Historical antecedents in which social considerations changed the course of science

and technology

Objectives:
1. Discuss the interactions between science and technology and society throughout
history.
2. Discuss how scientific and technological developments affect the environment.
3. Identify the paradigm shifts in history.

Can you imagine how your life would be there were no electricity? What if there were
no jeepneys or buses for you to ride on? Electricity and transportation are just some of
the products of science and technology. Because of the developments in science and
technology, people have better means of communication and transportation, more
comfortable lives and eating more nourishing food. Many lives have been saved by
medical breakthroughs.

Can you still recall what science is?

Science is a systematized body of knowledge based on facts gathered through

observation and experimentation.

Scientists learn and discover new knowledge. This knowledge is the used by other
people to create useful materials. This is what technology is.

Technology is applied science. Thomas Edison based his lightbulb on findings on

electricity. Among the first scientists to study electricity were Michael Faraday and
Joseph Henry.

The word technology comes from the Greek words tekhnē (art, craft) and –logia or –
logos (the study of).

What are the uses of technology? Technology helps produce medicine, preserve
food, and develop new energy sources. The computer is just one of the products of
technology.

Our lives have become better because of modern technology. Today, kidney stones
can be removed without patents having to go through painful surgeries. Laser
technology is used in these operations.

But how did we as a civilization get here? Did our technology just came out of
nowhere? To answer these questions, we have to look back into our history as human
beings.

To get a better understanding of how technology evolved and the antecedent

(precursor), we are going to focus on four areas – Ancient age, Medieval age, Modern
age, and in the Philippines.
Ancient Age

During the ancient civilization growth, ancient technology was the result from
advances in engineering in ancient times.

A significant number of inventions were developed in the Islamic world; a

geopolitical region that has at times extended from al-Andalus and Africa in the west to
the Indian subcontinent and Malay Archipelago in the east.

Among these ancient civilizations were Mesopotamia, Egypt, Africa, Indian

subcontinent, China, Persia, Greek and Hellenistic, and Roman. We will also discuss
some Mesoamerica and Andean regions as they also have their own contribution to the
development of technology.

Mesopotamia
They were one of the first Bronze-age people in the world. Early on they used
copper, bronze and gold, and later they used iron. Palaces were decorated with
hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron
were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears,
and maces.

According to the assyriologist Stephanie Dalley, the earliest pump was the
Archimedes' screw, first used by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the water systems at
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Nineveh in the 7th century BCE. This attribution,
however, is refuted by the historian of ancient water-lifting devices Olseon in the same
paper, who still credits, as well as most other scholars, Archimedes with the invention.

Perhaps the most important advance made by the Mesopotamians was the
invention of writing by the Sumerians. With the invention of writing came the first
recorded laws called the Code of Hammurabi as well as the first major piece of literature
called the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Although archaeologists don't know for sure who invented the wheel, the oldest
wheel discovered was found in Mesopotamia. It is likely the Sumer first used the wheel
in making pottery in 3500BC and used it for their chariots in around 3200 BC.

The Mesopotamians used a sexagesimal number system with the base 60 (like
we use base 10). They divided time up by 60s including a 60-second minute and a 60-
minute hour, which we still use today. They also divided up the circle into 360 degrees.
They had a wide knowledge of mathematics including addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, quadratic and cubic equations, and fractions. This was important
in keeping track of records as well as in some of their large building projects. The
Mesopotamians had formulas for figuring out the circumference and area for different
geometric shapes like rectangles, circles, and triangles. Some evidence suggests that
they even knew the Pythagorean Theorem long before Pythagoras wrote it down. They
may have even discovered the number for pi in figuring the circumference of a circle.

Babylonian astronomy was able to follow the movements of the stars, planets,
and the Moon. Application of advanced math predicted the movements of several
planets. By studying the phases of the Moon, the Mesopotamians created the first
calendar. It had 12 lunar months and was the predecessor for both the Jewish and
Greek calendars.

Babylonian medicine used logic and recorded medical history to be able to

diagnose and treat illnesses with various creams and pills. Mesopotamians had two
kinds of medical practices, magical and physical. Unlike today they would use both on
the same patient. They didn’t see it as one as beneficial and one as detrimental.

The Mesopotamians made many technological discoveries. They were the first to
use the potter's wheel to make better pottery, they used irrigation to get water to their
crops, and they used bronze metal (and later iron metal) to make strong tools and
weapons, and used looms to weave cloth from wool.

Egypt
The Egyptians invented and used many simple machines, such as the ramp to
aid construction processes. They were among the first to extract gold by large-scale
mining using fire-setting, and the first recognisable map, the Turin papyrus shows the
plan of one such mine in Nubia.

Egyptian paper, made from papyrus, and pottery were mass-produced and
exported throughout the Mediterranean basin. The wheel, however, did not arrive until
foreign invaders introduced the chariot. They developed Mediterranean maritime
technology including ships and lighthouses. Early construction techniques utilized by the
Ancient Egyptians made use of bricks composed mainly of clay, sand, silt, and other
minerals. These constructs would have been vital in flood control and irrigation,
especially along the Nile delta.

Africa
Technology in Africa has a history stretching to the beginning of the human
species, stretching back to the first evidence of tool use by hominid ancestors in the
areas of Africa where humans are believed to have evolved. Africa saw the advent of
some of the earliest ironworking technology in the Aïr Mountains region of what is today
Niger and the erection of some of the world's oldest monuments, pyramids and towers
in Egypt, Nubia, and North Africa. In Nubia and ancient Kush, glazed quartzite and
building in brick was developed to a greater extent than in Egypt. Parts of the East
African Swahili Coast saw the creation of the world's oldest carbon steel creation with
high-temperature blast furnaces created by the Haya people of Tanzania.

Indian subcontinent
The history of science and technology in India dates back to the earliest
civilizations of the world. The Indus Valley civilization yields evidence of mathematics,
hydrography, metrology, and sewage collection and disposal being practiced by its
inhabitants.

The Indus Valley Civilization, situated in a resource-rich area, is notable for its
early application of city planning and sanitation technologies. Cities in the Indus Valley
offer some of the first examples of closed gutters, public baths, and communal
granaries. The Takshashila University was an important seat of learning in the ancient
world. It was the center of education for scholars from all over Asia. Many Greek,
Persian and Chinese students studied here under great scholars including Kautilya,
Panini, Jivaka, and Vishnu Sharma.

The ancient system of medicine in India, Ayurveda was a significant milestone in

Indian history. It mainly uses herbs as medicines. Its origins can be traced back to origin
of Atharvaveda. The Sushruta Samhita (400 BC) by Sushruta has details about
performing cataract surgery, plastic surgery, etc.

Ancient India was also at the forefront of seafaring technology - a panel found at
Mohenjo-daro, depicts a sailing craft. Ship construction is vividly described in the Yukti
Kalpa Taru, an ancient Indian text on Shipbuilding. (The Yukti Kalpa Taru had been
translated and published by Prof. Aufrecht in his 'Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts').

Indian construction and architecture, called 'Vaastu Shastra', suggests a

thorough understanding or materials engineering, hydrology, and sanitation. Ancient
Indian culture was also pioneering in its use of vegetable dyes, cultivating plants
including indigo and cinnabar. Many of the dyes were used in art and sculpture. The use
of perfumes demonstrates some knowledge of chemistry, particularly distillation and
purification processes.

China
The history of science and technology in China show significant advances in
science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy. The first recorded observations of
comets, solar eclipses, and supernovae were made in China. Traditional Chinese
medicine, acupuncture and herbal medicine were also practiced. The Four Great
Inventions of China: the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing were among
the most important technological advances, only known in Europe by the end of the
Middle Ages.

According to the Scottish researcher Joseph Needham, the Chinese made many
first-known discoveries and developments. Major technological contributions from China
include early seismological detectors, matches, paper, the double-action piston pump,
cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension bridge, natural gas
as fuel, the magnetic compass, the raised-relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, the
south-pointing chariot, and gunpowder. Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from
the Medieval period, according to Joseph Needham's research, include: block printing
and movable type, phosphorescent paint, and the spinning wheel.

The solid-fuel rocket was invented in China about 1150 AD, nearly 200 years
after the invention of black powder (which acted as the rocket's fuel). At the same time
that the age of exploration was occurring in the West, the Chinese emperors of the Ming
Dynasty also sent ships, some reaching Africa. But the enterprises were not further
funded, halting further exploration and development. When Ferdinand Magellan's ships
reached Brunei in 1521, they found a wealthy city that had been fortified by Chinese
engineers, and protected by a breakwater. Antonio Pigafetta noted that much of the
technology of Brunei was equal to Western technology of the time. Also, there were
more cannons in Brunei than on Magellan's ships, and the Chinese merchants to the
Brunei court had sold them spectacles and porcelain, which were rarities in Europe.

Persia
 The Qanat, a water management system used for irrigation, originated in Iran
before the Acrhaemenid period of Persia. The oldest and largest known qanat is in the
Iranian city of Gonabad which, after 2,700 years, still provides drinking and agricultural
water to nearly 40,000 people.

Greek and Hellenistic

Ancient Greek technology developed at an unprecedented speed during the 5th
century BC, continuing up to and including the Roman period, and beyond. Some
inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks are the following: the gear, screw,
bronze casting techniques, water clock, water organ (hydraulis), torsion siege engine,
and the use of steam to operate some experimental machines and toys. Many of these
inventions occurred late in the Greek period, often inspired by the need to improve
weapons and tactics in war.

Greek and Hellenistic engineers invented many technologies and improved upon
pre-existing technologies, particularly during the Hellenistic period. Heron of Alexandria
invented a basic steam engine and demonstrated knowledge of mechanic and
pneumatic systems. Archimedes invented several machines. The Greeks were unique
in pre-industrial times in their ability to combine scientific research with the development
of new technologies. One example is the Archimedean screw; this technology was first
conceptualized in mathematics, then built. Other technologies invented by Greek
scientists include the ballistae, the piston pump, and primitive analog computers like the
Antikythera mechanism. Greek architects were responsible for the first true domes, and
were the first to explore the Golden ratio and its relationship with geometry and
architecture.

Apart from Hero of Alexandria's steam aeolipile, Hellenistic technicians were the
firsts to invent watermills and windwheels, making them global pioneers in three of the
four known means of non-human propulsion prior to the Industrial Revolution (the fourth
being sails). However, only water power was used extensively in antiquity.

