Chapter 1

Historical Antecedents in Which Social Considerations Changed

the Course of Science and Technology

Introduction

This section presents an overview of how science and technology evolved from ancient
times to the present. It shows how man was able to develop crude technological tools
and eventually improve them through time to make his way of living more convenient and
the society more progressive.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. Discuss the interactions between science and technology and society

throughout history

2. Discuss how scientific and technological developments affect society and

the environment

3. Identify the paradigm shifts in history

A. General Concepts

What is Science, Technology and Society?

Science and Technology and Society is an interdisciplinary course designed to examine

the ways that science and technology shape, and are shaped by, our society, politics,
and culture. It explores the conditions under which production, distribution and utilization
of scientific knowledge and technological systems occur; and the effects of these
processes upon the entire society. History and philosophy of science and technology,
sociology and anthropology are greatly interconnected to the discussion of STS because
these are the very factors that molded the development of science and technology as we
know it today.

Science is an evolving body of knowledge that is based on theoretical expositions and

experimental and empirical activities that generates universal truths. Technology, on the
other hand is the application of science and creation of systems, processes and objects
designed to help humans in their daily activities. The development of science
and technology has brought immense progress in society and men. Scientific knowledge
and technology influences individuals and society. Better understanding of science
and technology is essential to know the unique attributes of each enterprise, then
addressing

their implications for society.

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. It is also defined as a
group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social
group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same
political authority and dominant cultural expectations (Science Daily).

Science, technology and society is important to the public because it helps

address issues and problems that are of concern to the general population. Scientific
and technological principles have been and continue to be applied to solve problems
that people experience in their day-to-day aspects of living. But scientific findings must
be applied at the right scales. The impact of technological breakthroughs on people,
society and the environment must be critically assessed to preserve its value.

Figure 1 The Interrelationship of science, technology and society

Source: Ihueze et al., 2015. researchgate.net

A lot of our problems in modern society involve not only technology but also
human values, social organization, environmental concerns, economic resources,
political decisions, and a myriad of other factors. These things sits at the interface
between the three fields and can also be solved (if they can be solved at all) by the
application of scientific knowledge, technical expertise, social understanding, and
humane compassion.

In the past, science is learned as an independent study from other fields. It focuses on
the scientific methods, natural processes and understanding nature. But in the
current global scenario, science is studied holistically, often in an interdisciplinary
method, emphasizing systems rather than processes, synthesis more than analysis and
predicting nature’s behavior in order to have useful application in solving contemporary
problems.

The scientific data that have built up a considerable base of knowledge led to a
vast portfolio of useful technologies, especially in the 21st century, to solve many of
the problems now facing humankind (UNESCO, 1999).

To solve our contemporary problems, science needs to become more multidisciplinary

and its practitioners should continue to promote cooperation and integration between the
social and natural sciences. A holistic approach also demands that science draw on the
contributions of the humanities (such as history and philosophy), local knowledge
systems, aboriginal wisdom, and the wide variety of cultural values.

The influence of science and technology on people’s lives is expanding. While recent
benefits to humanity are unparalleled in the history of the human species, in
some instances the impact has been harmful or the long-term effects give causes for
serious concerns. A considerable measure of public mistrust of science and fear of
technology exists today. In part, this stems from the belief by some individuals and
communities that they will be the ones to suffer the indirect negative consequences of
technical innovations introduced to benefit only a privileged minority. The power of
science to bring about change places a duty on scientists to proceed with great caution
both in what they do and what they say. Scientists should reflect on the social
consequences of the technological applications or dissemination of partial information of
their work and explain to the public and policy makers alike the degree of scientific
uncertainty or incompleteness in their findings. At the same time, though, they should not
hesitate to fully exploit the predictive power of science, duly qualified, to help people cope
with environmental change, especially in cases of direct threats like natural disasters or
water shortages.

The Role of Science and Technology

1. alter the way people live, connect, communicate and transact, with profound effects
on economic development;

2. key drivers to development, because technological and scientific revolutions underpin

economic advances, improvements in health systems, education and infrastructure;

3. The technological revolutions of the 21st century are emerging from entirely
new sectors, based on micro-processors, tele-communications, bio-technology
and nano-technology. Products are transforming business practices across
the economy, as well as the lives of all who have access to their effects. The
most remarkable breakthroughs will come from the interaction of insights
and applications arising when these technologies converge.

4. have the power to better the lives of poor people in developing countries 5.
differentiators between countries that are able to tackle poverty effectively by growing
and developing their economies, and those that are not.

6. engine of growth

7. interventions for cognitive enhancement, proton cancer therapy and

genetic engineering

C. Historical Development of Science and Technology in the Philippines

The current state of science and technology in the country can be traced back to
its historical development and the latent events that helped shape it since the pre-
colonial period to contemporary time. What we have or lack today in terms of science
and technology is very much an effect of the government policies that had been enacted
by past public officials in trying to develop a technological society that is responsive to
the needs of time.

Pre-Spanish Era.

There is not much written about the Philippines during pre-colonial time but analysis from
archeological artifacts revealed that the first inhabitants in the archipelago who settled in
Palawan and Batangas around 40 000 years ago have made simple tools or weapons of
stone which eventually developed techniques for sawing, drilling and polishing hard
stones. This very primitive technology was brought by primal needs of survival by hunting
wild animals and gathering fruits and vegetables in the forest. They learned that by
polishing hard stones, they can develop sharp objects that are useful in their day to day
activities. From this early, we can see that technology was developed because of a great
necessity.

Still on its primitive state, the first inhabitants in the country are learning what can be
harnessed from the environment. They have come to understand that when clay is mixed
with 2 water and then shaped into something before sun drying, it hardens to an object
that can also be useful to them. And because clay is moldable, it can be shaped into
various objects.

As the early Filipinos flourished, they have learned how to extract, smelt and
refine metals like copper, gold, bronze and iron from nature and consequently fashion
them into tools and implements. At this point, the inhabitants of the country are showing
a deeper understanding of their nature because they were able to obtain valuable
resources from nature.

As the inhabitants shifted from wandering from one place to another and learned to settle
in areas near the water source, they also learned how to weave cotton,
engaged themselves in agriculture and are knowledgeable on building boats for coastal
trade.

From the above mentioned facts, it can be concluded that primitive Filipinos
are practicing science and technology in their everyday lives. The ancient crafts of
stone carving, pottery and smelting of metals involves a lot of science, which is
understanding the nature of matter involved. The ingenuity of the Ifugaos in building the
Banaue Rice

Terraces The smelting of metals exhibited the primitive Filipino’s knowledge on

the composition of alloy and the optimum temperature that will produce the metal
with acceptable tensile strength. All in all, the primitive Filipinos were living in perfect
harmony with nature and they obtain from it what is just needed in their everyday life
through a very simple science of understanding how mother nature operates
Spanish Colonial Era.

As claimed by Caoili (1983), the beginnings of modern science and technology in the
country can be traced back to the Spanish regime because they established
schools, hospitals and started scientific research that had important consequences in
the development of the country. These schools, which are mostly run by Spanish
friars, formed the first Filipino professionals. The The 3 highest institution of learning
during this time was the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas.

But the very strict hold of the church among citizens and its intervention and meddling to
the government propelled by fear of intellectual awakening among Filipinos have greatly
hindered the progress of these professionals to further enhance their knowledge, conduct
scientific investigations and contribute to the advancement of society. But a few of
persistent Filipino scientists succeeded by educating themselves abroad. One notable
example of course is our national hero, the great Dr. Jose P. Rizal. Dr. Jose Rizal is the
epitome of the Renaissance man in the Philippine context. He is a scientist, a doctor, an
engineer (he designed and built a water system in Dapitan), a journalist, a novelist, an
urban planner and a hero. Being a doctor and scientist, he had extensive knowledge on
medicine and was able to operate his mother’s blinding eye. When he was deported in
Dapitan, his knowledge on science and engineering was translated into technology by
creating a water system that improved the sanitation of households in the area. Dr. Jose

Dr. Jose Rizal was a brilliant man and his life stood out among his contemporaries. But
it cannot be said that there is no contribution to science and technology among
the Filipino men and women during the Spanish era. The charity hospitals became
the breeding ground for scientific researches on pharmacy and medicine, with great
focus on problems of infectious diseases, their causes and possible remedies. And in
1887, the Laboratorio Municipal de Ciudad de Manila was created and whose functions
were to conduct biochemical analyses for public health and to undertake specimen
examinations for clinical and medico-legal cases. Its publication, probably the first
scientific journal in the country was titled Cronica de Ciencias Medicas de Filipinas
showed the studies undertaken during that time.
As the colonization of the Spaniards lengthened, they began to exploit the
natural resources of the country through agriculture, mining of metals and minerals
and establishing various kinds of industries to further promote economic growth. As
such, scientific research on these fields were encouraged by the government. By the
nineteenth century, Manila has become a cosmopolitan center and modern amenities
were introduced to the city. However, little is known about the accomplishments of
scientific bodies commissioned by the Spanish government during this time. Because of
limited scientific research and its consequent translation to technology during the
Spanish regime, none of the industries prosper. The Philippines had evolved into a
primary agricultural exporting economy, and this is not because of the researches
undertaken on

this field, but was largely because of the influx of foreign capital and technology
which brought modernization of some sectors, notably sugar and hemp production.

American Period

If the development in science and technology was very slow during the Spanish regime,
the Philippines saw a rapid growth during the American occupation and was made
possible by the government’s extensive public education system from elementary to
tertiary schools. The establishment of various public tertiary schools like the
Philippine Normal School and University of the Philippines provided the needs for
professionally trained Filipinos in building the government’s organization and programs.
The growth and application of science were still concentrated on the health sector in the
form of biochemical analyses in hospitals. The government supported basic and applied
research in the medical, agricultural and related sciences. The University of the
Philippines Los Baños opened the College of Agriculture in 1909 while the University of
the Philippines – Diliman opened the Colleges of Arts, Engineering and Veterinary
Medicine in 1910. The College of Medicine was opened four years later.

During this time, there were already quite a number of qualified Filipino physicians who
held teaching positions in the College of Medicine, whereas most of the early instructors
and professors in other colleges such as in the sciences and engineering
were Americans and foreigners. Capacity building programs that include sending
qualified Filipinos abroad for advanced training were conducted to eventually fill up the
teaching positions in Philippine universities. Moreover, the American colonial
government sent Filipino youths to be educated as teachers, engineers, physicians and
lawyers in American colleges to further capacitate the Filipinos in various fields.

However, there was difficulty in recruiting students for science and technology courses
like veterinary medicine, engineering, agriculture, applied sciences and industrial-
vocational courses. The enrollment in these courses were dismal that the government
had to offer scholarships to attract students. The unpopularity of these courses stemmed
from the Filipinos’ disdain toward manual work that developed from the 400 years under
Spanish colonization. The Filipinos then prefer prestigious professions at that time like
priesthood, law and medicine.

