Science, Technology and the Economy

• Science; study of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentation

• Technology; the manipulation of the natural world to satisfy the needs of human beings

• Economic Policies; policies adopted by the nations to enhance the wellbeing of society

science and technology can be instrumental in economic growth

4000BC - URBAN REVOLUTION

• Mesopotamia and Egypt - where they started to live in communities and cities

• had to establish water irrigation, calendars

18TH CENTURY - INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• followed the scientific revolution

• started in Britain where societies moved from agrarian to producers(factories)

• technology is the groundwork and basis of this change - STEAM ENGINE BY JAMES WATT

• this technological advancement lead to a new branch of science thermodynamics

PHASES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• MECHANISATION PHASE

  • steam and water power

• 2nd Revolution

  • mass production and electricity

  • financed and encouraged by the economy - this would benefit the economy

  • Edison and Tesla - D.C AND A.C

  • ac leads to less energy losses especially at high voltages

• 3RD PHASE - ELECTRONIC IT SYSTEMS AND AUTOMATION

  • automated robots and machines doing the work

• 4TH PHASE - CYBERPYSICAL SYSTEMS

  • nuclear energy

  • science being used to develop technology

  • Manhattan Project - US spent 26 billion dollars to hire the greatest scientific minds to come up with the technology for nuclear energy and the atomic bomb - led by Oppenheimer

• LINKS BETWEEN SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECONOMY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

  • MEDICINE - great links between science and technology, discovery of DNA - genetic engineering

  • COMPUTER SCIENCE - Bill Gates and Steve Jobs - vision of everyone owning a PC - > radical impact on the economy (internet, ebay, amazon, online marketing, online communication, ai)