Unit 1

Lesson 1: Science, Technology,

and Its Significance to Society
in Contemporary World
Objectives:

• State the meaning of Science and Tech-

nology;
• Describe some notable developments of
science and technology and its signifi-
cance to the society;
• Describe some disadvantages of science
and technology.
 Science and Technology
• Study of how social, political, and cultural values affect
society.
• STS scholars are interested in a variety of prob-
lems including the relationships between scien-
tific and technological innovations and society,
and the directions and risks of science and
technology. The held of STS is related to his-
tory and philosophy of science although with a
much broader emphasis on social aspects of
science and technology.
 Science
• Science is a systematized body of knowledge
• Science is an organized and dynamic inquiry (following
scientific method)
• Science is knowledge gained through observation and
experimentation
• Science is a human activity; scientist
• Science is a social enterprise: people, knowledge, skills,
facilities, apparatuses and technologies
• Science leads to formation of concepts, methods, prin-
ciples, theories, law and procedures Which seek to de-
scribe and explain nature and its phenomena
 Technology
• Technology as material products; results of scientific inquiry;
hardware produced by a scientist .
• Technology as the application of knowledge in solving scien-
tific and practical problems that will help humans to survive
and improve his life .
• Technology as human cultural activities or endeavors
• Technology as a social enterprise Technology is a complex
system of knowledge, skills, people, methods, tools, materi-
als and resources applied and allocated to the development,
operation and production of a new or improved product,
process or services.
• Technology as modern technology based on the advances of
science since the end of WWII to the present.
 Notable Human Successes

• Humans are ingenious species.

Humans (Homo sapiens) have
dreamed up and created some
amazing and far-out things.
1. The Wheel
the concept of inventing the wheel
came during 3500 B.C. Humans were lim-
ited in how much stuff they could trans-
port over land, and how far. People in-
vented the wheel and axle which is the
concept of making wheels.
2. The Compass
before, mariners navigate with the star,
but that method didn't work during the
day or on cloudy nights. The Chinese in-
vented the first compass sometime be-
tween the 9th and 11th century; it was
made of lodestone, a naturally-magnetized
iron ore, the attractive properties of which
they had been studying for centuries.
3. The Printing Press
It was Johannes Gutenberg, a German
who invented the printing press around
1440. printing presses exponentially in-
creased the speed with which book copies
could be made, and thus led to the rapid
and widespread dissemination of knowl-
edge for the first time in history.
4. The Internal Combustion engine
In these engines, the combustion of fuel
releases a high temperature gas, which as
it expands, applies force to a piston, mov-
ing it. Combustion engines convert chem-
ical energy into mechanical work. The en-
gine steered in the industrial age which
enabled the invention of a huge variety of
machines, including modern cars and air-
craft.
5. The Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was the first
to be awarded a patent for the electric
telephone in 1876. Though several in-
ventors did pioneering work on elec-
tronic voice transmission, the inven-
tion quickly took off, and revolution-
ized global business and communica-
tions.
6. Penicillin
In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander
Fleming noticed a bacteria-filled Petri dish
in his laboratory, the sample had become
contaminated with a mold, and every-
where the mold was, the bacteria was
dead. The antibiotic mold turned out to be
fungus Penicillium, and over the next two
decades, chemists purified it and devel-
oped the drug Penicillin, which fights a
huge number of bacterial infections.
7. The Internet
Is the global system of interconnected com-
puter networks used by billions of people world-
wide.
In the 1960`s, a team of computer scientists
working for the U.S Defense Department`s ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) built a com-
munications network to connect the computers in
the agency, called ARPANET. It is used a method
of data transmission called “packet
switching”. ARPANET was the predecessor of the
internet that eventually emerged to become the
“information
superhighway”.
Eco-Friendly Technologies/Advantages
• These are sustainable technologies.
This technology utilizes resources from
the environment without causing nega-
tive effects to it. Some of these are:
Solar energy- use of solar panels to
provide electricity.
Geothermal energy
Wind power- wind mills as source of
energy.
Disadvantages and Ethical dilemmas of
Science and Technology

1. Threats to human survival

the invention of nuclear weapon in
1945, like the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki
and Hiroshima that caused deaths of many
people. This was a product of chemical and
biological warfare (bio-warfare); toxic
wastes produced by manufacturing companies
that threaten human survival and stability
of the environments.
2. Ethical dilemmas
exploitation of advanced scientific
knowledge and technological devices and
systems gave rise to situations in
which advances seem to have turned
against their beneficiaries, creating
ethical dilemmas.
3. Disparities in Human well being
there are advanced countries enjoying
science and technology based successes
and hold high esteem in contemporary
society (Economic strength), versus
millions of people in less developed
countries who have not partaken in
these benefits.
4. Social and Cultural conflicts
-military power is vital for national
security of many governments; superior
and highly technical weapons dictated
the outcomes of some recent wars.
5. Innovating technologies can have negative
consequences for certain sectors or constituen-
cies:
 Include pollution associated with production
processes,
 Increased unemployment from labor-saving new
technologies,
 Conversion of agricultural land into urban ar-
eas,
 Effect on humans psychologically and emotion-
ally- the usage and addiction of new gadgets.
 Effect of overused technologies in medical in-
dustry that can cause fatal births and dis-
eases
 Global warming.
 DO YOU KNOW?

• In the Philippines, people turn to science and technol-

ogy for warning advice and assistance during calami-
ties and disaster: we have some government agencies
responsible for giving us advice and information.
These are the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) and Philippines Atmospheric Geo-
physical Astronomical Services Administration (PA-
GASA).

• We have built windmills and transit trains that provide

us means of source of energy and transport.
 Activity 1: PROS and CONS
• Write your report in a long size bond paper, it must be clear and
concise.
• Choose one situation and Explain the advantages and disadvan-
tages of the following situation`s;
• Answer must be back up with theories and concepts of science
and technology;
• Give possible suggestions on how to deal or treat the given situ-
ation`s. These are the topics:
a. use of social media
b. conversion of agricultural land to industrial areas
c. emergence of genetically modified organism
d. use of robots/machines in industrial facilities
e. emergence of the different brands and models of cars.
References:

• Aldea, K.I., Caronan, H.P., and Candido,

M. B., Science, Technology, and Society
(2018), Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.