Other Greek inventions include torsion catapults, pneumatic catapults,

crossbows, cranes, rutways, organs, the keyboard mechanism, gears, differential gears,
screws, refined parchment, showers, dry docks, diving bells, odometer and astrolabes.
In architecture, Greek engineers constructed monumental lighthouses such as the
Pharos and devised the first central heating systems. The Tunnel of Eupalinos is the
earliest tunnel in history which has been excavated with a scientific approach from both
ends.
Automata like vending machines, automatic doors and many other ingenious devices
were first built by Hellenistic engineers as Ctesibius, Philo of Byzantium and Heron.
Greek technological treatises were scrupuously studied and copied by later Byzantine,
Arabic and Latin European scholars and provided much of the foundation for further
technological advances in these civilizations.

Roman
Roman technology supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of
Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years. The
Roman Empire had an advanced set of technology for their time. Some of the Roman
technology in Europe may have been lost during the turbulent eras of Late Antiquity and
the Early Middle Ages. Roman technological feats in many different areas like: civil
engineering, construction materials, transport technology, and some inventions such as
the mechanical reaper went unmatched until the 19th century. Romans developed an
intensive and sophisticated agriculture, expanded upon existing iron working
technology, created laws providing for individual ownership, advanced stonemasonry
technology, advanced road-building (exceeded only in the 19th century), military
engineering, civil engineering, spinning and weaving and several different machines like
the Gallic reaper that helped to increase productivity in many sectors of the Roman
economy. They also developed water power through building aqueducts on a grand
scale, using water not just for drinking supplies but also for irrigation, powering water
mills and in mining. They used drainage wheels extensively in deep underground mines,
one device being the reverse overshot water-wheel. They were the first to apply
hydraulic mining methods for prospecting for metal ores, and for extracting those ores
from the ground when found using a method known as hushing.

Roman engineers build monumental arches, amphitheatres, aqueducts, public

baths, true arch bridges, harbours, dams, vaults and domes on a very large scale
across their Empire. Notable Roman inventions include the book (Codex), glass blowing
and concrete. Because Rome was located on a volcanic peninsula, with sand which
contained suitable crystalline grains, the concrete which the Romans formulated was
especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day.
Roman society had also carried over the design of a door lock with tumblers and
springs from Greece. Like many other aspects of innovation and culture that were
carried on from Greece to Rome, the lines between where each one originated from
have become skewed over time. These mechanisms were highly sophisticated and
intricate for the era.

Roman civilization was highly urbanized by pre-modern standards. Many cities of

the Roman Empire had over 100,000 inhabitants with the capital Rome being the
largest metropolis of antiquity. Features of Roman urban life included multistory
apartment buildings called insulae, street paving, public flush toilets, glass windows and
floor and wall heating. The Romans understood hydraulics and constructed fountains
and waterworks, particularly aqueducts, which were the hallmark of their civilization.
They exploited water power by building water mills, sometimes in series, such as the
sequence found at Barbegal in southern France and suspected on the Janiculum in
Rome. Some Roman baths have lasted to this day. The Romans developed many
technologies which were apparently lost in the Middle Ages, and were only fully
reinvented in the 19th and 20th centuries. They also left texts describing their
achievements, especially Pliny the Elder, Frontinus and Vitruvius.

Other less known Roman innovations include cement, boat mills, arch dams and
possibly tide mills.

Mesoamerica and Andean Region

Lacking suitable beasts of burden and inhabiting domains often too mountainous
or boggy for wheeled transport, the ancient civilizations of the Americas did not develop
wheeled transport or the mechanics associated with animal power. Nevertheless, they
produced advanced engineering including above ground and underground aqueducts,
quake-proof masonry, artificial lakes, dykes, 'fountains,' pressurized water, road ways
and complex terracing. Equally, gold-working commenced early in Peru (2000 BCE),
and eventually copper, tin, lead and bronze were used. Although metallurgy did not
spread to Mesoamerica until the Middle Ages, it was employed here and in the Andes
for sophisticated alloys and gilding. The Native Americans developed a complex
understanding of the chemical properties or utility of natural substances, with the result
that a majority of the world's early medicinal drugs and edible crops, many important
adhesives, paints, fibres, plasters, and other useful items were the products of these
civilizations. Perhaps the best-known Mesoamerican invention was rubber, which was
used to create rubber bands, rubber bindings, balls, syringes, 'raincoats,' boots, and
waterproof insulation on containers and flasks.

Medieval Age

Medieval technology refers to the technology used in medieval Europe under

Christian rule. After the Renaissance of the 12th century, medieval Europe saw a
radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing
traditional means of production, and economic growth. The period saw major
technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical
windmills, spectacles, mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills, building
techniques (Gothic architecture, medieval castles), and agriculture in general (three-
field crop rotation).

The development of water mills from their ancient origins was impressive, and
extended from agriculture to sawmills both for timber and stone. By the time of the
Domesday Book, most large villages had turnable mills, around 6,500 in England alone.
Water-power was also widely used in mining for raising ore from shafts, crushing ore,
and even powering bellows.

European technical advancements from the 12th to 14th centuries were either
built on long-established techniques in medieval Europe, originating from Roman and
Byzantine antecedents, or adapted from cross-cultural exchanges through trading
networks with the Islamic world, China, and India. Often, the revolutionary aspect lay
not in the act of invention itself, but in its technological refinement and application to
political and economic power. Though gunpowder along with other weapons had been
started by Chinese, it was the Europeans who developed and perfected its military
potential, precipitating European expansion and eventual imperialism in the Modern
Era.
Also significant in this respect were advances in maritime technology. Advances in
shipbuilding included the multi-masted ships with lateen sails, the sternpost-mounted
rudder and the skeleton-first hull construction. Along with new navigational techniques
such as the dry compass, the Jacob's staff and the astrolabe, these allowed economic
and military control of the seas adjacent to Europe and enabled the global navigational
achievements of the dawning Age of Exploration.

At the turn to the Renaissance, Gutenberg’s invention of mechanical printing

made possible a dissemination of knowledge to a wider population, that would not only
lead to a gradually more egalitarian society, but one more able to dominate other
cultures, drawing from a vast reserve of knowledge and experience. The technical
drawings of late-medieval artist-engineers Guido da Vigevano and Villard de
Honnecourt can be viewed as forerunners of later Renaissance works such as Taccola
or da Vinci.

Civil Technologies:

Agriculture

Carruca (6th to 9th centuries)

A type of heavy wheeled plough commonly found in Northern Europe. The device
consisted of four major parts. The first part was a Coulter (agriculture) at the bottom of
the plough. This knife was used to vertically cut into the top sod to allow for the
plowshare to work. The plowshare was the second pair of knives which cut the sod
horizontally, detaching it from the ground below. The third part was the moldboard,
which curled the sod outward. The fourth part of the device was the team of eight oxen
guided by the farmer. This type of plough eliminated the need for cross-plowing by
turning over the furrow instead of merely pushing it outward. This type of wheeled
plough made seed placement more consistent throughout the farm as the blade could
be locked in at a certain level relative to the wheels. A disadvantage to this type of
plough was its maneuverability. Since this equipment was large and lead by a small
herd of oxen, turning the plough was difficult and time-consuming. This caused many
farmers to turn away from traditional square fields and adopt a longer, more rectangular
field to ensure maximum efficiency.

Ard (plough) (5th century)

An early medieval plough that consisted of a sharpened wooden post pulled by either
animals or humans. This lightweight and primitive plough was used primarily before the
invention of the carruca. The ard was inefficient in more firm northern soil but did decent
work in southern areas where the soil was much softer. Although the ard required the
user to apply constant pressure to the plough in order to make sure the edge could
break the ground, the soil was merely pushed to the sides instead of being properly
turned over.

Horse collar (6th to 9th centuries)

Once oxen started to be replaced by horses on farms and in fields, the yoke became
obsolete due to its shape not working well with a horses' posture. The first design for a
horse collar was a throat-and-girth-harness. These types of harnesses were unreliable
though due to them not being sufficiently set in place. The loose straps were prone to
slipping and shifting positions as the horse was working and often caused asphyxiation.
Around the eighth century, the introduction of the rigid collar eliminated the problem of
choking. The rigid collar was "placed over the horses head and rested on its shoulders.
This permitted unobstructed breathing and placed the weight of the plow or wagon
where the horse could best support it."

Horseshoes (9th century)

Allowed horses to carry larger loads and move around with greater traction on hard to
walk surfaces. The practice of shoeing horses was initially practiced in the Roman
Empire but lost popularity throughout the Middle Ages until around the 11th century.
Although horses in the southern lands could easily work while on the softer soil, the
rocky soil of the north proved to be damaging to the horses' hooves. Since the north
was the problematic area, this is where shoeing horses first became popular. The
introduction of gravel roadways was also cause for the popularity of horseshoeing. The
loads a shoed horse could take on these roads were significantly higher than one that
was barefoot. By the 14th century, not only did horses have shoes, but many farmers
were shoeing oxen and donkeys in order to help prolong the life of their hooves. The
size and weight of the horseshoe changed significantly over the course of the middle
ages. In the 10th century, horseshoes were secured by six nails and weighed around
one-quarter of a pound, but throughout the years, the shoes grew larger and by the 14th
century, the shoes were being secured with eight nails and weighed nearly half a
pound.

Crop rotation (8th century)

Also called the Two-field system. This system included the farmers' field being divided
into two separate crops. One field would grow a crop while the other was left to grow
and was used to feed livestock and regain lost nutrients. Every year, the two fields
would switch in order to ensure fields did not become nutrient deficient. In the 11th
century, this system was introduced into Sweden and spread to become the most
popular form of farming.

Three-field system (8th century)

The ideal three-field system is one that separates a section of land into three equal
parts. Each one of the three parts holds a different crop. One part holds a spring crop,
such as barley or oats, another part holds a winter crop, such as wheat or rye, and the
third part is an off-field that is left alone to grow and is used to help feed livestock. By
rotating the three crops to a new part of the land after each year, the off-field regains
some of the nutrients lost during the growing of the two crops. This system increases
agricultural productivity over the Two-field system by only having one-third of the field
not being used instead of one half. Another advantage of crop rotation is that many
scholars believe it helped increase yields by up to 50%.

Wine press (12th century)

This device was the first practical means of Pressing (wine) on a plane surface. The
wine press was an expensive piece of machinery that only the wealthy could afford. The
method of Grape stomping was often used as a less expensive alternative. While white
wines required the use of a wine press in order to preserve the color of the wine by
removing the juices quickly from the skin, red wine did not need to be pressed until the
end of the juice removal process since the color did not matter. Many red wine
winemakers used their feet to smash the grapes then used a press to remove any juice
that remained in the grape skins.

