Science

Technology
&
Society

Instructor: Ma. Ysalou R. Respicio

 Chapter 1
The Nature and Relationships of
Science, Technology and Society
Learning Outcomes:

 Identify the importance of studying science, technology, and

society;
 Explain how science and technology relates to a problem of
societal concern; and
 Develop a deeper interest in the field of science, technology and
society.
 Define and Analyze the process of Scientific Method, Scientific
Processes, and Scientific Traits and Values.
What is Science?
Science came from the Latin word “scientia” which means “knowledge”.
Science has traditionally been defined as an organized and systematized
body of knowledge based on facts. These facts are determined by an exact
set of procedures popularly known as scientific method
 Scientists’ definition of science:
– G. Gore (1878) - Science is the interpretation of nature and man is the interpreter.
– A. Einstein (1940) - Science is the attempts to make the chaotic diversity of our sense
experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought.
– Calleja (1987) – Science is a scholarly activity whose province is the material world including
man, but excluding his non-biological activities.
– Huxley (1974) – Science is common sense…the necessary mode of working of the human
mind.
– Simpson (1974) – Science is not a body of facts, not a method or a technique…science is, or
perhaps has, certainly a point of view, as systematic orientation, application to all material
aspects of our world, in everyone’s daily activities as well as in a laboratory.
– Zimman (1976) – deplored that Science is viewed as the product of the mind that tends to
ignore the body
– Posadas (1982) – Science is the dynamic cumulative system of verifiable concepts, principles,
methods, laws, theories and processes which seek to describe, understand and predict natural
phenomena.
– Caoili (1968) – Science is an activity concerned with the
systematic understanding and explanation of the laws of nature,
centering on research toward discovery or production of new
knowledge as the end result.
– Campbell (1974) – Science is the study of those judgments
concerning which universal agreement can .be obtained
How do we define Science as a
PROCESS?
– a. Concerned with discovering relationships between observable
phenomena in terms of theories.
– b. Systematized theoretical inquiries
– c. It seeks for truth about nature.
– d. It is determined by observation, hypothesis, measurement,
analysis and experimentation
– e. It is the description and explanation of the development of
knowledge
– f. It is the study of the beginning and end of everything that exist.
– g. Conceptualization of new ideas, from the abstract to the particular.
– h. Kind of human cultural activity.
SCIENCE AS A PRODUCT
 SCIENCE as a PRODUCT

a. Systematized, organized body of knowledge based on facts or truths

observations.
b. A set of logical and empirical methods which provide for the systematic
observation of empirical phenomena.
c. Source of cognitive authority.
d. Concerned with verifiable concepts
e. A product of the mind
f. It is the variety of knowledge, people, skills, organizations, facilities,
techniques, physical resources, methods and technologies that taken together
and in relation with one another.
Why are we curious?
– It is almost an instinct for us humans to try to understand what
our senses perceived because of our highly developed mental
skills. These are the mental skills to observe, infer, measure,
classify, experiment, and to communicate. Through the ages, our
ancestors learned to use these skills in a methodical manner to
investigate the ‘how,’ the ‘why,’ and the ‘when’ of natural events.
This methodical manner to our mental skills to satisfy human
curiosity is the scientific method.
– It is almost an instinct for us humans to try to understand what our
senses perceived because of our highly developed mental skills. These are
the mental skills to observe, infer, measure, classify, experiment, and to
communicate. Through the ages, our ancestors learned to use these
skills in a methodical manner to investigate the ‘how,’ the ‘why,’ and the
‘when’ of natural events. This methodical manner to our mental skills to
satisfy human curiosity is the scientific method.
What sets the limitation of science?
Science is a product of the human senses and the human mind and that is
why there could be no science in the absence of an intelligent being like a
human or any other intelligent creature like him. And therein lies the limitation
of science; the limitation of the human senses and the limitation of the human
mind. We cannot investigate what our senses cannot perceive, and we
cannot explain beyond what our human mind can understand. As a matter
of fact, the optical and the electron microscope, the optical and radio telescopes,
and all the other new scientific instruments are but the result of our attempts
to extend our sense of perception.
What is Technology?
The word technology is believed to be Greek in origin. It
is derived from “techne” which means art, and
“technologia” which literally means systematic
treatment. Many people regard technology as simply
applied science. In their view, scientists produce
knowledge and then technologists turn it into important
products and devices, such as computers and spacecraft
1. Scribner-Bantan English Dictionary (1979) – technology is defined as (1)
science of industrial arts and manufacture; (2) applied science; (3) all the
means employed by a social group for material comforts.

