MODULE 2

HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN THE COURSE OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
This lesson will give light to the development of Science and
scientific ideas in the heart of the society. It explores the dynamic
interactions between different societal factors on science and
technology. Along with the discussion of this antecedent during the
ancient period, Middle Ages and modern ages, it also discussed
Philippine invention and innovations. It is goal of this lesson to
articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and
technology.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the paradigm shift through history
2. Explain how science and technology affected the society and
vice versa.
3. Identify inventions and discoveries that changed the world
over the course of history
4. Explain how the industrial revolution changed the ways of
human life

The development of science and technology is as old as

mankind. From the genesis of time Science has existed. It is
always interwoven with the society. It indeed plays major roles in
the everyday life.
The birth of technology was when the first human-like species,
Homo habilis made sharp cutting edges from stone. Later, Homo
neanderthals or cave men used tools and weapons and were the
very successful ancestors of Homo sapiens.
Many features of civilization emerged gradually as agricultural
economics developed. The invention of tools increased agricultural
production, which led both to new job specializations. A more
complex economy also created new needs for more formal
governments and better methods communication and record
keeping.
 ANCIENT TIMES

The Sumerian Civilization

The first civilization emerged in Sumer, the southern region of

ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq and Kuwait) about 3500 B.C.E.
Between the desert of Arabian Peninsula, running from the eastern
Mediterranean cost to the plains of great Tigris and Euphrates
rivers lays a fertile soil that generated several features
characteristic of civilization including system of farming, writing,
expanded cities, complex social structure, distinctive religious
beliefs and artistic styles. It was so flat that it was open to invasion,
leading to the rise and fall of the empire.

Many technical innovations are attributed to the Sumerians.

Among these are:
1. Cuneiform is the first form of writing
developed by Sumerian. It was a system that
utilizes word pictures and triangular symbols,
baked on clay tablets, which were turned into
symbols and gradually transformed into
phonetic elements. It recorded data,
generated scientific knowledge and promoted
trade.

2. The wheel around 4500 BC the wheel and

axle combination became the most important
invention of all time. The Sumerians were able
to invent the wheels not intended for
transportation but for farm work and food
processes.
 SAILBOAT

3. The first successful efforts to control the flood

of water and to grow crops were developed by
Sumerian. An irrigation system was usually
made up of canals, dikes, basins, dams, and
levees. Water was stored in basins or dikes,
along the fields for the crops. The canals,
levees, and dams were used to stop flooding.

4. Cities and temple complexes, with their

famous ziggurats were all built using oven-
baked bricks of clay which were then painted.
A ziggurat is a type of massive structure and
it has the form of a terraced compound of
successively receding stories or levels.

5. The invention of the plow helped them

provide their city-states with a stable food
supply. Before farmers invented the plow, they
used animal horns or pointed sticks to poke
holes in the earth.

Source:
https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/mesopotamia-history/top-10-
sumerian-inventions-followed-many-civilizations/

Babylonian Civilization
A civilization derived from Sumerian culture around
1800 B.C.E. the Babylonian Empire arose and again
unified much of Mesopotamia. This empire was headed by
Hammurabi which sets the Hammurabi’s law. The
Babylonians went on to greatly influence Mesopotamian
culture. More importantly, they had a great impact on the
history of western civilization. Among the most important
contributions of Babylonia are the first ever positional
number system; accomplishments in advanced
mathematics; laying the foundation for all western
astronomy; and impressive works in art,
architecture and literature.
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was
built on the banks of the Euphrates river. It may never
have existed except in the imagination of Greek poets and
historians although archaeologists claim to have found the
remains of its walls. Most scholars attribute its
construction to King Nebuchadnezzar II to console his
Median wife, Amytis, who missed the mountains and
greenery of her home land. The Gardens didn't really
"hang" but were built on terraces which were part of the
ziggurat and was irrigated by water lifted up from the
Euphrates. There is not a single mention of a "hanging
garden" in the Babylon cuneiform record but this is
probably because it was considered part of the ziggurat
structure and not a separate entity in itself.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylo
n
Egyptian Civilization
Egyptian civilization formed by 3000 B.C.E along the
Nile River. They benefited from trade and technological
influence from Mesopotamia, but they produced a very
different society and culture. More stable that Sumer and
protected from the main invasion route by desert, Egyptian
civilization flourished for more than 2000 years before
beginning to decline about 1000 B.C.E.
Many inventions and developments of Science and
Technology are attributed to Egyptian. Among these are:
1. The Egyptians kept written records
using a writing system known as
hieroglyphics. Some writing was
preserved on stone or clay, and
some was preserved on papyrus, a
paper-like product made from reed
fiber. Papyrus is very fragile, but
due to the hot and dry climate of
Egypt, a few papyrus documents
have survived.