Qanat (5th century)

An underground passage used to water fields, crops, and provide drinking water. These
tunnels had a gradual slope which used gravity to pull the water from either an aquifer
or water well. This system was originally found in middle-eastern areas and is still used
today in places where surface water is hard to find.
Architecture and construction
Architecture and Construction

Artesian well (1126)

A thin rod with a hard iron cutting edge is placed in the bore hole and repeatedly struck
with a hammer, underground water pressure forces the water up the hole without
pumping. Artesian wells are named after the town of Artois in France, where the first
one was drilled by Carthusian monks in 1126.

Central heating through underfloor channels (9th century)

In the early medieval Alpine upland, a simpler central heating system where heat
travelled through underfloor channels from the furnace room replaced the Roman
hypocaust at some places. In Reichenau Abbey a network of interconnected underfloor
channels heated the 300 m 2 large assembly room of the monks during the winter
months. The degree of efficiency of the system has been calculated at 90%.

Rib vault (12th century)

An essential element for the rise of Gothic architecture, rib vaults allowed vaults to be
built for the first time over rectangles of unequal lengths. It also greatly facilitated
scaffolding and largely replaced the older groin vault.

Chimney (12th century)

The earliest true chimneys appeared in Northern Europe during the 12th century, and
with them came the first true fireplaces.

Segmental arch bridge (1345)

The Ponte Vecchio in Florence is considered medieval Europe's first stone segmental
arch bridge.

Treadwheel crane (1220s)

The earliest reference to a treadwheel in archival literature is in France about 1225,
followed by an illuminated depiction in a manuscript of probably also French origin
dating to 1240. Apart from tread-drums, windlasses and occasionally cranks were
employed for powering cranes.

Stationary harbour crane (1244)

Stationary harbour cranes are considered a new development of the Middle Ages; its
earliest use being documented for Utrecht in 1244. The typical harbour crane was a
pivoting structure equipped with double treadwheels. There were two types: wooden
gantry cranes pivoting on a central vertical axle and stone tower cranes which housed
the windlass and treadwheels with only the jib arm and roof rotating. These cranes were
placed on docksides for the loading and unloading of cargo where they replaced or
complemented older lifting methods like see-saws, winches and yards.Slewing cranes
which allowed a rotation of the load and were thus particularly suited for dockside work
appeared as early as 1340.

Floating crane
Beside the stationary cranes, floating cranes which could be flexibly deployed in the
whole port basin came into use by the 14th century.
Mast crane
Some harbour cranes were specialised at mounting masts to newly built sailing ships,
such as in Gdańsk, Cologne and Bremen.

Wheelbarrow (1170s)
The wheelbarrow proved useful in building construction, mining operations, and
agriculture. Literary evidence for the use of wheelbarrows appeared between 1170 and
1250 in north-western Europe. The first depiction is in a drawing by Matthew Paris in the
mid-13th century.

Art

Oil paint (by 1125)

As early as the 13th century, oil was used to add details to tempera paintings and paint
wooden statues. Flemish painter Jan van Eyck developed the use of a stable oil mixture
for panel painting around 1410.

Clocks

Hourglass (1338)
Reasonably dependable, affordable and accurate measure of time. Unlike water in a
clepsydra, the rate of flow of sand is independent of the depth in the upper reservoir,
and the instrument is not liable to freeze. Hourglasses are a medieval innovation (first
documented in Siena, Italy).

Mechanical clocks (13th to 14th centuries)

A European innovation, these weight-driven clocks were used primarily in clock towers.
Mechanics

Mechanics

Compound crank
The Italian physician Guido da Vigevano combines in his 1335 Texaurus, a collection of
war machines intended for the recapture of the Holy Land, two simple cranks to form a
compound crank for manually powering war carriages and paddle wheel boats. The
devices were fitted directly to the vehicle's axle respectively to the shafts turning the
paddle wheels.

Metallurgy

Blast furnace (1150–1350)

European cast iron first appears in Middle Europe (for instance Lapphyttan in Sweden,
Dürstel in Switzerland and the Märkische Sauerland in Germany) around 1150, in some
places according to recent research even before 1100. The technique is considered to
be an independent European development.

Milling

Paper mill (13th century)

The first certain use of a water-powered paper mill, evidence for which is elusive in both
Chinese and Muslim paper making, dates to 1282.

Rolling mill (15th century)

Used to produce metal sheet of an even thickness. First used on soft, malleable metals,
such as lead, gold and tin. Leonardo da Vinci described a rolling mill for wrought iron.

Tidal Mills (6th century)

The earliest tidal mills were excavated on the Irish coast where watermillers knew and
employed the two main waterwheel types: a 6th-century tide mill at Killoteran near
Waterford was powered by a vertical waterwheel, while the tide changes at Little Island
were exploited by a twin-flume horizontal-wheeled mill (c. 630) and a vertical undershot
waterwheel alongside it. Another early example is the Nendrum Monastery mill from 787
which is estimated to have developed seven to eight horsepower at its peak.

Vertical windmills (1180s)

Invented in Europe as the pivotable post mill, the first surviving mention of one comes
from Yorkshire in England in 1185. They were efficient at grinding grain or draining
water. Stationary tower mills were also developed in the 13th century.

Water hammer (12th century at the latest)

Used in metallurgy to forge the metal blooms from bloomeries and Catalan forges, they
replaced manual hammerwork. The water hammer was eventually superseded by
steam hammers in the 19th century.

Navigation

Dry compass (12th century)

The first European mention of the directional compass is in Alexander Neckam's On the
Natures of Things, written in Paris around 1190. It was either transmitted from China or
the Arabs or an independent European innovation. Dry compass were invented in the
Mediterranean around 1300.

Astronomical compass (1269)

The French scholar Pierre de Maricourt describes in his experimental study Epistola de
magnete (1269) three different compass designs he has devised for the purpose of
astronomical observation.
Stern-mounted rudders (1180s)
The first depiction of a pintle-and-gudgeon rudder on church carvings dates to around
1180. They first appeared with cogs in the North and Baltic Seas and quickly spread to
Mediterranean. The iron hinge system was the first stern rudder permanently attached
to the ship hull and made a vital contribution to the navigation achievements of the age
of discovery and thereafter.

Printing, paper and reading

Movable type printing press (1440s)

Johannes Gutenberg's great innovation was not the printing itself, but instead of using
carved plates as in woodblock printing, he used separate letters (types) from which the
printing plates for pages were made up. This meant the types were recyclable and a
page cast could be made up far faster.

Paper (13th century)

Paper was invented in China and transmitted through Islamic Spain in the 13th century.
In Europe, the paper-making processes was mechanized by water-powered mills and
paper presses.

Rotating bookmark (13th century)

A rotating disc and string device used to mark the page, column, and precise level in the
text where a person left off reading in a text. Materials used were often leather, velum,
or paper.

Spectacles (1280s)
The first spectacles, invented in Florence, used convex lenses which were of help only
to the far-sighted. Concave lenses were not developed prior to the 15th century.

Watermark (1282)
This medieval innovation was used to mark paper products and to discourage
counterfeiting. It was first introduced in Bologna, Italy.

Science and Learning

Arabic Numerals (13th century)

The first recorded mention in Europe was in 976, and they were first widely published in
1202 by Fibonacci with his Liber Abaci.

University
The first medieval universities were founded between the 11th and 13th centuries
leading to a rise in literacy and learning. By 1500, the institution had spread throughout
most of Europe and played a key role in the Scientific Revolution. Today, the
educational concept and institution has been globally adopted.

Textile Industry and Garments

Functional button (13th century)
German buttons appeared in 13th-century Germany as an indigenous innovation. They
soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting clothing.

Horizontal loom (11th century)

Horizontal looms operated by foot-treadles were faster and more efficient.

Silk (6th century)

Manufacture of silk began in Eastern Europe in the 6th century and in Western Europe
in the 11th or 12th century. Silk had been imported over the Silk Road since antiquity.
The technology of "silk throwing" was mastered in Tuscany in the 13th century. The silk
works used waterpower and some regard these as the first mechanized textile mills.

Spinning wheel (13th century)

Brought to Europe probably from India.

Miscellaneous

Chess (1450)
The earliest predecessors of the game originated in 6th-century AD India and spread
via Persia and the Muslim world to Europe. Here the game evolved into its current form
in the 15th century.

Forest glass (c. 1000)

This type of glass uses wood ash and sand as the main raw materials and is
characterised by a variety of greenish-yellow colours.

Grindstones (834)
Grindstones are a rough stone, usually sandstone, used to sharpen iron. The first rotary
grindstone (turned with a leveraged handle) occurs in the Utrecht Psalter, illustrated
between 816 and 834. According to Hägermann, the pen drawing is a copy of a late-
antique manuscript. A second crank which was mounted on the other end of the axle is
depicted in the Luttrell Psalter from around 1340.

Liquor (12th century)

Alcohol distillation was introduced by Pūr Sinɑʼ (Persian ‫ ابن سینا‬or ‫ ابو علی‌ سینا‬or ‫پور سينا‬
Pur-e Sina; [ˈpuːr ˈsiːnɑː] "son of Sina";[full citation needed] August c. 980 – June 1037),
commonly known as Ibn Sīnā, or in Arabic writing Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sīnā. It was initially used as a medicinal elixir and was a popular
remedy for the Black Death during the 14th century. Drinks such as vodka, gin and
brandy come into form.

Magnets (12th century)

Magnets were first referenced in the Roman d'Enéas, composed between 1155 and
1160.

Mirrors (1180)
The first mention of a "glass" mirror is in 1180 by Alexander Neckham who said "Take
away the lead which is behind the glass and there will be no image of the one looking
in."
Illustrated surgical atlas (1345)

Guido da Vigevano (c. 1280 − 1349) was the first author to add illustrations to his
anatomical descriptions. His Anathomia provides pictures of neuroanatomical structures
and techniques such as the dissection of the head by means of trephination, and
depictions of the meninges, cerebrum, and spinal cord.

Quarantine (1377)
Initially a 40-day-period, the quarantine was introduced by the Republic of Ragusa as a
measure of disease prevention related to the Black Death. It was later adopted by
Venice from where the practice spread all around in Europe.

Rat traps (1170s)

The first mention of a rat trap is in the medieval romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
by Chrétien de Troyes.

