Science, Technology, and Society • Interdisciplinary study of the interaction of science and

technology with society and culture.

Introduction to Science and Technology and • The realization that discoveries and inventions are shaped
Society by historical forces and in turn influence values,
aspirations, events, and institutions, thus shaping the
The Basic Concepts course of history.
• Science
• S and T in social and cultural context.
- Investigations of the physical world, including
us and the stuff we make.
• Both academic and activist.
• Technology:
- Making stuff, including stuff used by society, ACADEMIC STS
and in the production and dissemination of
• Scholarly Study of Science and
science.
Technology.
• Society
• History, Philosophy, Sociology of S &
- The sum total of our interactions as humans, T.
including the interactions that we engage in to
• Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary.
figure things out and to make things.
• Perennial and structural problems of history,
✓ It should be clear that all of these are deeply philosophy, and human nature.
interconnected. • Science dynamics
• Technological dynamics
The field of Science and Technology and Society • Informs activist STS issues.
• (STS) is a relatively recent discipline, originating in • Gets involved in current issues.
the 60s and 70s, following Kuhn’s The Structure • Covers a broad social spectrum (not just academic).
of Scientific Revolutions (1962). STS was the Builds coalitions:
result of a “sociological turn” in science studies. 1. Awareness of a problem
2. Need to take responsibility
3. Draw on external expertise
• STS makes the assumption that science and 4. Make decisions and take actions (demonstrate, litigate,
technology are essentially intertwined and that educate, legislate, etc.).
Strengths – relevance, empowerment, democratic.
they are each profoundly social and profoundly
political.
Weaknesses – ad hoc, emotional, NIMBY Examples: nuclear
power, toxic wastes, health care, climate change action.
Science, Technology and Society (STS)
• The intellectual roots of STS lie in the history,
philosophy, and social study of science and A “Classical” View of Science and Technology
technology, an arena where often-controversial A typical, naive view of science might be as follows:
issues and choices interface with values and • Science is a formal activity that creates
influence public policy. knowledge by direct interaction with nature.

• STS prepares students to understand both the • Science has some kind of special method that
technical and social dimensions of science and allows different scientists to produce the same
technology, helps them become more thoughtful kind of knowledge whatever their social and
and better-informed citizens of our high-tech society, political context might be.
and develops their critical interdisciplinary
thinking, research, and communication skills.
• Scientists perform the same experiments in the
same way, and agree upon and reject the same
• Students flourish intellectually in an environment hypotheses.
where critical questioning is encouraged and
opportunities for research are abundant.
• Scientists come to consensus on the truths of the
natural world.
On a personal level, STS is… • Interdisciplinary
education for life.
• We have a sort of black box:
• Relevant to every field of study.
Nature ------ Science ----- Truth
• A great major or double major or “the minor for all
majors”.
• A way to improve your writing and communications The Demise of the “Classical” View
skills, problem-solving abilities, and ability to adapt
• The classical view began to fall apart in the
to changes in science and technology.
process of 20th century investigations of scientific
• Attractive to potential employers. activity.
• Needed at all levels, in education, government, the Philosophers were unable to formalize the
private sector, and internationally. “black box.” There appears to be no single
“scientific
STS is… method.”

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• Technoscience is the combined total of scientific
• When historians began to explore past scientific and technological ideas and activities in their
activities more closely, they found there was no social, political and economic realities.
such thing as “pure science,” removed from
social and political interactions and assumptions. Modern society is thoroughly technoscientific
• Nobody has any doubt that modern society is
• When sociologists began to open the black box of technoscientific.
contemporary scientific activity, they found that the
inside was thoroughly social and political. • Modern nation-states and the global economy, itself,
“Scientism” could not function if they were not based on
• Scientism goes back at least as far as the Scientific technoscience.
Revolution (c. 1550– 1700) and originates in the
claim that there is a sharp divide between • Every aspect of our lives is permeated by the
“facts” and “values.” products of technoscience.

• According to this view, when we do science, we • It is impossible to understand modern society,

set aside values and study only facts. without studying the effects of technoscience.

