CHAPTER 1: General Concepts and Historical

Events in Science, Technology, and Society

(The Cradles of Early Science)

Edgar Menor, RPh.

Isabela State University – Cauayan Campus
OBJECTIVES

After studying this module, you should be able to:

1. Describe the development of Science and Technology during Ancient,
Middle, Modern Ages;
2. Identify inventions and discoveries that changed the world over the
course of history.
LESSON 2: STS in the ANCIENT, MIDDLE and MODERN AGES

THE ANCIENT WORLD

The different major technological advancements during the ancient times which include
some of the achievements of the early civilizations such as the Asian, African and
Western Civilizations
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS

 Asia is the biggest continent in the world and the home of many ancient
civilizations.
 It is host to many cultural, economic, scientific and political activities of all
ages. In the field of science, technology and mathematics, great civilizations
have stood out: India, China and the Middle East civilizations (Mesopotamian
Civilizations.)
 These civilizations were incomparable in terms of their contributions to the
development of knowledge during their time.
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS
 INDIA
 India is a huge peninsula surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge mountains
in its northern boarders.
 The Indians creatively developed various ideas and technologies useful in their everyday lives.
 They are known for manufacturing iron and in metallurgical works.
 Their iron steel is considered to be the best and held with high regard in the whole of Roman
Empire.
 India is also famous in medicine. Ayurveda - a system of traditional medicine that originated in
ancient India before 2500 BC, is still practiced as a form of alternative medicine.
 They discovered some medicinal properties of plants that led them to develop medicines to
cure various illnesses.
 Some ancient texts, like the Susruta Samhita, describe different surgical and other medical
procedures famous in Ancient India.
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS
 Ancient India is also notable in the field of astronomy.
 They developed theories on the configuration of the universe, the spherical self-supporting
Earth, and the year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each.
 Sama (2008) noted that their interest in astronomy was also evident in the first 12 chapters
of the Siddhanta Shiromani, written in the 12th century, According to Sama (2008), this
ancient text covered topics such as: mean longitudes of the planets; true longitudes of the
planets; the three problems of diurnal rotation; syzygies; lunar eclipses; solar eclipses;
latitudes of the planets; risings and settings; the moon's crescent; conjunctions of the
planets with each other; conjunctions of the planets with the fixed stars; and the paths of
the Sun and Moon.
 Ancient India is also known for their mathematics. Bisht (1982) noted that the earliest
traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appeared in the Indus Valley
Civilization.
 The people of this civilization, according to Bisht (1982), tried to standardize measurement
of length to a high degree of accuracy and designed a ruler, the Mohenjo-daro ruler.
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS
 CHINA
 The oldest civilization in Asia is Chinese civilization. Silk is one of the things that
connect Far East China to the world.
 Another was the use of acupuncture, which uses needles in which Chinese doctors
used this to treat diseases.
 Tea, which is made of crushed dried tea leaves, was developed, and the first tea was
drunk by a Chinese emperor.
 Gun powder was developed by Chinese alchemists. It is made up of charcoal, sulfur,
and potassium nitrate, which can generate large amounts of heat and gas in an instant.
 China is also famous for its largest and most extensive infrastructure, the great wall of
china. It is made of stone, brick, wood, earth, and other materials.
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS

 China is one of the ancient civilizations with substantial contributions in many areas
of life like medicine, astronomy, science, mathematics, arts, philosophy, and
music, among others.
 Chinese civilizations have greatly induenced many of its neighbor countries like
Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and other
countries that belong to the old Silk Road.
 The Chinese also made significant records on supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses,
and comets, which were carefully recorded and preserved to understand better the
heavenly bodies and their effects to our world.
 They observed the heavenly bodies to understand weather changes and seasons that
may affect their daily activities. They used lunar calendars, too. The Chinese are
also known in seismology. This made them more prepared in times of natural
calamities.
The Chinese Civilization
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS
 MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES
 The Middle East countries are dominantly occupied by Muslim. With the spread
of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, a period of Muslim Scholarship, or what is
called the Golden Age of Islam lasted until the 13th century.
 The common language of Arabic, access to Greek texts from the Byzantine
Empire, and their proximity to India were contributory to the intellectualization
of the Muslims and provided their scholars knowledge to create innovations and
develop new ideas.
 This led to the development of the scientific method in the Muslim world, and
made significant improvements by using experiments to distinguish between
competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation.
 A Muslim scientist named Ibnal-Haytham is also regarded as the Father of Optics,
especially for his empirical proof of the intromission theory of light.
THE ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS

 In the field of medicine, Ibn Sina pioneered the science of experimental

medicine and was the first physician to conduct clinica trials (Jacquart,
2008).
 His two most notable works in medicine, the Book of Healing and The Canon
of Medicine, were used as standard medicinal texts in both the Muslim world
and in Europe during the 17th century.
 Among his many contributions are the discovery of the contagious nature of
infectious diseases and the introduction of clinical pharmacology (Craig&
Walter, 2000).
Sumerian Civilization
 Sumeria, found on the southernmost tip of the ancient Mesopotamia, 3500 BCE, is a great
city with a civilization known as Sumer. The concept of inventing the wheel came during
3500 B.C. the Sumerian people are perplexed about the limitations on just how much
weight humans can carry over land. The idea came about to connect a non-moving
platform to a rolling cylinder—the sail and plow, which improved trade and farming.
 The Sumerians introduced the 360-day calendar, and they devised the Sexagesimal
number system, it is a number system through which counting is in units and intervals of
sixty (60). This has become the basis for graduating the circumference of a circle to 360
degrees and the sixty-minute equal graduations to an hour duration in time.
 Sumerians are known for their high degree of cooperation with one another and their
desire for great things.
 Sumerians developed the first writing system known as cuneiform. It utilizes word pictures
and triangular symbols that are carved on clay using wedge instruments and then left to dry.
This was used to keep records of things with great historical value or their everyday life.
Sumerian Civilization
Babylonian civilization

 Babylonian civilization emerged from about 3,500 until 500 BC. They
were located on the border of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq.
 The Babylonians dig canals and developed earthen dikes to irrigate
their crops and provide water to their livestock. They innovate upon
the Sumerian sexagesimal system.
 Astronomers of Babylon compiled lists of planets and stars which
somewhat accurately pictured the positions of the celestial bodies of
our solar system in terms of 12 equally-spaced signs, each one
associated with a zodiacal constellation.
 One of the major contributions is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Babylonian Civilization

It is one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of

the World and was supposedly built high
above the ground on split-level stone
terraces. It was believed that the gardens
were destroyed by war and erosion, while
others believe an earthquake destroyed
them.
Egyptian Civilization
 Ancient Egypt began between 5,000-3,100BC and is found in the
northeast area of continental Africa.
 The River Nile has sustained the Egyptians with the necessary water
requirements to support agricultural activities. Egyptians produced a
variety of earthenware and pottery items.
 They also worked on metals to produce tools, weapons, and
agricultural implements. They constructed dwellings made of reeds and
air-dried mud bricks.
 They built the famous pyramids, and they devised a 365-day calendar.
This solar calendar has 365-day per cycle.
Egyptian Civilization
 The year is made up of three seasons that have a hundred and twenty days
each. This includes an intercalary month consisting of epagomenal days of
five; this is treated separately from the year proper.
 Another contribution is the papyrus.
 They were able to process the Papyrus plant in order to produce thin sheets
on which one could write down things. Egyptians developed a system of
writing using symbols, known as hieroglyphs.
 Egypt was known to be a center of alchemy, which is known as the
medieval forerunner of chemistry.
 They tried to study human anatomy and pharmacology, and applied
important components such as examination diagnosis, treatment, and
prognosis for the treatment of diseases.
 These components displayed strong parallels to the basic empirical method
of studying science.
Egyptian Civilization
Greek Civilization

This civilization shaped the modern intellectual world we know today.

It emerged at around 1,100 BC; the Greek civilization focused on scientific
works of great Greek philosophers in the likes of Socrates, Thales, Hippocrates,
Archimedes, Aristotle, Archimedes, and Ptolemy. Their contributions became the
foundation and pillars of western ideals and civilization.
The alarm clock was invented by the ancient Greeks.
They made use of water that dropped into drums, which sounded the alarm.
Another contribution of Greek civilization is windmills, which were used in
agricultural processing like milling of grains.
Greek Civilization
Roman Civilization
 Roman's great contribution is the Gazette, the first newspaper which
contains announcements of the Roman Empire to the people. These were
engraved in metal or stone tablets and then publicly displayed.
 Record-keeping was easier when the paper was invented; the Roman
Empire was able to produce the first book or codex, which was composed
of papyrus pages bound together with an animal skin as its cover.
 The Romans devised their own number system specifically to address the
need for a standard counting method that would meet their increasing
communication and trade concerns.
 ROMAN ARCHITECTURE one of the most visual contributions of the
Roman Empire to the world
 considered a continuation of Greek architecture
 able to implement major projects such as large churches (basilicas and
cathedrals, coliseums amphitheaters etc.)
Roman Civilization
AZTEC CIVILIZATION
 The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the fourteenth,
fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.
 They were a civilization with a rich cultural heritage whose capital, Tenochtitlan,
rivaled the greate
 Significant contribution:
 MANDATORY EDUCATION - The Aztec puts value on education; that is why their
children are mandated to get education regardless of their social class, gender, or
age. It is an early form of universal or inclusive education.
 CHOCOLATES - The Aztec in Mexico developed chocolate during their time. In the
Mayan culture, they used it as currency st cities of Europe in size and grandeur.
AZTEC CIVILIZATION
SUMMARY
 It has been established that most, if not all, of the discoveries and inventions during
each period were due to human needs and wants.
 Science therefore provided different civilizations the means to survive and understand
the natural and physical world.
 All in all, it enabled human beings to develop various technologies that helped them in
their everyday tasks.
 Each civilization has its unique characteristic and way of living.
 The social economic structures and the way their rulers rule their land including the
internal and external that took place during those times shaped the striking features of
the civilization.
 It is therefore important to note that the kind of society we have speaks of our
achievement and on how we move towards progress.
REFERENCES

 McNamara, J et al. 2018. Science Technology and Society. C&E Publishing Inc.
 Serafica, J. et al.2018. Science Technology and Society, Rex Book Store Inc.