SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

WHAT IS SCIENCE?
 From Latin word “Scientia” (knowledge)
 Any systematic knowledge or practice
 A human attempt to understand natural world

SCIENTISTS’ DEFINITION
G. GORE (1878) - science is the interpretation of nature and man is the interpreter.
A. EINSTIEN (1940) - science is the attempts to make the chaotic diversity of our sense experience
correspond to a logically uniform system of thought.
HUXLEY (1974) - science is common sense… the necessary mode of working of the human mind.
SIMPSON (1974) - not a body of facts, not a method or a technique… science is, or perhaps has, certainly a
point of view, as systematic orientation, application to all material aspects of our world, in everyone’s daily
activities as well as in a laboratory.
ZINMAN (1976) - deplored that science is viewed as the product of mind that tends to ignore the body.
POSADAS (1982) - science is the dynamic cumulative system of verifiable concepts, principles , methods,
laws, theories and processes which seek to describe, understand and predict natural phenomena.
CAMPBELL (1974) - science is the study of those judgements concerning which universal agreement can be
obtained.

PROCESS : SCIENTIFIC METHOD

 Obsevation
 Experimentation
 Reasoning
PRODUCT : SCIENCE PROCESS
 Facts
 Concepts
 Generalization

“Science is our most effective way of understanding the natural world. All science involves some form of
observation or experiment, and some sort of theorizing about how to explain the evidence collected.
Clearly, science is a product of human curiosity”

WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY?
 Derived from “techne” (art)
 “technologia” (systematic treatment)

SCRIBNER-BANTAN ENGLISH DICTIONARY (1979) – technology is defined as

(1) science of industrial arts and manufacture;
(2) applied science;
(3) all the means employed by a social group for material comforts
BRIGSTOCK (1998) - technology as a body of skills and knowledge by which we control and modify the
world
POSADAS (1982) – defined technology as the system of know-how, skills, techniques and processes which
enable societies to produce, distribute, install, maintain or improve goods and services need to satisfy
human needs
TECHNOLOGY AS A PROCESS
 It is the application of science
 The practice, description, and terminology of applied sciences
 The intelligent organization and manipulation of materials for useful purposes
 A way of using findings of science to produce new things for a better way of living
 Focused on inventing new or better tools and materials or new and better ways of doing things
 Search for concrete solutions that work and give wanted results
 It is characteristically calculative and imitative, tends to be dangerously manipulative
 Form of human cultural activity
TECHNOLOGY AS A PRODUCT
 A system of know-how, skills, techniques and processes
 It is like a language, rituals, values, commerce and arts, it is an intrinsic part of a cultural system and it
both shapes and reflects the system values
 It is the product of the scientific concept
 The complex combination of knowledge, materials and methods
 Material products of human making or fabrication
 Total societal enterprise

“Technology is any activity and/or product thereof that tends to increase man’s chances of survival.”

IS TECHNOLOGY PART OF SCIENCE?

Technology is not science. Science only seeks to understand nature, no more no less; technology is but the
application of what science has discovered, for better for worst.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE
 A field of endeavor upon which a two way interaction operates between science and technology
 Interdependent and overlapping methods which employ both existing knowledge and existing know -
how
TECHNOLOGY
 Is an interdisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand the many ways that modern
science and technology shape modern culture, values and institutions, and how modern values shape
science and technology
 A system of know -how, skills, techniques and processes which enable society to produce, distribute,
install, maintain or improve goods and services needed to satisfy human needs.
PURPOSE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. To improve quality of human condition.
2. To provide solution to our practical problems.
3. To establish relevant institutional linkages and essential mechanisms
4. To develop individual knowledge.
5. To find order in the chaos of nature and deliver personal and social liberation
6. To give an information and explanation of the natural world
7. To combat irrationality
8. To maintain the availability of natural resources

LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 Epistemological concerns
 Metaphysical concerns
 Axiological concerns
 Use of natural resources that are being used in science and technology are limited
 Ultimately rest on past observations Not all of its principles are applicable to different world
phenomena
 Needs human intervention to carry out its functions properly
 Can not fully explain what is in the mind of a person

Science drives Technology and Technology drives Science

WHAT IS SOCIETY?
According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, a society is an aggregate of people living together in a more or
less ordered community. It is a community of people living in a particular country or region and having
shared customs, laws, and organizations.