2. Building pyramid, such as the

Great Pyramid and the Sphinx in
Giza, and temples for different
gods required a centralized
government that could command
vast resources.
3. Egyptians cosmetics reflected
their social class, so they devoted a
lot of time to their personal
appearance. Wigs were often worn
not only for style purposes but also
as protection as people needed to
protect their skin from the dry
climate and strong sun.

Mummification is a process in
which the skin and
4. Flesh of a corpse can be
preserved. They wanted to
preserve their pharaoh because
they believe in afterlife. When a
pharaoh died, his life force would
leave his body, but only
temporarily. It was important to
preserve the body because the
spirit would return.

5. The Egyptians were among the

first to divide their days into
parts. They invented the first
portable clock which was so
lightweight that people could
carry it with them.

Source:
https://www.an
cienthistorylists
.com/egypt-
history/top-10-
inventions-
discoveries-
ancient-egypt/

GREEK CIVILIZATION
Greek civilization began to take shaped around 800 B.C.E.
on the peninsula and island of Greece and in the
surrounding territory in the eastern Mediterranean.

1. Water mills have been used all

over the world for the purpose of
metal shaping, agriculture and,
most importantly, milling. This in
turn led to the production of
edible food staples like rice,
cereals, pulses, flour, and so on.

2. Odometer, measures the

distance traveled by a vehicle
such as a bicycle or
automobile. It was invented by
Archimedes of Syracuse

3. Cartography is the study and

practice of making maps. It has
 played an important role in travel
and navigation since ancient
times.
4.

5. Hippocrates was an ancient

Greek physician of the Classical
age and was considered one of
the most outstanding figures in
the history of medicine. He was
referred to as the father of
Western medicine in
recognition of his lasting
contributions to the field and was
the founder of the Hippocratic
School of Medicine.

Source: https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/greek-history/

ROMAN CIVILIZATION
Roman and Greek achievements in science and
technology were closely intertwined but somewhat Roman
had more focused on engineering. Roman used and
copied Greek Science, monumental architectural styles,
sculpture and drama.

1. Romans are the first to set an

arch on top of tall pedestal.
These arches went on to
become pivotal engineering
 constructions that the foundation
for building bridges, aqueducts,
sewer, amphitheater and
coliseum

2. The first Roman aqueducts were

built around 312 BC and from
then on took off as an
engineering marvel that used the
downhill flow of water to supply
the city centers.

3. Roman numerals originated in

ancient Rome. Constituting one
of the most popular numbering
systems still in use today, the
first use of these numbers dates
back to somewhere between 900
and 800 BC.

4. Rome was the first to establish a

sophisticated system of
circulating written news which it
published the Acta Diurna
(“Daily Events”). The majority of
the content in the Acta Diurna
usually comprised of political
news, trials, military campaigns,
executions and major scandals.
5. The revolutionary concrete
developed by the Romans
helped to build impeccable and
lasting structures, playing a huge
part in the architectural
accession of ancient Rome.

Source:
https://www.ancie
nthistorylists.com/
rome-history/top-
10-ancient-
roman-inventions/
CHINESE CIVILIZATION
Chinese civilization started along Huanghe or yellow
river. Established by nomadic warriors and lasted for six
centuries. The vital irrigation systems that earlier
inhabitants of the yellow river basin had begun were
greatly expanded and improved. They also developed a
system of writing that has proved critical identity, unity and
civilized development among the chines
Science and Technology development arose in this era.
Among these are:
1. Silk was widely used in a variety
of sectors including writing,
fishing, and for musical
instruments. It was dominantly
used by emperors and high-
class society but later it spread
to the rest of the population.
3.

2. Tea was discovered by the

Chinese emperor Shennong in

2737 BC. During a march, while
they were resting, his servant
prepared some boiling water for
him. A brown leaf fell into the
water and the water turned
brown. The servant presented it
to the emperor, he drank it and
found it refreshing.
 3. The Chinese used silk or paper and lightweight
bamboo framework to make kites. Paper kites were
being used to carry messages for rescue missions, to
test the wind, measure distance, and for military
communication

4. The Chinese considered south

their cardinal direction, and the
original compass was created
by the Chinese using a
lodestone to point south. This
was called the south pointer.

