Introduction to Science, Technology and

Society
Prepared by: Mrs. Perla P. Separo
Physical Sciences and Math Department
Definitions:
Science developed from
• the observation of regularity in
the natural world:
a) The return of spring after
winter,
b) the setting of the sun at a
day's end,
c) the falling of the ebb tide
after high water.
• Regularity suggests that
nature is not all chaos but
follows rules.
• Science has been a human activity
well before the development of the
first civilizations.
• The oldest civilizations are believed
to have emerged some time before
3000 BC; but excavations
from Catal Hüyük in Anatolia have
shown that the people in today's
Turkey had developed advanced
skills in measurement and accurate
mapping as early as 6200 BC.
Linking Science & Religion
• In early societies scientific study was
undertaken by priests and monks,
and scientific knowledge was taught
in temples and monasteries.
• As civilizations developed, the link
between science and religion
weakened and science became the
domain of philosophy.
• A clear distinction between science
and religion did not develop until well
into the 18th century.
Religion
• Religion, like science, attempts to
establish a system of knowledge about
nature.
• All religions are based on the belief that
gods act in an orderly fashion and make
sure that nature follows rules.
• The human mind is opposed to chaos; it
can only make sense of an ordered world
and finds order to meet its needs, even
where order may not exist.
Separation of Science & Religion

• Science is a system of knowledge based on repeatable

observation and experiment.
• Religion is a system of knowledge based on unverifiable
belief.
• Early societies had only limited means of experimentation,
and their endeavour to discover the laws of nature had to
rely on a range of unverifiable assumptions.
• As human knowledge progressed, the need for
unverifiable assumptions decreased progressively, and
eventually science and religion separated.
• Religious belief can still stimulate
scientific discovery today.
• Einstein's famous words "God does
not play dice" expressed the belief
in a God who loves order, a belief
that influenced his approach to
scientific study and led to new
scientific insight.
• People in early human societies had to spend much of
their time procuring food and shelter and could not afford
to put much effort into non-essential activities. If science
was practiced in the earliest societies it must have been
for a purpose; in other words, science was undertaken for
practical applications. The fruits of science translated into
new technological developments.
• The word technology has
changed its meaning
several times since it
came into use in Europe
during the 17th century. In
the most general terms it
can be defined as the
application of knowledge
about nature to practical
aims of human endeavour.
• If this definition is
accepted it follows that
technological development
occurred at least as early
as first scientific study:
Stone-age humans
realized that flintstone
produces better cutting
tools than sandstone.
• They made that discovery
and used their new
knowledge well before
someone found the
scientific explanation for
the phenomenon.
• Long periods of human history were characterized by the
mastering of technologies such as the smelting of copper,
bronze or iron, without much knowledge of the underlying
scientific principles. In some societies this lack of scientific
understanding gave technology mystical qualities and
lead to misguided activities such as medieval
European alchemy (unscientific attempts to convert lead
or other low value metals into silver or gold) or the quest
for immortality through chemical concoctions in ancient
China.
• Society is the organizational form
in which individuals of a species
live together. The animal world
contains many examples of
different societies. Bears have a
large daily food intake
requirement but live in an
environment where the food
supply is scattered over a wide
region; as a consequence bears
live solitary lives through most of
the year.
• Lions and wolves rely on
collaborative hunting and
therefore live in small hunting
parties. In both cases the internal
structure of their societies is
determined by the environmental
conditions and the survival needs
of the species. Their societies
cannot evolve; bears could not
survive in groups, nor could lions
live solitary lives.
• The earliest human society
was the hunter-gatherer
society. It relied on food
availability from the land and
could therefore only support
very small kinship groups.
Larger gatherings of many
people could be sustained
only on festive (religious)
occasions and then only for a
few days.
• The agricultural society is still
widespread today and probably
the most common society
structure across the globe. It
coexists with the more advanced
form of the urban society, which
developed when the division of
labour reached the stage where
individuals specialized in trades
and had to receive food and
other subsistence in exchange
for products of their work.
 What is a Civilization?
• Civilization requires that the society has developed
a central institution responsible for the
organization of daily life support, for example the
maintenance of a water supply or a transportation
system.

• This requires an advanced administration, which is

not found before the development of cities.

• A civilization is therefore always sustained by an

urban society, although the majority of its people
may (and often do) live in an agricultural society
structure in the countryside.
Description of Different Civilizations

Different civilizations are

described based mainly on
their
• cultural achievements
• spiritual achievements
• artistic achievements
Culture Defined

• The classic definition of culture goes back to 1871, when

the English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor wrote in
his work Primitive Culture that "culture ... is that complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society."
Culture Defined
• Culture is behaviour; it includes language, rituals, social
customs and many other elements of expression.
• Ex. Neolithic Culture- is an artistic expressions of stone-
age humans.
French culture - “French way of life”; which is a major
consideration in the formation of today's nation.

The existence of prehistoric art demonstrates that human

societies developed culture before they developed
civilization.
Neolithic Culture French Culture
• If culture is behaviour, civilization is structure.
• One approach at defining civilization lists a few conditions
that have to be met before a society is considered a
civilization.
• Not all civilizations satisfy all of these criteria, but to be
considered a civilization they have to satisfy the majority
of them.
Conditions for a society to become a Civilization
• 1.the existence of cities;
• 2.advanced division of labour based on specialized
occupational groups;
• 3.social classes, including a ruling class that is exempt
from work for basic subsistence;
• 4.an administration that can collect "social surplus" (taxes
or tribute);
• 5.public buildings not designed as dwellings but for
communal purposes; and
• 6.record keeping in written form.
• Civilizations therefore are large structures that can
contain many cultures.
• The boundaries between different civilizations are
sometimes not well defined, particularly when one
civilization evolved from another.
• It is therefore not possible to state with certitude a
definite number for all civilizations of the world, but the
number is small, much smaller than the number of
languages, nations or art styles.
• There are a few thousand languages and hundreds of
cultures but only about a dozen civilizations.
References

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References
• https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/31/16955858/stone-tool
s-attirampakkam-india-hominins-human-evolution-levalloi
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• https://www.thoughtco.com/prehistoric-stone-tools-catego
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• https://www.lostkingdom.net/medieval-education-in-europ
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