STS & its Significance to Society in the Contemporary World Flashcards
The study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, which affects society.
STS (Science, technology, and society)
They are interested in a variety of problems including the relationship between scientific and technological innovations. And also the directions and risks of science and technology.
STS scholars
- This is concerned with the physical world, and its phenomena and entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation.
- Involves the pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws.
Science
- A creation, usage, and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems, or methods of organization, to solve a problem or serve some purpose.
- Also, an advanced tool and system that provides comfort to the users.
Technology
True or False: It is the interaction between science and technology and social-cultural, political, and economic contexts that shape and are shaped by them
True
NOTABLE HUMAN SUCCESSES IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (8)
Wheel
Compass
The Printing Press
The Internal Combustion Engine
Telephone
Penicillin
The Internet
World Wide Web
- 3500 BC
- Idea came to connect a non-moving platform to a rolling cylinder
- Wheeled carts facilitated agriculture and commerce by enabling the transportation of goods, as well as easing the burden of people traveling great distances.
Wheel
- Invented by the Chinese between 9th - 11th century
- It was first made of lodestone (a naturally magnetized iron ore)
- Enabled mariners to navigate safely far from land, increasing sea trade and contributing to “The Age of Discovery”
Compass
- Invented around 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
- He wasn’t the first to develop the movable type. However, Gutenberg was the first to create a mechanized process that transferred the ink (made from linseed oil & soot) from movable type to paper.
- This increased the speed of making book copies, leading to the rapid dissemination of knowledge for the first time in history
The Printing Press
- 19th century
- These engines make the combustion of fuel release a high-temperature gas, which as it expands, applies force to a piston moving it.
- Combustion engines convert chemical energy into mechanical work
- The engines steered into the Industrial Age, enabling the invention of machines like modern cars and aircraft
The Internal Combustion Engine
- 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell
- Several inventors did pioneering work on electronic voice transmission, the invention quickly took off, and revolutionized global business and communication
Telephone
- 1928 (Scottish scientist: Alexander Fleming)
- Extracted from the fungus Penicillium. He discovered that the mold killed off the bacteria from the Petri dish in his laboratory
- Fights a huge number of bacterial infections without harming the humans themselves.
- Advertised and mass-produced by 1944
Penicillin
- 1960’s
- A global system of interconnected computer networks used by billions of people worldwide
- A team of computer scientists working for the US Defense Department’s ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) built a communications network to connect the computers in the agency, called ARPANET.
- Used a method of data transmission called “packet switching.”
- “Information superhighway”
The Internet
- Tim Berners-Lee
- He had been working on the concept since 1989. Their goal was to combine available technologies and data networks to create a user-friendly system for global communication and information sharing.
- A part of the internet
World Wide Web
These technologies use resources from the environment without causing negative effects to it.
Eco-Friendly Energy Sources
Solar Panels for Electricity
Solar Energy
Heat from the Earth
Geothermal Energy
Windmills as source of energy
Wind Dower
Types of Eco-Friendly Energy Sources
Solar Energy
Geothermal Energy
Wind Dower
DISADVANTAGES TO SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Threats to Human Survival
Ethical Dilemmas
Social and Cultural Conflicts
Disparities in Human Wellbeing
An example of how technology and science is a “Threat to Human Survival”
- The invention of nuclear weapons in 1945. Ex: The nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima caused death of many people
- Product of chemical and biological warfare (bio-warfare): toxic wastes produced by manufacturing companies that threaten human survival and the stability of the environment.
An example of how technology and science is a cause of “Ethical Dilemmas”
- Exploitation of advanced scientific knowledge and technological devices and systems gave rise to situations in which advances seem to have turned against their beneficiaries
- Forests are chopped down, topsoil is washed away, rivers are polluted, and waste is dumped in the oceans
- In our march to progress, we have degraded the natural world
An example of how technology and science is a cause of “Social and Cultural Conflicts”
- Military power is vital for the national security of many governments; superior and highly technical weapons dictated the outcomes of some recent wars.
An example of how technology and science is a cause of “Disparities in Human Wellbeing”
Advanced countries enjoying science and technology-based successes and hold high esteem in contemporary society (economic strength), versus millions of people in less developed countries who have not partaken in these benefits
PREHISTORIC TIMES
Stone Age
BRONZE AGE
IRON AGE
Period during which humans broadly used stone to make implements with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface.
This period lasted roughly 3.4 million years.
Bone was used during this period as well, but finds of bone tools are rare compared to the millions of stone tools that have been collected from the surface or excavated.