The government provided more support for the development of science and created the
Bureau of Government Laboratories in and was later changed to Bureau of Science. It
was composed of a biological laboratory, chemical laboratory, serum laboratory for
the production of virus vaccine, serums and prophylactics, and a library. The bureau
was initially managed by American senior scientists but as more Filipinos were trained
and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, they eventually took over their positions.
The Bureau of Science served as the primary training ground for Filipino scientists and
paved the way for pioneering scientific research, most especially on the study of various
tropical

diseases that were prevalent during those times like leprosy, tuberculosis,
cholera, dengue fever, malaria and beri-beri. Another great contribution of the Bureau of
Science to the development of science and technology in the country was the publication
of the

Philippine Journal of Science. This scientific journal published researches done in

local laboratories and reported global scientific developments that had relevance to
the Philippine society. The Bureau of Science became the primary research center of
the Philippines until World War II. Lastly, on December 8, 1933, the National
Research Council of the Philippines was established.
Commonwealth Period

When the Americans granted independence and the Commonwealth government was
established, the Filipinos were busy in working towards economic reliance
but acknowledge the importance and vital role of science and technology for the
economic development of the country by declaring that “The State shall promote
scientific research and invention…” The short-lived Commonwealth Government was
succeeded by the Japanese occupation when the Pacific war broke out in 1941. The
prevailing situations during the time of Commonwealth period to the Japanese regime
had made developments in science and technology practically impossible. This is also
true when World War II ended and left Manila, the country’s capital, in ruins. The
government had to rebuild again and normalize the operations in the whole country.

Science and Technology since Independence

In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science and was placed
under the Office of the President of the Philippines. However, the agency faced lack of
financial support from the government and experienced planning and
coordination problems. In a report by the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950,
there is a lack of basic information which were necessities to the country's industries,
lack of support of experimental work and minimal budget for scientific research and low
salaries of scientists employed by the government. In 1958, during the regime of
President Carlos P. Garcia, the Philippine Congress passed the Science Act of 1958
which established the National Science Development Board (NSDB).

The Philippine government focused on science and technology institutional capacity-

building which were undertaken by establishing infrastructure-support facilities such as
new research agencies and development trainings. However good these projects were,
it produced insignificant effects because of lack of coordination and planning, specifically
technology planning, between concerned agencies which hindered them from performing
their assigned functions effectively. This was aptly illustrated in the unplanned activities
of the researchers within the agencies. Most areas of research were naively left to the
discretion of the researchers under the assumption that they were working for
the interests of the country. They were instructed to look for technologies and
scientific studies with good commercialization potential. Without clear research policy
guidelines, researches were done for their own sake, leaving to chance the
commercialization of the results

Likewise, during this time, rebuilding the country involved establishing more state funded
manual and trading schools which would eventually become the current state universities
and colleges. The trade schools produced craftsmen, tradesmen and technicians that
helped in shaping a more technological Philippines while still being an agricultural based
nation. Eventually, when these trade schools were elevated to college and university
status, they produced much of the country’s professionals, although there was a great
disparity on the low proportion of those in agriculture, medical and natural sciences with
those from teacher training and commerce/business administration courses which had
higher number of graduates. The increase in the number of graduates led to the rise of
professional organizations of scientists and engineers. These organizations were formed
to promote professional interests and create and monitor the standards of practice.

As summarized by Caoili, “There has been little innovation in the education and training
of scientists and engineers since independence in 1946. This is in part due to
the conservative nature of self-regulation by the professional associations. Because
of specialized training, vertical organizations by disciplines and lack of liaison
between professions, professional associations have been unable to perceive the
dynamic relationship between science, technology and society and the relevance of
their training to Philippine conditions.

Science and Technology in the 1960s to 1990s

During these years, the government gave greater importance to science and technology.
The government declared in Section 9(1) of the 1973 Philippine Constitution that the
“advancement of science and technology shall have priority in the
national development.”

On April 6, 1968, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos proclaimed the 35-hectare land in

Bicutan, Taguig as the site of the Philippine Science Community. Then in 1969, the
government provided funds to private universities to encourage them to conduct research
and create courses in science and technology. The government also conducted seminars
for public and private high school and college science teachers, training programs and
scholarships for graduate and undergraduate science scholars, and workshops on
fisheries and oceanography.

In the 1970s, focus on science and technology was given to applied research and the
main objective was to generate products and processes that were supposed to have a
greater beneficial impact to the society. Relative to this, several research institutes
were established under the National Science Development Board (NSDB) which includes
the Philippine Coconut Research Institute and Philippine Textile Research
Institute. Moreover, the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission, another agency under
NSDB, explored the uses of atomic energy for economic development. To prepare the
pool of scientists who will work on Philippine Atomic Commission, Pres. Marcos assisted
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institutions in undertaking nuclear energy work by sending scientists abroad to

study nuclear science and technology, and providing basic training to 482 scientists,
doctors, engineers and technicians. Then in 1972, by virtue of Presidential Decree No.
4, the National Grains Authority was created and it was tasked to improve the rice and
corn industry and thereby help in the economic development of the country. This was
followed by the creation of Philippine Council for Agricultural Research to support the
progressive development of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in the country. The
Marcos

administration also established the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical

and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) under the Department of
National Defense to provide environmental protection and to utilize scientific knowledge
to ensure the safety of the people through Presidential Decree No. 78, s. 1972. On the
following year, the Philippine National Oil Company was created by virtue of Presidential
Decree No. 334, s. 1973, to promote industrial and economic development through
effective and efficient use of energy sources. To strengthen the scientific culture in the
country, the National Academy of Science and Technology was established under
Presidential Decree No. 1003-A, s. 1976. The National Academy of Science and
Technology was composed of scientists with “innovative achievement in the basic and
applied sciences” who will serve as the reservoir of scientific and technological expertise
for the country.

In the 1980s, science and technology was still focused on applied research. In
1982, NSDB was further reorganized into a National Science and Technology Authority
(NSTA) composed of four research and development Councils; Philippine Council for
Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (PCARRD); Philippine Council
for Industry and Energy Research Development (PCIERD); Philippine Council for Health
Research and Development (PCHRD) and the National Research Council of the
Philippines (NRCP). NSTA has also eight research and development institutes and
support agencies under it. These are actually the former organic and attached agencies
of NSDB which have themselves been reorganized.

The expanding number of science agencies has given rise to a demand for high calibre
scientists and engineers to undertake research and staff universities and
colleges. Hence, measures have also been taken towards the improvement of the
country’s science and manpower. In March 1983, Executive Order No. 889 was issued
by the President which provided for the establishment of a national network of centers
of excellence in basic sciences. As a consequence, six new institutes were created:
The National Institutes of Physics, Geological Sciences, Natural Sciences
Research, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematical Sciences. Related to this efforts was
the establishment of a Scientific Career System in the Civil Service by Presidential
Decree No. 901 on 19 July 1983. This is designed to attract more qualified scientists to
work in government and encourage young people to pursue science degrees and
careers.

In 1986, under the Aquino administration, the National Science and Technology Authority
was replaced by the Department of Science and Technology, giving science and
technology a representation in the cabinet. Under the Medium Term
Philippine Development Plan for the years 1987-1992, science and technology's role in
economic recovery and sustained economic growth was highlighted. In this period,
science and
technology was one of the top three priorities of the government towards
economic recovery.

With the agency's elevation to full cabinet stature by virtue of Executive Order 128 signed
on 30 January 1987, the functions and responsibilities of DOST
expanded correspondingly to include the following: (1) Pursue the declared state policy
of supporting local scientific and technological effort; (2) Develop local capability to
achieve technological self-reliance; (3) Encourage greater private sector participation in
research and development. moreover, funding for the science and technology sector was
tripled from 464 million in 1986 to 1.7 billion in 1992.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is the premiere science

and technology body in the country charged with the twin mandate of providing
central direction, leadership and coordination of all scientific and technological activities,
and of formulating policies, programs and projects to support national development. The
Science and Technology Master Plan was formulated which aimed at the modernization
of the production sector, upgrading research activities, and development of infrastructure
for science and technological purposes. A Research and Development Plan was
also formulated to examine and determine which areas of research needed attention and
must be given priority. The criteria for identifying the program to be pursued were,
development of local materials, probability of success, potential of product in the export
market, and the its strategic nature. The grants for the research and development
programs was included in the Omnibus Investment Law.

During President Fidel Ramos’s term, there was a significant increase in

personnel specializing in the science and technology field. In 1998, there was an
estimated 3,000 competent scientists and engineers in the Philippines. Adding to the
increase of scientists would be the result of the two newly built Philippine Science High
Schools in Visayas and Mindanao which promotes further development of young kids
through advance S&T curriculum. The government provided 3,500 scholarships for
students who were taking up professions related to S&T. Priority for S&T personnel
increased when Magna Carta for Science and Technology Personnel (Republic Act No.
8439) was established. The award was published in order to give incentives and rewards
for people who have been influential in the field of S&T.

Still under the Ramos administration, DOST established the “Science and Technology
Agenda for National Development (STAND)”, a program that was significant to the field
of S&T. It identified seven export products, 11 domestic needs, three other supporting
industries, and the coconut industry as priority investment areas. The seven identified
export products were computer software; fashion accessories; gifts, toys,
and houseware; marine products; metal fabrications; furniture; and dried fruits. The
domestic needs identified were food, housing, health, clothing, transportation,
communication, disaster mitigation, defense, environment, manpower development, and
energy. Three additional support industries were included in the list of priority sectors,
namely, packaging, chemicals, and metals because of their linkages with the above
sectors.

In the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, numerous laws and projects

were implemented which concerns both the environment and science to push technology
as a tool to increase the country’s economic level. This is to help increase the productivity
from Science, Technology and Innovations (STI) and help benefit the poor people.
Moreover, the term “Filipinnovation” was the coined term used in helping the Philippines
to be an innovation hub in Asia.

The STI was developed further by strengthening the schools and education system such
as the Philippine Science High School (PSHS), which focuses in science, technology
and mathematics in their curriculum. This helps schools produce get more involve in this
sector. Private sectors were also encouraged to participate in developing the schools
through organizing events and sponsorships. Future Filipino scientists and innovators
can be produced through this system.

Recently, the Philippines ranked 73rd out of 128 economies in terms of Science
and Technology and Innovation (STI) index, citing the country’s strength in research
and commercialization of STI ideas (DOST, 2018). However, a study by the Philippine
Institute for Development Studies highlighted the weak ties between innovation-driven
firms and the government, and it also identified the country’s low expenditure in research
and development (R&D). This is the reason the government is now extending all its
efforts to reach out with the private sector, explaining that STI plays an important role in
economic and social progress and is a key driver for a long-term growth of an economy.
Technology adoption allows a country’s firms and citizens to benefit from innovations
created in other countries, and allows it to catch up and even leap-frog obsolete
technologies. Technology adoption, the official said, allows a country’s firms and citizens
to benefit from innovations created in other countries, and allows it to catch up and even
leap-frog obsolete technologies.