INTERCONNECTIONS OF STS

IMPORTANCE OF STS
 Most people would agree that science and technology are of great importance in the world today
 It is equally clear that science can alter our entire conception of ourselves and our place in the universe
 The most famous instance of this was the series of events known as the Scientific Revolution.
EFFECTS OF STS
 Science and Technology have had a major impact on society and their impact is growing
 By making life easier, science has given man the chance to pursue societal concerns such as
ethics,aesthetics,education and justice to create cultures and to improve human conditions
 Science influences society through its knowledge and world view The impact of science and technology
on society is evident. But society also influences science
 There are social influences in the direction of S and T development through pressure groups on specific
issues and through general accepted social views, values and priorities

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Sequence of activities/steps undertaken to gather information and to come to conclusions about the
natural world.
THE SX STEPS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD
1. OBSERVATION
2. QUESTION
3. HYPOTHESIS
4. EXPERIMENT
5. CONCLUSION
6. RESULT

SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
A series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular goal or outcome.
BASIC SCIENCE PROCESS SKILSS
1. Observing
2. Measuring
3. Inferring
4. Predicting
5. Communicating
INTEGRATED SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
1. Formulating Hypothesis
2. Identifying of Variables
3. Defining variables operationally
4. Describing relationships between variables
5. Designing investigations
6. Acquiring data
7. Organizing data in tables and graphs
8. Analyzing investigations and their data
9. Understanding the cause and effect relationship
10. Formulating methods

SCIENTIFIC TRAITS AND VALUES

1. Intellectual honesty
2. Open mindedness
3. Creative and Critical Thinker
4. Curiosity
5. Risk taker, confident, and persistent
6. Objectivity
7. Precision
8. Collaboration and readiness to reach consensus
PREHISTORIC PERIOD
 First civilizations emerged independently along the river valleys of
 Mesopotamia (Tigris-Euphrates Valley),
 Egypt (Nile Valley) - The longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest
river in the world
 China (Huang Ho Valley) - In English, Yellow River Valley) was the birthplace of ancient Chinese
civilization, and for that reason is often called “Mother River.”
 India (Indus Valley ) - An ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus River valley, from about
2500 to 1500 b.c.
 Stone Age and Metal Age - Prehistoric period in which stone was widely used as implements for
hunting. Started during the 6000 BC and ended 2000 BC.

STONE AGE
 Paleolithic Age
➢ consisted of hunter gatherer civilizations that utilized primitive stone tools
➢ Our earliest evidence of the use of fire
 Mesolithic Age
➢ transitional period that gave way to the rise of shifting farming civilizations
➢ Usage of microliths, small stone tools made of flint used as spearheads and arrowheads.
 Neolithic Age
➢ the first agricultural revolution, making way for agricultural mining civilizations
➢ Developed complex evidences of numeric counting
➢ Development of metallurgy and metalworking, the art and science of extracting mineral ores and
modifying them for practical use.
➢ Invention of the wheel, primarily introduced in making pottery
 Bronze Age
➢ the first characterized by the use copper and tin as the chief materials in the production of implements
such as weapons and utensils.
➢ Wheel was used as implement for transportation mechanics
 Iron Age
➢ characterized by the widespread use of iron and steel which was used and modified for use such as in
religious practices, agricultural usage, artistic tools and weapons and armors

ANCIENT PERIOD
➢ Science and technology during this period have diverted from being solely for survival needs but also to
satisfy curiosity.
➢ During this period, knowledge became increasingly available due to the creation of proper writing
systems and record keeping.