STONE AGE
As the first people, they were the first to discover
and use fire which was used for warmth and
cooking, but also for protection from wild animals.
People invented clothing as a means of warmth
and protection from the elements.
They also learned how to make pottery, which they
used to gather and store liquids.
Most tools and weapons were made from stone or
other basic materials, like wood or bone.
People made tools with sharpened
edges through a process called flaking.
Stone Age
A period in a civilization’s development when the
most advanced metalworking consisted of techniques for smelting copper and tin from naturally occurring outcroppings of ore, and then alloying those metals in order to cast bronze.
During this period people made implements from
pure copper, which tended to be brittle.
Lasted from 3300-2500 BC.
Bronze Age
The first era to create
technologies by refining, smelt, and casting metal ores.
Spears, daggers, swords, and axes were created
by early civilizations in the Middle East by merging
bronze or copper alloys.
In the era, dikes were built and maintained which required the cooperation of the people to regulate water from the river to solve the annual flooding in both Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The processing of raw materials or food from
farms and gardens involve pressing, crushing and grinding operations requiring several tools or devices.
Alcoholic beverages were made by fermentation
in both Mesopotamia and Egypt.
The universe was a rectangular box earth at the bottom being slightly concave at the sky at top supported by peaks of four mountains at the corners of the earth being flat or vaulted.
Bronze Age
This is the period during which cutting tools and
weapons were mainly made of iron or steel.
The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.
IRON AGE
Africa and Southwestern Asia were the first to
realize that the dark silvery rocks poking out of the earth could be worked into tools and weapons, sometime around 1500 B.C.
Europe had settled into small village life, toiling the soil with bronze and stone tools. Iron farming
tools, such as sickles, plough tips, made the process
more efficient and allowed farmers to exploit
tougher soils, try new crops and have more time for other activities.
Methods of fermentation techniques for dyeing
clothes, use and preparation of chemicals and color pigments were also known. The tools were made by smelting iron.
Cure for diseases was done by diagnosing the
symptoms of the diseases. The most prominent method to diagnose illness was the examination of the pulse. Hippocrates is the legendary name in the field of medicine.
Pythagoras developed his famous theories in Geometry. His work is still widely used and accepted today.
Man developed so many iron elements and mechanical objects to advance technology
further. These advances were made use of in the
field of irrigation, shipbuilding, etc.
IRON AGE
was the southernmost region of ancient
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Kuwait).
Sumeria
The cradle of the world’s earliest known civilization
and was first established in the region about 3600
BC.
Sumeria
Known as the “first cities” in the world.
Sumeria
Transformed families into tribes which became
cities and were later called the states.
Sumeria
the first writing system, developed around 3100 BC. Pictographs and drawings representing actual things were the basis.
Cuneiform
Cuneiform
Sumerian Civilization
True or False: Sumerian clay tablet contains the Sumerian historical information and culture. It began as record-keeping for trade and evolved for writing
down laws and stories.
True
True or False: The Sumerians were among the first astronomers,
mapping the movement of stars, planets and the
moon into sets of constellations, many of which were recognized by the ancient Greeks.
True
They built the foundation of logic, mathematics, engineering, architecture, agriculture, transportation and medicine.
Sumerians
Sexagesimal system of counting in units of 60
which served as the basis of 360 degree circle and
60 minute hour.
Developed systematized technique of farming:
seed plow and irrigation.
Wool from sheep made into the textiles, mastered
the arts of bleaching and dyeing.
Sumerian
This was the ancient region bordering the
Tigris and Euphrates river (Iraq).
Babylonia
The first leader of
the Babylonian Empire, promulgating the famous
law code that served as rule and standards which
helped maintain a period of stability in the region.
Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC)
The Neo Babylonian
Emperor who ordered the construction of the
“hanging Gardens of Babylon” (one of the seven wonders of the world) and Isthar Gate.
Nebuchadnezzar
Contributed to the development of science and
technology such as: irrigation, a system of canals flanked by earthen dikes; system of bookkeeping, double entry accounting, multiplication and division tables and calculations using geometry.
Adopted the Sumerian sexagesimal system; made accurate predictions of astronomical phenomena like solar and lunar eclipses.
Situated in the northeastern part of the African continent, Egypt is located along the Nile River which provided a fertile delta.
The early settlers were nomadic animal hunters,
who soon changed their lifestyles to be farmland
settlers.
They learned to heat metal ore (copper, gold, and bronze) and made weapons and utensils.
They may have been the first people to make
glass. They learned to heat sand in a hot furnace and blow the molten sand into glass.
They wrote with ink and brushes on paper made of papyrus reels; their writing was pictorial symbols known as hieroglyphics.