Hopes in Philippine Science and Technology

Despite the many inadequacies, from funding to human capital, there are some science
and technology-intensive research and capacity-building projects which resulted in
products which are currently being used successfully and benefits the society.

One of these is the micro-satellite. In April 2016, the country launched into space its first
micro-satellite called Diwata-1. It was designed, developed and assembled by Filipino
researchers and engineers under the guidance of Japanese experts. The Diwata (deity
in English) satellite provides real-time, high-resolution and multi-color infrared images for
various applications, including meteorological imaging, crop and ocean productivity
measurement and high-resolution imaging of natural and man-made features. It enables
a more precise estimate of the country’s agricultural production, provides images of
watersheds and floodplains for a better understanding of water available for irrigation,
power and domestic consumption. The satellite also provides accurate information on
any disturbance and degradation of forest and upland areas.

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The country also has the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH), which
uses the Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. Project NOAH was initiated in
June 2012 to help manage risks associated with natural hazards and disasters.
The project developed hydromet sensors and high-resolution geo-hazard maps, which
were generated by light detection and ranging technology for flood modeling. Noah helps
the government in providing timely warning with a lead time of at least six hours in the
wake of impending floods. The country is now training the Cambodians on this
technology, as part of the partnerships among ASEAN countries, just like in the case of
Japan which assisted the country’s scientists and engineers in building its first micro-
satellite.

Another hope lies in the so-called Intelligent Operation Center Platform. Established
through a collaboration between the local government of Davao City and IBM Philippines
Inc., the center resulted in the creation of a dashboard that allows authorized government
agencies, such as police, fire and anti-terrorism task force, to use analytics software for
monitoring events and operations in real time.

Current Initiatives in Science and Technology in the Country

DOST, in cooperation with HEIs and research institutions, established advanced facilities
that seek to spur R&D activities and provide MSMEs access to testing services needed
to increase their productivity and competitive advantage.

One is the Advanced Device and Materials Testing Laboratories. The center houses
advanced equipment for failure analysis and materials characterization to
address advanced analytical needs for quality control, materials identification and R&D.
Closely related to this facility is the Electronics Products Development Center, used to
design, develop and test hardware and software for electronic products.

There are also high-performance computing facilities that perform tests and
run computationally intensive applications for numerical weather prediction,
climate modeling, as well as analytics and data modeling and archiving.

The Philippines could also boast of its Genome Center, a core facility that combines basic
and applied research for the development of health diagnostics, therapeutics, DNA
forensics and preventive products, and improved crop varieties.

The country also has drug-discovery facilities, which address the requirements
for producing high-quality and globally acceptable drug candidates. She said the
Philippines also has nanotechnology centers, which provide technical services and
enabling environment for interdisciplinary and collaborative R&D in various
nanotechnology applications.

There are also radiation processing facilities that are used to degrade, graft, or crosslink
polymers, monomers, or chemical compounds for industrial, agricultural, environmental
and medical applications. The Philippines could also boast of its Die and

Mold Solutions Center, which enhances the competitiveness of the local tool and
die sector through the localization of currently imported dies and molds.

These are reflections that we are advancing, albeit slowly, to a culture that embraces STI
as a sure path to growth.

D. Paradigm Shift

What is a paradigm?

A scientific paradigm is a framework containing all the commonly accepted views about
a subject, conventions about what direction research should take and how it should be
performed.

The philosopher Thomas Kuhn suggested that a paradigm includes “the practices that
define a scientific discipline at a certain point in time." Paradigms contain all the distinct,
established patterns, theories, common methods and standards that allow us
to recognize an experimental result as belonging to a field or not.

Science proceeds by accumulating support for hypotheses which in time become models
and theories. But those models and theories themselves exist within a larger theoretical
framework. The vocabulary and concepts in Newton’s three laws or the central dogma in
biology are examples of scientific “open resources" that scientists have adopted and
which now form part of the scientific paradigm.
Paradigms are historically and culturally bound. For example, a modern Chinese medical
researcher with a background in eastern medicine, will operate within a
different paradigm than a western doctor from the 1800s.

A paradigm dictates:

what is observed and measured

the questions we ask about those observations

how the questions are formulated

how the results are interpreted

how research is carried out

what equipment is appropriate

Many students who opt to study science do so with the belief that they are undertaking
the most rational path to learning about objective reality. But science, much like any other
discipline, is subject to ideological idiosyncrasies, preconceptions and hidden
assumptions.

In fact, Kuhn strongly suggested that research in a deeply entrenched

paradigm invariably ends up reinforcing that paradigm, since anything that contradicts it
is ignored or else pressed through the preset methods until it conforms to already
established dogma.

The body of pre-existing evidence in a field conditions and shapes the collection and
interpretation of all subsequent evidence. The certainty that the current paradigm
is reality itself is precisely what makes it so difficult to accept alternatives.

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What is a Paradigm Shift?

"The successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the
usual developmental pattern of mature science" - Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions.

Figure 1 Paradigm shift. Source: https://thesaurus.plus/

The shift from one paradigm to another occurs when enough anomalies to the current
paradigm build up, causing scientists to question the foundational principles upon which
their worldview rests. During “normal science,” when the current paradigm is in place,
these anomalies are discounted as acceptable levels of error. However,
during “revolutionary science” or a paradigm shift, these anomalies become the center
of attention as scientists attempt to construct a new world view that incorporates
and explains them. This period of intense focus on explaining anomalies and developing
a new paradigm is considered “revolutionary science,” and it is sparked by a
“crisis” where the old paradigm fails explain key anomalies or outliers. Once a new
paradigm is developed, however, there is a return to “normal science” under the new
worldview.

Figure 2 Paradigm Shift

Source: https://edtosavetheworld.com

An Example of a Paradigm Shift

Many physicists in the 19th century were convinced that the Newtonian paradigm that
had reigned for 200 years was the pinnacle of discovery and that scientific progress was
more or less a question of refinement. When Einstein published his theories on General
Relativity, it was not just another idea that could fit comfortably into the existing paradigm.
Instead, Newtonian Physics itself was relegated to being a special subclass of the greater
paradigm ushered in by General Relativity. Newton’s three laws are still faithfully taught
in schools, however we now operate within a paradigm that puts those laws into a much
broader context.
Interestingly, Kuhn’s theory itself was something of a game changer at the time, since
scientists were not accustomed to thinking of what they were doing in such metaphysical
terms. Kuhn’s theories are today understood to be part of a greater paradigm shift in the
social sciences, and have also been modified since their original publication.

Kuhn later conceded that the process of scientific advancement might be more gradual.
For example, Relativity did not completely prove Newton wrong, but merely reframed his
theory. Even the Copernican revolution was a little more gradual in replacing Ptolemy's
beliefs.

The concept of paradigm is closely related to the Platonic and Aristotelian views of
knowledge. Aristotle believed that knowledge could only be based upon what is
already known, the basis of the scientific method. Plato believed that knowledge should
be judged by what something could become, the end result, or final purpose. Plato's
philosophy is more like the intuitive leaps that cause scientific revolution; Aristotle's the
patient gathering of data.

Chapter 2

Intellectual Revolutions that Defined Society

Introduction

This section provides students with background on the different intellectuals who made
great contributions to science that propelled scientific and technological
revolutions. Emphasis is given on how these intellectual revolutions shape and transform
society.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. Articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and technology.

What is an Intellectual Revolution?

An intellectual revolution is a period where paradigm shifts occurred and where scientific
beliefs that have been widely embraced and accepted by the people were challenged
and opposed. Historically, this intellectual revolution can be summed up as the
“replacement of Aristotelian ethics and Christian morality by a new type of
decision making which may be termed instrumental reasoning or cost-benefit analysis”
(Wootton as cited by McCarthy, 2019).

The Birth of Modern Science

Western science, like so many other aspects of Western Civilization, was born with the
ancient Greeks. They were the first to explain the world in terms of natural laws
rather than myths about gods and heroes. They also passed on the idea of the value of
math and experiment in science, although they usually thought only in terms of one to
the exclusion of the other.

The most influential figure in Western science until the 1600's, was the philosopher,
Aristotle, who created a body of scientific theory that towered like a colossus over
Western Civilization for some 2000 years. Given the limitations under which the Greeks
were working compared to now, Aristotle's theories made sense when taken in a logical
order.

However, there were several factors that worked both to overthrow Aristotle's theories
and to preserve it. First of all, Aristotle's theories relied very little on experiment, which
left them vulnerable to anyone who chose to perform such experiments. But attacking
one part of Aristotle's system involved attacking the whole thing, which made it a daunting
task for even the greatest thinkers of the day. Secondly, the Church had grafted
Aristotle's theories onto its theology, thus making any attack on Aristotle an attack on the
tradition and the Church itself.

Finally, there were the Renaissance scholars who were uncovering other Greek authors
who contradicted Aristotle. This was unsettling, since these scholars had a reverence for
all ancient knowledge as being nearly infallible. However, finding contradicting authorities
forced the Renaissance scholars to try to figure out which ones were right. When their
findings showed that neither theory was right, they had to think for themselves and find
a new theory that worked. This encouraged skepticism, freethinking, and
experimentation, all of which are essential parts of modern science.
Pattern of development

The combination of these factors generated a cycle that undermined Aristotle, but also
slowed down the creation of a new set of theories. New observations would be made that
seemed to contradict Aristotle's theories. This would lead to new explanations,
but always framed in the context of the old beliefs, thus patching up the Aristotelian
system. However, more observations would take place, leading to more patching of the
old system, and so on. The first person who started this slow process of
dismantling Aristotle's cosmology was Copernicus. His findings would reinforce the
process of finding new explanations, which would lead to the work of Kepler and Galileo.
The work of these three men would lead to many new questions and theories about the
universe until Isaac Newton would take the new data and synthesize it into a new set of
theories that more accurately explained the universe.

A. Copernican Revolution

Nicolas Copernicus was a Polish scholar working at the University of Padua in northern
Italy. The problem he wrestled with was the paths of planetary orbits. Through the
centuries close observations had shown that the heavens do not always appear to move
in perfect, uninterrupted circles. Rather, they sometimes seem to move backwards in
what are known as retrogradations. In order to account for these irregularities,
astronomers did not do away with Aristotle's theory of perfectly circular orbits around the
earth. Instead, they expanded upon it, adding smaller circular orbits (epicycles) that spun
off the main orbits. These more or less accounted for the retrogradations seen in orbits.
Each time a new irregularity was observed, a new epicycle was added. By the 1500's,
the model of the universe had some 80 epicycles attached to ten crystalline spheres (one
for the moon, sun, each of the five known planets, the totality of the stars, a sphere to
move the other spheres, and heaven). The second century Greek astronomer, Ptolemy
was the main authority who put order to and passed this cumbersome system of
epicycles to posterity.

