SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

1. Science is a methodical way of acquiring knowledge.

Scientia- knowledge

2. Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.

techne-art, skill or cunning of hand

3. Science and technology can be dangerous.

Politics and Governance, Religion, and Business (Wolpert, 2005)

4. Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is the study of how science and technology shape and are
shaped by social influences.

We live in a society dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so
that almost no one understands science and technology. That’s a clear prescription for disaster. -
Head, T., (2006)

 BOON

Humans today live more productive and more exciting lives than their predecessors.

 BANE

However, the dynamism and immensity of scientific and technological progress also pose challenges
and drawbacks to the way humans live.

5. STS deals with the historical development of science and technology but does not cover their
philosophical underpinnings.

6. The study of STS primarily concerns students of science and technology programs, and not non-
science students as much.

7. STS is an important area of study because science and technology permeate every aspect of everyday
life.

8. Science and technology are not crucial factors in nation building.

9. History cannot teach people about evaluating present-day science and technology.

10. STS draws from other disciplines, such as history, sociology.

WAYS HUMANS IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT (Hendley, 2019)

 We reach the maximum carrying capacity that our planet can sustain.
 Pollution is everywhere. Pollution is so bad that to date, 2.4 billion people do not have access to
clean water sources.
 According to international data, an estimated 18 million acres of trees are clear-cut each year to
make way for new development and wood products – that is just under half of all the trees on
the planet since the industrial revolution began.
 The planet’s average temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius.
 GOLDILOCKS ZONE - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says
average surface temperatures on Earth rose 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit (0.95 degrees Celsius)
between 1880 and 2016.

Why do we need to study STS?

 We become aware of the consequences of human actions on societies.

 We develop CRITICAL JUDGMENT
 We become aware of the different viewpoints regarding some of the world’s great concerns.
 We become aware of how advancements in science and technology have affected our society.
 We become aware of the role we must play in society and of our responsibilities as citizens.
 Historical Antecedents of S&T

One of the key interests of Science, Technology, and Society as an academic field

Focuses on how S&T changed across time and the impacts of scientific and technological innovation on
prevailing social, cultural, political, and economic contexts across time

Pays attention to the contextual circumstances that shaped S&T

Interests lie in historical antecedents of scientific and technological innovation

What’s in a historical antecedent?

Can be understood as a precursor of a thing

An antecedent of a something unfolded or existed before it

Historical antecedents in S&T can be understood as the previous state of science and technology or
previous scientific or technological tools that paved the way for more advanced and sophisticated S&T
to arise

Ancient Period
The rise of ancient civilizations paved the way for advances in S&T. The advances in S&T during the
ancient period allowed civilizations to flourish by finding better ways of living, communication,
transportation, and self-organization.

 Ancient Period: Ancient Wheel

 Sumerian Wheel
The product of potters wheel
Purpose – used animal for transportation in ancient period
There is no specific date and person who really invent the wheel
General agreement draw out from the potters wheel
3000 BC often credited to summerians
Believed that this wheel was invented by Summerians
 Potter’s Wheel

 Ancient Period: Paper

 The Edwin Smith Papyrus
Through this they can write or document, but before this is stone
3000 BC – Egyptians begun writing
 Writing was done on stone, tablets, or clay.
 Rush plant

 Ancient Period: Shadoof

Early tool used by Egyptians to get water
Hand operating device used in lifting water

 Ancient Period: Antikythera Mechanism

Similar to the mantel clock
One of the oldest antecedent of wooden clock invented by greek scientist

 Ancient Period: Aeolipile

Also known as Heros engine
An illustration of Heros engine

Middle Ages
Major advances in scientific and technological development, including a steady increase of new
inventions, introduction of innovations in traditional production, and emergence of scientific thinking
and method, had taken place. Manymedieval universities at the time stirred scientific thinking and
provided infrastructure for scientific communities to flourish. Some of humanity’s most important,
present-day technologies could be traced back to historical antecedents in the Middle Ages.

 Middle Ages: Heavy Plough

Invented by Prof Thomas Bernebeck Anderson

 Middle Ages: Gunpowder (850 AD)

Chinese using gunpowder in weapons
Sword and Sphere
Primary reason: for advancement for warfare and combat

 Middle Ages: Paper Money (Chinese, 17th century)

 Middle Ages: Mechanical Clock

A medieval mechanical clock found in Prague, Czech Republic
Inspired by Antikythera Mechanism
 Middle Ages: Spinning Wheel
Used for transforming fiber into tred or yarn into cloth
Purpose: to make cloth
Modern Age
As world population steadily increased, people of the modern age realized the utmost importance of
increasing the efficiency of transportation, communication, and production. Industrialization took place,
but greater risks in human health, food safety, and environment rose, which had to be simultaneously
addressed as scientific and technological progress unfolded at an unimaginable speed.

 Modern Age: Compound Microscope

Invented by Zacharias Jansen (1590)

 Modern Age: Telescope

Invented by Galileo

 Modern Age: Jacquard Loom

Invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard
It is operated through punch card

 Modern Age: Engine-Powered Airplane

Invented by Orville and Wilbur Wright

 Modern Age: Television

Invented by John Logie Baird (1924)
Inventions of Filipino Scientists
The Philippines boasts of its own history and tradition of scientific and technological innovation. Filipino
scientists have long been known for their ingenuity. As with all other inventions, necessity has always
been the mother of Philippine inventions. Most Filipino inventions appealed to the unique social and
cultural context of the archipelagic nation. Even during the ancient period, our Filipino ancestors
developed scientific and technological innovations focused on navigation, traditional shipbuilding,
textiles, food processing, indigenous arts and techniques, and even cultural inventions.