Soap (9th century)

Soap came into widespread European use in the 9th century in semi-liquid form, with
hard soap perfected by the Arabs in the 12th century.
Military Technologies:

Armour

Quilted Armour (pre 5th - 14th Century)

There was a vast amount of armour technology available through the 5th to 16th
centuries. Most soldiers during this time wore padded or quilted armor. This was the
cheapest and most available armor for the majority of soldiers. Quilted armour was
usually just a jacket made of thick linen and wool meant to pad or soften the impact of
blunt weapons and light blows. Although, this technology predated the 5th century, it
was still extremely prevalent because of the low cost and the weapon technology at the
time made the bronze armor of the Greeks and Romans obsolete. Quilted armour was
also used in conjunction with other types of armour. Usually worn over or under leather,
mail, and later plate armour.

Cuir Bouilli (5th-10th Century)

Hardened leather armour also called Cuir Bouilli was a step up from quilted armour.
Made by boiling leather in either water, wax or oil to soften it so it can be shaped, it
would then be allowed to dry and become very hard. Large pieces of armour could be
made such as breast plates, helmets, and leg guards, but many times smaller pieces
would be sewn into the quilting of quilted armour or strips would be sewn together on
the outside of a linen jacket. This was not as affordable as the quilted armour but
offered much better protection against edged slashing weapons.

Chain Mail (11th-16th Century)

The most common type during the 11th through the 16th centuries was the Hauberk,
also known earlier than the 11th century as the Carolingian byrnie. Made of interlinked
rings of metal, it sometimes consisted of a coif that covered the head and a tunic that
covered the torso, arms, and legs down to the knees. Chain mail was very effective at
protecting against light slashing blows but ineffective against stabbing or thrusting
blows. The great advantage was that it allowed a great freedom of movement and was
relatively light with significant protection over quilted or hardened leather armour. It was
far more expensive than the hardened leather or quilted armour because of the massive
amount of labor it required to create. This made it unattainable for most soldiers and
only the more wealthy soldiers could afford it. Later, toward the end of the 13th century
banded mail became popular. Constructed of washer shaped rings of iron overlapped
and woven together by straps of leather as opposed to the interlinked metal rings of
chain mail, banded mail was much more affordable to manufacture. The washers were
so tightly woven together that it was very difficult penetrate and offered greater
protection from arrow and bolt attacks.

Jazerant (11th century)

The Jazerant or Jazeraint was an adaptation of chain mail in which the chain mail would
be sewn in between layers of linen or quilted armour. Exceptional protection against
light slashing weapons and slightly improved protection against small thrusting
weapons, but little protection against large blunt weapons such as maces and axes.
This gave birth to reinforced chain mail and became more prevalent in the 12th and
13th century. Reinforced armour was made up of chain mail with metal plates or
hardened leather plates sewn in. This greatly improved protection from stabbing and
thrusting blows.

Scale Armour (12th century)

A type of Lamellar armour, was made up entirely of small, overlapping plates. Either
sewn together, usually with leather straps, or attached to a backing such as linen, or a
quilted armor. Scale armour does not require the labor to produce that chain mail does
and therefore is more affordable. It also affords much better protection against thrusting
blows and pointed weapons. Though, it is much heavier, more restrictive and impedes
free movement.

Plate Armour (14th century)

Plate armour covered the entire body. Although parts of the body were already covered
in plate armour as early as 1250, such as the Poleyns for covering the knees and
Couters - plates that protected the elbows, the first complete full suit without any textiles
was seen around 1410-1430. Components of medieval armour that made up a full
suit consisted of a cuirass, a gorget, vambraces, gauntlets, cuisses, greaves, and
sabatons held together by internal leather straps. Improved weaponry such as
crossbows and the long bow had greatly increased range and power. This made
penetration of the chain mail hauberk much easier and more common. By the mid
1400's most plate was worn alone and without the need of a hauberk. Advances in
metal working such as the blast furnace and new techniques for carburizing made plate
armour nearly impenetrable and the best armour protection available at the time.
Although plate armour was fairly heavy, because each suit was custom tailored to the
wearer, it was very easy to move around in. A full suit of plate armour was extremely
expensive and mostly unattainable for the majority of soldiers. Only very wealthy land
owners and nobility could afford it. The quality of plate armour increases as more
armour makers became more proficient in metal working. A suit of plate armour became
a symbol of social status and the best made were personalized with embellishments
and engravings. Plate armour saw continued use in battle until the 17th century.

Cavalry

Arched saddle (11th century)

The arched saddle enabled mounted knights to wield lances underarm and prevent the
charge from turning into an unintentional pole-vault. This innovation gave birth to true
shock cavalry, enabling fighters to charge on full gallop.
Spurs (11th century)
Spurs were invented by the Normans and appeared at the same time as the cantled
saddle. They enabled the horseman to control his horse with his feet, replacing the whip
and leaving his arms free. Rowel spurs familiar from cowboy films were already known
in the 13th century. Gilded spurs were the ultimate symbol of the knighthood - even
today someone is said to "earn his spurs" by proving his or her worthiness.

Stirrup (6th century)

Stirrups were invented by steppe nomads in what is today Mongolia and northern China
in the 4th century. They were introduced in Byzantium in the 6th century and in the
Carolingian Empire in the 8th. They allowed a mounted knight to wield a sword and
strike from a distance leading to a great advantage for mounted cavalry.

Gunpowder weapons

Cannon (1324)
Cannons are first recorded in Europe at the siege of Metz in 1324. In 1350 Petrarch
wrote "these instruments which discharge balls of metal with most tremendous noise
and flashes of fire...were a few years ago very rare and were viewed with greatest
astonishment and admiration, but now they are become as common and familiar as any
other kinds of arms.”
Corned gunpowder (late 14th century)
First practiced in Western Europe, corning the black powder allowed for more powerful
and faster ignition of cannons. It also facilitated the storage and transportation of black
powder. Corning constituted a crucial step in the evolution of gunpowder warfare.

Supergun (late 14th century)

Extant examples include the wrought-iron Pumhart von Steyr, Dulle Griet and Mons
Meg as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette and Faule Grete (all from the 15th century).

Mechanical artillery

Counterweight trebuchet (12th century)

Powered solely by the force of gravity, these catapults revolutionized medieval siege
warfare and construction of fortifications by hurling huge stones unprecedented
distances. Originating somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean basin, counterweight
trebuchets were introduced in the Crusader states by the 1120s, Byzantium by the
1130s and in the Latin West by the second half of the century.

Missile weapons

Longbow with massed, disciplined archery (13th century)

Having a high rate of fire and penetration power, the longbow contributed to the
eventual demise of the medieval knight class. Used particularly by the English to great
effect against the French cavalry during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).
Steel crossbow (late 14th century)
European innovation. Came with several different cocking aids to enhance draw power,
making the weapons also the first hand-held mechanical crossbows.

Miscellaneous

Combined arms tactics (14th century)

The battle of Halidon Hill 1333 was the first battle where intentional and disciplined
combined arms infantry tactics were employed. The English men-at-arms dismounted
aside the archers, combining thus the staying power of super-heavy infantry and striking
power of their two-handed weapons with the missiles and mobility of the archers using
longbows and shortbows . Combining dismounted knights and men-at-arms with
archers was the archetypal Western Medieval battle tactics until the battle of Flodden
1513 and final emergence of firearms.
Modern Age

Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was
a period of great technological discovery, particularly in the areas of agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, metallurgy, and transport, driven by the discovery of steam
power. Technology took another step in a second industrial revolution with the
harnessing of electricity to create such innovations as the electric motor, light bulb, and
countless others. Scientific advancement and the discovery of new concepts later
allowed for powered flight and advancements in medicine, chemistry, physics, and
engineering. The rise in technology has led to skyscrapers and broad urban areas
whose inhabitants rely on motors to transport them and their food supply.
Communication was also greatly improved with the invention of the telegraph,
telephone, radio and television. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a revolution
in transportation with the invention of the airplane and automobile.

The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of

nuclear fission has led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Computers were
also invented and later miniaturized utilizing transistors and integrated circuits.
Information technology subsequently led to the creation of the Internet, which ushered
in the current Information Age. Humans have also been able to explore space with
satellites (later used for telecommunication) and in manned missions going all the way
to the moon. In medicine, this era brought innovations such as open-heart surgery and
later stem cell therapy along with new medications and treatments.

Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are

needed to make and maintain these new technologies, and entire industries have arisen
to support and develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools.
Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education – their designers,
builders, maintainers, and users often require sophisticated general and specific
training. Moreover, these technologies have become so complex that entire fields have
been created to support them, including engineering, medicine, and computer science,
and other fields have been made more complex, such as construction, transportation
and architecture.

Below are just some of the immense list of modern-age technological

advancements that have helped humankind.
Organ transplants
In 1954, Dr Joseph Murray removed the kidney from one human patient and
implanted it in another.  The recipient accepted the kidney as its own rather than
rejecting it as a foreign body.  It was more than skillful surgery: Murray had chosen a
pair of identical twins, Ronald Herrick and his terminally ill brother Richard, in hopes
their similar genetic makeup would reduce the likelihood of Richard’s body rejecting
Ronald’s liver.  Soon afterward, though, other researchers developed drugs that could
squelch a transplant recipient’s immune system long enough for the new organ to
become incorporated into its new body.  Today, some 25,000 Americans a year receive
a new heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas or intestine — and a new lease on life.

Robots and artificial intelligence

The term “robot” was coined by Czechoslovakian playwright Karel Capek in 1920
— “robota” being a Czech word for tedious labor — but the first real industrial robot was
built in 1954 by George Devol.  Five years later, the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology founded its Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in a quest to mechanically
mimic human minds as well as hands.  Today, robots assemble products better, faster
and often cheaper than manual laborers, while more than 8 million U.S. airline flights a
year are scheduled, guided and flown with the superhuman assistance of advanced
software.  Still, some Americans eye such systems with the cynical view of novelist Kurt
Vonnegut, whose 1952 story “Player Piano” warned that the machines might leave
people without a purpose — or a job.

Electronic funds transfer

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco set up a paperless transfer system
with the Los Angeles branch in 1972.  By the end of the decade, instantaneous
transfers of millions of dollars in value between banks, insurance companies and other
financial institutions had become common.  The real appeal of EFT today is its trickle
down to the individual: You get grab cash from your bank account anywhere in the
world, and use PayPal to buy and sell stuff on eBay without sending money or checks
through the mail.

Nuclear power
When the Queen herself threw the switch on the world’s first atomic power plant
at Calder Hall outside London in 1956, nuclear reactors were seen as a source of
cheap, pollution-free energy.  But a partial meltdown in 1979 at the Three Mile Island
reactor in Pennsylvania soured Americans on nukes as safe power.  Nonetheless, the
United States today has about 100 active plants that generate 20 percent of the
country’s electricity — second only to coal as a source of power — and have been
steadily increasing their capacity.  Will the next 50 years bring a better alternative?