Copernicus' solution was basically geometric. By placing the sun at the center of the
universe and having the earth orbit it, he reduced the unwieldy number of epicycles from
80 to 34. His book, Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Worlds, published in
1543, laid the foundations for a revolution in how Europeans would view the world and
its place in the universe. However, Copernicus' intention was not to create a radically
new theory, but to get back to even older ideas by such Greeks as

Plato and Pythagoras who believed in a heliocentric (sun centered) universe.

Once again, ancient authorities were set against one another, leaving it for others
to develop their own theories.

It took some 150 years after Copernicus' death in 1543 to achieve a new model of the
universe that worked. The first step was compiling more data that tarnished the perfection
of the Ptolemaic universe and forced men to re-evaluate their beliefs.

Johannes Kepler

At this time, Tycho Brahe, using only the naked eye, tracked the entire orbits of various
stars and planets. Previously, astronomers would only track part of an orbit at a time and
assume that orbit was in a perfect circle. Brahe kept extensive records of his
observations, but did not really know what to do with them. That task was left to his
successor, Johannes Kepler.

Kepler was a brilliant mathematician who had a mystical vision of the mathematical
perfection of the universe that owed a great deal to the ancient Greek mathematician
Pythagoras. Despite these preoccupations, Kepler was open minded enough to realize
that Brahe's data showed the planetary orbits were not circular. Finally, his calculations
showed that those orbits were elliptical.

Galileo

As important as Kepler's conclusions was his method of arriving at it. He was the first to
successfully use math to define the workings of the cosmos. Although such a conclusion
as elliptical orbits inevitably met with fierce opposition, the combination of Brahe's
observations and Kepler's math helped break the perfection of the Aristotelian universe.
However, it was the work of an Italian astronomer, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), armed
with a new invention, the telescope, which would further shatter the old theory and lead
the way to a new one.
Using his telescope, Galileo saw the sun's perfection marred by sunspots and the moon's
perfection marred by craters. He also saw four moons orbiting Jupiter. In his book, The
Starry Messenger (1611), he reported these disturbing findings and spread the news
across Europe. Most people could not understand Kepler's math, but anyone could look
through a telescope and see for himself the moon's craters and Jupiter's moons.

The Church tried to preserve the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic view of the universe by
clamping down on Galileo and his book and made him promise not to preach his views.
However, in 1632, Galileo published his next book, Dialogue on the Great World
Systems, which technically did not preach the Copernican theory (which Galileo believed
in), but was only a dialogue presenting both views "equally". Galileo got his point across
by having the advocate of the Church and Aristotelian view

named Simplicius (Simpleton). He was quickly faced with the Inquisition and the threat
of torture. Being an old man of 70, he recanted his views. However, it was too late. Word
was out, and the heliocentric heresy was gaining new followers daily.

Galileo's work was the first comprehensive attack on the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic cosmic
model. He treated celestial objects as being subject to the same laws as terrestrial
objects. However, Galileo was still enthralled with perfect circular motion and, as a result,
did not come up with the synthesis of all these new bits of information into a new
comprehensive model of the universe. This was left to the last, and probably greatest,
giant of the age, Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton

The story of Newton being hit on the head by an apple may very well be true. However,
the significance of this popular tale is usually lost. People had seen apples fall out of
trees for thousands of years, but Newton realized, in a way no one else had realized,
that the same force pulling the apples to earth was keeping the moon in its orbit. In order
to prove this mathematically, Newton had to invent a whole new branch of math, calculus,
for figuring out rates of motion and change. The genius of Newton in physics, as well as
William Harvey in medicine and Mendeleev in chemistry, was not so much in his new
discoveries, as in his ability to take the isolated bits and pieces of the puzzle collected
by his predecessors and fit them together. In retrospect, his synthesis seems so simple,
but it took tremendous imagination and creativity to break the bonds of the old way of
thinking and see a radically different picture.

The implications of Newton's theory of gravity can easily escape us, since we now take
it for granted that physical laws apply the same throughout the universe. To the mentality
of the 1600’s, which saw a clear distinction between the laws governing the terrestrial
and celestial elements, it was a staggering revelation. His three laws of motion were
simple, could be applied everywhere, and could be used with calculus to solve any
problems of motion that came up.

The universe that emerged was radically different from that of Aristotle. Thanks to
Newton, it was within our grasp to understand, predict, and increasingly manipulate the
laws of the universe in ways no one had been able to do before. Newton's work also
completed the fusion of math promoted by Renaissance humanists, Aristotelian logic
pushed by medieval university professors, and experiment to test a hypothesis pioneered
by such men as Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo into what we call the scientific method.
This fusion had gradually been taking place since the Renaissance, but the invention of
calculus made math a much more dynamic tool in predicting and manipulating the laws
of nature.

The printing of Newton's book, Principia Mathematica, in 1687 is often seen as the start
of the Enlightenment (1687-1789). It was a significant turning point in history, for, armed
with the tools of Newton's laws and calculus, scientists had an

unprecedented faith in their ability to understand, predict, and manipulate the laws
of nature for their own purposes. This sense of power popularized science for
other intellectuals and rulers in Europe, turning it into virtual religion for some in
the Enlightenment. Even the geometrically trimmed shrubbery of Versailles
offers testimony to that faith in our power over nature. Not until this century has that
faith been seriously undermined or put into a more realistic perspective.

B. The Darwinian Revolution

The publication in 1859 of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin ushered in a new
era in the intellectual history of humanity. Darwin is deservedly given credit for the theory
of biological evolution: he accumulated evidence demonstrating that organisms evolve
and discovered the process, natural selection, by which they evolve. But the importance
of Darwin's achievement is that it completed the Copernican revolution initiated three
centuries earlier, and thereby radically changed our conception of the universe and the
place of humanity in it.

The discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, had gradually ushered in the notion that the workings of the
universe could be explained by human reason. It was shown that the earth is not the
center of the universe, but a small planet rotating around an average star; that
the universe is immense in space and in time; and that the motions of the planets
around the sun can be explained by the same simple laws that account for the motion
of physical objects on our planet. These and other discoveries greatly expanded
human knowledge, but the intellectual revolution these scientists brought about was
more fundamental: a commitment to the postulate that the universe obeys immanent
laws that account for natural phenomena. The workings of the universe were brought
into the realm of science: explanation through natural laws. Physical phenomena
could be accounted for whenever the causes were adequately known.

Darwin completed the Copernican revolution by drawing out for biology the notion of
nature as a lawful system of matter in motion. The adaptations and diversity of
organisms, the origin of novel and highly organized forms, even the origin of humanity
itself could now be explained by an orderly process of change governed by natural laws.

The origin of organisms and their marvelous adaptations were, however, either left
unexplained or attributed to the design of an omniscient Creator. God had created the
birds and bees, the fish and corals, the trees in the forest, and best of all, man. God had
given us eyes so that we might see, and He had provided fish with gills to breathe in
water. Philosophers and theologians argued that the functional design of organisms
manifests the existence of an all-wise Creator. Wherever there is design, there is a
designer; the existence of a watch evinces the existence of a watchmaker.
The English theologian William Paley in his Natural Theology (1802) elaborated the
argument-from-design as forceful demonstration of the existence of the Creator. The
functional design of the human eye, argued Paley, provided conclusive evidence of an
all-wise Creator. It would be absurd to suppose, he wrote, that the human eye by mere
chance "should have consisted, first, of a series of transparent lenses ... secondly of a
black cloth or canvas spread out behind these lenses so as to receive the image formed
by pencils of light transmitted through them, and placed at the precise geometrical
distance at which, and at which alone, a distinct image could be formed ... thirdly of a
large nerve communicating between this membrane and the brain." The Bridgewater
Treatises, published between 1833 and 1840, were written by eminent scientists and
philosophers to set forth "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God as manifested in
the Creation." The structure and mechanisms of man's hand were, for example, cited as
incontrovertible evidence that the hand had been designed by the same omniscient
Power that had created the world.

The advances of physical science had thus driven humanity's conception of the universe
to a split-personality state of affairs, which persisted well into the mid nineteenth century.
Scientific explanations, derived from natural laws, dominated the world of nonliving
matter, on the earth as well as in the heavens. Supernatural explanations, depending on
the unfathomable deeds of the Creator, accounted for the origin and configuration of
living creatures—the most diversified, complex, and interesting realities of the world. It
was Darwin's genius to resolve this conceptual schizophrenia (Ayala, no date).

C. Freudian Revolution

Sigmund Freud was born in 1856, before the advent of telephones, radios, automobiles,
airplanes, and a host of other material and cultural changes that had taken place by the
time of his death in 1939. Freud saw the entirety of the first World War–a war that
destroyed the empire whose capital city was his home for more than seventy years–and
the beginning of the next. He began his career as an ambitious but isolated neurologist;
by the end of it, he described himself, not inaccurately, as someone who had had as
great an impact on humanity's conception of itself as had Copernicus and Darwin.
Freud's most obvious impact was to change the way society thought about and dealt with
mental illness. Before psychoanalysis, which Freud invented, mental illness was almost
universally considered 'organic'; that is, it was thought to come from some kind of
deterioration or disease of the brain. Research on treating mental illness was primarily
concerned–at least theoretically–with discovering exactly which kinds of changes in the
brain led to insanity. Many diseases did not manifest obvious signs of physical difference
between healthy and diseased

brains, but it was assumed that this was simply because the techniques for finding the
differences were not yet sufficient.

The conviction that physical diseases of the brain caused mental illness meant that
psychological causes–the kinds that Freud would insist on studying– were ignored. It also
meant that people drew a sharp dividing line between the "insane" and the "sane." Insane
people were those with physical diseases of the brain. Sane people were those without
diseased brains.

Freud changed all of this. Despite his background in physicalism (learned during his stay
in Ernst Brücke's laboratory), his theories explicitly rejected the purely organic
explanations of his predecessors. One of Freud's biggest influences during his early days
as a neurologist was Jean-Martin Charcot, the famous French psychiatrist. Charcot
claimed that hysteria had primarily organic causes, and that it had a regular,
comprehensible pattern of symptoms. Freud agreed with Charcot on the latter point, but
he disagreed entirely on the former. In essence, Freud claimed that neurotic people had
working hardware, but faulty software. Earlier psychiatrists like Charcot, in contrast, had
claimed that the problems were entirely in the hardware. As psychoanalysis became
increasingly popular, psychology and psychiatry turned away from the search for organic
causes and toward the search for inner psychic conflicts and early childhood traumas.
As a consequence, the line between sane and insane was blurred: everyone, according
to Freud, had an Oedipal crisis, and everyone could potentially become mentally ill.