5. Invention of the wheelbarrow

can be credited to prime minister
Zhuge Liangof Shu Han. It was
created the wheelbarrow to carry
military weapons and to move
injured and dead soldiers from
the battlefield.

6. Han dynasty invented the first

seismograph called “Houfeng
Didong” to measure the
movements of the earth and
seasonal winds.
7. The first chemical explosive
known as a gunpowder or black
powder was made from sulfur,
charcoal, and potassium nitrate
(saltpeter). Gunpowder wasn’t a
sudden invention. The Chinese
used gunpowder and
gunpowder-based weaponry as
a military defense.

8. The Great Wall of China was

built by the first emperor of
China, Qin Shi Huang to protect
the country from northern
invaders.

Source:
https://www.ancie
nthistorylists.com/
china-history/top-
18-ancient-
chinese-
inventions/

MEDIEVAL AGES

The Medieval Era, often called The Middle Ages or

the Dark Ages, began just before 500 A.D. following a
great loss of power throughout Europe by the Roman
Emperor. The Middle Ages span roughly 1,000 years,
ending around 1450 A.D.

1. Building great Cathedrals as there was a huge rise in

Christianity
The role of the cathedral is
chiefly to serve God in the
community, through its
hierarchical and
organizational position in
the church structure. The
building itself, by its
physical presence,
symbolizes both the glory of
God and of the church.

https://www.google.com/search?q=image+of+great+cathe
dral
2. Building great castles for local nobility

A castle was a fortress built

to protect strategic locations
from enemy attack or to
 serve as a military base for
invading armies.
People seeking protection
from invading armies built
villages around established
castles. Local nobility took

the safest residences for

themselves, inside
the castle walls.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-castle-architecture

3. Astrolabe was an important Medieval invention, They

were used by navigators, astronomers who studied the
movement of celestial bodies

https://www.google.com/search?q=image+of+astrolabe&rl
z=

4. Printing. Spreading knowledge and information was a

very slow process before the invention of typography.
Johannes Gutenberg developed the first mechanical
printing machine in the 1440s. The first printed book was
the Bible in 1456 with a run of 150 copies.
 5. The telescope was
invented by Dutchman
Hans Lippershey. In 1610,
using his improved design,
Galileo Galilei was able to
prove that the Earth
revolved around the Sun.
This confirmed the ideas of
the Polish astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus but it
angered the Catholic
Church who had adopted
the idea that the Earth was
at the center of everything.
https://www.google.co
m/image+of+telescop
e+during+medieval+p
eriod&tbm=isch&sour
ce
6. The microscope Looking at small things became
possible when a Dutch maker of spectacles, Hans
Janssen and his son, put glass lenses together in 1590 to
make a primitive microscope. Anton van Leeuwenhoek
took this invention a step further in 1676 with a
magnification of 270 times and discovered tiny single-
celled creatures in pond water. Ultimately, this helped our
understanding of microorganisms and disease.

https://www.google.com/search=image+of+microscope+in
+the+mwdieval
7. Lightning conductor
In1752, Benjamin Franklin, the
American statesman,
philosopher and scientist
proved that lightning was a
form of electricity when he
 flew a kite in a thunderstorm.
Around 1754, Franklin and the
Czech scientist, ProkopDiviš
independently developed the
lighting conductor to protect
buildings from being hit and
damaged by lighting.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNY

8. Mechanical clock
Among the traditional time-keeping devices used at
the time were water clocks, candle clocks, the use of
astrolabes for determining time and sundials. It was
during the High Middle Ages that new methods of time-
keeping were discovered and new instruments discovered
for the purpose.

8. Eyeglasses.
When eyeglasses were first produced, they were known
as iteros ab oculis ad legend or “glasses that
are for reading. Physical evidence for the use of
spectacles during the Concave glass is used to correct
nearsightedness, so that the rays of light are diverged.
Convex lenses are used to aid the correction of
farsightedness, so that the light rays are converged.
Cylindrical lenses used to correct astigmatism were
invented by Sir George Airy in 1825.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNY_
eye+glassestheir+uses+inmiddle+age

MODERN ERA
The First Industrial Revolution
The Modern period is a cultural movement that has a
lasting impact on the world. The Romantic period provoked
everyone to rebellion and two of the greatest revolutions,
the American and French, were an outcome of that period.
Thus, the Modern period was born when the Romantics
faded out and this shift in culture changed the world
forever. Modernism changed the way people lived in a
number of different reasons, but there are three that stood
out from the rest.
 The Modern Era changed the world through
literature, producing some of the greatest works in history,
through technology and science, this new scientific
movement invented groundbreaking technology, and lastly
through wars, people realized that being ruled by one all-
powerful monarchy is not the way they want to live. A lot of
credit can go to the Enlightenment and Romantic periods,
but the Modern period shaped the world so radically that it
would not be the same without it.
Modern history is the history of the world beginning
after the Middle Ages. Generally the term "modern history"
refers to the history of the world since the advent of the
Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th
and 18th centuries and the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution.