Mobile phones
The idea for cellular phone service dates back at least to 1947, but the first call
was made from the sidewalk outside the Manhattan Hilton in 1973 by Martin Cooper, a
Motorola researcher who rang up his rival at AT&T Bell Labs to test the new phone.  
Thirty years later, more than half of all Americans own one and cellular networks are
beginning to serve Internet access at broadband speeds through thin air.
Space flight
Americans from 50 years ago would be disappointed to learn we never went
further than the Moon — no Mars colony, no 2001 odyssey to Jupiter, no speed-of-light
spaceships.  Even the Shuttle is in trouble.  But the space race against the Russians
that dominated the national psyche (and a good chunk of the budget) in the ‘60s and
‘70s pushed the development of hundreds of enabling technologies, including synthetic
fibers and integrated computer circuits, necessary to fly men to the Moon and back. 
And the astronauts brought back a lesson from space: “We saw the earth the size of a
quarter, and we realized then that there is only one earth. We are all brothers.”

Personal computers
Before IBM recast the desktop computer from hobbyist’s gadget to office
automation tool in 1983 — followed by Apple’s people-friendly Macintosh a year later —
a “minicomputer” was the size of a washing machine and required a special air-
conditioned room.  But the trained technicians who operated the old mainframes already
knew computers were cool: They could use them to play games, keep diaries, and trade
messages with friends across the country, while still looking busy.  Today, thanks to the
PC, we all look busy.

Digital media
“The camera doesn’t lie” went a saying not heard much since the release of
Photoshop 1.0 in 1990.  Digitized audio, pictures, movies, and text let even an amateur
edit reality — or conjure it from scratch — with a keyboard and a mouse.  A singer’s bad
notes, a model’s blemishes, or an overcast sky in a movie scene can be fixed as easily
as a spelling error.  Just as important, digital media can be copied over and over nearly
for free, stored permanently without fading, and sent around the world in seconds.  It
rightly worries the movie and music industries, but how do you put the genie back in the
bottle if there’s no bottle anymore?

Genetic engineering
Everyone knows Watson and Crick, who unraveled the secret of DNA in 1953. 
But have you heard of Boyer and Cohen, who constructed the first organism with
combined DNA from different species in 1973?  They inserted toad genes into a
bacterium that then replicated itself over and over, passing the toad’s genetic code
down through generations of bacteria.  Thirty years later, an estimated 70 percent of
processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients, such as soybeans or corn
engineered for higher crop yields.  Of course, the much bigger potential — good and
bad — is in engineering humans.  It might prevent birth defects, and diseases later in
life.  But the side effects could be disastrous and unknown.  Is there an ethical way to
beta-test human beings?

The Internet.
This one seems like a no-brainer, but the Net’s unique strength is that no two
people will agree on why it’s so important.  The world’s largest and most unruly library,
it’s also a global news channel, social club, research archive, shopping service, town
hall, and multimedia kiosk.  Add to that the most affordable mass medium ever, and a
curse to anyone with a secret to keep.  Three-fifths of Americans now use the Net, but it
remains to be seen whether the connections to one another will transform us, or prove
that we’ll never change.
Science and Technology in the Philippines

Science and technology in the Philippines represents the wide scientific and
technological advances the Philippines has made. The main managing agency
responsible for science and technology (S&T) is the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). The science department have consulting agencies for Forestry,
Agriculture and Aquaculture, Metal Industry, Nuclear Research, Food and Nutrition,
Health, Meteorological and the Volcanology and Seismology.

Numerous national scientists have contributed in different fields of science

including Fe del Mundo in the field of Pediatrics, Eduardo Quisumbing in the field of
Plant taxonomy, Gavino Trono in the field of tropical marine Phycology, and Maria
Orosa in the field of Food technology.

Pre-Spanish Period
Even before the colonization by the Spaniards in the Philippine islands, the
natives of the archipelago already had practices linked to science and technology.
Filipinos were already aware of the medicinal and therapeutic properties of plants and
the methods of extracting medicine from herbs. They already had an alphabet, number
system, a weighing and measuring system and a calendar. Filipinos were already
engaged in farming, shipbuilding, mining and weaving. The Banaue Rice Terraces are
among the sophisticated products of engineering by pre-Spanish era Filipinos.

Spanish Colonial Period

The colonization of the Philippines contributed to growth of science and
technology in the archipelago. The Spanish introduced formal education and founded
scientific institution. During the early years of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Parish
schools were established where religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music was
taught. Sanitation and more advanced methods of agriculture was taught to the natives.
Later the Spanish established colleges and universities in the archipelago including the
University of Santo Tomas.

The study of medicine in the Philippines was given priority in the Spanish era,
especially in the later years. The Spanish also contributed to the field of engineering in
the islands by constructing government buildings, churches, roads, bridges and
forts.Biology is given focus. Contributors to science in the archipelago during the 19th
century were botanists, Fr. Ignacio Mercado., Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Dr.
Leon Ma Guerrero, chemist Anaclento del Rosario, and medicine scholars Dr. Manuel
Guerrero, Dr, Jose Montes and Dr. Elrodario Mercado.

The Galleon Trade have accounted in the Philippine colonial economy. Trade
was given more focus by the Spaniard colonial authorities due to the prospects of big
profits. Agriculture and industrial development on the other hand were relatively
neglected.The opening of the Suez Canal saw the influx of European visitors to the
Spanish colony and some Filipinos were able to study in Europe who were probably
influenced by the rapid development of scientific ideals brought by the Age of
Enlightenment.

American Period and Post-Commonwealth era

Angel Alcala is a national scientist noted for his work in marine and aquatic
biology.
The progress of science and technology in the Philippines continued under American
rule of the islands. On July 1, 1901 The Philippine Commission established the Bureau
of Government Laboratories which was placed under the Department of Interior. The
Bureau replaced the Laboratorio Municipal, which was established under the Spanish
colonial era. The Bureau dealt with the study of tropical diseases and laboratory
projects. On October 26, 1905, the Bureau of Government Laboratories was replaced
by the Bureau of Science and on December 8, 1933, the National Research Council of
the Philippines was established. The Bureau of Science became the primary research
center of the Philippines until World War II.

Science during the American period was inclined towards agriculture, food
processing, forestry, medicine and pharmacy. Not much focus was given on the
development of industrial technology due to free trade policy with the United States
which nurtured an economy geared towards agriculture and trade.

In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science. In a

report by the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950, there is a lack of basic
information which were necessities to the country's industries, lack of support of
experimental work and minimal budget for scientific research and low salaries of
scientists employed by the government. In 1958, during the regime of President Carlos
P. Garcia, the Philippine Congress passed the Science Act of 1958 which established
the National Science Development Board.

Marcos Era and Martial Law

During Ferdinand Marcos' presidency, the importance given to science grew. In
the amended 1973 Philippine Constitution, Article XV, Section 9 (1), he declared that
the "advancement of science and technology shall have priority in the national
development." In his two terms of presidency and during Martial Law, he enacted many
laws promoting science and technology.
 In his Second State of the Nation Address on January 23, 1967, he declared that
science was necessary for the development programs, and thus, directed the
Department of Education to revitalize the science courses in public high schools. The
Department of Education, with the National Science Development Board (NSDB), is
organizing a project to provide selected high schools with science teaching equipment
over a four-year period.

In his Third State of the Nation Address on January 22, 1968, he recognized that
technology was the leading factor in economic development, and channeled additional
funds to support projects in applied sciences and science education.

In his Fourth State of the Nation Address on January 27, 1969, he gave a big
part of the war damage fund to private universities to encourage them to create courses
in science and technology and to research. He stated that he planned a project to have
medical interns do a tour of duty in provincial hospitals to arouse their social conscious
and reduce the "brain drain." On April 6, 1968, he proclaimed 35 hectares in Bicutan,
Taguig, Rizal as the site of the Philippine Science Community. The government also
conducted seminars for public and private high school and college science teachers,
training programs and scholarships for graduate and undergraduate science scholars,
and workshops on fisheries and oceanography.

In his Fifth State of the Nation Address on January 26, 1970, he emphasized that
the upgrading of science curricula and teaching equipment is crucial to the science
development program. He added the Philippine Coconut Research Institute to the
NSDB to modernize the coconut industry. The NSDB also established the Philippine
Textile Research Institute. The Philippine Atomic Energy Commission of the NSDB
explored the uses of atomic energy for economic development. Marcos assisted 107
institutions in undertaking nuclear energy work by sending scientists to study nuclear
science and technology abroad, and providing basic training to 482 scientists, doctors,
engineers, and technicians.

In his Seventh State of the Nation Address on January 24, 1972, he spoke about
his major development projects in reforming sectors of education. Such projects
included research and development schools, technical institutes, science education
centers, and agricultural colleges and vocational high schools.

In 1972, he created the National Grains Authority to provide for the development
of the rice and corn industry to fully harness it for the economy of the country.
(Presidential Decree No. 4, s. 1972) He established the Philippine Council for
Agricultural Research to support the progressive development of agriculture, forestry,
and fisheries for the nation. It was attached to the Department of Agriculture and Natural
Resources for administrative purposes. He provided further support for the promotion of
scientific research and invention with Presidential Decree No. 49, s. 1972. This decree
contains details on the protection of intellectual property for the creator or publisher of
the work.He established the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (PAGASA) under the Department of National Defense to
provide environmental protection and to utilize scientific knowledge to ensure the safety
of the people. (Presidential Decree No. 78, s. 1972)
 In 1973, he created the Philippine National Oil Company to promote industrial
and economic development through effective and efficient use of energy sources.
(Presidential Decree No. 334, s. 1973)

In 1976, he enacted a law under Presidential Decree No. 1003-A, s. 1976 to

establish the National Academy of Science and Technology, which is composed of
scientists with "innovative achievement in the basic and applied sciences," to serve as a
reservoir of scientific and technological expertise for the country. [

In 1978, he created a Task Force on the formulation of a national action program

on science and technology to assess policies and programs of science and technology.
(Executive Order No. 512, s. 1978) In his Fourteenth State of the Nation Address on
July 23, 1979, he said that the government invested funds and time in organizations for
scientific research, such as the NSDB, the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research
and Resources, the Plant Breeding Institute, the International Rice Research Institute,
the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Bureau of Forest Products. While these projects
have had breakthroughs, the market machinery did not adapt and invest in this
technology due to the high-risk front-end costs.
In 1979, he constituted the Health Sciences Center created by R.A. No. 5163 as
an autonomous member within the University of the Philippines System to improve the
internal organization and unity of leadership within its units. (Executive Order No. 519,
s. 1979)

In 1980, he created the National Committee on Geological Sciences to advise

government and private entities on matters concerning development in geological
sciences. (Executive Order No. 625, s. 1980)

In 1982, he reorganized the National Science Development Board and its

agencies into a National Science and Technology Authority to provide central direction
and coordination of scientific and technological research and development. (Executive
Order No. 784, s. 1982) He granted salary increases to the people with teaching
positions in the Philippine Science High School due to their necessity in the
advancement of national science. (Executive Order No. 810, s. 1982). He enacted a law
on the completion of the National Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Complex at
the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. (Executive Order No. 840, s. 1982)

In 1986, he established the Mindanao and Visayas campuses of the Philippine

Science High School to encourage careers in science and technology and to be more
accessible to the talented students in the Mindanao and Visayas areas. (Executive
Order No. 1090, s. 1986)

Fifth Republic
Filipina food technologist Maria Y. Orosa (1893–1945) is credited with inventing
banana ketchup.