2. Posadas (1982) – defined technology as the system of know-how, skills,

techniques and processes which enable societies to produce, distribute,
install, maintain or improve goods and services need to satisfy human
needs.
3. Bridgstock (1998) - technology as a body of skills and knowledge by
which we control and modify the world
 DEFINITIONS OF TECHNOLOGY
– On the same view, technology is defined as both a PROCESS and a PRODUCT

– 1. TECHNOLOGY AS A PROCESS
– a. It is the application of science.
– b. The practice, description, and terminology of applied sciences.
– c. The intelligent organization and manipulation of materials for useful purposes.
– d. The means employed to provide for human needs and wants.
– e. Focused on inventing new or better tools and materials or new and better ways of doing
things.
– f. A way of using findings of science to produce new things for a better way of living.
– g. Search for concrete solutions that work and give wanted results.
– h. It is characteristically calculative and imitative, tends to be dangerously manipulative.
– i. Form of human cultural activity.
 TECHNOLOGY AS A PRODUCT

– a. A system of know-how, skills, techniques and processes.

– b. It is like a language, rituals, values, commerce and arts, it is an intrinsic
part of a cultural system and it both shapes and reflects the system values.
– c. It is the product of the scientific concept.
– d. The complex combination of knowledge, materials and methods.
– e. Material products of human making or fabrication.
– f. Total societal enterprise.
Technology is any activity and/or
product thereof that tends to increase
man’s chances of survival.
Is technology a part of science?
What is Society?
– According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, a
society is an aggregate of people living
together in a more or less ordered community.
It is a community of people living in a
particular country or region and having shared
customs, laws, and organizations.
–
Relationships of Science,
Technology and Society
 What is STS?
Science-Technology-Society (STS) education
addresses the need for a more scientifically and
technologically literate citizenry in such a way that
will enable our future citizens to make informed and
responsible decision which will not only affect their
own lives but the sustainability of the planet Earth
as we know it.
 Importance of STS
– Most people would agree that science and technology are of great
importance in the world today. It is equally clear that science can alter our
entire conception of ourselves and our place in the universe. The most
famous instance of this was the series of events known as the Scientific
Revolution. During this turbulent time in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, Galileo and other scientists began to argue that the Earth was not
at the center of the universe, but whirled on its own axis, and orbited
around the Sun.
DEFINITIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
– 1. A field of endeavor upon which a two-way interaction operates between science and
technology.
– 2. Interdependent and overlapping methods which employ both existing knowledge
and existing know-how.
– 3. A system of know-how, skills, techniques and processes which enable society to
produce, distribute, install, maintain or improve goods and services needed to satisfy
human needs.
– 4. Is an interdisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand the
many ways that modern science and technology shape modern culture, values and
institutions, and how modern values shape science and technology.
PURPOSES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

– 1. To improve quality of human condition.

– 2. To provide solution to our practical problems.
– 3. To establish relevant institutional linkages and essential
mechanisms
– 4. To develop individual knowledge.
– 5. To find order in the chaos of nature and deliver personal and
social liberation
– 6. To give an information and explanation of the natural world
– 7. To develop new areas of knowledge
– 8. To combat irrationality.
– 9. To maintain the availability of natural resources
LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
– 1. Epistemological concerns. It cannot help us with questions about the
God, the ultimate Good, and Truth. It cannot deny nor confirm the
existence of God, soul, heaven and other uncertainties.
– 2. Metaphysical concerns. Immaterial and transcendental nature is beyond
the grasp of scientific inquiry. It cannot speak to issues of ultimate origin,
meaning, or morality.
– 3. Axiological concerns. It cannot answer questions about value.
– 4.Dependent on the values and personal beliefs of those who use it.
– 5. Use of natural resources that are being used in science and technology
are limited
– 6. Data is limited to the physically observable.
– 7. Ultimately rest on past observations
– 8. Not all of its principles are applicable to different world
phenomena.
– 9. Needs human intervention to carry out its functions properly
– 10. It can predict forces of nature but it cannot prevent the
prevent the prevalence/occurrence
– 11. Can not guarantee an ultimate solution to any specific
problem.
– 12. Can not fully explain what is in the mind of a person.
–
SCIENCE VS. TECHNOLOGY
RELATIONSHIPS OF STS

STS