Psychoanalysis has had an enormous impact on the practice of psychiatry, particularly

within the United States, but today it is regarded by most sources– medical, academic,
governmental, and others–as almost entirely incorrect in its conception of the mind. This
judgment is based on the crucial test of psychoanalysis: whether or not it really helps
patients with behavioral or psychological problems. The consensus is that is does not.
Psychoanalysis in its many varieties appears to have little or no efficacy in treating mental
illness. In contrast, psychopharmacology and cognitive- behavioral therapies (therapies
that simply try to change what the patient thinks and does rather than analyzing
the causes of the behavior), while far from perfect, do appear to help.

If this is true–and we have a great deal of evidence that it is–why is Freud still so
important? Why do we generally speak of him as a great figure in Western thought,
instead of as a strange and misguided figure of turn-of-the- century Europe?

There are at least two reasons. The first is purely practical: psychoanalysis has
enormous historical significance. Mental illness affects an large proportion of the
population, either directly or indirectly, so any curative scheme as widely accepted as
was Freud's is important to our history in general. The second, more important, reason
is that Freud gave people a new way of thinking about why they acted the way they did.
He created a whole new way of interpreting behaviors: one

could now claim that a person had motives, desires, and beliefs–all buried in
the unconscious–which they knew nothing about but which nonetheless
directly controlled and motivated their conscious thought and behavior. This
hypothesis, derived from but independent of Freud's psychiatric work, was the truly
radical part of his system of thought.

D. Scientific Revolution in Mesoamerica

Meso-America is the region from Mexico to Guatemala, Belize and parts of Honduras
and El Salvador. There were no major ancient civilization that developed in North
America. The Mesoamerican civilization were isolated from the accumulated scientific
knowledge of Africa, Asia and Europe. They were confronted with much harder
conditions than the ancient civilizations of the Indus valley, Mesopotamia, and Egypt
which developed in parallel with each other and established contacts between each other
at a very early stage. This exchange of knowledge between these ancient civilizations
was critical in the development of their scientific knowledge. Because of this isolation,
Mesoamerican civilization developed on their own and became much more self-reliant.

The most advanced Mesoamerican civilization was the Maya civilization that was well on
its way to develop true science. They knew how to make paper and had pictorial script
called Maya hieroglyphs that allowed them to record all knowledge on long strips of paper
folded harmonica-style into books. One of the three books recovered called The Dresden
Codex contains predictions of solar eclipses for centuries and a table of predicted
positions of Venus. Unlike the European scientists who used astronomical instruments
like telescopes, the Maya made predictions by aligning stars with two objects that were
separated by a large distance, a technique that achieved great accuracy of angular
measurement. As a result, the Maya developed the most accurate calendar ever
designed.

The Aztec followed the same road. They kept their own script and languages but
assimilated all they could learn from Maya society. Their manuscripts describe how the
Maya performed their astronomical observations.

Several outstanding achievements can be reported in the area of technology and

invention. The manufacture of rubber was one of the earliest inventions, documented by
the use of a rubber ball in the ball game tlachtli, a game played by Meso-American
civilizations from earliest times. In architecture the Maya were the first to use pitched
ceilings in their buildings after the invention of the corbelled vault. Aztec city builders also
understood the need for public sanitation; public latrines were found along all highways,
and to prevent pollution of Lake Texcoco canoes transported the sewage from
Tenochtitlán to the mainland every morning. (von Hagen, 1957)

American people were gifted horticulturalists and cultivated crop plants from the earliest
times. Among the plants that originated in Meso-America are corn

(maize), papaya, avocado and cocoa. Maize is the only cultivated plant that
was developed so early in human history that its wild ancestor is no longer known. It can,
however, still be crossed with two other plants found only on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Finally, several sculptures found at Meso-American sites in 1975, 1979 and 1983 and
dating back to 2000 - 1500 BC have clear magnetic properties. In some of these
sculptures the north and south poles are in most conspicuous positions, for example at
the snout and at the back of the head of a frog or turtle. Another magnetic object found
in 1966 was shaped as if it was to be used to indicate direction. These finds strongly
suggest that the early Meso-American civilizations knew about and used magnetism.
(Malmström, 1976, 1979)

E. Asian Scientific Revolution

Aside from China, there were other Asian countries that contributed to the development
of science and technology in the world, although it varied depending on country and time,
specially in the present times. Currently, Japan is probably the most notable country in
Asia in terms of scientific and technological achievement, particularly in terms of its
electronics and automobile products. Other countries are also notable in other scientific
fields such as chemical and physical achievements.

The general conception is that many of the cutting-edge technological developments,

and to a lesser extent scientific advancements, emanate from Asia. For instance, Japan,
Taiwan, South Korea, and China together produce a staggering 90% of the world’s digital
gadgets. Aside from the region’s hardware dominance, nations across Asia are
becoming increasingly important to the global supply of digital content and services,
something which will only increase as the continent develops over the coming decades.

South Korea’s cultural popularity around the world has caused a number of startup’s to
emerge working within the digital and technology sectors, including website viki.com.

Taiwan is following a similar path to Japan meanwhile, moving away from hardware
production, instead turning to software and content development. Together, the points
raised throughout this article proves Asia is truly a crucible of innovative technological
development; a continent that will play an incredibly important role in the evolution of our
digital age.

F. Scientific Revolution in Middle East

During the 3,000 years of urbanized life in Mesopotamia and Egypt tremendous strides
were made in various branches of science and technology. The greatest advances were
made in Mesopotamia—very possibly because of its constant shift of population and
openness to foreign influence, in contrast to the relative isolation of Egypt and the
consequent stability of its population. The Egyptians excelled in such

applied sciences as medicine, engineering, and surveying; in Mesopotamia

greater progress was made in astronomy and mathematics. The development of
astronomy seems to have been greatly accelerated by that of astrology, which took the
lead among the quasi-sciences involved in divination. The Egyptians remained far
behind the Babylonians in developing astronomy, while Babylonian medicine, because
of its chiefly magical character, was less advanced than that of Egypt. In engineering
and architecture Egyptians took an early lead, owing largely to the stress they laid on
the construction of such elaborate monuments as vast pyramids and temples of
granite and sandstone. On the other hand, the Babylonians led in the development of
such practical arts as irrigation (Albright, 2014).

Both sciences and pseudosciences spread from Egypt and Mesopotamia to Phoenicia
and Anatolia. The Phoenicians in particular transmitted much of this knowledge to the
various lands of the Mediterranean, especially to the Greeks. The direction taken by
these influences can be followed from Egypt to Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus, thanks to
a combination of excavated art forms that prove the direction of movement, as well as to
Greek tradition, which lays great stress on what the early Greek philosophers learned
from Egypt. Mesopotamian influence can be traced especially through the partial
borrowing of Babylonian science and divination by the Hittites and later by the
transmission of information through Phoenicia. The Egyptians and Mesopotamians wrote
no theoretical treatises; information had to be transmitted piecemeal through personal
contacts.

Of all the accomplishments of the ancient Middle East, the invention of the alphabet is
probably the greatest. While pre-alphabetic systems of writing in the Old World became
steadily more phonetic, they were still exceedingly cumbersome, and the syllabic
systems that gradually replaced them remained complex and difficult. In the early Hyksos
period (17th century BC) the Northwestern Semites living in Egypt adapted hieroglyphic
characters—in at least two slightly differing forms of letters—to their own purposes. Thus
was developed the earliest known purely consonantal alphabet, imitated in northern
Syria, with the addition of two letters to designate vowels used with the glottal catch.

This alphabet spread rapidly and was in quite common use among the Northwestern
Semites (Canaanites, Hebrews, Aramaeans, and especially the Phoenicians) soon after
its invention. By the 9th century BC the Phoenicians were using it in the western
Mediterranean, and the Greeks and Phrygians adopted it in the 8th. The alphabet
contributed vastly to the Greek cultural and literary revolution in the immediately following
period. From the Greeks it was transmitted to other Western peoples. Since language
must always remain the chief mode of communication for people, its union with hearing
and vision in a uniquely simple phonetic structure has probably revolutionized civilization
more than any other invention in history.

40

G. Scientific Revolution in Africa

The history of the sciences in Africa is rich and diverse. The applied sciences
of agronomy, metallurgy, engineering and textile production, as well as
medicine, dominated the field of activity across Africa. So advanced was the culture of
farming within West Africa, that ‘New World‘ agricultural growth was spawned by the use
of captives from these African societies that had already made enormous strides in
the field of agronomy. In her work Black Rice, Judith Carnoy demonstrates the legacy
of enslaved Africans to the Americas in the sphere of rice cultivation. We know also
that a variety of African plants were adopted in Asia, including coffee, the oil palm,
fonio or acha (digitaria exilis), African rice (oryza glabberima), and sorghum
(sorghum bicolor). Plants, whether in terms of legumes, grain, vegetables, tubers, or,
wild or cultivated fruits, also had medicinal implications for Africans and were used
as anesthetics or pain killers, analgesics for the control of fever, antidotes to
counter poisons, and anthelmints aimed at deworming. They were used also
in cardiovascular, gastro-intestinal, and dermatological contexts. Some of these such as
hoodia gordonii and combrettum caffrum are being integrated within
contemporary pharmaceutical systems (Emeagwali, n.d.).

Africa’s areas of scientific investigation include the fields of astronomy, physics, and
mathematics. Laird Scranton, making use of the extensive collections of Marcel Griaule,
has deepened our understanding of Malian cosmological myths and their perceptions of
the structure of matter and the physical world. Dogon knowledge systems have also been
explored in terms of their perceptions on astronomy. Dogon propositions about Sirius B
have been discussed by Charles Finch in The Star of Deep Beginnings. The solar
calendar that we use today evolved from the Egyptian calendar of twelve months,
calibrated according to the day on which the star Sirius rose on the horizon with the Sun.
Scranton suggests major interconnections between the thought of the ancient Egyptians
and that of the Malians of West Africa.

In the field of Mathematics, Nubian builders calculated the volumes of masonry and
building materials, as well as the slopes of pyramids, for construction purposes. Bianchi
points to a Nubian engraving at Meroe, in ancient Sudan, dated to the first century B.C.E.,
which reflects “a sophisticated understanding of mathematics.” Included in the engraving
were several lines, inclined at a 72-degree angle, running diagonally from the base of a
pyramid. Bianchi suggests that the Nubian King Amanikhabale of the first century BCE
was the owner of that pyramid. Interestingly, the Nubians of Meroe, who constructed
more pyramids than the Egyptians, built steep, flat-topped pyramids.

