Science, Technology & Society – Vocabulary Review

68 vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms, people, inventions, and concepts from the lecture on Science, Technology, and Society.

Science

Systematic knowledge of the natural world gained through observation and experimentation.

John Heilbron’s View of Science

Discovery of regularities in nature expressed through principles and laws, requiring inventions of techniques and apparatuses.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Definition of Technology

Any tool that augments human senses or abilities, e.g., glasses enhancing vision.

Lewis Wolpert’s View of Science

Value-free quest for reliable knowledge; scientists are obliged to publicize social and technological implications but are not responsible for applications.

Medawar Lecture (1998) – “Is Science Dangerous?”

Argued that while culture labels science dangerous, it remains the best route to understand the world; unpredictability absolves scientists from moral blame for future uses.

Carl Sagan’s Warning

Modern society depends on science and technology yet few understand them—a recipe for disaster.

Science and Technology Studies (STS)

Interdisciplinary field examining how science, technology, and society influence one another.

John J. Reilly Center Ethical Dilemmas List

Annual top-10 list designed to spark debate on controversial emerging technologies.

Helix App

Direct-to-consumer platform that offers genomic tests via a digital ‘DNA app store’.

Robot Priest (BlessU-2 / Pepper)

Robotic clergy providing blessings, illustrating AI’s entry into religious roles.

Emotion-Sensing Facial Recognition

Retail technology that gauges shoppers’ feelings to optimize sales strategies.

Ransomware

Malicious software that encrypts data and demands payment for its release.

Textalyzer

Device enabling police to check if a phone was used just before a traffic accident.

Social Credit System

Rating scheme tying citizens’ behavior or online reputation to real-world privileges or penalties.

Google Clips

AI camera that autonomously records ‘best’ moments throughout the day.

Sentencing Software

Algorithmic tools that assist judges in deciding criminal sentences.

Robot Friendship

Concept of creating chat-bots from loved ones’ messages to simulate companionship.

Citizen App

Crowdsourced, real-time crime-reporting platform that can encourage vigilantism.

Ancient Technology

Engineering advances in early civilizations that reshaped living and governance before the Middle Ages.

Stone Age

Prehistoric era marked by the earliest stone tools and the rise of genus Homo.

Bronze Age

Period characterized by bronze metallurgy, proto-writing, and early urban civilization.

Iron Age

Final stage of the three-age system, distinguished by widespread iron use for tools and weapons.

Obsidian

Volcanic glass frequently fashioned into sharp Stone-Age tools.

Mesopotamian Metalwork

Early use of copper, bronze, gold—and later iron—for weapons, armor, and palace decor.

Cuneiform

Wedge-shaped writing system of ancient Mesopotamia.

Invention of the Wheel

Revolutionary Mesopotamian innovation enabling carts, chariots, and pottery wheels.

Egyptian Simple Machines

Ramps, levers, pulleys, etc., used to construct monuments like the pyramids.

Papyrus

Ancient Egyptian writing material made from reed pith.

Six Simple Machines

Inclined plane, lever, wedge, wheel-and-axle, pulley, screw.

Greek Chariot Usage

Retained ceremonial status but rarely employed in warfare due to terrain and tactics.

Four Great Inventions of China

Compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing.

South-Pointing Chariot

Ancient Chinese mechanical vehicle that kept a pointer facing south without magnetism.

Roman Sources of Power

Human, animal, and water energy drove Roman engineering feats.

Pantheon

Roman temple famed for its unreinforced concrete dome and oculus.

Middle-Age Innovations

Era of inventions like printing press, heavy plow, gunpowder, and mechanical clocks.

Printing Press

15th-century device that revolutionized information dissemination.

Heavy Plow

Medieval plow that boosted European agricultural productivity.

Gunpowder

Chinese invention that transformed warfare globally.

Blast Furnace

Medieval European furnace enabling large-scale iron smelting.

Spinning Wheel

Device, likely from India, that mechanized yarn production.

Eyeglasses

Medieval innovation that corrected vision and prolonged scholars’ working life.

Astrolabe

Ancient/medieval instrument for solving astronomical problems—an early analog computer.

Panabas

Filipino curved-blade weapon used for combat and execution.

Balisong

Filipino folding pocket knife also known as the butterfly knife.

Balangay

Ancient Filipino wooden planked boat constructed with sewn-plank technique.

Copernican Revolution

16th-century shift from Earth-centered to Sun-centered model of the cosmos.

Ptolemaic (Geocentric) Model

Ancient belief that Earth sat immobile at the universe’s center with epicyclic orbits.

Heliocentric Model

Copernicus’ system placing the Sun at the center, with Earth rotating and orbiting it.

Giordano Bruno

Italian thinker executed for supporting heliocentrism and other ‘heretical’ ideas.

Galileo Galilei

Astronomer who provided telescopic evidence for heliocentrism and faced Inquisition.

Natural Selection

Darwin’s mechanism where heritable traits aiding survival lead to reproductive success.

Five Parts of Darwinism

Evolution as such, common descent, gradualism, population speciation, natural selection.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s method of probing the unconscious mind to treat mental disorders.

Id

Instinctual, pleasure-seeking component of personality in Freudian theory.

Ego

Rational part of personality mediating between id, superego, and reality.

Superego

Moral conscience shaped by societal and parental standards.

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – Philippines

Government agency overseeing national S&T development, research, and public awareness.

Banaue Rice Terraces

2,000-year-old Philippine agricultural terraces illustrating indigenous engineering.

Bamboo Incubator

Low-cost infant incubator invented by Dr. Fe del Mundo for rural areas lacking electricity.

Erythromycin Discovery

Antibiotic isolated by Dr. Abelardo Aguilar from Streptomyces erythraeus soil samples.

Etherel Mango Flowering

Ramon Barba’s chemical spray (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) that induces mango blooms cheaply and cleanly.

Diosdado Banatao

Filipino engineer who created the first single-chip 16-bit microprocessor and PC chipset innovations.

Build! Build! Build!

Duterte administration’s flagship infrastructure program to spur Philippine growth.

National Academy of Science and Technology (PH)

Premier body of Filipino scientists established by Presidential Decree 1003-A in 1976.

Magna Carta for S&T Personnel (RA 8439)

1997 law improving benefits and career development for Filipino science workers.

Biofuels Act (RA 9367)

2006 law promoting production and use of biofuels in the Philippines.

National Scientists Conferred by Aquino III

Gavino Trono, Angel Alcala, Ramon Barba, Edgardo Gomez—honored for marine biology, ecology, and agriculture.

Diwata-1 & Diwata-2

Philippine microsatellites launched (2016, 2018) for Earth observation and disaster management.