and its
throwing them onto
atmosphere permits both the
wildfires to extend the
existence of fire and the
duration of the blaze,
existence of a biological
keeping the fire alive for
creature capable of using
longer.
it.
● Dry vegetation and dung
were likely used to scare
The Right Atmosphere and a
Planet the Right Size
1. To have fire, you need an
atmosphere that can support
both biological respiration
and combustion.
2. Planets of just the right
size are required to
possess an oxygen-rich
atmosphere which is
required if you want to
have both respiration and
combustion.
3. Planets much larger than
the earth retain their
primeval atmospheres,
making conditions on large
planets incompatible with
the sort of atmosphere that
we have.
4. Planets much smaller than
the earth cannot maintain
free oxygen since the
oxygen molecules will float
away into space.
5. A planet roughly the size
of Earth has a
gravitational pole strong
enough to retain an
atmosphere like our own
containing oxygen needed
for combustion and
respiration but weak enough
so that it won't retain its
primordial hydrogen.
6. In order to harness the
most important benefits of
fire, you also need the
right kind of fuel.
7. Working with iron typically
requires heat in excess of
2100 degrees Fahrenheit or
1,200 degrees Celsius,
which can't be achieved or
maintained by simply
burning grass or branches.
8. Coal or charcoal or
something equivalent is
needed to generate fires
with sufficient heat.
9. The existence of such fuels
depends on the flourishing
of large woody plants, made
possible by a molecule
known as lignin.
10. Lignin strengthens cell
walls allowing plants to
grow taller and slows the
breakdown of organic matter
in the soil, providing a
soil rich enough to support
large trees.
11. Lignin facilitated the
creation of vast deposits
of coal in Earth's history
by preventing the breakdown
of organic matter until it
could be fossilized.
12. Without lignin, there
would be no woody plants,
no wood, no coal, no
charcoal, no fire, no
pottery, and certainly no
iron, and probably no other
metals or metallurgy.
 13. Even once you have the
right kind of fuel, that's
still not enough to have
fire.
A Body the Right Size
A living being is required to
make and use fire.
1. The living being must have
a body of the right size
and design to make a fire.
2. To smelt metals, you need a
fire sufficiently hot,
which requires big chunks
of wood, charcoal or coke.
3. The basic design of an
android is suitable to
handle fire as they can
manipulate fire with their
long arms and hands.
4. The only biological design
of an organism that can
handle fire, make fires,
and regulate it seems to be
a biological being of a
design similar to humans.
5. Chimps have difficulty
making fire as they are not
as manually dexterous as
humans.
6. Beings of the human basic
design are optimized to
make fire, and this could
apply throughout the
universe.
Muscles the Right Strength,
Nerves with the Right Speed and
Nerves the Right Diameter
1. In order to use fire, an
organism needs muscles of
the right strength, nerves
with the right speed, and
nerves that are the right
diameter.
2. The strength of muscles and
the speed of nerve
conduction are commensurate
with the size of the
organism and the complexity
of its movements.
3. Our bodies are pre-adapted
for the use of fire, and
our ability to make and use
fire has allowed us to
unlock the potential of
many materials in nature.
4. Compounds and elements with
powers that can be unlocked
by fire exist in abundance
on our planet, and nature
seems to have been seeded
with them in advance.
A MANIFESTATION OF CREATIVE
POWER, DIRECTIVE MIND AND
ULTIMATE PURPOSE
● Wallace argues that the
existence of key metals,
necessary for modern
technology, is not just a
fluke, but points to a
cause beyond physical
 nature, which is an
all-pervading mind.
● Science is dependent on
natural capacities
pre-built into the chemical
elements and compounds from
which our world is
constructed.
● Natural materials have
serendipitous features that
point to a cause beyond
physical nature, and are
unintelligible on any other
theory than that the earth
and the universe were
constituted as they are to
supply us with the means of
exploring and studying the
inner mechanism of the
world in which we live.
● Humanity's amazing
technological success is
not due to our own genius
alone, but also the result
of finely tuned conditions
and properties of matter
that make our technological
advances possible.
● Our potential to make and
use fire seems to have been
built into our bodies and
into the Earth's biosphere
from the very beginning.
The Neolithic Revolution: The
Development of Agriculture
● The prehistoric man lived
as a nomad surviving
through hunting and
gathering food.
● The mastery of agricultural
techniques allowed man to
settle down on his own
land, leading to the
emergence of the first
villages near the
floodplains of rivers.
● Cereals were preferred for
cultivation due to their
nutritional value and
ability to be stored for
longer periods.
● Domestication of animals,
such as dogs, was also
developed during this time
period.
● Animals had to fulfill
certain requirements to be
considered domesticated,
such as not competing with
humans for food and being
easily controlled by their
owners.
● Agriculture and livestock
not only provided food but
also served other purposes
such as clothing and fabric
production.
● Surpluses from these small
villages led to the
emergence of commerce and
 eventually the first and the sexagesimal math
cities. system.
● They also created the Code
Ancient Civilizations Around the of Hammurabi, one of the
World earliest and best-preserved
written legal codes.
● The National Geographic
● The Indus River Valley
defines civilizations as
Civilization existed from
having the following
3300 BC to 1300 BC and was
characteristics: large
located in modern-day
population centers,
Northeast Afghanistan,
monumental architecture and
Pakistan, and northwest
unique art styles, shared
India.
communication strategies,
● They had a writing system
systems for administering
called the Indus script,
territories, a complex
which has not been
division of labor, and
deciphered yet.
social and economic class
● The Chinese Civilization
divisions.
existed from 1600 BC to
● Most civilizations
1046 BC and was located in
flourished around bodies of
the Yellow River Valley.
water because of natural
● They were known for their
irrigation, drinkable
use of bronze, silk
water, and natural
production, oracle bone
plumbing.
script, and the Zhou
● The Mesopotamian
Dynasty.
Civilization emerged
● The Egyptian Civilization
between the Tigris and
existed from 3100 BC to 30
Euphrates rivers in the
BC and was located in the
Middle East, lasted from
Nile River Valley.
3500 BC to 500 BC, and is
● They were known for their
known as the cradle of
construction of pyramids,
civilizations.
mummification,
● The Mesopotamian people
hieroglyphics, and
were advanced in metalwork,
pharaohs.
literature, textile
weaving, irrigation,
agriculture, the wheel,
sailboats, cuneiform texts,