• The authority of science rests on its claim to be What makes something social?
“value free” and hence • Society is the result of people, and institutions,
“objective.” interacting with one another. It is a sort of
epiphenomena of these individuals.
• Scientism promotes the idea that all of society’s
problems can be solved by experts who are • Society in turn shapes the people and
specially trained to unearth the facts of the matter. institutions that form it.

• Scientism, and the scientistic movement, make the • Most people experience society as though it were an
claim that science is for the benefit of all of external force acting upon them.
humanity.
• The “effects” of society operate through the vague
“Technological progressivism” mechanism of social norms. Norms “tell” us what
• Technological progressivism has its roots in the we should and should not do, what we should
European Enlightenment (c. 1700– 1800), when and should not think. But they are not rational – or
progress became a synonym for good and rather, their rationality is not universal.
technology came to be seen as a fundamental tool • Norms produce the values that we use in interacting
in progressive projects. with others. They produce many of our core ideas –
Good = Progress such as ideas of the:
Progress = Technology - place of class,
- the role gender,
• Technological progressivism assumes that - the meaning of race,
technological change is inherently good and - the function of justice,
sees it as selfpropagating, moving by the internal - the importance of objectivity,
constraints of technology itself. - the criterion of truth,
- the significance of evidence
• For example, we view new technologies as
progressive and older ones as old fashioned and Technoscience is Social
use this as a reason for changing technologies. • In the simplest sense, technoscience is the
product of people, and people are social. But it is
possible to claim something much stronger than this:
• We advocate the adoption of new technologies with
little reflection on their social impact or the broader
question of whether or not we want those impacts. • The social norms of technoscientists affects where
they will look, what they will see and what they will
say about it.
(Their worldview.)
“Technoscience”
• In the classical view of the relationship between • Technocientists’ norms are shaped by their
science and technology, science leads the way by discipline. (Basic scientific concepts mean different
creating knowledge from nature and technology things in
follows by applying this knowledge to the different fields.)
creation of new things.
• Professional norms affect the value that
• We can call the sum total of scientific and technoscientists place on judgments.
technological activities, technoscience.

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• We find disagreement about what counts as science ✓ many examples of the complex interactions
across time and from place to place. between science, technology and society are visibly
seen
• The development of technology is highly social, around you
and depends on the manipulation of social
norms. UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
What makes something Political? Science is. . .
• Politics is about control. It is the result of the • Natural knowledge
distribution and utilization of power in our societies. • Natural philosophy
• Natural history
• Political activity functions by employing various • Systematic inquiry into nature
structures, resources and discourses in order to • A human cultural activity
consolidate and wield power. • A total societal enterprise
• With vast social consequences
• Political structures are formal and informal “rules of • Organized, well – founded knowledge of nature and
play.” human nature • “A sophisticated intellectual version
- Formal rules are things like laws and of Esperanto or the universal language that the
procedures. heroes of the scientific revolution imagined as an
- Informal rules are things like social norms. instrument of global communication”
• There are many kinds of political resources: • “The cutting edge of ignorance”
- natural resources,
- money,
Science is… (CMAGLTCP)
- military force,
• Content – body of organized knowledge about nature. From Latin
- knowledge, - access, - charm, etc. scientia – knowledge.

• Politics uses discourses to control what is “sayable” • Method – of obtaining that knowledge, experiment, observation,
and what is not, to control the way in which hypothesis, theory, law.
something is said and the framework of what is
discussed. • Attitude – organized and systematic skepticism.

• Goals – explanation, understanding, prediction, control.

• Dominant discourses lend a kind of cultural
authority.
• Language – mathematics and technical
vocabulary.
• There is, obviously, no clear boundary between
the social and the political. • Tools – uses instruments and technologies.

Technoscience is Political • Community – discipline, education, credentials, careers, patrons,

• There are formal and informal rules that dictate who societies, “turf”.
can make decisions about how to proceed with
technoscientific work. • Process – organized, but very diverse activity shaped by social
forces and historical change.

