Science, Technology, and Society
- Test your hypothesis by doing an
Lesson 1: An introduction to STS as field
of study
What is Science?
- From Latin word “Scientia” =
“Knowledge”
- It is a system of acquiring knowledge
through scientific method.
- It is a process used to solve problems
or develop an understanding of
nature that involves testing possible
answers.
- An organized body of knowledge
about how the universe behaves or
works.
- Discovery of regularity in nature,
enough for natural phenomena to be
described by principles and laws.
(Ex. Law of Inertia, Law of
Conservation of mass, Theory of
Evolution)
- Tries to discover facts and
relationships and then tries to create
theories that make sense of these
facts.
Scientific Method
- Defined: Series of steps to collect
information or solve problems.
1. Observation
2. Hypothesis
3. Experimentation
4. Data Analysis
5. Conclusion
- Ask a question
- Do bg research
- Construct a hypothesis
experiment
- Analyze your data and draw a
conclusion
- Report your results (was your
hypothesis correct?”
John Heilbron (Famous American Science
Historian) stated that…
Modern science is a discovery as well as
invention.
- Discovery of regularity in nature,
enough for natural phenomena to be
described by principles and laws.
- Required invention to devise
techniques, abstractions, apparatuses,
and organizations
What is Technology?
- Comes from Greek root “Techne” =
“Art, skill, or cunning of hand”
- Application of scientific knowledge,
laws, and principles to produce
services, materials, tools and
machines aimed at solving real-
world problems.
- Refers to methods, system, and
devices which are the result of
scientific knowledge being used for
practical purposes.
- A human attempt to change the
world by creating products that make
our life easier.
Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook)
defines technology as…
 - Something that takes a human’s Summarization:
sense or ability and augments it and
- Science is organized body of
makes it more powerful. So, for
knowledge.
example, I wear contact lenses or
- Technology is application of science.
glasses; that is a technology that
- Society is one who uses science and
enhances my human ability of vision
technology to make life easier.
and makes it better.”

What is Society?
- From the Latin word “societas” = “a
friendly association with others”
- Large group of people who live
together in an organized way, making
decision about how to do things and
sharing work that needs to be done.
- A group of individuals which
characterized by common interests
and may have distinctive culture and
institutions.

Lewis Wolpert (2005) compares science

and technology and its interactions in
society as…
The Medawar Lecture 1998: Is Science
Dangerous?
- Reliable scientific knowledge has no
moral or ethical value which meant
to explain how nature and the
universe work and that the
obligations of scientists is to explain
the possible uses and applications of
scientific knowledge.
- Science is not the same as
technology. The nature of science
that it is not possible to predict
scientific discoveries and how these
discoveries may be applied.
Interaction: Society, Technology, and
Science
- Science drives technology by making
new technology possible through
scientific breakthroughs.
- Medical and allied health related
professional focus on using science
to develop products.
- Without technology, some science
experiments would not be possible
and vice versa (Ex. RT-PCT Test,
Vaccine)
- Very questions that scientists ask are
shaped by the available technology
Dynamism and Immensity of Scientific
and Technological Progress
- Huge role in our life
- Make difficult and complicated task
easier
- Gradual improvements

Scientific and Technological progress pose

challenges and drawbacks.

Carl Sagan (Popular American Scientist)

- In Tom Head’s Book (2006), we live
in a society absolutely dependent on
science and technology and yet have
cleverly arranged things to that
almost no one understands science
and technology. That’s a clear
prescription of disaster.

2018 Ethical dilemmas and policy issues

1. Helix – a digital app store designed
to read genomes
2. Bless2 U Pepper – 1st robot priest
and monk
3. Emotion-Sensing Facial Recognition
– software that assess your reactions
to anything such as shopping and
playing games
4. Ransomware – way of holding data
hostage through hacking and
requiring ransom to be paid.
5. Textalyzer – a device that analyzes
whether a driver was using his/her
phone during an accident.
6. Social Credit System – scoring
citizens through their actions by
placing them under constant
surveillance
7. Google Clips – hands-free camera
that lets the user capture every
moment effortlessly
8. Sentencing software – a mysterious
algorithm designed to aid courts in
sentencing decisions
9. Friendbot – app that stores the
deceased’s digital footprint so no one
can still “chat” with them
10. Citizen app – notifies users of
ongoing crimes or major events in
specific area.