The early modern period is roughly around the 1500s -

1800s. It begins with European exploration and ends
around the period of the French Revolution. The late
modern period follows the early modern period and ends
around World War 2.

https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/steps/education/msc/cours
es/162261sciencetechnmodernsociet/
The First Industrial Revolution
Steam power. This era saw the development of steam
engines to power factory machinery. Heating water in a
boiler to make steam to power a vehicle was a major
technological advance. James Watt is recognized as the
inventor of the steam engine in 1765. Water could be
pumped out of mines and industrial processes speeded
up. George Stephenson’s, Rocket was the first locomotive
to pull heavy loads a long distance. This led to the rapid
expansion of railways throughout Britain and the world.
The combination of iron and steam paved the way for the
great Victorian engineering projects of Isambard Kingdom
Brunel. He designed bridges, tunnels, viaducts and ships.

https/www..historyhit,com/key imventions

https://www.google.com/search1C1CHNphotography
Photography is the art, application and practice of
creating durable images by recording light or other
electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means
of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-
sensitive material such as photographic film.

A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily

separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much
greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The
fibers are then processed into various cotton goods such
as linens, while any undamaged cotton is used largely for
textiles like clothing.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYCotton+gin
&stick
Typewriters were a very good way to write books.
Typewriters were much more comfortable than writing in
hand. This helped the industrial revolution by allowing
people to write manuals for the workers and mass produce
them much more easier.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz+impact+of+typewriter
 In the 1880s, when the typewriter was first adopted in
many offices, America was a country in the throes of rapid
change. The way in which the typewriter was adopted
reflected changes in w omen's roles, new ideas about the
organization of work, and the rapidly growing corporations
of the day.

Telegraph
Samuel F. B. Morse created the telegraph in 1836.
This invention changed the face of communication. Instant
communication became possible between the east and
west coasts and allowed people to know what was
happening. This would revolutionize media and personal.
It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid
between stations communication.
The telegraph revolutionized long-distance
communication.
Each new communications technology has had a
greater impact on society than the one before.
The telegraph changed society indirectly, by transforming
the workings of government and industry. But the
telephone and radio had direct impacts on people's
working and social lives.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYAbS35jACg
&q=i+imaget+of+telegraph
Sewing Machine

Elias Howe created the sewing machine in 1844.

This forever changed the way clothes were made and
allowed the mass production of clothing. Before this it was
most common for women to make all of the clothes for
their families. Only the very wealthy could afford to have a
tailor or seamstress make custom clothing of the latest
fashion. It was later improved upon and patented by Isaac
Singer

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYwAOgib6w
Bw&qsewing+machine

Power Loom

Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom in 1785.

It dramatically changed the way cloth was woven by
making it much easier. It would take almost another fifty
years and several alterations by other inventors before it
would become commonly used.
The power loom, which partially automated textile
weaving, was one of the most important inventions of the
Industrial Revolution. The loom and
associated equipment went into operation in 1817, and
with Lyman's encouragement, Gilmour made his design
freely available to other mechanics
https://www.google.com/search?q=power+loom+image&rl
z=1C1CHNY
Power looms reduced demand for skilled hand weavers,
initially causing reduced wages and unemployment.
Protests followed their introduction. For example, in 1816
two thousand rioting Calton weavers tried to
destroy power loom mills and stoned the workers.

THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Bulb. In 1879, Thomas

Edison’s invented electric
light bulbs for cheaper, opt
for clean and convenient
electric lights. To sell bulbs,
energy was needed, so
Edison’s Electric
Illumination Company built
their own power station in
New York.
https://www.google.
com/search?rlz=1C
1CHNYiimage+of+b
ulb+in+second+indu
strial+revolution&tm

The telephone. This is an invention that made money.