• Different political structures create different

In general:
opportunities, at the national level, the level of
institutions, and the level of individuals. • Science is an organized, hierarchical activity that
investigates nature and human nature by experiment
and observation.
• Individual knowledge workers
(technoscientists), various institutions, and • Its goals are explanation, understanding, prediction,
different professional groups all use economic and and control.
cultural resources to advance their aims.
• It tests its theories by logical, mathematical, and
• Discourses can be developed by appeal to both technological means.
social and scientific norms. These discourses can
then be used as resources to advance • Science is shaped by social forces and historical
technoscientific work. change.

• This is often referred to as the production of social • While seeking objectivity, science also shapes culture.
capital.
Scientific Knowledge
Remember: • Scientific knowledge is tentative.
✓ modern societies are technoscientific
✓ technoscience is profoundly social and political • Scientific knowledge has basis in empirical
evidence.

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• There is a difference between data and evidence. - A system of tacit and explicit knowledge,
techniques, and materials utilized in using,
• Scientific laws and theories are separate kinds of making, or repairing a certain kind of artifact.
scientific knowledge.
c. A human cultural activity or profession.
- e.g. military or civil engineers, crafters,
• Scientific knowledge is based upon observations
machinists.
and inferences.
d. A total societal enterprise. - e.g. “American
• Scientific knowledge is heavily dependent upon technological knowhow.” R&D, invention, patronage,
theories. mass production and mass
consumption.
• Scientific knowledge is created from human
imagination and logical reasoning. HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN THE
COURSE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
• Scientific knowledge can be obtained by a variety
of scientific methods. Science and Technology in Ancient Times
• In the ancient times, people were concerned with
• Scientific observations are inherently subjective transportation and navigation, communication and
based on interpretations. record keeping, mass production, security and
protection, as well as health, aesthetics and
• Science is a human endeavor influenced by architecture.
society and culture.
• Science and Technology keeps on advancing in
order to meet the growing needs of people along
What is Technology? these areas.
✓ A discourse or treatise on an art or arts;
✓ The scientific study of the practical or industrial • Due to the constant innovation introduced by
arts. Science and
✓ Techne (art, craft, skill), Logos (word). Technology, which has the end goal of improving
lives and making the work easier, faster and
Some other attempts at definitions: efficient, our society respond by changing as well.
• A system based on the application of
knowledge, manifested in physical objects and • These changes are evident as each ancient
organizational forms, for civilization keep on creating technology that has
been modified and that is being used today.
the attainment of specific goals —Volti
Sumerian
• Cumulative sum of means used to satisfy human • are known for their contribution with the first
needs and desires and to solve specific writing system called as cuneiform.
problems — • Challenge to mass produce food, they invented
Markert plowing, irrigation and dikes, and wheel for
farming.
• The sum total of systems of machines and • Throughout the existence of this civilization,
techniques that their main mode of transportation was through
underlie a civilization — Nye waterways such as rivers and seas.
• They are also known to develop the first road.
• Not merely a system of machines with certain
functions, but an expression of Babylonian Civilization
a social world —Nye • emerged near Tigris and
Euphrates River, were famous for being
• The production of superfluities – today as in the great builders, engineers and architects.
Paleolithic age — Ortega y Gasset • One of major contributions is the hanging
garden of Babylon which one of the seven
• “The seeping false-hearted death” wonders of the world.
—DeLillo
Egyptian Civilization
• is known for its renowned archeological
Technology artifact like the death mask of
a. Artifacts or Hardware. Tutankhamen and Pyramid of Giza.
- Products fabricated by humans to meet • Also, ancient Egyptians are known for their
specific needs. Tools, machines, implements. earlier contributions like water clock or
clypsedra, paper or papyrus, ink and a
b. Knowledge and Methods. system of writing known as
hieroglyphics.