In the field of medicine, common patterns and trends emerged across the continent.
These included scientifically proven methods, as well as techniques and strategies which
were culturally specific and psychologically significant. Among the common principles
and procedures were hydrotherapy, heat therapy, spinal manipulation, quarantine, bone-
setting and surgery. Incantations and other psychotherapeutic devices sometimes
accompanied other techniques. The knowledge of specific medicinal plants was quite
extensive in some kingdoms, empires, and city states such as Aksum, and Borgu (in
Hausaland). The latter continues to be well known for orthopedics (bone-setting), as is
the case of Funtua in Northern Nigeria. Many traditional techniques are still utilized in
some areas. Others have undergone change over time, have been revived in more
recent periods, or have fallen into oblivion.

Various types of metal products have been used over time by Africans, ranging from
gold, tin, silver, bronze, brass, and iron/steel. The Sudanic empires of West Africa
emerged in the context of various commercial routes and activities involving the gold
trade. In the North and East, Ethiopia and Sudan were the major suppliers of gold, with
Egypt a major importer. In Southern Africa, the kingdom of Monomotapa (Munhumutapa)
reigned supreme as a major gold producer. In the various spheres of metal production,
specific techniques and scientific principles included: excavation and ore identification;
separation of ore from non-ore bearing rock; smelting by the use of bellows and heated
furnaces; and smithing and further refinement.

The use of multishaft and open-shaft systems facilitated circulation of air in intense
heating processes, while the bellows principle produced strong currents of air in a
chamber expanded to draw in or expel air through a valve. The various metal products
served a wide range of purposes, including: armor (as in some northern Nigerian city-
states), jewelry (of gold, silver, iron, copper and brass), cooking utensils, cloth dyeing,
sculpture, and agricultural tools. The technical know-how and expertise of blacksmiths
helped to enhance their status, although they were also often associated with
supernatural and psychic powers, as well.

In various parts of ancient, medieval, and contemporary Africa, building constructions of

various dimensions, shapes, and types emerged, reflecting various concepts,
techniques, raw material preferences, and decorative principles. Builders integrated the
concepts of the arch, the dome, and columns and aisles in their constructions. The
underground vaults and passages, as well as the rock-hewn churches, of Axum are
matched in Nubia and Egypt with pyramids of various dimensions. In the Sahelian region,
adobe, or dried clay, was preferred in the context of moulded contours, at times
integrated with overall moulded sculpture. Permanent scaffolding made of protruding
planks characterized the Malian region. The principle of evaporative cooling was
integrated into building design. Mats were used as part of the decor and also to be
saturated repeatedly in order to cool the room.
Derelict ruins from walled cities—such as Kano, Zazzau, and other city-states
of Hausaland in the central Sudanic region of West Africa—complement structures
such as the rock-hewn and moulded churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia or the
Zimbabwe enclosures. The structures of ancient Nubia, as well as those of Egypt, are
parallel structures in the northeast.

H. Information Revolution

Information revolution is a period of change that describes current economic, social and
technological trends beyond the Industrial Revolution. The information revolution was
fueled by advances in semiconductor technology, particularly the metal-oxide-
semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and the integrated circuit (IC) chip,
leading to the Information Age in the early 21st

century (Lukasiak, 2010; Orton, 2009).

Information revolution might prove as significant to the lives of people. Computer

technology is at the root of this change, and continuing advancements in that technology
seem to ensure that this revolution would touch the lives of people. Computers are unique
machines; they help to extend the brain power. Computerized robots have been
replacing blue-collar workers; they might soon be replacing white collar workers as well.
Computers are merely devices that follow sets of instructions called computer programs,
or software, that have been written by people called computer programmers. Computers
offer many benefits, but there are also many dangers. They could help others invade
one's privacy or wage war. They might turn one into button pusher and cause massive
unemployment. User friendly systems can be easily used by untrained people. The key
development that made personal computers possible was the invention of the
microprocessor chip at Intel in 1971.

The information revolution led us to the age of the internet, where optical communication
networks play a key role in delivering massive amounts of data. The world has
experienced phenomenal network growth during the last decade, and further growth is
imminent. The internet will continue to expand due to user population growth and internet
penetration: previously inaccessible geographical regions in Africa and Asia will come
online. Network growth will only be accelerated by improvements in integrated circuits.
Transistor size has been halved every two years since the middle of the last century. The
new internet-based global economy requires a worldwide network with high capacity and
availability, which is currently limited by submarine optical communication cables.

New ideas keep coming from the information transport community. Since the first edition
of Undersea Fiber Communication Systems in 2002, the optical fiber communication
industry moved into the “coherent” era. We transport an order of magnitude more bits
than just five years ago. We encode information into phase, polarization, and amplitude
of electromagnetic waves. Michael Faraday would be proud, knowing that we send over
10,000,000,000,000 bits every second across the Atlantic Ocean in a single strand of
fiber. We would leave in awe Sir William Thomson (known as Lord Kelvin), who was the
scientific leader of an 1858 endeavor that built the first submarine cable with a
transmission speed of one word per minute. Sir Thomson and Cyrus Field, an American
businessman and telecommunications pioneer, would be surprised to find out how many
tools

43

developed during their first transatlantic expedition are still in use today. At first glance,
the modern cable looks similar to the 1858 cable, which was copper based with a gutta-
percha (trans-poly isoprene) isolator. In modern day cables, gutta percha has been
replaced with polyethylene. We still use copper to power submarine repeaters, and have
added optical fibers during the last decade of the last century.

The uniqueness of this engineering marvel is a combination of information science,

nonlinear optics, electrical engineering, material science, engineering practices, project
management, marine expertise, and high reliability standard. Undersea fiber
communication systems will continue to serve society.

Impact of Information Revolution

The truly revolutionary impact of the Information Revolution is just beginning to be felt.
But it is not "information" that fuels this impact. It is not "artificial intelligence." It is not the
effect of computers and data processing on decision making, policymaking, or strategy.
It is something that practically no one foresaw or, indeed, even talked about ten or fifteen
years ago: e-commerce—that is, the explosive emergence of the Internet as a major,
perhaps eventually the major, worldwide distribution channel for goods, for services, and,
surprisingly, for managerial and professional jobs. This is profoundly changing
economies, markets, and industry structures; products and services and their flow;
consumer segmentation, consumer values, and consumer behavior; jobs and labor
markets. But the impact may be even greater on societies and politics and, above all, on
the way we see the world and ourselves in it.

At the same time, new and unexpected industries will no doubt emerge, and fast. One is
already here: biotechnology. And another: fish farming. Within the next fifty years fish
farming may change us from hunters and gatherers on the seas into "marine
pastoralists"—just as a similar innovation some 10,000 years ago changed our ancestors
from hunters and gatherers on the land into agriculturists and pastoralists.

It is likely that other new technologies will appear suddenly, leading to major new
industries. What they may be is impossible even to guess at. But it is highly probable—
indeed, nearly certain—that they will emerge, and fairly soon. And it is nearly certain that
few of them—and few industries based on them—will come out of computer and
information technology. Like biotechnology and fish farming, each will emerge from its
own unique and unexpected technology.

Of course, these are only predictions. But they are made on the assumption that the
Information Revolution will evolve as several earlier technology-based "revolutions" have
evolved over the past 500 years, since Gutenberg's printing revolution, around 1455. In
particular, the assumption is that the Information

Revolution will be like the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. And that is indeed exactly how the Information Revolution has been during its
first fifty years.

44

Activity: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Motivation:

Please refer to the following quote in answering the given questions below.

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” - Sir Isaac
Newton

Pre-Activity Discussion

Scientists today build on the knowledge and discoveries made by others. It might be that
they continue and grow the work of the scientists who have mentored and supervised
them or that they build on prior discoveries – both recent and historical.

Tying in stories of science in history and scientific breakthroughs can offer engaging
opportunities for further exploration and learning. For example, the periodic table that we
know today was actually a result of numerous experiments and discoveries that spanned
for centuries starting from 1669 when the first scientific discovery of an element was
made by Hennig Brand. Over the next 200 years, a great deal of knowledge about
elements and compounds was gained. By the middle of the 19th century, about
60 elements had been discovered. Scientists began to recognize patterns in the
properties of these elements and set about developing classification schemes.

45

Scientists are constantly working on discovering new materials and further investigating
the properties of existing elements. The periodic table can be reviewed and new
elements can be added, but only added after rigorous scientific examination.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) verifies the additions of
new elements and at the end of 2015 the 7th period of the periodic table of elements
was completed with the addition of four new elements.

Activity Task:

The following timeline summarizes the development of the periodic table. Using the brief
history of the periodic table as an example and applying what you have learned about
intellectual revolutions, select any topic (can be an object or theory) and present
its historical evolution to its present day form. Identify the key persons who are
instrumental in its development and how each key person worked on the findings of
his/her predecessors in the field to further improve the work. Be creative in presenting
your timeline and in presenting your work.

46

1862

Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois plotted

the atomic weights of elements on paper tape and

wound them, spiral like, around a cylinder. He called

his model the telluric helix or screw.1864

English chemist John Newlands proposed

his Law of octaves based on the periodic

similarity every seventh element.

1868

Lothar Meyer compiled a periodic table based on

regular repeating pattern of physical property such

as molar volume. Once again the elements were

arranged in order of increasing atomic weights.1869

Dmitri Mendeleev produced a periodic table

based on atomic weights but arranged

“periodically”. Elements with similar

properties appeared under each other. Gaps

were left for yet to be discovered elements. 1894

William Ramsay discovered the noble gases

and realized that they represented a new group

in the periodic table. The noble gases added

further proof to the accuracy of Mendeleev’s

table. 1913

Henry Moseley determined the atomic number

of each of the known elements. He realized that

arranging the elements in order of increasing

atomic number rather than atomic weight gave

1944

Glenn Seaborg proposed an ‘actinide hypothesis’ and published his version of the table
in 1945. The lanthanide and actinide series form the two rows under the periodic table
of elements.

a better fit within the “periodic table”.

47

Chapter 3

Science, Technology and Nation Building

Introduction

This section presents the policies of the government regarding science and technology,
how it is being implemented through its various departments and agencies, and its role
in nation building. It also includes a list of Filipino inventors and their inventions.
Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the role of science and technology in Philippine nation building. 2. Evaluate
government policies on science and technology in terms of their contributions to nation
building.

3. Identify actual science and technology government policies and appraise their impact
on the development of the Filipino nation.

A. The Philippine Government Science and Technology Agenda

Scientists and technologists are the backbone of an industrialized nation that propels
socioeconomic gain and national progress. They are the key players and lifeblood of
research and innovation and plays an important role in the industry and manufacturing
sector. As such, it can be said that scientists and technologists are essential players in
nation building.

In the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is tasked to

oversee and manage national technology development and acquisition,
undertake technological and scientific research and promote public consciousness of
science and technology. DOST is responsible for formulating and adopting a
comprehensive National Science and Technology plan for the Philippines and
subsequently, to monitor and coordinate its funding and implementation. It undertakes
policy research,

technology assessment, feasibility and technical studies, and maintains a

national information system and databank on science and technology.