Alexander Graham Bell was the first in the race to patent a
machine in 1876 that you could use to talk to someone on
the other side of the world. Admittedly, it was initially from
one room to another. The message was “Mr. Watson,
come here, I want you”. A year later in 1877 he set up his
company and demonstrated long distance calls.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYimage+of+t
elephone+in+second+industrial+revolution

The motor car. Until the 1860s all prototype motor cars
were steam driven. German inventor Nicolas Otto created
an improved internal combustion engine in 1876 and this
is still the way cars work today. In 1885, the first car, the
Benz Patent Motorwagen, was developed by Karl Benz. It
was a long time before cars became common. Petrol, a
cleaning fluid, was only available from the chemist.
Famous names such as Rolls Royce and Henry Ford
developed the technology; Rolls Royce for the rich and
Henry Ford for the man in the street.
 https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNY_
imageof+motor i+second industrial+revolution
The movies. It has been only just over one hundred years
since the first movie, or film, was shown by the brothers
Auguste and Louis Lumière at the Grand Café in Paris.
The terrifying film was entitled The Arrival of a Train at
Ciotat Station. In 1889, George Eastman pioneered
celluloid film with holes punched in the side so that the
movie camera could show the film precisely frame by
frame.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNY_image+of
+movies++in+second+industrial+revolution
X-rays Science is impressive when something is
discovered that cannot be seen. In 1895, German
physicist Wilhelm Rontgen working with electrical
discharges in glass tubes noticed that there was a faint
glow on a nearby screen. These rays were invisible and
could pass through most materials. He also recorded them
on photographic paper and thus the first X-ray image was
developed. He quickly realized the medical potential of his
discovery. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in
1896 while trying to find more out about X-rays. Marie
Curie, a Polish born French chemist and physicist and two
times Nobel Prize winner, is best remembered for her
research into radioactivity and new radioactive elements.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNY-
QaWha+image+of++x-ray+machine
Communications Radio waves travel in all directions at
an incredible 300 000 km per second. The German
physicist Heinrich Hertz was the first to prove they existed
but it was Guglielmo Marconi who set up the world’s first
radio stations to transmit and receive Morse code. In
1896, he sent the first message across the Atlantic from
Cornwall to Newfoundland. He was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Physics in 1909. It was not until 1915 that
engineers were able to transmit sound effectively. The first
clear television pictures to be transmitted were sent by
Scottish-born John Logie Baird. He founded the Baird
Television Company Limited and worked on programs for
the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYof+commu
nication+radio+in+second+industrial+revolution

Flight. At the turn of the century, in 1903, two bicycle

repairmen from Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright built and
flew the first really successful airplane near Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina. From that time progress was rapid and the
military advantages of flight were realized in WWI.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYi+image+of
communication+radio
Rockets and space flights. The earliest rockets were
used in China in the 11th century but by the 19th century
speed and accuracy were much improved. Knowledge of
astronomy meant that scientists knew the relative
movements of the planets in relation to the Earth. A
Russian mathematics teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was
the first person to draw up plans for space stations and air
locks to allow space walks. He correctly calculated that a
rocket would have to travel at 8 km per second to leave
the atmosphere and that liquid rocket fuel would be
essential. American scientist Robert Goddard not knowing
of Tsiolkovsky’s ideas, independently developed liquid
fueled rockets from 1926. Ultimately, NASA took up the
challenge but the Russians eventually won the race to put
a man into orbit. Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth in 1961. In
the US, NASA scientists redressed the balance in the
space race with their moon landing in 1969.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYspace+fligh
ts+in+second+industrial+revolution
The atomic bomb. Science and technological advances
can be seen as good or bad. The invention of gunpowder
must have seemed like that. In 1932, physicists John
Cockcroft and Earnest Walton did the impossible. They
proved Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and unlocked
the secrets of the atomic nucleus. Splitting the atom was a
brilliant scientific achievement. However, It allowed
scientists to develop the atomic bomb that was used to
destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to end the WWII
in 1945.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHNYatomic+bo
mb++in+second+industrial+revolution

THE THIRD SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL REVOLUTION

After the WWII new discoveries and advances in
science and technology came thick and fast. Plastics were
developed for the first time. In 1949, the first practical
programmed electronic computer ran mathematical
problems.

It fitted into one room! In the 1960s, the electronic silicon

chip was invented, computers became smaller and more
powerful. In 1984, the CD was born and the digital
revolution began.
The worldwide web has given us access to billions of
documents with information and images as well as online
shopping and banking.
Mobile telephone technology means we have instant
contact with friends and family. During this period, there
have also been huge advances in genetics since the
discover of the structure of DNA in 1953
. Today, genetic engineering and nanotechnology show
fast growth trends and, also, are big business