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• They have also invented cosmetics for • In terms of architecture and engineering,
aesthetic reason. Romans are known for building elaborate
• Meanwhile, during this time, wigs were churches, basilicas, aqueducts, coliseums,
worn by wealthy Egyptians to protect the amphitheaters and residential houses.
shave of the heads from the harmful rays • They have also devised their own number system
of the sun. which is the Roman Numeral System.

China
Greek • considered to be the oldest civilization in Asia.
• the birthplace of western • is known for the silk trade, tea production, gun
philosophy powder and the living legend great wall of China.
• some of its major achievements include in-depth
works on Philosophy and Mathematics. Science and Technology in Middle Ages
• They are also celebrated for their contribution to • The start of the Middle Ages was marred by massive
the world like coliseum, Olympics, alarm clock invasions and migrations.
and water mill. • Wars are prevalent during this time.
• As such, great technology was needed in the fields
Roman Empire of weaponry, navigation, food and farm production
• Perceived to be the strongest political and social and health.
entity in the west. • The wars have resulted to population decline.
• It was considered to be the cradle of politics and • However, in the later part of this period, there was
governance. significant increase in population.
• Other civilizations looked up to it as a model in • Trade and commerce among nations increased,
terms of codified laws and legislation. which resulted in greater demands for transportation
• They are also celebrated for the invention of technology.
newspaper, bound books or codex. • Some of the most innovative minds came from this
period.

Wood clock Printing soldiers, chainmail was invented to

• To facilitate record keeping, solve the problem. woodlock printing developed by
Chinese was improved by the time of Science and Technology in Modern Times
Johann Gutenberg with a cast type • The booming world population during printing press. the nineteenth century onwards
demanded that more goods be
Printing press produced at faster rate.
• This general invention soon evolved • People needed efficient means of to be the mechanical printing press transportation
to trade more goods which was eventually used all over and cover a larger distance.
the world. • Machines that required animals to
• was invented to address the need for operate must thus be upgraded. publishing books that would spread • Faster and
easier means to information to many people at a communicate and compute should be faster rate. developed to establish
connections
• This invention also made works between and among nations. accessible to individuals who could • All these needs
resulted in the not even write (Streissguth, 1997). development of industries.
• However, due to massive
Microscope industrialization, the modern times • Growing populations caused massive again faced more complicated migration
problems.
and urbanization during the
period. • Food processing and medicine posed
some of the bigger challenges since
• More and more people transferred to health was of great concern.
polluted and populated urban areas
sick.
which resulted in more people getting • As people were able means of production to meet the to develop better

needs of the population, food • With this, experts needed to a device to preservation and food safety became study
microorganisms in order to an issue.

develop proper medicines for illnesses. • Louis Pasteur, a French biologist,

• Guided by the principles used for the microbiologist and chemist found a invention of eyeglasses in earlier years, way to
solve the problem. He invented Zacharias Janssen was able to pasteurization – the process of develop the first
compound heating dairy products to kill the microscope (Davidson, 2015). harmful bacteria that allow them to spoil
faster. Through this process, milk • Since the Middle Age was also known could be stored and consumed for a as the Age
of Exploration, the need longer period.
for nautical inventions was high. • It also prevented illnesses caused by
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• The invention of the telescope, an harmful bacteria (Macalester College, optical instrument that helps in the 2010). Other
contributions o of observation of remote objects, was a Pasteur to Science and Technology great help for navigators
during this and Medicine included his works on time. molecular asymmetry, fermentation and vaccination.
• Great development in the weaponry • The modern times demanded better technology also occurred in this era. means
of powering homes and • This includes cross bows and long transportation.
bows. • This led to the development of
• Additionally, in close range hand-to- kerosene and the petroleum hand combat, soldiers should wear refinery industry
(Skrabec, 2010). At something to protect themselves, a present, petroleum is widely used in need addressed by the
powering automobiles, factories and
creation of iron body armors. power plants, among others.

