Introduction to

Science,
Technology and
Society
 Science
• Comes from the Latin word Scientia meaning
“knowledge”
• It comes from the latin verb scire meaning “to
know”
• It refers to a systematic and methodical
activity of building and organizing knowledge
about how the universe behaves through
observations, experimentation or both.
According to John Heilbron
• He is a famous American Science historian,
• “modern Science is a discovery as well as an
invention”
• He considered Science as a discovery of regularity
in nature, enough for natural phenomena to be
described by principles and laws.
• He also explained that science required invention
to devise techniques, abstractions, apparatuses
and organizations to describe these natural
regularities and their law like descriptions
 Technology
• Is the application of scientific knowledge,
laws, and principles to produce services,
materials, tools and machines aimed at solving
real world problems.
• It comes from the Greek word “techne”
meaning art, skill or cunning of hand.
 According to Mark Zuckerberg
• “What defines a technological tool?
• One historical definitions – is something that
takes a human’s sense or ability and augments
it makes it more powerful.
• Example: I wear contact lens or eye glasses,
that it is a technology that enhances my
human ability of vision and makes it better.
 According to Wolpert
• He made an interesting comparison between
Science and Technology that is helpful in the study
of their interaction with society.
• He explained that reliable scientific knowledge has
no moral or ethical value. It is meant simply to
explain how nature and the universe work and
that the obligations of scientists., besides studying
the nature of universe, is to explain the possible
uses and applications of such scientific
knowledge.
• Along this line, Wolpert made it clear
that Science is not the same as
technology. Scientists are not responsible
for the application of knowledge in
technology. He further explained that the
very nature of Science is that it is not
possible to predict scientific discoveries
and how these discoveries may be
applied. While scientists are responsible
for the reliable conduct of scientific
inquiry and its honest interpretation
• And dissemination, technological
applications of science are influenced by
other sectors such as politics and
governance, religion and business. With
this distinction, one can surmise the
need for the study of the various ways in
which science and technology act and
are enacted in society. This is a
particularly timely and relevant concern
because of the advancements in science
and technology today.
• Nowadays, advancements in science and
technology have become pervasive. They are
manifested in the activities that humans
pursue and the tools they use everyday. The
beauty of this is that an advancement builds
upon himself. As such, humans today live
more productive and more exciting lives than
their generation’s children and the children of
their children have the chance to lead even
better lives than this generation already does.
• However, the dynamism and immensity of
scientific and technological progress also pose
challenges and drawbacks to the way human live.
The introduction of machines tremendously cut
the need for human workforce and gave rise to
questions about whether machines will eventually
replace humans. The invention of drugs that cured
the previously incurable diseases introduced new
strains of bacteria and viruses that are resistant to
the very same drugs that once fought them-take
an antibiotic-resistant of gonorrhea as an
example.
• The rise of social media drastically
changed the way humans communicate,
interact and share information, however,
this tends to put people’s privacy at risk.
Indeed, science and technology have
served a predominantly double-edged
function. This is succinctly captured in a
famous line of popular American
scientist, Carl Sagan, quoted in Tom’s
Head’s book.
 According to Carl Sagan

• “We live in a society absolutely

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”.
• As problems in Science and Technology
continue to rise and become more observable,
the need to pay attention to their interactions
with various aspects of human life. e.g social,
political and economic, becomes ever more
necessary.
• How the different aspects of society shape and
influence the progression and further
development of science and technology in the
area of concern of a relatively new academic
discipline called Science, Technology and
Society.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
• young field that combines previously
independent and older disciplines, such as
history of science, philosophy of science and
sociology of science.
• As an academic field (Harvard Univ. of
Kennedy School) traces its roots from the
interwar period and the start of the Cold War
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
• It was during this period when historians and
scientists found interest in the interconnections of
scientific knowledge, technological systems and
society.
• The rise of STS as an academic field resulted from
the recognition that many schools today do not
really prepare students to respond critically,
reflectively and proactively to the challenges
posed by science and technology in the
contemporary world.
 STS in general
• - applies methods drawn from history, philosophy
and sociology to study the nature of science and
technology and ultimately judge their value and
place in society.
• -seeks to bridge the gap between two traditionally
exclusive cultures- humanities (interpretive) and
natural science (rational)- so that humans will be
able to better confront the moral, ethical and
existential dilemmas brought by the continued
developments in science and technology.
 References
• Science, Technology and Society
• Quinto and Nieva