In 1986, during Corazon Aquino's presidency, the National Science and

Technology Authority was replaced by the Department of Science and Technology,
giving science and technology a representation in the cabinet. Under the Medium Term
Philippine Development Plan for the years 1987-1992, science and technology's role in
economic recovery and sustained economic growth was highlighted. During Corazon
Aquino's State of the Nation Address in 1990, she said that science and technology
development shall be one of the top three priorities of the government towards an
economic recovery.

On August 8, 1988, Corazon Aquino created the Presidential Task Force for
Science and Technology which came up with the first Science and Technology Master
Plan or STMP. The goal of STMP was for the Philippines to achieve newly industrialized
country status by the year 2000.The Congress did not put much priority in handling bills
related to science and technology. The Senate Committee on Science and Technology
was one of the committees that handles the least amount of bills for deliberation.

Former DOST Secretary Ceferin Follosco reported that the budget allocation for
science and technology was increased to 1.054 billion pesos in 1989 from the previous
year's 464 million pesos. However, due to the Asian financial crisis, budget allocation for
the years 1990 and 1991 were trimmed down to 920 and 854 million pesos respectively.
Budget allocation were increased to 1.7 billion pesos in 1992.

During her term, President Corazon Aquino encouraged scientists and inventors
to bring the Philippines to its former position as second to only Japan in the field of
science and technology. One of the goals of her administration was to achieve the
status as being an industrialized country by 2000. She urged that the private research
sector form a stronger bond between public research to help jump-start the progress in
the area of Philippine Research and Development.

Ironically, it was during President Corazon Aquino’s term and the reorganization
of Philippine bureaucracy that Executive Order No.128 abolished R.A. No. 3859, also
known as the “Philippine Inventors Incentive Act.” This Philippine Inventors Commission
was under the Science Development board. It gave assistance to Filipino inventors
through giving financial aid, patent application assistance, legal assistance, and to help
inventors market their products domestically and abroad. Despite the abolishment of the
Philippine Inventors Commission, her administration gave rise to new avenues for the
government to aid the progress of Science and Technology in the country.

R.A. 6655 or the Free Public Secondary Education Act of 1988 opened doors to
free education up to the secondary level, implemented in the education system together
with this was the “Science for the Masses Program” which aimed at scientific and
technological literacy among Filipinos. The Aquino administration recognized the
importance of science and technology in the development of the Philippines into a newly
industrialized country. Funding for the science and technology sector was tripled from
464 million in 1986 to 1.7 billion in 1992. The Science and Technology Master Plan was
formulated which aimed at the modernization of the production sector, upgrading
research activities, and development of infrastructure for science and technological
purposes. A Research and Development Plan was also formulated to examine and
determine which areas of research needed attention and must be given priority. The
criteria for identifying the program to be pursued were, development of local materials,
probability of success, potential of product in the export market, and the its strategic
nature. The grants for the research and development programs was included in the
Omnibus Investment Law.
 There were noticeable improvements regarding science and technology as
stated in President Fidel Ramos' State of the Nation Address. In his third SONA, there
was a significant increase in personnel specializing in the science and technology field.
At 1998, the Philippines was estimated to have around 3,000 competent scientists and
engineers. Adding to the increase of scientists would be the result of the two newly built
Philippine Science High Schools in Visayas and Mindanao which promotes further
development of young kids through advance S&T curriculum.The government provided
3,500 scholarships for students who were taking up professions related to S&T. Schools
were becoming more modernized and updated with the addition of high-tech equipment
for student improvement and teachers were getting training programs to benefit
themselves and their students. Health care services were promoted through local
programs such as "Doctors to the Barrio Program." The health care programs were
innovative and effective as shown by the change in life expectancy from 67.5 years in
1992 to 69.1 years in 1995.

Priority for S&T personnel increased when Magna Carta for Science and
Technology Personnel (Republic Act No. 8439) was established. The award was
published in order to give incentives and rewards for people who have been influential
in the field of S&T. In the sixth SONA, education was one of the primary story-lines
wherein programs such as National Program for Gifted Filipino Children in Science and
Technology and enactment of a law creating a nationwide system of high schools
specializing in the field of science and engineering.

Fidel V. Ramos believes that science and technology was one of the means
wherein the Philippines could attain the status of new industrialized country (NIC).
During his term, he was able to establish programs that were significant to the field of
S&T. In 1993, Science and Technology Agenda for National Development (STAND)
was established. Among its priorities were: (1) exporting winners identified by the DTI;
(2) domestic needs identified by the President's Council for Countryside Development;
(3) support industries and (4) coconut industry development. Congress, during his term,
was able to enact laws that were significant for the field. Among were: (1) Magna Carta
for Science and Technology Personnel (Republic Act No. 8439); (2) Science and
Technology Scholarship Law of 1994 (Republic Act No. 7687) and (3) Inventors and
Inventions Incentives Act (Republic Act No. 7459). The Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines (Republic Act No. 8293) was enacted during Ramos' term. The law provides
industrial property rights, copyrights and related rights, and technology transfer
arrangements
In President Joseph Estrada's term, two major legislations that he signed were
Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act No. 8749) which was designed to protect
and preserve the environment and ensure the sustainable development of its natural
resources, and Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792) which
outlaws computer hacking and provides opportunities for new businesses emerging
from the Internet-driven New Economy. Aside from these, in his first State of the Nation
Address, President Estrada launched a full-scale program based on cost-effective
irrigation technologies. He also announced that Dole-outs are out, which meant basic
health care, basic nutrition, and useful education for those who want, but cannot afford
it. Lastly, he said that they would speed up the program to establish one science high
school in every province.It was in his second State of the Nation Address that President
Estrada announced the passage of the Clean Air Act, and the decision to pursue the 15-
year modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. His last State of the
Nation Address pushed for the advancement of industries and schools into the Internet
age, as well as the announcement of the passage of the e-Commerce Act.
In the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, the science and technology sector of the
Philippines was dubbed as the "golden age" of science and technology by then
secretary Estrella Albastro . Numerous laws and projects that concerns both the
environment and science to push technology as a tool to increase the country's
economic level. This is to help increase the productivity from Science, Technology and
Innovations (STI) and help benefit the poor people. Moreover, the term "Filipinnovation"
was the coined term used in helping the Philippines to be an innovation hub in Asia.

The STI was developed further by strengthening the schools and education
system such as the Philippine Science High School (PSHS), which focuses in science,
technology and mathematics in their curriculum. This helps schools produce get more
involve in this sector. Private sectors were also encouraged to participate in developing
the schools through organizing events and sponsorships. Future Filipino scientists and
innovators can be produced through this system

Helping the environment was one of the focus in developing technology in the
Philippines. One of the more known laws to be passed by her administration was the
R.A. 9367 or the "Biofuels" act. This act promotes the development and usage of
biofuels throughout the country. This potentially enables a cheaper alternative to
gasoline as a medium in producing energy. Also, this benefits the environment since it
boasts a cleaner emission compared to regular fuel. Yet, setbacks such as lack of raw
materials is holding the full implementation of the laws since importing the necessary
materials are imported more.[5] On one hand, drought-free rice was also highly
encouraged to be used during her term. This enables farmers to produce rice despite
the environmental hazards that slows or stops the production.

In an effort to improve the efficiency of both land and water, the government
imposes Republic Act 10601 which improves the Agriculture and Fisheries Sector
through Mechanization (AFMech). RA 10601 covers research, development, and
extension (RDE), promotion, distribution, supply, assembling, manufacturing, regulation,
use, operation, maintenance and project implementation of agricultural and fisheries
machinery and equipment (Section 4).

In 2014, President Aquino conferred four new National Scientist for their
contribution in the Scientific field, Academicians Gavino C. Trono, Angel C. Alcala,
Ramon C. Barba, and Edgardo D. Gomez was honored in their respective fields.
Trono's contribution helped a lot of families in the coastal populations through the
extensives studies he made on seaweed species. On the other hand, Alcala served as
the pioneer scientist and advocate of coral reefs aside from his contribution in the fields
of systematics, secology and herpetology. Barba's contribution changes the seasonal
supply of fresh fruits to an all year round availability of mangoes through his studies on
the induction of flowering of mango and micropropagation of important crop species.
Lastly, Gomez steered the national-scale assessment of damage coral reefs which led a
national conservation.

Science and Technology Fields:

Life Sciences
 Life Sciences is a very broad field, it encompasses numerous specializations. It
is commonly defined by sciences that pertain to living organisms like microorganisms,
plants, animals, and most importantly human beings. Some of the well-known fields in
the Life Sciences are zoology, botany, biology, microbiology, biotechnology, and
biomedical technologies.

In the Philippines, the various fields of the Life Sciences is under the Department
of Science and Technology (DOST). This government office is responsible for the
coordination and funding of different researches by Filipino scientists and inventors,
which can potentially help the progress of science and technology in the Philippines.
There are different agencies under DOST which cater to specialized fields, these are
the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
(PAGASA), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), and the
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research
Development (PCAARRD). The Secretary of Science and Technology is appointed by
the president of the Republic of the Philippines, and this position has no fixed term. The
incumbent Secretary of Science and Technology is Mario G. Montejo, a professor of the
University of the Philippines Diliman, he was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III
on June 29, 2010.

Botany and Biology

Botany and biology are two of the highly sought-after research topics in the
Philippines, given its rich biodiversity in flora and fauna.

