SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIETY
(GED109)
 CHAPTER 1
Historical Antecedents in Which
Social Considerations Changed
the Course of Science and
Technology
WHAT IS SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND
SOCIETY?
A. General Concepts
SCIENCE
Is an evolving body of knowledge that is based on
theoretical expositions and experimental and
empirical activities that generates universal truths.
TECHNOLOGY
Is the application of science and creation of systems,
processes and objects designed to help humans in
their daily activities.
SOCIETY
is the sum total of our interactions as humans, including
the interactions that we engage in to understand the
nature of things and to create things.
 In the past, science is learned as an
independent study from other fields.

But in the current global scenario, science is

studied holistically

science needs to become more multidisciplinary

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Alter the way people live, connect,
communicate and transact
2. Key drivers to development

3. Have the power to better the lives of poor

people in developing countries

4. engine of growth
B. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN THE WORLD
From Ancient Times to 600 BC

Science during ancient times involved practical

arts like healing practices and metal tradition.

The ancient Egyptians already had reasonably

sophisticated medical practices.

“IMHOTEP”
Most historians agree that the heart of Egyptian
medicine was trial and error.
 The Egyptian medicine was considered advanced as
compared with other ancient nations
“PAPYRUS”
is a material similar to thick paper that was used in
ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the
pith of the papyrus plant

Before papyrus, Egyptians, Sumerians, and

other races wrote on CLAY TABLETS OR
SMOOTH ROCKS.

Egyptian medicine became the most

respected form of medicine in the known world
The Advent of Science (600 BC to 500 AD)
The ancient Greeks were the early thinkers and as
far as historians can tell, they were the first true
scientists.

This period produced substantial advances in

scientific knowledge, especially in anatomy,
zoology, botany, mineralogy, geography,
mathematics and astronomy
Islamic Golden Age
This period is traditionally understood to have
begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun
al-­Rashid (786 to 809) with the inauguration of the
House of Wisdom in Baghdad
Science and Technology in Ancient China
FOUR GREAT INVENTIONS

compass, gunpowder,
papermaking and printing.
The Renaissance (1300 AD – 1600AD)
the Renaissance period, great advances
occurred in geography, astronomy, chemistry,
physics, mathematics, anatomy, manufacturing,
and engineering.
The most important technological advance of
all in this period was the
development of printing, with movable
metal type, about the mid-­15th century in
Germany.
Johannes Gutenberg is usually called its
INVENTOR
The Enlightenment Period (1715 A.D. to 1789 A.D.)
The Enlightenment Period or the Age of
Reason was characterized by radical
reorientation in science, which emphasized
reason over superstition and
science over blind faith.
Industrial Revolution (1760 -­1840)
Great Britain, the home of the Industrial
Revolution
The technological changes included the
following:
(1) the use of new basic materials
(2) the use of new energy sources
(3) the invention of new machines
(4) A new organization of work known
as the factory system
(5) Important developments in transportation
and communication
(6) the increasing application of science to
industry