What is Science Technology and Society?

TECHNOLOGY Techne (art, craft, skill) Logos

(word) Technology is the application of science
Science and Technology studies or science, and creation of systems, processes and objects
technology and society studies (both designed to help humans in their daily
abbreviated STS) is the study of how society, activities.
politics and culture affect scientific research
and technological innovation, and how these, SOCIETY it is derived from the Latin word
“socius” which means companionship or
in turn, affect society, politics and culture.
friendship. Society is the sum total of our
Is the study of STS important? interactions as humans, including the
interactions that we engage in to understand
1.To understand how science, technology and the nature of things and to create things
social, cultural and materials elements influence
the formation of new practices, new ways of THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
understanding and new institutions important 1. alter the way people live, connect,
in understanding contemporary postmodern communicate and transact, with
society. profound effects on economic
development;
2. New technology and knowledge is 2. 2. key drivers to development, because
fundamental to gauge and imagine the direction technological and scientific revolutions
and what is the possible future. underpin economic advances,
improvements in health systems,
3.The interaction between science and
education and infrastructure
technology with society is a very important field 3. . have the power to better the lives of
of inquiry which not only leads us to understand poor people in developing countries
not only their relevance but also their limitation 4. differentiators between countries that
and the problem they create. are able to tackle poverty effectively by
growing and developing their
SCIENCE
economies, and those that are not
>Science comes from Latin word “scientia” 5. engine of growth
meaning knowledge. 6. interventions for cognitive
enhancement, proton cancer therapy
Science is an evolving body of knowledge that is and genetic engineering
based on theoretical expositions and
experimental and empirical activities that
generates universal truths. B. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN THE
WORLD FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO 600 BC
IT IS AN IDEA
Science during ancient times involved
IT IS PERSONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY practical arts like healing practices and
IT IS A COURSE OR FIELS OF STUDY metal tradition. Some of the earliest
records from history indicate that 3,000
IT IS AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY years before Christ, the ancient Egyptians
already had reasonably sophisticated
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION medical practices. Sometime around 2650
- is an era of enlightenment and B.C., for example, a man named Imhotep
intellectualization that nurtured the was renowned for his knowledge of
developments in the field of mathematics, medicine.
physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry that Most historians agree that the heart of
changed the observations of society about the Egyptian medicine was trial and error.
environment.
Egyptian doctors would try one remedy, and made from medicinal plants and chemical
if it worked, they would continue to use it. If compounds. Islamic doctors describe
a remedy they tried didn’t work, the patient diseases like smallpox and measles, and
might die, but at least the doctors learned challenged classical Greek medical
that next time they should try a different knowledge.
remedy. Despite the fact that such practices
sound primitive, the results were,
sometimes, surprisingly effective. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ANCIENT
“PAPYRUS” The papyrus is an ancient form CHINA
of paper, made from the papyrus plant, a Ancient China gave the world the Four
reed which grows in the marshy areas Great Inventions that include the compass,
around the Nile river. world. Papyrus was gunpowder, papermaking and printing.
used as a writing material as early as 3,000 These were considered as among the most
BC in ancient Egypt, and continued to be important technological advances and
used to some extent until around 1100 AD. were only known to Europe 1000 years later
“COMPASS” In ancient China, the compass or during the end of the Middle ages.
was first used for worship, fortune-telling
and geomancy - the art of aligning
buildings. In the late 11th or early 12th THE RENAISSANCE (1300 AD 1600 AD)-
century, Chinese sailors adopted the it was considered by many as the Golden
compass for astronomical and terrestrial Age of Science. During the Renaissance
navigation, heralding a new era in the period, great advances occurred in
history of navigation. geography, astronomy, chemistry, physics,
mathematics, anatomy, manufacturing,
and engineering
THE ADVENT OF SCIENCE (600BC TO 500
AD) “PRINTING PRESS” The most important
technological advance of all in this period
The ancient Greeks were the early thinkers was the development of printing, with
and as far as historians can tell, they were movable metal type, about the mid 15th
the first true scientists. Scientific thought in century in Germany by Johannes
Classical Antiquity becomes tangible from Gutenberg
the 6thcentury BC in pre-Socratic
philosophy (Thales, Pythagoras). In circa 385
BC, Plato founded the Academy. With THE ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD (1715 A.D-
Plato's student Aristotle begins the 1789 A.D)
"scientific revolution" of the Hellenistic
period culminating in the 3rd to 2nd The Enlightenment Period or the Age of
centuries with scholars such as Reason was characterized by radical
Eratosthenes, Euclid, Aristarchus of Samos, reorientation in science, which emphasized
