Unit 1

Lesson 1: Science, Technology,

and Its Significance to Society
in Contemporary World
Objectives:

• State the meaning of Science and

• Technology;
• Describe some notable developments of
science and technology and its
• significance 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
problems including the relationships between
scientific and technological innovations and
society, and the directions and risks of science
and technology. The held of STS is related to
history 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 scientific
and practical problems that will help humans to survive and im-
prove 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, materials and re-
sources 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 sci-
ence 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
invented 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 pis-
ton, moving it. Combustion engines con-
vert chemical energy into mechanical
work. The engine steered in the industrial
age which enabled the invention of a huge
variety of machines, including modern cars
and aircraft.
5. The Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was the
first to be awarded a patent for the
electric telephone in 1876. Though sev-
eral inventors did pioneering work on
electronic voice transmission, the in-
vention quickly took off, and revolu-
tionized global business and communica-
tions.
6. Penicillin
In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexan-
der Fleming noticed a bacteria-filled Petri
dish in his laboratory, the sample had be-
come contaminated with a mold, and ev-
erywhere 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
computer networks used by billions of people
worldwide.
In the 1960`s, a team of computer scien-
tists working for the U.S Defense Department`s
ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) built a
communications 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 scien-
tific knowledge and technological de-
vices and systems gave rise to situa-
tions in which advances seem to have
turned against their beneficiaries,
creating ethical dilemmas.
3. Disparities in Human well being
there are advanced countries en-
joying science and technology based
successes and hold high esteem in con-
temporary society (Economic strength),
versus millions of people in less de-
veloped countries who have not partaken
in these benefits.
4. Social and Cultural conflicts
-military power is vital for na-
tional 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
disadvantages 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
situation`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.