St.

Dominic College of Asia

School of Arts, Sciences and Education
General Education Department

Module 1, Section 2
Historical Antecedents of Science
and Technology

Prof. Luzviminda P. Corpuz

Professor, STS (Science, Technology, and Society)
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this section, the students should be able to:
1. list down scientific and technological inventions across time;
2. discuss the historical antecedents, e.g., social, cultural, economic,
and political contexts, which shaped and was shaped by the
development of S&T across time; and
3. discuss Philippine scientific and technological inventions and how
these, too, shaped and were shaped by various social contexts.
Watch an 18-minute Tedx Talk by Hannu Rajaniemi
titled The Big History of Modern Science.

Be able to answer the question,

Why is it important to study the history of Science and Technology?
Historical Antecedents of S&T
 One of the key interests of Science, Technology, and Society as an
academic field
 Focuses on how S&T changed across time and the impacts of
scientific and technological innovation on prevailing social, cultural,
political, and economic contexts across time
 Pays attention to the contextual circumstances that shaped S&T
 Interests lie in historical antecedents of scientific and technological
innovation
What’s in a historical antecedent?
 Can be understood as a precursor of a thing
 An antecedent of a something unfolded or existed before it
 Historical antecedents in S&T can be understood as the previous
state of science and technology or previous scientific or
technological tools that paved the way for more advanced and
sophisticated S&T to arise
Ancient Period
(2.5 million years ago – 450 AD)

• The rise of ancient civilizations paved the way for advances in

S&T. The advances in S&T during the ancient period allowed
civilizations to flourish by finding better ways of living,
communication, transportation, and self-organization.
Ancient Period: Ancient Wheel

Figure 2. Potter’s Wheel

Figure 1. Sumerian Wheel
Ancient Period: Paper

Figure 3b. Rush plant

Figure 3a. The Edwin Smith Papyrus
Ancient Period: Shadoof

Figure 4. Shadoof
Ancient Period: Antikythera Mechanism

Figure 5. A fragment of the Antikythera mechanism

Ancient Period: Aeolipile

Figure 6. An illustration of Hero’s engine

Middle Ages
(450 AD – 1450 AD)
• Major advances in scientific and technological development,
including a steady increase of new inventions, introduction of
innovations in traditional production, and emergence of
scientific thinking and method, had taken place. Many
medieval universities at the time stirred scientific thinking and
provided infrastructure for scientific communities to flourish.
Some of humanity’s most important, present-day technologies
could be traced back to historical antecedents in the Middle
Ages.
Middle Ages: Heavy Plough
“The heavy plough turned
European agriculture and
economy on its head. Suddenly
the fields with the heavy, fatty
and moist clay soils became
those that gave the greatest
yields.” - University of Southern
Denmark Professor Thomas
Bernebeck Andersen

Figure 7. An impression of the heavy plough

Middle Ages: Gunpowder

Figure 8. Chinese using gunpowder in weapons

Middle Ages: Paper Money

Figure 9. The Chinese are credited for the invention of paper money
Middle Ages: Mechanical Clock

Figure 10. A medieval mechanical clock found in

Prague, Czech Republic
Middle Ages: Spinning Wheel

Figure 11. Spinning Wheel

Modern Age
(1450 AD – present)

• As world population steadily increased, people of the modern

age realized the utmost importance of increasing the efficiency
of transportation, communication, and production.
Industrialization took place, but greater risks in human health,
food safety, and environment rose, which had to be
simultaneously addressed as scientific and technological
progress unfolded at an unimaginable speed.
Modern Age: Compound Microscope

Figure 12. Jansen’s compound microscope

Modern Age: Telescope

Figure 13. One of Galileo’s first telescopes

Modern Age: Jacquard Loom

Figure 14. Jacquard Loom

Modern Age: Engine-Powered Airplane

Figure 15. The flight of the Flying Machine of

Orville and Wilbur Wright
Modern Age: Television

Figure 16. Baird’s television

Inventions of Filipino Scientists
• The Philippines boasts of its own history and tradition of
scientific and technological innovation. Filipino scientists have
long been known for their ingenuity. As with all other
inventions, necessity has always been the mother of Philippine
inventions. Most Filipino inventions appealed to the unique
social and cultural context of the archipelagic nation. Even
during the ancient period, our Filipino ancestors developed
scientific and technological innovations focused on navigation,
traditional shipbuilding, textiles, food processing, indigenous
arts and techniques, and even cultural inventions.
Philippine Inventions: E-Jeepney

Figure 17. E-jeepney

Philippine Inventions: Erythromycin

Figure 18. Abelardo Aguilar and his Erythromycin

Philippine Inventions: Medical Incubator

Figure 19. Dr. Fe Del Mundo and the medical incubator

Philippine Inventions: Mole Remover

Figure 20. Rolando dela Cruz’s commercial product –

a mole remover formula made of cashew nut extracts
Philippine Inventions: Banana Ketsup

Figure 21. Orosa’s formula for Banana

Ketsup is brownish-yellow in color.
Activity 2 - Card Making
Instruction: For this activity, students will be assigned a number.
• All students will be assigned a particular group of inventions
depending on their number assignment: (1) ancient times, (2) middle
ages, (3) modern age, and (4) Philippine inventions.
• On a short bond paper/card, each student will draw, paint, or stick a
photograph of an invention from the assigned era besides those that
had already been discussed in this lesson.
• In front of the card, the chosen invention will be drawn, painted, or
stuck. Behind it, a 50-100 word historical antecedent will be written,
which specifically addresses the following questions:
Questions:
1. What is your chosen invention?
2. What came before this invention? What tool existed prior to it or
how was the activity carried out before its invention?
3. What was the social, political, cultural, or economic context
within which this invention was made?
4. What had been the social, political, cultural, or economic
impacts of your chosen invention?