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Week 2 - Introduction to Science, Technology, and
Society
SCIENCE
- System of knowledge of the natural world gained
though the scientific method
- Primarily interested in the acquisition of knowledge
- Preoccupied with the “know-why” resulting in new
knowledge usually disseminated through science
papers
- A kind of human cultural activity which is practiced
by people known as scientist (Natural philosophers
and savants)
- Complex system of people, skills, facilities,
knowledge, material, or physical resources and
technologies devoted and directed to the inquiry
into and understanding of the natural world
- Science as a modern science is the dynamic
cumulative inquiry into nature using the scientific
method
- Deals with the natural world
- Concerned with that is (exist) in the natural world
- Focuses on research
- Discovering natural phenomena (knowledge)
Branches of Science
Scientific Method
1. Observation
2. Question
3. Hypothesis
4. Experiment
5. Analysis
6. Conclusion
Technology
- Comes from the Greek word tekhne meaning “art or
craft” and logia meaning a “subject or interest
- Practical application of knowledge
- Science of industrial arts and manufacture
- Material products or result of human fabrication
and making
- A kind of human cultural activity or endeavor which
is practiced by people called technologist which
include engineers, craftsmen, and machinists
- A complex system of knowledge, skills, methods,
tools, organization, facilities, materials, ph ysical
resources devoted and directed to the research,
development, production as well operation of a new
or improved product, process or services in a
reproducible way
- Is concerned with the know-how resulting in a new
product or process distributed for commercial
consumption or appropriated though patents
- Deals with how human modify, change, alter or
control the natural world
- Concerned with what can be or should be designed,
made, or developed from natural world and
substances to satisfy human needs and want
- Focuses on development and innovation
- Inventing new or better tools and materials
Classification of Technology based on a
country’s level of technological sophistication
1. First Wave Technology
- Agricultural age- comprising the pre-industrial
technologies which are labor intensive, small-
scale, decentralized and based on empirical rather
than scientific knowledge
2. Second Wave Technology
- Comprising the industrial technologies which were
developed since the time of industrial revolution
until the end of WWII.
- Usually capital-intensive technologies and are
essentially based on the classical principles of
classical physics, chemistry, and biology
3. Third Wave Technology
- Comprising the post-industrial or the high
technologies which are called science-intensive
since they are based on the modern scientific
knowledge of the structures, properties and
interaction of molecules, atoms, and nuclei.