Several Filipino scientist have pioneered in the field of biology. Eduardo

Quisumbing, a biologist who graduated MS in Botany at the University of the Philippines
Los Baños in 1921, and Ph.D. in Plant Taxonomy, Systematics and Morphology at the
University of Chicago in 1923. He conducted research on taxonomic and morphological
papers deal with orchids and authored the book Medicinal Plants of the Philippines. The
species of Saccolabium quisumbingii was named after him. Dioscoro L. Umali, is an
agriculturist that was dubbed as the Father of Philippine Plant Breeding due to the
programs he conducted that are related to rainfed and upland agriculture, social
forestry, and environmental preservation. Marine biologist helped improve the
knowledge on aquatic resources like Angel Alcala, a biologist who was recognized for
his research on amphibians and reptiles diversity and marine biodiversity in the country
and served as consultant on marine and aquatic projects under the United Nations
Environment Programme, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and others, Gavino
Trono, a biologist who was dubbed as the Father of Kappaphycus farming for his
contributions to the study of tropical marine phycology, focusing on seaweed
biodiversity, established the largest phycological herbarium in the country – the G.T.
Velasquez Herbarium in the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute, and
authored a book that was considered as the most authoritative books in the country on
the seaweed flora titled Field guide and atlas of the seaweed resources of the
Philippines.

Biotechnology
The Philippines Biofuel Act of 2006, RA 0376 mandates an increase of the
minimum 5% bioethanol blend (E5) in gasoline to 10% ethanol blend (E10). In 2011,
600 million liters of gasoline was consumed by car owners in the Philippines, if the 10%
bioethanol blend would be followed, this would be equivalent to 1 million metric tons of
sugar.

Ethanol is an alcohol produced from fermenting carbohydrates in plants.

Bioethanol can be produced mainly from three different kinds of raw materials, namely
simple sugars, starch, and lignocellulosic biomass. Since the prices of the raw materials
are very volatile and can easily change, lignocellulosic biomass has been extensively
studied due to its cheap price and abundance in agricultural countries like the
Philippines. Some of the top sources of lignocellulosic biomass are forest residues,
municipal solid wastes, and agricultural wastes like sugarcane baggase, nipa sap, rice
straws, etc.
Numerous studies have been done by Filipino scientists on what raw material should be
used to achieve an efficient and cost-effective bioethanol production. Studies on nipa
sap showed that molasses is still more advantageous to use, as for the same amount of
bioethanol produced, a greater amount of nipa sap was needed compared to molasses.
A study by Tan et al.reports on corn as being viable for bioethanol production, and could
give a yield of around 0.37 Liters per kilogram of corn used. Other studies showed that
sugarcane juice produced approximately 70 Liters per ton of sugar, but using sugracane
juice as the primary feedstock for bioethanol production, would be problematic, as this
would mean that it would be competing with the sugar production in the country. These
problems have pushed Filipino scientists today, to continue searching for alternatives to
sugarcane. One of the most promising fields is the study of lignocellulosic agricultural
wastes, as they are abundant and very cheap.
A study by Del Rosario in 1982 identified sweet sorghum as a possible source of
ethanol, it is a very adaptive crop which can withstand drought and grow in the low-
lands as well as in the high lands. A study by the International Crop Research Institute
for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) showed that the production costs for sweet
sorghum is higher than sugarcane by 4.28%, but this is balanced out by the grain yield
of 1 ton per hectare. In 2007, the University of Philippines-Los Banos, together with the
Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) and ICRISAT conducted studies on sweet
sorghum as feedstock for bioethanol production.

In 2013 the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) announced that the country
may start producing its first sweet sorghum-based bioethanol. The Philippine National
Oil Co. -Alternative Fuels Corp and the San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. are discussing on
creating a 1,000 hectare sweet sorghum plantation solely for the purpose of using the
produce as feedstock for bioethanol production.

Engineering
Engineering is the field of science that applies both science and math to solve
problems. It concerns the use of technology in practical ways that can advance the
human condition. Some of the fields of engineering include mechanical engineering,
electrical engineering, civil engineering, structural engineering, and industrial
engineering.
In the Philippines, many organizations and research institutes for engineering were
established, such as the National Engineering Center and the Philippine Institute of Civil
Engineers.

The National Engineering Center (NEC) was first established on January 27,
1978 as the research arm of the University of the Philippines College of Engineering. It
absorbed the UP Industrial Research Service Center, the National Hydraulic Research
Center, the Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry, the Transport
Training Center, and the Building Research Service.

The Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) was the result of the merging of
two separate civil engineer organizations, the Philippine Society of Civil Engineers
(PSCE) and the Philippine Association of Civil Engineers (PACE), on December 11,
1973. It was given accreditation by the Professional Regulation Commission on August
13, 1975 as the only official recognized organization of civil engineers in the Philippines.
It was established to advance the knowledge and research and to maintain high ethical
standards of civil engineering.

The University of the Philippines also established the National Center for
Transportation Studies (NCTS) to contribute to scholarly research and training in the
field of transportation. They advocate sustainable transport, integrated transport system,
road safety, and institutional development.They release advisories and feature studies
by both undergraduate and graduate students on transportation. For example, the
NCTS website links to downloads of Emer T. Quezon's research into the effects of
flyover construction on traffic flow in Nagtahan and R. Magsaysay Boulevard
intersection in 1994, as well as the research of Franklyn T. Amistad and Jose Regin F.
Regidor, Dr. Eng. researched into ways to improve traffic management and congestion
in Vigan without sacrificing its legacy as a World Heritage Site.

Ricardo G. Sigua is a professor who contributed to engineering research in the

Philippines. Sigua, a professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering in the University of
the Philippines, Diliman, wrote a book called The Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering
due to the scarcity of textbooks on the traffic engineering relevant to the Philippine
context. His book covers topics such as traffic management and regulations, traffic flow,
traffic studies, intersection design and control, geometric design of highways, road
safety, traffic accident analysis, travel demand forecasting, the origin-destination table
(OD Matrix), and the intelligent transportation system.

Agriculture and Aquaculture

Agriculture is the field in science wherein it concerns with the different techniques
of land cultivation, crop and livestock raising, or otherwise, farming. The Department of
Agriculture (Philippines) (DA) is a government agency responsible for the development
of the Philippine's agriculture by generating policies, investments, and support services
which are significant in the local and export-oriented trade. In the Philippine
Development Plan (PDP), Chapter 4: Competitive and Sustainable Agriculture and
Fisheries Sector, both agriculture and fisheries sector provides the needs and raw
materials for the market and surplus labor to the industry and service sectors. The focus
for improvement would be to generate more opportunities of employments and
increased income for the farmers which would encourage participation from them.
Development of the agricultural sector is critical in maintaining an affordable price for
food especially for the poor which, then, could be translated to inclusive growth and
poverty reduction. Proceso J. Alcala is a former district representative and the recently
appointed DA secretary by President Benigno Aquino III in 2010. He is considered the
'Father of Organic Agriculture' because of his work in the Organic Agricultural Act of
2010 (RA 10068).
Developments regarding the research and technology of Philippine agriculture are
currently in the works. Most of the researches are inclined in solving the problem of
increasing hunger in the country by creating a more efficient and cheaper process of
yielding produce. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international
research consortium, including the Philippines, which serves to improve the rice
production and quality through biotechnology and research. One of their ongoing
research involves changing the normal C3 carbon fixation mechanism of rice into a
supercharged photosynthetic mechanism, C4 carbon fixation. Converting rice from a C3
plant into a C4 plant would be beneficial because the latter can efficiently produce more
yield than the former in a given and limited amount of resources (land, water, and
fertilizer) which bodes well to the Philippines' situation. IRRI have made calculations
which shows that converting rice into a C4 plant would increase the yield at around 30-
50%, demonstrating a double water-use efficiency, and providing more at less fertilizer
usage. Other rice varieties have been developed to increase efficiency without
sacrificing the quality too much. PSB Rc26H (Magat), PSB Rc72H (Mestizo), and PSB
Rc76H (Panay) are some of the rice hybrids developed but only Mestizo is currently
available for planting. The texture and taste quality of Mestizo is comparable to the
normal grain, IR64.

Overall records and statistics about Philippine agricultural growth is provided by

the CountrySTAT Philippines. In 2014, gross domestic product (GDP) increased by
6.13%. The gross value added (GVA) in agriculture and fishing went up by 1.60% and
this accounted for 10% of the GDP increase. There was an increase in the production of
livestock rated at 1.01%. Gross outputs of the following livestock showed an increase at
different rates: hog, cattle, carabao, goat, chicken, duck, and other products such as
chicken eggs and dairy. There was an increase in the prices of different produce such
as crops, fruits, and livestock and a decrease in the prices of vegetables. Food and
other non-alcoholic beverage had an increase of 6.68%. Earnings from exports
increased by 5.78% and top earners were from coconut oil and banana. Expenditures
for imports increased by 19.86% and the highest spending were from wheat and milk
products. The labor force totaled to 40.05 million and 11.21 million were employed in
the agriculture sector which was around 30% of the national employment.

Metal Industry
This industry deals with the creation and innovation of metallic and steel
products. The metal/steel industry have shown remarkable technological dynamism
over the centuries and with the growing product innovation, there have been a great
significance on the steels' economic and political influence. The Philippines have
become part of the growing revolution of the industry. The Metal Industry Research and
Development Center (MIRDC) is a government agency under the Department of
Science and Technology that supports the local metals and engineering industry
through support services enhancing the industry's competitive advantage. The agency's
mission would consist of providing both public and private sectors with professional
management and technical expertise, quality control, research and development,
technology transfer, and business advisory services.

MIRDC have been cooperating with different organizations to create technology

for various improvements and purposes. The Automated Guideway Transit (AGT)
System and the Road Train were unveiled to the public during the annual Lantern
Parade in the University of the Philippines Diliman. It was a collaboration between UP
Diliman and MIRDC for the purpose of faster travel time for students in UP and the
public. It had two stations, one located along C.P. Garcia and the other one is along the
University Avenue. The Hand Tractor was from the works of both MIRDC and Center for
Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech). The concept of the equipment
is a transplanter-attached hand tractor and harvester-attached hand tractor wherein rice
transplanting and harvesting implements are readily available from the tractor. Farmers
would benefit from this because of the reduced cost and more utilization of hand tractor. [
Statistics of recent steel and steel-related industry developments were published by the
Census of Philippine Business and Industry (CPBI) of the National Statistics Office
(NSO) with 2001 as the reference year. The industry totaled to 1,895 establishment
which is 29.6% of the manufacturing firms. Of all the establishments, 403 or 21.3% of
the steel industries were from intermediate steel sector and 1,246 were from
manufacturing industries. The steel industry was able to contribute 369,985 worker to
the manufacturing sector. Total compensation paid by the steel industry reached to
P47.9 billion which was about 41.2% of the total salaries and employers' contributions
SSS/GSIS. The total expenses made by the industry was valued at P692.6 billion which
accounted for 48.8% of the costs made by the manufacturing establishments. The total
output of the industry was estimated at P832 billion which accounted for 46.3% of the
manufacturing output valued at P1,795.8 billion.