Hipparchus and Archimedes. reason over superstition and science over
blind faith.
ANATOMY, BOTANY, ZOOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY,
MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY. Isaac Newton’s epochal accomplishment in
his “Principia Mathematica” consists in the
ISLAMIC GOLDEN AGE comprehension of a diversity of physical
There was great progress in medicine during phenomena – in particular the motions of
this period. Al-Biruni, and Avicenna heavenly bodies, together with the motions
produced books that contain descriptions of sublunary bodies
of the preparation of hundred of drugs
Industrial Revolution (1760 - 1840) - ROBOTICS
- 3D PRINTING
The main features involved in the Industrial
Revolution were technological, The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of
socioeconomic, and cultural. The describing the blurring of boundaries
technological changes included the between the physical, digital, and
following: biological worlds. It’s a fusion of advances
in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the
(1) the use of new basic materials, chiefly Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing,
iron and steel, genetic engineering, computing, and other
(2) the use of new energy sources, technologies
including both fuels and motive power, such
as coal, the steam engine, electricity,
petroleum, and the internal combustion C. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE
engine. AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES
(3) the invention of new machines, such as PRE-SPANISH ERA
the spinning jenny and the power loom that
permitted increased production with a There is not much written about the
smaller expenditure of human energy, Philippines during pre-colonial time but
analysis from archeological artifacts
(4) a new organization of work known as revealed that the first inhabitants in the
the factory system, which entailed archipelago who settled in Palawan and
increased division of labor and Batangas around 40 000 years ago have
specialization of function, made simple tools or weapons of stone
which eventually developed techniques for
(5) important developments in sawing, drilling and polishing hard stones
transportation and communication,
including the steam locomotive, steamship, SPANISH COLONIAL ERA
automobile, airplane, telegraph, and radio,
and The beginnings of modern science and
technology in the country can be traced
(6) the increasing application of science to back to the Spanish regime because they
industry. established schools, hospitals and started
scientific research that had important
consequences in the development of the
2oth CENTURY SCIENCE: PHYSICS AND country
INFORMATION AGE Dr. Jose Rizal is the epitome of the
The 20th century was an important century Renaissance man in the Philippine context.
in the history of the sciences. It generated He is a scientist, a doctor, an engineer (he
entirely novel insights in all areas of designed and built a water system in
research – often thanks to the introduction Dapitan), a journalist, a novelist, an urban
of novel research methods – and it planner and a hero. Being a doctor and
established an intimate connection scientist, he had extensive knowledge on
between science and technology. medicine and was able to operate his
mother’s blinding eye. When he was
deported in Dapitan, his knowledge on
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE 4TH science and engineering was translated into
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION technology by creating a water system that
improved the sanitation of households in
- VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) the area
- BIOTECHNOLOGY
 initiated in June 2012 to help manage risks
associated with natural hazards and
AMERICAN PERIOD disasters. The project developed hydromet
during the American occupation and was sensors and high-resolution geo hazard
made possible by the government’s maps, which were generated by light
extensive public education system from detection and ranging technology for flood
elementary to tertiary schools. The modeling.
establishment of various public tertiary Another hope lies in the so-called Intelligent
schools like the Philippine Normal School Operation Center Platform. Established
and University of the Philippines provided through a collaboration between the local
the needs for professionally trained government of Davao City and IBM
Filipinos in building the government’s Philippines Inc., the center resulted in the
organization and programs. creation of a dashboard that allows
COMMONWEALTH PERIOD authorized government agencies, such as
police, fire and anti-terrorism task force, to
When the Americans granted independence use analytics software for monitoring events
and the Commonwealth government was and operations in real time
established, the Filipinos were busy in
working towards economic reliance but
acknowledge the importance and vital role
of science and technology for the economic
development of the country by declaring
that “The State shall promote scientific
research and invention

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SINCE

INDEPENDENCE
During these times, the government gave
greater importance to science and
technology. The government declared in
Section 9(1) of the 1973 Philippine
Constitution that the “advancement of
science and technology shall have priority
in the national development.
HOPES IN PHILIPPINE SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
The micro-satellite. In April 2016, the
country launched into space its first micro-
satellite called Diwata-1. It was designed,
developed and assembled by Filipino
researchers and engineers under the
guidance of Japanese experts
The country also has the Nationwide
Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH),
which uses the Lidar (light detection and
ranging) technology. Project NOAH was