Professional Documents
Culture Documents
STS
Overview
Science, Technology, & Society
(STS)
is an interdisciplinary program that integrates the:
Natural Science
Technology
History
Philosophy
Sociology
Economics
Political Science
Geography
Anthropology
Science, Technology, & Society
(STS)
is the study of how society, politics, and culture
affect scientific research and technological innovation
and
and
Science
The systematic body of knowledge of the natural world based on facts
and gained through scientific method.
Thus the first scientist were called “philosophers of nature” who sought
to discover the truth behind material things and natural things.
Science, Technology, & Society
(STS)
Branches of Science
Also referred to as sciences, "scientific fields", or "scientific disciplines" are
commonly divided into three major groups:
Formal Sciences: The study of Mathematics and Logic.
Natural Sciences: The study of Natural Phenomena including
Cosmological, Geological, Chemical, and Biological
factors of the universe.
Social Sciences : The study of Human Behavior and Societies.
Science:
is the human attempt to understand the natural world
with or without concern for practical uses of that knowledge.
Examples of the
Natural World:
Volcanoes
Gravity
Atoms
Plants
Metals
Science:
tries to discover facts and relationships and then
tries to create theories that make sense of
these facts and relationships.
Science, Technology, & Society
(STS)
Technology
The term technology comes from two Greek words:
• tekhne meaning “art or craft”
• logia meaning a “subject or interest”
while
Technology
is a way of
Doing
Society
is a large group of people who live together in an organized way,
making decisions about how to do things and
sharing the work that needs to be done.
Society is composed of:
People (Families of same race/nationality)
Government (Administrator or authority)
Territory (Geographical area under the jurisdiction of government)
Culture (Traditions, Values, Beliefs, Way of Life, etc.)
Science, Technology, & Society
(STS)
Innovations & Issues in Technology : NEGATIVE IMPACT
Transportation & Navigation POLLUTION
Communications & Record Keeping DISINFORMATION
Mass Productions WASTAGE
Security & Protection ARMS RACE
Health MALPRACTISE
Aesthetics ABUSE
Engineering ACCIDENTS
Architecture LAND USE
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY
link
Way of understanding ourselves and the Way of adapting ourselves to the physical
physical world world
Process of asking questions and finding
Process of finding solutions to human
answers, then creating broad
problems to make lives easier and better
generalizations
Looks for order or patterns in the physical Looks for ways to control the physical
world world
Evaluated by how well the facts support
Evaluated by how well it works
the conclusion or theory
Limited by the ability to collect relevant Limited by financial costs and safety
facts concerns
Discoveries give rise to technological
Advances give rise to scientific discoveries
advances
Why do we need to study
STS
Many of the problems facing society today not only
involve technology but also:
human values
social organization
environmental concerns
economic resources
political decisions
host of other factors
Why do we need to study
STS
These are interface problems that is the interface
between technology and society and they can be
solved – if they can be solved at all-by the:
Application of scientific knowledge
Technical expertise
Social understanding
Human compassion
Think about it:
Describe some of the interconnections
between science and technology,
using at least three specific examples.