 Sumerian Civilization
Invented the world’s first writing system called cuneiform
 Egyptian Civilization
Developed the first crude and early version of paper from the plant papyrus. Writing was in the form of
pictorial symbols known as hieroglyphics.
 Roman Civilization
En designed the Pantheon. The Colosseum was built during the reign of Vespasian for gladiator imperor
Hadriaal contests. Vespasian also implemented a public urinal system called vespasiano.
 Arabic/Islamic Civilization
The Arabic cities prospered by exploiting their strategic location. Muhammad founded the religion Islam at
the Holy City of Mecca. In technology, the Arabs were the first to use glass lens for magnification.
 Chinese Civilization
Acupuncture was used to treat illnesses
 Royal astronomer Chang Heng invented the earthquake weathercock (which is now the modern-day
seismograph)
 Cai Lun invent the paper and the papermaking process
 Babylonian Civilization
Babylonia was the ancient region bordering Tigris and Euphrates river, which once served as the center of
commerce and religion in the valley. During the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II, the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon (one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world) was built.
 Minoan Civilization
Situated in the Island of Crete with Knossos as its capital. The Minoan’s script system was called Linear A,
which has not been fully deciphered
 Greek Civilization
Greece served as the foundation of cultural and philosophical development in the west.
 Thales of Miletus – Father of Philosophy, said that nature was composed of or convertible to water
 Anaxagoras – argued that matter was composed of countless tiny particles
 Empedocles – stated that nature was a mixture of earth, fire, air and water.
 Hippocrates – Father of Greek Medicine, was first to regard medicine as science apart from religion.
 Galen – Greek physician, made the first steps for the advancement of anatomy.
 Aristotle – regarded as Father of many sciences, pioneered and discovered information on variety,
structure and behavior of animals and plants.
 Archimedes – performed experiments which led to the discovery of the laws of levers and pulleys that
resulted in the invention of machines thereof.

MEDIEVAL ERA
➢ The Middle Ages is generally known as the period between the Ancient Times and the Modern Times.
➢ The power of the Catholic Church served as a unifying force in Europe.
➢ The most notable invention during the Medieval Era was the Printing Press of Johannes Gutenberg in
Germany.
➢ The Gutenberg Bible, was recorded as the world’s oldest mechanically printed book

RENAISSANCE ERA
➢ Renaissance is the history of western Europe which served as the period of rebirth. This period
regarded the publication of books and the technology of printing most impactful.
 Nicolaus Copernicus – Polish astronomer who published On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres. It
challenged the centuries-old geocentric universe of Ptolemy. He proposed the heliocentric theory of
the universe, which was not readily accepted and actually rejected by the Catholic Church.
 Andreas Vesalius – recognized as the founder of modern medicine, surgeon and anatomist Vesalius
published On the Fabric of the Human Body. Vesalius laid out in detail the first scientifically accurate
description of human anatomy.
 Leonardo da Vinci – was a great Italian artist and inventor. He anticipated and drew up plans of future
inventions such as the helicopter, submarine, machine gun and motor car.
 Galileo Galilei – was a major scientist prosecuted by the Church for heavily supporting the heliocentric
system. He conducted scientific experiments on gravity and falling objects, improved the telescope and
discovered celestial bodies
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION (17TH CENTURY)
 Francis Bacon - English statesman who promoted observation and experimentation as the proper way
of deductive reasoning in the conduct of scientific method.
 Tycho Brahe - Danish astronomer who studied geometric calculations and mathematical precisions on
celestial observations.
 Johannes Kepler - German astronomer who made the crucial discovery that orbits of planets were not
circular but elliptical, based on the works of Brahe.
 John - Scottish mathematician who discovered logarithms, which shortened the laborious process of
multiplying, dividing and finding square roots
 Rene Descartes - French mathematician who strengthened the power of reason against the philosophy
of Aristotle and Ptolemy. He worked out analytical geometry.
 Isaac Newton - English physicist who arrived at theories on revolutionary hypotheses on astronomy
and physics.
 Gottfried von Leibniz - simultaneously and independently invented calculus with Newton.
 Christian Huygens - Dutch physicist who started the use of pendulum as timecontroller in clocks
 Hans Lippershey - improved the magnification of telescopes.
 Jan Swammerdam - invented microscope and discovered red blood corpuscles.
 Anthony van Leeuwenhoek - invented microscope and discovered animalcules.
 William Harvey - published diagrams of human circulatory system.
 Robert Hooke - discovered cells, a term that he used to refer to thin layers of cork under his
microscope.
 Evangelista Toricelli - Italian mathematician who invented the barometer.

SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION (18TH CENTURY)

 James Watt Scottish - engineer who invented the first satisfactory condensing steam engine.
 Benjamin Franklin - American statesman who experimented on electricy.
 Luigi Galvani - pioneered bioelectromagnetic by putting two different metals in contact with frog
muscle
 Alessandro Volta - Italian physicist who successfully invented electric battery.
 Michael Faraday - British physicist who conducted experiments on electromagnetism and in
accordance with Oersted and Ampere’s works, eventually inventing the first dynamo.
 Hans Oersted - Danish scientist who confirmed and expanded Faraday’s works leading to the invention
of electric motor.
 Andre Ampere - French physicist who explained magnetic effects.
 Samuel Morse - used electromagnets and practically produced the first telegraph and developed the
Morse Code system of signals.
 Alexander Graham Bell - invented the telephone and carried out the first telephone conversation
 Thomas Edison - invented the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, motion picture equipment among
others.
 Heinrich Hertz - produced electromagnetic waves through space and utilized them to broadcast and
receive radio waves.
 Guglielmo Marconi - adapted Hertz’s works and created a system of radiotelegraphy, which became
basis of the modern radio
 George Stephenson - developed the first steam-powered locomotive.

SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION (19TH CENTURY)

 John Dalton - published the atomic theory
 Louis Pasteur - developed pasteurization, a method of food preservation by killing bacteria
 Dmitri Mendeleev - formulated the Periodic Table of Elements
 Hermann von Helmholtz - invented the ophthalmoscope
 Henri Becquerel - discovered radioactivity
 Marie Curie & Pierre Curie - discovered the element radium
 Joseph Thomson - discovered electron
 Karl Benz - made the first automobile
 Rudolf Diesel - developed the first diesel engine

SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION (20TH CENTURY)

 ASTRONOMY
 Big Bang and Steady State Theory - explained the origin and evolution of the universe.
 Space probes - closely observed the planets and moons of the solar system
 Yuri Gagarin - the first man to journey in outer space
 Neil Armstrong - first human to walk in another celestial body, the moon, through the Apollo 11
mission.
 BIOLOGY
 DNA Structure - the double helix was determined and elucidated by Rosalind Franklin, Maurice
Wilkins, James Watson and Francis Crick.
 Vaccine - the first vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk for polio.
 Spanish Flu - killed an approximate of 20 to 100 million people from 1918-1919.
 HIV - a viral disease which arose in Africa and results in AIDS
 ENGINEERING AND PRODUCTION
 Home appliances
 New Materials
 Thousands of Chemicals
 PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
 Albert Einstein - explained physical phenomena and published his Theory of Relativity.
 Wolfgang Pauli - developed the Pauli Exclusion principle, explaining the state of electrons in an
atom in quantum state.
 Werner Heisenberg - key creator of quantum mechanics and published Uncertainty Principle
 Gilbert Lewis - suggested that a chemical bond is a pair of electrons shared by two atoms. Lewis
Structures.
 Niels Bohr - proposed the Bohr model of the atom.
 SOCIAL SCIENCES
 Ivan Pavlov - proposed the theory of Classical Conditioning
 TECHNOLOGY
 Computers - were developed and improved from the classical abacus.
 Intel - developed a microprocessor that made computers smaller, cheaper, and more user-friendly.
 Bill Gates - founded Microsoft, which would eventually turn out to be one of the biggest
corporations in technoscience. Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak introduced Apple in 1976.
 Internet - was created for defense-related research known as ARPANet or Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network.
 Tim Berners Lee - invented the World Wide Web.
 Henry Ford - devised a system of mass production for Model T in 1908 which made cars available
and affordable to the masses.
 Artificial Intelligence - was invented that gave computers the capacity to perform human-like
intellectual processes.
 Modern AI - features specifically designed computers that can respond similarly to humans