• However, body armors were heavy and limited the movements of the
• The more people got connected by trade and Darwin’s The Origin of Species ushered a new
exploration, the more they needed a way to easily era in the intellectual history of humanity.
maintain these connections and communicate with
each other in real time. - Considered to be one of the most controversial
• Governments likewise needed some kind of intellectual revolutions of its time.
communication system which would allow them to
administer their states well. Important day – to – - Completed the Copernican revolution initiated
day decisions must be discussed and addressed at three centuries earlier, and thereby radically
the fastest time possible. changed our conception of the universe and the
• Thus, the invention of telephone by Alexander place of humanity in it.
Graham Bell was one of the most important
inventions at that time. - Charles Darwin is an English naturalist, biologist
• Although an earlier version of the calculator had and geologist; he introduced the theory of
already been developed, circumstances in the evolution where population pass through a
modern times required a faster way to compute process of natural selection in which only the
more complicated equations. fittest would survive (natural selection).
• Computing devices must also be easy to carry
since they would be utilized on a day-to-day basis. - The organisms have the ability to adapt to their
• The creation of modern calculators did not only environment and would gradually change into
pave the way for easier arithmetic calculations, but something that would be more competitive to
also resulted in the development of more complex survive.
processing machines like
3. Freudian Revolution
Intellectual Revolutions and Society
- Austrian neurologist, Sigmund
• In S&T, intellectual refer to the series of events Freud is credited for stirring a 20th century
that led to the emergence of modern science intellectual revolution named after him – the
and the progress of scientific thinking across Freudian Revolution.
critical periods in history.
• Although there are many intellectual revolutions, - Psychoanalysis as a school of thought in
this section only gives focus on the three most psychology is at the center of this revolution.
important intellectual revolutions that altered the
way humans view science and its impacts on the
- Psychoanalysis a scientific method of
society.
understanding inner and unconscious
• These are: Copernican, Darwinian, and Freudian conflicts embedded within one’s personality,
revolutions.
springing from free associations, dreams, and
fantasies of the individual.
1. Copernican Revolution
- The Copernican Revolution refers to the 16th- - It immediately shot into controversy because it
century paradigm shift named after the Polish emphasized the existence of the unconscious
mathematician and astronomer, Nicolaus where feelings, thoughts, urges, emotions and
Copernicus. memories are contained outside of one’s
conscious mind. Amidst controversy, Freud’s
- Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model in psychoanalysis is widely credited for dominating
the publication of his paper, De Revolutionibus psychotherapeutic practice in the early 20th
Orbium Coelestium (The Revolution of the Celestial century.
Spheres), in 1543.

- Challenged the previous belief that the Earth was Science and Technology and Nationbuilding
the center of the universe (geocentrism) proposed
by Claudius Ptolemy (Ptolemaic Model). • The advent of science and technology brought
progress not only in our country but in the
2. Darwinian Revolution entire world.
- The publication of Charles

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• Its development determines to a large extent the China, and many more. It is estimated
socio-economic progress of a country. by the World Bank that seven of the ten
• It is a well-known fact that it is directly associated largest economies of the world by 2020
with modernity and is an essential tool for rapid would be in Asia: China, Japan, India,
development and progress of a country. Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan. A
few decades ago, these countries were
known to have poor policies, low
Science and Technology Defined discipline and no advancement. But with
• Science and technology is a field of endeavor the introduction and proper
upon which a two-way interaction operates implementation of science and
between the two. technology an effective manner, they
made great advancements across the
• While science is the intellectual and practical globe.
activity encompassing the systematic study of
the structure and behavior of the physical and Here are What Science and Technology do for us:
natural world through observation and experiment
(Oxford Advanced 1. It helps us save time and money.
Learners' Dictionary, 11th Edition), technology is - Various contributions of science and
the application of scientific knowledge for technology have helped us save time and
practical purposes (Oxford). It is the use of money. While science has given us the
resources made available by nature to procreate knowledge why baked or steamcooked food is
and make changes. better than the fried or oily food, technology
has gifted us with microwave and
steamcookers that help us bake and steam
Importance of Science and
cook our food. Various objects like computers,
Technology to National Development
modes of transport, washing machines help us
➢ A nation's development and prosperity are save time and energy.
judged large extent by the status of science
and technology of that nation. 2. Education.
- Science and technology have made significant
➢ Science and technology are key drivers to contribution in the education field as well.
development, because technological and Technology
scientific revolutions underpin economic has made education itself easier. It
advances, improvement in health systems, has provided us options like smart
education and infrastructure. classes, multimedia devices, e- 2) libraries,
e-books, etc.
➢ Today, countries are classified as
developed and developing countries. 3. Internet.
- Information technology, including
➢ The major categorization is based on the internet, is an excellent gift of
economy and the application of science and technology. With the help of
technology. Countries which have a strong road transport used by automobiles; air transport which
base in science and technology are the is used by airplanes; water transportation which is used
ones that developed faster. A few examples by ships and speedboats; and space transportation used
are countries like Japan, Russia, Brazil, to go to the moon.
internet, we do not get only - Technologies like automobiles, immense knowledge on science buses and trucks have
improved and other subjects, but we also get the way humans move and how to stay connected with our friends they
transport their goods from one and family. place to another.