In 2017, DOST launched the Science for the People thru Administrative Order No. 003
s. 2017. This is in response to the government’s call to address inequity in developments
within and among countries and is aligned with the national goals and plans. It aims to
make science and technology more relevant to the conditions, needs and opportunities
for contributing to regional development while keeping abreast with the trends and
development in the country and in the world. Likewise, the program intends to maximize
the use of science, enhance innovation and the creative capacity of the Filipinos towards
the achievement of inclusive and sustainable growth.

48

Stipulated in the strategic plan are the seven outcomes that the agency strives to
achieve. These are as follows:

1. Innovation and stimulus

2. Technology and adoption promoted and accelerated

3. Critical mass of globally competitive STI human resources developed

4. Productivity and efficiency of communities and the production sector,

particularly MSMEs improved

5. Resiliency to disaster risks and climate change ensured

6. Inequality in STI capacities and opportunities reduced

7. Effective STI governance achieved

The strategies to attain these outcomes are embodied in the DOST Eleven Point Agenda
as follows:

1. Pursue R&D to address pressing national problems.

2. Conduct R&D to enhance productivity and improve management of resources.

3. Engage in R&D to generate and apply new knowledge and technologies across
sectors.

4. Strengthen and utilize regional R&D capabilities.

5. Maximize utilization of R&D results through technology transfer

and commercialization.
6. Develop STI human resources and build a strong STI culture.

7. Upgrade STI facilities and capacities to advance R&D activities and expand S&T
services.

8. Expand STI assistance to communities and the production sector, particularly

MSMEs.

9. Provide STI-based solutions for disaster risks and climate change adaptation and
mitigation.

10. Strengthen industry-academe-government and international STI collaboration.

11. Enhance effectiveness of STI governance.

Agenda 1 highlights the latest advancements in research and development geared

towards the shared goal of improved nutrition and health for all. Focused on health
technology development, drug discovery and development remains to be the high-impact
and big ticket program supported by the Department in the area of health. Central to this
R&D program is the study of endemic resources, partnered with documentation of
traditional knowledge and practices in health, that could eventually lead to decreased
cost of medicines and health interventions for diseases that affect the quality of lives of
many Filipinos.

Agenda 2 presents how R&D can be utilized to make key traditional industries steadfast
and competitive through technological innovations that can address gaps in productivity
and increase production yield. Enhancing the capacity of marginalized

49

sub-sectors and people groups to use better and new technologies can expand
their access to participate in economic activities and progress. The primary industries
that will benefit from the featured major R&D programs include the agriculture,
specifically coconut and rice production, non-wood forest products, i.e., bamboo
processing and utilization, and natural textile among others.

Agenda 3 engages R&D in emerging scientific and technological platforms which lay the
inroads to the development of new products, services, and industries. Promising new
technologies may potentially disrupt and change the way things are done. Recognizing
this, the Department anticipates impact of new technologies in existing industries in the
country by supporting local capability programs in the areas of artificial intelligence for
new industry development and supporting research in nanotechnology for new materials
development.

Agenda 4 focuses in strengthening institutional capacity to undertake research and

development and contribute to regional development. Utilizing local researchers equalize
opportunities in generating new knowledge and technologies suited for the specific need
of the region. The Department partners with Higher Education Institutions in the regions
in establishing niche R&D centers which may also serve as hubs for developing R&D
capability of adjacent localities.

Agenda 5 includes mechanisms to encourage technology transfer and avenues where

R&D results are promoted in the bid to maximize its utilization. The Department provided
support in bringing R&D results to its final stage of development up to commercialization.

Agenda 6 aims to build a critical mass of competitive researchers, scientists, and

engineers (RSEs) and promoting a culture of STI. Towards this goal, the Department
continues to provide scholarship programs to scale up the number of RSEs.

Agenda 7 features various S&T facilities that offer technical services for carrying out
research and development, as well as addressing the needs of the industry in terms of
quality assurance, adherence to standards, product development, and innovation. The
electronics, semi-conductor, automotive parts, gear assembly manufacturing, agriculture
produce, and food manufacturing industries can benefit from the various S&T facilities
and technical services.

Agenda 8 focuses on S&T assistance provided to upgrade the technological capabilities

and improve the productivity and efficiency of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs). The Department has continued to provide technological interventions such as
process and system improvement, technical consultancy, packaging and labelling,
training, testing and calibration, and product development to empower MSMEs to
innovate, move up the technology scale and become more competitive.

50

Agenda 9 highlights the role of the Department in building a disaster-resilient community

through the provision of accurate and timely information. Specifically, progress was made
by establishing and upgrading observation and monitoring systems, efforts in hazard and
risk assessment, and researches for disaster risk management, as well as climate
change adaptation and mitigation.

Agenda 10 focuses on the linkages and networks being pursued by the Department in
terms of S&T collaboration. In 2017, the Department took part in 24 bilateral
engagements and participated in a number of activities which involved 14 international
organizations.

Agenda 11 (Enhance effectiveness of STI governance) provides the policy framework

that governs the implementation of the programs, projects and activities of the
Department in contribution to national development and progress. Taking off from the
National 0+10 Socioeconomic Agenda and Philippine Development Plan,
the Department crafted the Science for the People 11-point Agenda, Harmonized
R&D Agenda, and Regional Offices Strategy Map.

In Focus: Batangas State University KIST Park

Batangas State University made history as it officially launched the country’s

first Knowledge, Innovation and Science Technology (KIST) Park on July 20, 2020.
This milestone placed Batangas State University at the forefront of national development.
BatStateU KIST Park was designated as a Special Economic Zone under
Presidential Proclamation No. 947, s. 2020. The theme of the launching event was
“Towards a New Frontier of Knowledge-building and Innovation in Science and
Technology.”

BatStateU headed by Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo became a key partner of the government in
fostering industry-academe linkages, knowledge and technology transfer, and promoting
the commercialization of innovations. The KIST Park will serve as a catalyst for industrial
productivity and increased economic growth in CaLaBaRZon. This manifestation of the
strong collaboration between government, industry and academe is central to inclusive
innovation strategy.

BatStateU KIST Park is now open and spearheads a long-term vision for
“state universities and colleges in the country to expand their programs for
industry, academe, market synergy, technopreneurship, [innovation-based] business
incubation and acceleration, and knowledge co-creation in science and technology.”
(http://batstateukistpark.com.ph/#/main/home)

Question: Which of the 11-point Agenda relates to the launching and operation
of BatStateU KIST Park? Expound your answer.

51

B. Major Development Programs and Personalities in Science and

Technology in the Philippines

Major Development Programs in Science and Technology

The Science for Change Program (S4CP) was created by the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST) to accelerate STI in the country in order to keep up with the
developments in our time wherein technology and innovation are game
changers. Through the Science for Change Program (S4CP), the DOST can significantly
accelerate STI in the country and create a massive
S4CP focuses on Accelerated R&D Program for Capacity Building of R&D Institutions
and Industrial Competitiveness which is composed of four (4) programs namely: (1)
Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D (NICER) Program, (2) R&D Leadership (RDLead)
Program, (3) Collaborative R&D to Leverage PH Economy (CRADLE) for RDIs and
Industry Program, (4) Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program.

The NICER Program capacitates Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the regions to
make significant improvement in regional research by integrating its development needs
with the existing R&D capabilities and resources. It provides institutional grants for HEIs
in the regions for R&D capacity building to improve their S&T infrastructure. The NICER
Program was established in consultation with the academe and industry; and endorsed
by the Regional Development Council (RDC). Hence, a NICER is a unique center for
collaborative R&D to address specific S&T needs of local communities and industries,
thereby accelerating regional development. It caters to the specific needs of the Regions,
which include upgrading, development, and acquisition of R&D equipment to undertake
collaborative R&D activities. Currently, there are 18 existing NICERs across 14 regions
for a total funding of P641M.

The R&D Leadership Program complements the establishment of R&D Centers thru the
NICER Program. RDLead provides the mechanism to bring in experts and highly skilled
professionals with strong leadership, management and innovative policy-
making proficiencies to be in charge of strengthening the research capabilities of the
HEIs, National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Research Development Institutions
(RDIs) in the regions. Together, the RDLead and NICER Programs will capacitate HEIs
to help improve and hasten the use of research results that will contribute to the socio-
economic development of the country and help address pressing challenges. The NRCP
is the implementing agency for this program.

The Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine

Economy (CRADLE) Program is specifically designed to foster collaboration between
academe and local companies to improve competitiveness and catalyze innovation. It
aims to improve the country’s innovation ecosystem by facilitating the smooth transition
of new technologies from universities and research and development institutes (RDI)
to industries - from lab to market. The framework of CRADLE is a trihelix partnership

52

between the government, the industry and the academe wherein the government
finances the collaboration of the private company and the partner university or RDI. The
Program aims to address a problem of a Filipino company using R&D to develop
innovative solutions. To date, the DOST has already provided almost Php 125 M of
funding to 29 academe-industry collaborations all over the country.

The Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program aims to level up the
innovation capacity of the Philippine Industrial Sector through R&D by helping private
companies and industries acquire novel and strategic technologies, such as state of-the-
art equipment and machinery, technology licenses and patent rights among others. The
program will cover up to 70% of the total eligible cost of the needed technology at zero
percent interest. To date, the BIST Program has approved one project from an
herbal company, Herbanext Laboratories Inc., providing a total financial assistance
of Php11.7M.

A Steering committee for CRADLE and BIST Programs was created through the DOST
Special Order No. 0276 which was approved on 02 April 2018. The Steering Committee
is headed by Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, Undersecretary for R&D, and the
members include the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Federation of Philippine
Industries (FPI), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine
Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development
(PCAARRD), Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and
Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and
Development (PCIEERD)

The committee performs the following functions: (1) Review/formulate policies relating to
the implementation of CRADLE and BIST Program; (2) Provide advice and guidance in
the management and administration of the projects; and (3) Other functions necessary
for the successful implementation of CRADLE and BIST Programs. Since
the implementation of the S4CP in 2017, the DOST has spent a total of Php
407,585,946.60 to the four programs.

53

Personalities in Science and Technology in the Philippines

Aisa Mijeno

To light up the rest of the

Philippines sustainably was the vision of

Filipina scientist Aisa Mijeno when she

made the Sustainable Alternative Lighting

(SALt) lamp. The product concept was

formed after living with the Butbut tribe for

weeks relying only on kerosene lamps

and moonlight to do evening chores. Her

mission and advocacy is to address the

light inequality gap and end the use of

combustion based light sources (kerosene lamps and candles) for the 16 Million Filipinos
and 1.4 Billion people across the world.

https://www.asianscientist.com/2015/05/features /asias-rising-scientists-aisa-mijeno/

The SALt Lamp is an environment-friendly and sustainable alternative light source that
runs on saltwater, making it suitable to those who live in coastal areas. It can also function
well in remote barrios. With just two table spoons of salt and one glass of tap water, this
ecologically designed lamp can run for eight hours.

