Chapter 2: Science, Technology, and Society 

Section 1: Science and Technology

• Scientific Discovery
  • The study of science usually leads to a better understanding of the world around you.
  • History is full of breakthroughs in science that have changed the course of human history.
  • In the mid-1800s, Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, discovered the cause of most infectious diseases.
• Weather Forecasting
  • Scientific insight also is used in many other ways, including weather forecasting.
  • If you had lived in the 1800s, you only could have guessed the type of weather that was approaching by looking at the sky. Today, meteorologists use a variety of specialized instruments to predict the weather.
  • Science has changed the way people respond to natural events, such as the spread of microbes and hazardous weather.
  • The study of science can lead to an understand- ing of why a natural process occurs. Once there is a clear understanding, people learn how to respond to the event and try to control the outcome.
• What is technology?
  • Science: an exploration process.
  • Scientific processes are used to gain knowledge to explain and predict natural occurrences. Scientists often pursue scientific knowledge for the sake of learning new information.
  • Technology: the application of scientific knowledge of materials and processes to benefit people.
  • any human-made object (such as a radio, computer, or pen)
  • methods or techniques for making any object or tool (such as the process for making glass or ceramics)
  • knowledge or skills needed to operate a human-made object (such as the skills needed to pilot an airplane)
  • a system of people and objects used to do a particular task (such as the Internet, which is a system to share information)
  • Technology also can be the knowledge or skills needed to perform a task.
  • A network of people and objects that work together to perform a task also is technology.
• Global Technological Needs
  • The value of technology may differ for different people and at different times. The technology that is valued in the United States is not necessarily valued in other parts of the world.
  • The people of some countries work hard for basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, safe drinking water, and health care.
  • The United States is considered an industrialized country.
• Bioengineering and Food
  • Agricultural biotechnology: a collection of scientific techniques, including genetic engineering, that are used to create, improve, or modify plants, animals, and microorganisms.
  • Genetically altering plant species is a highly controversial practice

Section 2: Forces that Shape Technology

• Social Forces that Shape Technology

  • Science and society are closely connected
  • Society: a group of people that share similar values and beliefs.
  • Discoveries in science and technology bring about changes in society.

• Consumer Acceptance

  • Purchasing technology is a direct way in which people support the development of technology.
  • People will support the development of technologies that agree with their personal values, directly and indirectly.

• Economic Forces that Shape Technology

  • Many factors influence how much money is spent on technology.
  • One way in which funds are allocated for research and development of technology is through the federal government.
  • Some scientific research is funded using money from private foundations.
  • Research and development also is funded by private industries.

• Responsible Technology

  • Humans have the ability to invent tools and processes that can have an impact on other living things.
  • It is important that both positive and negative consequences of a particular technology be considered.

• Environmental Issues

  • One example of technology that has both positive and negative consequences is gasoline-powered cars.
  • The negative consequences are the environmental problems created by drilling for oil, air pollution, and disposal of unwanted cars.
  • Sometimes the benefits of technology are known immediately, but the consequences are not known for a period of time.

• The Chernobyl Accident

  • Possibly the worst technological accident in modern times occurred on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine.
  • Large areas of land were contaminated and more than 400,000 people had to be relocated.
  • An accumulation of radioactive fallout in the upper layers of soil has destroyed important farmland.
  • The radiation also affected many animals and plants around Chernobyl.

• Moral and Ethical Issues

  • Ethics: help scientists establish standards that they agree to follow when they collect, analyze, and report data.
  • Honesty is important because scientists share the results of their investigations with each other. As a result, one scientist’s dishonesty can harm the investigations of many scientists.
  • Other ethical questions in science concern the use of animals and humans in scientific investigations.

Section 3: Developing Technology

• Scientists and Engineers

  • Scientist: someone who has knowledge about science
  • Scientists have knowledge of scientific principles.
  • Many scientists specialize in one area of science.
  • Scientists often work in research laboratories doing research.
  • Engineer: A researcher who is responsible for bringing technology to the consumer
  • Using scientific information or an idea, an engineer creates a way to solve a problem or to produce a product.
  • Technological problems often create a demand for new scientific knowledge.
  • There are aeronautical, aerospace, biomedical, chemical, computer, electrical, mechanical, and many other types of engineers

• Finding Solutions

  • Scientists and engineers work together to find technological solutions.
  • They often use a system much like the scientific method.
  • The first step in finding a technical solution is to define clearly the problem that you are trying to solve.
  • Once the problem is clearly defined, the search for the solution can begin.
  • Constraints: Design restrictions for products from outside factors
  • Once design ideas are accepted, drawings or models usually are constructed.
  • After the drawing or model has been thoroughly evaluated, the design must be tested to make sure everything operates as planned.
  • Computer Simulation: uses a computer to imitate the process to collect data or to test a process or procedure.

• Prototype: a full-scale model that is used to test a new product

• Pilot Plane: a smaller version of the real production equipment that closely models actual manufacturing conditions.

• Control System: a device or collection of devices that monitors a system.

• Intellectual Property

  • Once a new product is introduced, it is important that a company protects its investment.
  • Patent: a legal document granted by the government giving an inventor the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a specific number of years.
  • A patent is one example of intellectual property
  • Intellectual Property: any type of creative work that has financial value and is protected by law