Food and Nutrition

Food science or nutritional science is the field of science studying the nature of
foods and the natural changes in them resulting from handling and processing.It is the
science concerned with food and nourishment and the role of nutrients in health. In the
Philippines, food and nutrition research investigates the ideal diet for Filipinos to solve
the problem of malnutrition and the current state of nutrition.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) is the principal research arm of
the Philippine government in food and nutrition. It was first created in 1947 as the
Institute of Nutrition to serve as a clearing-house of data and information regarding
nutrition. In 1949, it was authorized to conduct research in the applied science of food,
as well. The FNRI was reorganized in Executive Order No. 128, s. 1987 to redefine its
mandate to research food and nutrition in order to research and identify solutions to
malnutrition problems, develop programs, projects, and policies to address malnutrition,
and disseminate these findings In accordance with these functions, the Food
Composition Laboratory was established. Now known as the Food Analytical Service
Laboratory (FASL), it is the pioneering laboratory researching into the food and nutrient
composition of Philippine foods. Their services include chemical testing, microbiological
testing, physico-chemical testing, and research and consultancy services. FNRI also
develops simple recipes for small scale and household use, especially for the
consumption by infants and children. They provide the nutritional information, properties
and even market potential

Aside from the FNRI, Philippine scientists have been researching into food
science. Patricia T. Arroyo, Ph.D., an assistant professor and chairman of the
Department of Fisheries Technology of the University of the Philippines, Diliman wrote
The Science of Philippine Foods as a reference for students of food chemistry and food
technology to be used instead of foreign books. This book is a compilation of scattered
literature about Philippine foods and contains information about the structure,
composition, methods in preparation, standards of quality, preservation, and
experiments about various food such as eggs, rice, red meat, poultry, fish, fruits,
vegetables, fats, oils, milk, milk products, wheat, flour, and sugar.

Maria Ligaya T. Braganza, Ed.D, the Dean of the School of Food Science and
Technology at the Philippine Women's University conducts applied researches on food
and product development One of her studies investigates the use of banana flour as a
wheat flour extender in pan de sal and doughnuts.

Ame P. Garong, a museum researcher at the National Museum of the

Philippines, published Ancient Filipino Diet: Reconstructing Diet from Human Remains
Excavated in the Philippines based on her doctoral dissertation. Using isotope analysis,
she reconstructed the diet from the archaeological human remains from different burial
sites in the Philippines. Based on the bone, hair, muscle samples and plant and animal
tissues, Garong traced the diet of ancient Filipinos. Filipinos in the pre-colonial and early
colonial past ate mostly aquatic resources (such as marine fish, freshwater shellfish,
and coral reef resources). Some samples showed that the ancient Filipinos practiced
prolonged breast feeding.

Health
One aspect of healthcare is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases;
the other pertains to provisions for medical care for people in the community. In the
Philippines, healthcare is under the Department of Health (DOH). This government
office is responsible for organizing public healthcare and making sure that all Filipino
citizens have access to quality health services. This office is also responsible for
supervising and funding researches pertaining to new medicines and medical devices.
The DOH has different bureaus, all of which have different areas of specialization, these
are the Bureau of Health Devices and Technology, Bureau of Health Facilities and
Services, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, Bureau of Local Health
Development, Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Surveillance, and Food
and Drug Administration. The DOH has a budget of Php 87.6 billion for the year 2015.
The Secretary of Health is nominated by the President of the Republic of the
Philippines, the incumbent Secretary of Health is Janette Garin; she was appointed last
February 17, 2015.

The DOH has recently implemented the Philippines eHealth Strategic Framework
and Plan (2013-2017). This focuses on the application of Information and
Communications Technologies for healthcare. It draws up a long-term strategic plan for
the development and implementation of eHealth services in the Philippines. It looks into
realizing a national electronic public-health information systems, if this is reached, it can
greatly improve the surveillance and response to health emergencies, it can also impact
researches of epidemiological nature, greatly speeding up the process as sampling
would be very convenient already. Another program recently started by the DOH is the
Universal Health Care high Impact Five (UHC-Hi-5), which focuses on the regional
operations and its convergence in high priority poverty program areas. Its goal is for
tangible outputs within a 15-month period of its implementation.

Anti-cancer research
Soybean is a very sought-after crop, as its by products are used to generate
bioethanol, and most importantly it is linked with cancer research. During the past
decade, soybean has been extensively studied due to its 43-amino acid polypeptide
called Lunasin. The anti-cancer properties of Lunasin was first discovered by Dr Alfredo
Galvez and Dr. Benito de Lumen, both Filipino doctors, when they were enhancing the
nutritional properties of soy protein. Dr. Galvez observed mitotic disruptive properties of
Lunasin in mammalian cancer cells, he saw that it prevented normal cells from turning
into cancerous cells. This eventually lead to more research about its anti-cancer
properties. In 2005, Dr. de Lumen conducted an experiment on Lunasin using skin
cancer mouse models, he discovered that Lunasin internalizes in mammals within
minutes of exogenous application, it eventually ends up in the nucleus wherein it inhibits
the acetylation of core histones. Dr de Lumen observed that in spite of Lunasin’s anti-
cancer properties, it does not inhibit the growth of normal mammalian cell lines.

A very recent study on Lunasin showed that at certain doses, it reduced non-
small cell lung cancer tumor volume by 63%, it also showed a capability of inhibiting
non-small cell lung cancer cells by suppressing the cell-cycle dependent
phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein. More studies of Lunasin also showed that
it possesses antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and a cholesterol regulating role; all of
which makes it a very good potential source of dietary supplements All of these
researches would have not been at the level of where it is now, if not for the Filipino
doctors who first discovered Lunasin.

Social sciences
Notable Filipino scientist have been contributors in the field of social science in
the country. Raul V. Fabella was an academic, economist and scientist that graduated
in Seminario Mayor-Recoletos (Bachelor of Philosophy; 1970); the University of the
Philippines School of Economics (Master of Arts; 1975); and Yale University (Doctor of
Philosophy; 1982). He had written articles in both theoretical and applied fields: political
economy and rent-seeking; the theory of teams; regulation; international economics;
and mathematical economics and was associated with the concepts of "Olson ratio" in
rent-seeking, egalitarian Nash bargaining solutions, and debt-adjusted real effective
exchange rate. Teodoro Agoncillo, a 20th-century Filipino historian, and received the
national scientist award for his contributions in the field of history. He graduated from
the University of the Philippines (Bachelor of Philosophy; 1934) and finished his Master
of Arts degree in the same university in 1935. He also wrote books regarding the
Philippine History like History of the Filipino People Encarnacion Alzona, a pioneering
Filipino historian, educator and suffragist became the first filipina to obtain a Doctor of
Philosophy. She got her degree in history and a master's degree from the University of
the Philippines and later obtained another master's degree in history from Radcliffe
College in 1920, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1923. She was an advocate
of women suffrage in the Philippines and authored the book The Filipino Woman: Her
Social, Economic and Political Status (1565-1933). that stated a stable account for
women despite their lack in political and social rights.

Forestry
 Forestry is the field of science that practice planting, managing and taking care of
trees. The governing body for the Philippine forestry is the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR). This department started way back in 1863, when the
Spanish Royal Decree established the Inspeccion General de Montes. This was
transformed into the Department of Interior in 1901. Then when the government
reorganized, it became the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. During
1987, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was formally established.
Under this department, the Forest Management Bureau was the sector that focuses on
preserving the forest and the harvesting of its resources.

The Philippines have an actual forest cover at 6.5 million hectares (ha) or 24% of
the total land area. A lot of Filipinos rely on these resources for their survival. The
country's goal is to have a sustainable forest-based industry that can contribute to the
socio-economic development and support the disadvantaged sectors of society. Several
projects have been started by the Forest Products Research and Development and
Institute (FPRDI) to accomplish this goal. It starts with the identification of the nation's
tree species. And subsequently developing the products-based industry of wood and
lumber. The Institute also covers the sustainable creation of furnishings using wood,
bamboo, rattan and vines.

Historical antecedents in which social considerations changed the course of science

and technology

Activity Sheet No. 1

Name ________________________________ Date ___________

Course and Yr. ________________________ Score __________

Match the items in Column A with their descriptions in Column B. Write the letters on
the lines before the numbers.

A B
_____1. Science a. A systematized body of knowledge
covering general truths

_____2. Chemistry
b. A product of technology

_____3. Biology
c. The study of living things

_____4. Physics
d. The study of matter and energy
 and their interactions
_____5. A falling star is a sign of good
luck.
e. A Filipino hero and scientist

_____6. Fish are difficult to catch on a full

moon. f. A belief which has scientific basis

_____7. Thomas Edison g. Applied science

_____8. Television h. Superstition

_____9. Jose Rizal i. The study of matter, its structure

and properties

_____10. technology
j. Credited with the invention of the
incandescent light bulb

Historical antecedents in which social considerations changed the course of science

and technology

Activity Sheet No. 2

Name ________________________________ Date ___________

Course and Yr. ________________________ Score __________
Sources:

Select 1 technological invention/advancement in each category (Ancient, Medieval,

Modern, and Philippine). Obtain an image of these and discuss the purpose of their
creation at that point in time.

Ancient Age
Purpose:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Medieval Age

Purpose:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Modern Age

Purpose:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Philippine Technology

Purpose:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Historical antecedents in which social considerations changed the course of science

and technology

Activity Sheet No. 3

Name ________________________________ Date ___________

Course and Yr. ________________________ Score __________

Think about when you were younger. Write a short passage about what your life was
like. Think about things that you didn’t have then and what you did in your free time.
(Minimum of 5 sentences.)

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Historical antecedents in which social considerations changed the course of science

and technology

Activity Sheet No. 4

Name ________________________________ Date ___________

Course and Yr. ________________________ Score __________

Of the items included in the picture below, cite 3 which you cannot live without and 3
which you can live without. State your reasons for each item.
 Items I can live Reason Items I cannot live Reason
without without

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Brown, M. (1966). On the theory and measurement of technological change.

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Crosby, Alfred. The Measure of Reality : Quantification in Western Europe, 1250-1600.

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05632-X
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revolution/#.Wydzi_WBPIU