4. Provides us devices for comfortable

sleeping, quick cooking and fast • Technology has improved commute. communication.
- With the help of objects like AC - Communication is used for a microwave and vehicles, science number of purposes.
Both society and technology have made our and organizations depend on sleeping, cooking, and commuting
communication to transfer process easier and faster. information.
- People use technology to

5. It helps us live a better life. communicate with each other.

- While science has made significant - Electronic media like radios, contributions in health
televisions, internet, social media
by providing treatment for various chronic have improved the
way we diseases, technology has exchange ideas which can develop benefited us in
receiving those our societies. In many countries, treatments through various ways radios and televisions
are used to and devices like X-ray, scan voice the concerns of society. They machines, operation
devices, organize live forums where the pacemaker, and many more. We community can contribute
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mobile phones or text service
through are also blessed with numerous exercising equipment,
various systems like tweeter. health apps, online doctor and - Communication technologies like other
things that help us maintain televisions, radio and internet are good health and life. used to persuade,
entertain and inform the people about the various
programs of the government. Small businesses have
also used the
Impact of Technology on Society internet and mobile communication
• Technology has improved technology to grow and improve
transportation. their business.
- Transportation is one of the basic areas of technological activity. • The World Wide Web
Both society and businesses have - has proved to be an enormous benefited from the new information base from
which transportation methods. information can be retrieved by - Transportation provides mobility means of search engines.
for people and goods. Information from all around the
- Transportation, like other world is housed on the web. With technologies, can be viewed as a the development
of web system. It is a series of parts that technology, the information can be are interrelated. These parts all
organized in an organized manner work together to meet a certain and relevant information can be goal.
retrieved on supplying search
- Technology has made possible all strings to web search engines. types of transportation and these Digitization
of information has been include:
a major breakthrough in the world dependent on the application of of information technology. science and technology.

• Technology has improved education and the learning

SUMMARY
process.
- Education is the backbone of every • Science and technology has made economy. People need well and great
contributions to various organized educational aspects of our lives. It has altered infrastructures so that they can
the way people live, connect and learn how to interpret information. communicate and thus has
- Many schools have integrated affected profoundly the economic educational technologies in their development
in the country. schools with the aim of improving the way students learn.
- Technologies like smart whiteboards, computers, mobile phones, iPads, projectors and internet
are being used in classrooms to boost students’ morale to learn.

The Role of Science and Technology in the Developing World in the 21st
Century

• Developments in science and technology are

fundamentally altering the way people live, connect,
communicate and transact, with profound
effects on economic development.
• According to Lee Roy Chetty (2012), science and technology
are key drivers to development, because scientific and
technological revolutions underpin economic
advances, improvements in health systems,
education and infrastructure.
• The technological revolutions of the 21st century are emerging
from entirely new sectors, based on microprocessors,
telecommunications, biotechnology 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.
• The state of science and technology determines the
socio-economic progress of a country. It is a well-known fact
that national progress is highly correlated to the capacity of a
country to produce local industrial goods for domestic needs
and that industrialization is very much