Their knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, surgery and medical plants enabled them to embalm their dead.
Egyptian Civilization
The ___ gave life to the civilization of Egypt.
Nile River
Created the calendar based on the phases of the moon, consisting of 29 1⁄2 days. The first 365-day calendar was devised by IMHOTEP.
Interest in astronomy focused on the stars. The
early calendar was based on the appearance and
disappearance of Sirius, the brightest in their
horizon which coincided with the annual rise and
fall of the Nile River. This helped them predict the
annual flooding on the Nile River.
Pyramids still stand today as evidence of the
Egyptians’ scientific expertise and technical skills in geometry, engineering, architecture and labor management.
Iconic monuments include Giza Necropolis (oldest of the ancient wonders and only one still in existence) and its Great Sphyinx, Ruins of Memphis and the Valley of Kings.
Egyptian Civilization
Located on the island of Crete and other Aegean
islands such as Santorini, flourished on 2600 to
1400 BC. It was rediscovered in the 20
th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur
Evans.
Cretan Civilization
“The first link in the European chain.” – Will Durant
They were an Aegean Bronze Age civilization, ruled by King Minos.
Capital: Knossos, the grandest site of Bronze age palaces
Crete is located between Turkey, Egypt and Greece.
Minoans were mercantile people engaged in
overseas trade.
Many historians believe they were involved in the
Bronze Age’s important tin trade: tin, alloyed with
copper apparently was from Cyprus.
Crete became the central exporter of wine, oil, jewelry, and highly crafted works. They become
importers of raw materials and food.
They built the first major navy ship in the world in
which its main purpose was trade, not war or
conquest.
Minoans made carved statues, ceramics, frescoes, jewels, and inscriptions. These showed their knowledge in mathematics, engineering, and architecture.
They constructed well drainage system, public halls, courtyards, and religious shrines.
Minoans cities were connected with stone-paved roads, formed from blocks cut with bronze saws. Streets were with good drainage and sewer facilities.
Around 1600 BC, Akrotiri was shaken by a violent earthquake. Sometime later, the Theran eruption occurred – it was one of the largest in human history, blasting more than 10 million tons of ash, gas and rock 25 miles into the atmosphere.
Fifty years later the civilization was wiped out.
Earthquakes and fires destroyed Knossos and other places.
Cretan (Minoan) Civilization
CLASSICAL GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
(400 B.C. - 400 A.D.)
HIPPOCRATES | 400 B.C.
ARISTOTLE | 384 - 322 B.C.
ARCHIMEDES | 287 - 212 B.C.
Father of Medicine
Stated that diseases have natural causes
Hippocratic Oath
Hippocrates
Father of Biology
Introduced the method of Scientific thinking
Physics, Astronomy, Meteorology
Aristotle
Discovered the laws of the lever and pulley
Calculated the value of Pi
Mathematician Master
Archimedes
List of Contributions by the Greeks
OLYMPIC GAMES ( 776 B.C )
MONEY
MAPS ( 610 - 546 B.C )
MATHEMATICS
ASTRONOMY
THERMOMETER
PAP SMEAR
ALARM CLOCK (CTESIBUS)
HIPPOCRATIC OATH
THE UMBRELLA
CONTRIBUTION OF ROMANS TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Aqueduct system
Sundials to tell time.
Glassblowing techniques brought new technology to Rome in the form of window glass, hanging glass lamps, and other objects made of glass.
Notable Roman Scientists
Claudius Galen
MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO
PLINY THE ELDER
Was a Roman
architect and engineer of the 1st century BCE. Sometimes referred to as the first architect.
He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (“strength”, “utility”, and “beauty”). These principles were later widely adopted in Roman architecture.
MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO
Wrote Natural History, an
encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle
Ages.
PLINY THE ELDER
former name of Iran.
Persia
The Persian
Empire, founded by
Cyrus the Great
CONTRIBUTION OF PERSIAN TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PERSIAN ART
QANAT
POTTERY
DOME
PERSIAN RUGS
WIND TOWER
NASTALIQ
Each ____ comprises an almost horizontal tunnel collecting water from an underground water source, usually an alluvial fan, into which a mother well is sunk to the appropriate level of the aquifer.
Qanat
The first carpets
were made from bamboos and stalks of plants growing in marshlands of lower Transoxania. In
order to produce a more complete and better
floor covering, men began to produce a kind of
mat by intertwining the wools of animal.
Persian Rugs
A Persian Calligraphy ‘ایرانی خوشنویسی ‘is one of the
arts throughout Persian history and is an example
of fine Persian culture.
NASTALIQ
