GEC 6 – Science,

Technology, and Society

 Criteria Percentage
A.Class Standing 50%
 Attendance 5%
Quizzes 20%
Recitation/Activity Performance 25%

B. Major Examination 30%

C. Project 20%
Total: 100%
Introduction to Science
and Technology
Science – from the Latin word “scientia”, meaning
‘knowledge’.

It refers to a systematic and methodical activity of

building and organizing knowledge about how the
universe behaves through observation,
experimentation or both.
“Modern science is a discovery as well
as an invention”. – John Heilbron

Heilbron considered science as a discovery of

regularity in nature, enough for natural
phenomena to be described by principles and
laws. He also explained that science required
invention to devise techniques, abstractions,
apparatuses, and organizations to describe
these natural regularities and their law-like
descriptions.
Technology – comes from the Greek root word “techne”,
meaning ‘art, skill, or cunning hand.’

is the application of scientific knowledge, laws, and

principles to produce services, materials, tools, and
machines aimed to solving real-world problems.

“What defines a technological tool – one historical definition

– is something that takes a human’s sense or ability and
augments it and makes it more powerful. So, for example, I
wear contact lenses or glasses; that is technology that
enhances my human ability of vision and makes it better.”
– Mark Zuckerberg
 Advancements is science and technology have become pervasive.
They are manifested in the activities that humans pursue and the
tools they use every day.

 Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is a relatively young field that

combines previously independent and older disciplines, such as the
history of science, philosophy of science, and sociology of science.

 STS seeks to bridge the gap between two traditionally exclusive

cultures – humanities ( interpretive) and Natural Sciences (rational) –
so that humans will be able to better confront the moral, ethical, and
existential dilemmas brought by the continued developments in
Science and Technology.
Historical Antecedents
An antecedent is defined as a precursor to the unfolding or
existence of something . Thus, historical antecedents in
science and technology are factors that paved the way for the
presence of advanced and sophisticated scientific and
technological innovations today.
Ancient Period

Sumerian Wheel Potter’s Wheel Papyrus

Shadoof Aeolipile
Antikythera Mechanism
Middle Ages

Gunpowder

Paper Money Mechanical Clock Spinning Wheel

Modern Ages
Telescope
Galileo Galilei

Compound Microscope
Hans and Zacharias Janssen

1924 – Successfully
televised objects.
1925 –
Recognizable
human faces
1926 – moving
objects.
1928 – projected
colored images.
Engine-Powered Airplane Television
Orville and Wilbur Wright John Logie Baird
Inventions by Filipino Scientists
Erythromycin – invented by Ilonggo Scientist –
Abelardo Aguilar
 Antibiotic made out of a strain of bacterium
called Streptomyces erythreus.

Medical Incubator – invented by World renowned

Filipino pediatrician and national scientist, Fe del
Mundo
 Dr. Arturo Alcaraz - volcanologist
specializing in geothermal energy
development.
 Father of Philippine Geothermal
Development
 In 1967, Arturo Alcaraz and team
powered an electric light bulb
using steam-powered electricity.
Power coming from a Volcano near
the town of Tiwi. This was the first
geothermal power generated in the
Philippines.
Julian Banzon
Filipino chemist, Julian Banzon
researched methods of producing
alternative fuels.
 He experimented with the production
of ethyl esters fuels from sugarcane
and coconut, and invented a means
of extracting residual coconut oil by
a chemical process rather than a
physical process.