The idea behind the SALt lamp is the chemical conversion of energy. It utilizes
the scientific process behind the Galvanic cell, but instead of electrolytes, the SALt lamp
uses saline solution, making it harmless and non-toxic. Compared with kerosene lamp,
the SALt lamp is also a lot safer since it does not have components and compounds that
may spark fire. Moreover, it does not emit toxic gases and leaves minimal carbon
footprint.

Because of its inspiring vision and ground-breaking innovation, the SALt lamp
has received various awards and recognition from organizations in the Philippines,
Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. SALt have won several awards including KOTRA
Top 5 Best Global Startup at Startup Nations Summit 2014, People's Choice at Startup
Nations Summit 2014 and recognized by the ASEAN Corporate Sustainability Summit
and Awards 2015 giving them the SME Sustainability Commitment Category.

One of Mijano’s career highlights was when she was invited as an APEC CEO Summit
panel member together with ex-President Barack Obama and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma.
Looking forward, she wishes to distribute more lanterns to communities across
the Philippines and possibly throughout South East Asia.

54

Ramon C. Barba
He is a Filipino scientist, inventor and

horticulturist who is known for his successful

experiment on the inducement of flowering of

mango trees by spraying them with ethrel and

potassium nitrate. He developed a process

that caused the flowering and fruiting of

mango trees three times a year, instead on

once a year, so dramatically improving yields.

Since his discovery, the mango industry in the

Philippines expanded. Apart from the mango

producers themselves, other business

sectors such as the producers of the pest

https://joinpase.weebly.com/pases-of success/ramon-cabanos-barba

control chemicals, harvesters, sellers, and all the other smaller groups of workers related
to mango industry have benefitted from his invention. This technology has also been

successfully applied on other fruit trees including cashew.

Barba also developed a tissue culture procedure for the banana plant and sugar cane
which enabled production of large quantities of planting materials that were robust and
disease-free. With his research team, Barba devised micro propagation protocols
for more than 40 important species of fruit crops, ornamental plants, plantation
crops, aquarium plants, and forest trees. In 2013, Ramon C. Barba was conferred the
rank and title of National Scientist in the Philippines for his distinguished achievements
in the field of plant physiology.
Fe V. del Mundo

She is known as the Mother of Philippine

Pediatrics, a very great scientist and a symbol of

female empowerment in medicine, both in the

Philippines and abroad. The first Asian woman

admitted into Harvard, she pursued graduate

degrees in America after receiving her medical

degree from the University of the Philippines. Del

Mundo pioneered numerous inventions throughout

her more than 70-year medical career. She

revolutionized Philippine medicine, making major

breakthroughs in immunization and in the

treatment of jaundice, and providing healthcare to

thousands of poor families. She is credited with studies that led to the invention of the
incubator and a jaundice relieving device. Her methods, like

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/pro files/fe-del-mundo-25104.php

the BRAT diet for curing diarrhea, have spread throughout the world and saved millions.
Del Mundo’s field of natural science and the field of public health was something she
was

55

actively involved in. When she was not busy treating and taking care of children, she
did some pioneering work on infectious diseases in Philippine communities and authored
the Textbook of Pediatrics, as well as hundreds of articles and medical reports on
diseases such as dengue, polio and measles.

During her lifetime, del Mundo won numerous awards and recognition for her outstanding
work. Among these was the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, which she
received in 1977. She became the Philippines’ first female National Scientist in 1980, in
recognition of her work in Pediatrics. The rank of National Scientist is awarded to science
practitioners with “distinguished individual or collaborative achievement in science and
technology.” In 2010, del Mundo was awarded the Order of Lakandula, rank of Bayani,
as a Filipina who lived a life “worthy of emulation.” Posthumously, she was conferred the
Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart Award in 2011, by President Benigno
Aquino III.

Maria Y. Orosa

Advances in modern Filipino food

technology owe a great deal to the creative

researches and salutary inventiveness of a

woman chemist and pharmacist from

Batangas – Maria Y. Orosa. The now

commercially available thirst quencher, the

calamansi juice, is just one of the popular

native food products in whose preparation and

preservation she had a hand. She produced

the “calamansi nip,” the desiccated and

powdered form of the fruit which could be

made into juice. The most notable of her food

inventions, is “Soyalac,” a powdered

preparation of soya-beans, which helped save

the lives of thousands of Filipinos, Americans, and other nationals who ever held
prisoners in different Japanese concentration camps

https://food52.com/blog/24700-maria orosa-profile

during World War II. It became known to them as the “magic food.” She is also credited
with the making of the banana ketchup; wines from native fruits, like casuy and guava;
vinegar from pineapples; banana starch; soyamilk; banana flour; cassava flour; jelly from
guava, santol, mango, and other fruits, as well as the invention of rice cookies, known as
ricebran or darak, which is effective in the treatment of patients with beri-beri. Aside from
making food preparations, Miss Orosa taught Filipinos how to preserve such native
delicacies as the adobo, dinuguan, kilawen and escabeche. Together with her associates
in the Bureau of Plant Industry, she invented “Oroval” and “Clarosa.”

In 1923, she helped organize the food preservation division under the Bureau of Science.
On June 3, 1927, she became the acting division head. Orosa also tried her hand in
improving household wares. She invented the “Orosa Palayok Oven” for cooking various
dishes. In 1928, the government, recognizing her dynamism and strong leadership, sent
her to various countries as a state scholar to specialize in food

56

processing and canning. To perpetuate her memory, the government has named
after her a street stretching from T.M. Kalaw to Padre Faura in Ermita, Manila, as well as
a building in the Bureau of Plants and Industry. She was one of the 19 scientists who
were conferred awards on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Institute of Science
and Technology. On November 29, 1983, the National Historical Institute installed a
marker in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in San Andres, Manila.

Angel Alcala

He is a Filipino scientist whose

biological contributions to the

environment and ecosystems have made

him a hero for natural sciences. During his

30 years of experience as a biologist,

Alcala made major contributions to

marine biology research efforts in the

Philippines and authored over 160

scientific papers as well as books. Alcala

was the first Filipino scientist to engage in

comprehensive studies concerning

Philippine reptiles and amphibians and

minor studies on mammals and birds. From the 400 already known species of reptiles
and amphibians, 50 more species were identified due to his efforts. Because of his work,
conservation programs in the Philippines are now well established.

http://heroes.aseanbiodiversity.org/2017/09/ 07/asean-biodiversity-hero-dr-angel-c
alcala-philippines/

Alcala also made a highly valuable and groundbreaking contribution to

marine ecosystems when he established the first artificial reef around the coastline of
the Philippines, greatly boosting the ecosystem's health and viability.

. In 1994, he was given the Field Museum Founders’ Council Award of Merit
for contributions to environmental biology. He is a recipient of the Magsaysay Award
for Public Service. In September 2011 he received the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for
Basic Science from the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science Inc. In
2014, he was proclaimed National Scientist by President Benigno S. Aquino III through
Presidential Decree 782 on June 6, 2014.

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Activity: Small Group Activity

Work with your three (3) classmates and discuss your answers to the
following questions.

1. What are the best and the most useful inventions in the 20th and 21st centuries?

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2. What do you think is the worst invention of

mankind? _____________________________________________________________
___ ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
__________________________________

3. What kinds of things do inventors need to think about before they try to
build something? Why?

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________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________

4. Can you name some inventions you are looking forward to?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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5. What would you invent if you are a scientist?

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C. Science Education in the Philippines

The role and goal of science in education should always be the same. Since science is
considered both knowledge and method, operating independent of time and place, the
benefits of science anywhere can only be the same. The value of science lies not only in
the knowledge that it imparts and bequeaths to the learner but also in its

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methods and techniques that inculcate in the learner’s scientific habits, skills,
and attitudes. Science, even as it is considered a body of knowledge, it is also taken
as methodology. It has given a tangible method and system to what would otherwise be
by chance and accident. From the utilization of scientific methods and techniques, one
is able to very possibly explain the past and predict what the future holds.

The general benefits of science have greatly challenged education of the Philippines.
While the country might have been a beneficiary of the methods of science even before
the program of formal education, it was during the American period that brought about a
most significant and essential change in the nature of education. There has been a
corresponding increase in knowledge and understanding of natural and
social phenomena covered by all the disciplines of science available now. It is this
education that has been largely credited for the development of science in the
Philippines.

Early Efforts to Improve Science Education

As early as the decade of the 1950s, scientists were concerned with the state of science
education in the schools. Leading scientists made Philippine authorities aware that the
teaching of science from grade school level to college levels in both public and private
schools was very inadequate. The inadequacies and weaknesses of science teaching
were recognized as those relating to undertrained teachers, the inadequate science
curriculum in schools and colleges, the minimum allotted to science, the lack of books,
equipment and teaching aids. In 1957, the Philippine government made the teaching of
science compulsory in all elementary and secondary schools. A National Committee for
Science Education was set up in 1958 to formulate objectives for the teaching of science
education at all levels and to recommend steps that would upgrade the teaching of
science. The committee identified the areas to which improvement efforts were needed
such as integration of science with classroom instruction, acquisition of more science
equipment and tools, coordination of efforts with other agencies, negotiations for a
science institute for teachers, national science talent search and fellowships, higher
salaries of science and mathematics teachers and promotion of science teachers
competence.

The BSCS Adaptation Project

In1959, biological sciences curriculum study (BSCS) project was launched by American
Institute of Biological Science, university of Colorado in order to improve
biology education in secondary schools. A steering committee of biological scientists,
teachers and educators was constituted. The project was financed by National
Science Foundation, USA.

The BSCS project was started to design high school biology course with the objectives
to: provide recent and latest knowledge in biological sciences; develop understanding of
the conceptual structure of biological sciences; develop skills and processes of biology
among the students; create an opportunity to use inquiry approach in teaching and
learning of biology; prepare rich supplementary or support materials to enrich learning
experiences in biological sciences and present current status of biological sciences

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The organization of the BSCS project necessitated because of the inadequacies and
defects felt in the ongoing or conventional biological sciences teaching. Defects
were observed in conventional biological science teaching such as inclusion of dead or
useless contents in syllabus, little practical work, no correlation of biological sciences and
physical science, lack of integrated approach and no proper consideration of
psychological aspects of teaching learning.

The Science Education Project

These were the total efforts of SEP TO improve science education in the Philippines.
First, the dissemination of improved curricula, teaching techniques and approaches in
science and mathematics on basic levels of education through the introduction of new
curriculum and the application of new teaching techniques and approaches by the
returned Master of Arts in Teaching trainees and the teachers that they teach. On the
other hand, these institutions disseminated many of the curriculum materials by the UP
Science Education Center. Second, quality science and math education programs in the
recipient-sponsor institutions through new and/or improved course offerings and a
generally improved teacher education program.

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