 Philippine Inventions: E-Jeepney

 Philippine Inventions: Erythromycin
Invented by Abelardo Aguilar

 Philippine Inventions: Medical Incubator

Invented by Dr. Fe Del Mundo

 Philippine Inventions: Mole Remover

Invented by Rolando dela Cruz

 Philippine Inventions: Banana Ketsup

Invented by Maria Orosa
Orosa’s formula for Banana Ketsup is brownish-yellow in color.
What is an intellectual revolution?

In Science and Technology, intellectual revolutions refer to series of events that led to the emergence of
modern science and more current scientific thinking across critical periods in history.

Intellectual revolutions as paradigm shifts

Intellectual revolutions can be considered paradigm shifts resulting from a renewed and enlightened
understanding of how the universe behaves. They challenged long held views about the nature of the
universe. Thus, these revolutions were more often than not met with huge resistance and controversy,
especially during their onset.

Jean Sylvain Bailley’s Two-Stage Process

 Stage 1: ‘sweeping away the old’

 Stage 2: ‘establishing the new’

Foci of this unit

 Copernican Revolution
 Darwinian Revolution
 Freudian Revolution

Copernican Revolution

The Copernican Revolution refers to the 16th century paradigm shift named after Polish mathematician
and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model of the universe. At
the time, the geocentric model of Ptolemy was the widely held belief about the universe (i.e., Ptolemaic
model).

The idea that it is the Sun and not the Earth that is at the center of the universe proved to be unsettling
in the beginning. In fact, the heliocentric model was met with huge resistance, primarily from the
Church, who accused Copernicus of being a heretic. At the time, the idea that it is not the Earth, and, by
extension, not man too, that is at the center of all creation proved to be uncomfortable.

The contribution of the Copernican Revolution is, until today, far-reaching. It served as a catalyst to sway
scientific thinking away from age long views about the position of the Earth relative to an enlightened
understanding of the universe. This marked the beginning of the birth of modern astronomy.
Darwinian Revolution

English naturalist, geologist, and biologist Charles Darwin is credited for stirring another important
scientific revolution in the mid-19th century. His treatise on the science of evolution, On The Origin of
Species, was published in 1859 and began a revolution that brought humanity to a new era of
intellectual discovery.

Darwinian Revolution benefitted from earlier scientific revolutions in the 16th and 17th century in that it
was guided by confidence in human reason’s ability to explain phenomena in the universe. For his part,
Darwin gathered evidence pointing to what is now known as natural selection, an evolutionary process
by which organisms, including humans, inherit, develop, and adapt traits that favoured survival and
reproduction.

Darwin’s theory of evolution was, of course, met with resistance. Critics accused the theory of being
either short in accounting for the broad and complex evolutionary process or that the functional design
of organisms was a manifestation of an omniscient God that of a theory of evolution.

Freudian Revolution

Sigmund Freud is credited for stirring a 20th century scientific revolution named after him, the Freudian
Revolution. Psychoanalysis is at the center of this revolution. Freud developed Psychoanalysis as a
scientific method of understanding inner and unconscious conflicts springing from free associations,
dreams and fantasies of the individual.

Scientists working on a biological approach to human behaviour criticized Psychoanalysis for lacking
vitality and bordering unscientific as a theory. Particularly, the notion that all humans are destined to
exhibit Oedipus and Electra complexes, i.e., sexual desire to the opposite sex parent and exclusion of the
same sex parent, seemed to not be supported by empirical data.

Amidst the controversy, Freud’s Psychoanalysis is widely given credit for dominating psychotherapeutic
practice from the early 20th century. Psychodynamic therapies that treat a myriad of psychological
disorders remain still largely informed by Freud’s work on Psychoanalysis.
 Philippine Agencies related to Science and Technology

Department of Science and Technology (DOST)

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Collegial and scientific bodies

 National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)

 Philippine Space Agency (PHILSA)
 Natural Sciences Research Institute
 Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)
 National Research Council of the Philippines

Sectoral planning councils

 Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development
(PCAARRD)
 Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)
 Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development
(PCIEERD)

Research and development institutes

 Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI)

 Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI)
 Forest Products Research Development Institute (FPRDI)
 Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI)
 Metal Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC)
 Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI)
 Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI)

Scientific and technological services

 Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)

 Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)
 Philippine Science High School System (PSHS)
 Science and Technology Information Institute (STII)
 Science Education Institute (SEI)
 Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI)
 Technology Resource Center (TRC)
 2018 ten emerging dilemmas and policy issues

This year's issues are:

 Helix - A digital app store designed to help you read your genome.

 The Robot Priest - BlessU-2 and Pepper are the first robot priest and monk, respectively.

 Emotion-Sensing Facial Recognition - Optimizing retail experiences by assessing your reactions.

 Ransomware - Holding data hostage until you pay up, whether you're an individual or a large
corporation.

 The Textalyzer - A new tool in the battle against texting and driving that tells cops if you were on
your phone before an accident.

 Social Credit Systems - China will debut theirs in 2020, but do we already live in a world where
online reputation is king?

 Google Clips - This little camera will watch you all day and capture your most picturesque
moments.

 Sentencing Software - There are already Americans being sentenced with the help of a
mysterious algorithm.

 The Rise of Robot Friendship - Can we create a chat bot out of our loved ones' old texts and
social media posts?

 The Citizen App - Live crime reporting may lead to vigilante justice.

The Reilly Center explores conceptual, ethical and policy issues where science and technology intersect
with society from different disciplinary perspectives. Its goal is to promote the advancement of science
and technology for the common good and demonstrate the integral role of the humanities in science
and technology.