STS

• Modern technologies


  • Significantly impact human lives and society, particularly in information exchange, which is crucial for various reasons but can be limited by distance, time, and location
• Ways of exchanging information in the past

  • Drum rolls
  • Fire signals
  • Hand signals
  • Use of pigeons
  • Use of flags
  • Papyrus
• Many of the past ways of exchanging information are still in use today, but they remain to have limitations
• First Information Revolution


  Telegraph, telephone, and radio lasted until 1950s
• Samuel Morse


  • Credited for developing the first operational model of the telegraph
• Johann Philip Reis


  • Developed the first telephonic device
• Alexander Graham Bell


  • Credited for the invention of the telephone in 1876
• Guglielmo Marconi


  • Invented and patented the first radio, but it could only send Morse codes
• Reginald Fessenden


  • Discovered how to send voice and music through the radio
• Second Information Revolution


  Began in the 1950s until the 1980s, further improved communication due to the invention of the television, early generation computers, and satellites, making the "world smaller"
• Television


  • Developed in 1920
• John Vincent Atanasoff


  • Credited for developing the first electronic digital computer in 1939
• Alan Turing


  • Developed the first working digital computer, the 'Collossus'
• J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly


  • Developed ENIAC, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator, in 1946
• Sputnik 1


  • Developed by the Soviet Union and launched in 1957
• Third Information Revolution


  Technologies of the first two Information Revolutions paved the way for more technologies and innovations
• Main technologies of the Third Information Revolution

  • Advanced semiconductors
  • Advanced computers
  • Fiber optics
  • Cellular technology
  • Satellite technology
  • Advanced networking
• Information Age


  The idea that access to and the control of information is the defining characteristic of this current era in human civilization
• Also called the Computer Age, the Digital Age and the New Media Age
• Claude E. Shannon


  • American mathematician, known as the "Father of Information Theory"
• In 1948, at age 32 and as a researcher at Nokia Bell Laboratories, Shannon published a landmark paper proposing that information can be quantitatively encoded as a series of ones and zeroes
• Shannon showed how all information media, from telephone signals to radio waves to television, could be transmitted without error using this single framework
• Robert Dennis Harris


  • British novelist and former journalist
• Robert Harris' views on the Information Age

  • Information must compete
  • Never equated with truer
  • Selection is a viewpoint
  • The media sells what the culture buys
  • The early word gets the perm
  • You are what you eat and so is your brain
  • Anything in great demand will be counterfeited
  • Ideas are seen as controversial
  • Undead information walks ever on rumors, lies, disinformation, and gossips never truly die down
  • Media presence create the story
  • The medium selects the message
  • The whole truth is a pursuit
• Impact of the Information Age on society

  • Profound impact on virtually every aspect of society, from the way we communicate and access information to the way we conduct business and manage our personal lives, bringing both benefits and concerns including privacy, security, and access issues
• Digital Marketing in the Information Age

  Businesses and organizations can now reach consumers in ways never before possible, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing
• Abacus


  One of the earliest known computing devices, originated in ancient Mesopotamia, supports multiple methods to perform calculations
• First Generation Computers - Vacuum Tubes (1940 - 1956)


  Laid the foundation for the digital revolution, marking the beginning of a transformative era in computing history
• Second Generation Computers - Transistors (1956- 1963)


  Computers still count on punched cards for input/printouts, the 65 pound machine was the size of a typewriter and had 37 keys and a printer built-in
• Third Generation Computers - Integrated Circuits (1964-1971)

  Integrated Circuits form the "brain" of computers, interpreting software instructions and executing tasks, while also miniaturising electronic systems, making computers smaller, faster, and cheaper
• Fourth Generation Computers - Microprocessors (1972-2010)


  A computer's microprocessor performs arithmetic and logic operations, provides temporary memory storage, and times and regulates all elements of the computer system
• Fifth Generation Computers - Artificial Intelligence (2010 Onwards)


  Use programming languages such as Python, R, C#, Java, etc., as input methods, employ ULSI technology (Ultra Large Scale Integration), parallel processing, and AI to perform intricate tasks such as image recognition, human speech interpretation, natural language understanding, etc.
• World Wide Web


  A system on top of the internet that allows us to access information in an easy-to-use way, invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, distinct from the internet itself which is the underlying infrastructure
• World Wide Web's impact on science, technology, and society

  • Revolutionized the way research is conducted and shared in the scientific realm
  • Fueled the development of countless applications and services in the field of technology
  • Shaped the way we communicate, learn, and consume information on a societal level
• Uses of computers in science and research

  • Data collection
  • Analysis and testing of data
  • Exchanging information
  • Simulation of different events
  • Used in medical sector
  • Used in space science
• Advantages of computers in science and research

  • Internal part of modern science
  • Essential in helping scientists to understand the world around us
  • Changed the face of science so that scientists are no longer constrained to doing just experiment-based or theoretical research
  • Data collection, utilizing mathematics and abiding by the physical laws, can recreate a virtual physical world right on the computer screen
• Disadvantages of computers in science and research


  • Damage of eyes
  • Health risks
  • Regular maintenance
  • Chance of losing the saved data
  • Chance of data theft
  • Serious mistakes like wrong test, billing errors, unnecessary procedures etc.
  • Expensive
  • Requires lots of battery power
• Research process can also be done through computers, which are very useful and important tools for processing huge number of samples, with various storage devices and the ability to use data for different phases of the research process
• Theoretical research


  • Utilizing mathematics and abiding by the physical laws, can recreate a virtual physical world right on the computer screen
• Disadvantages of computer science & research

  • Damage of eyes
  • Health risks
  • Regular maintenance
  • Chance of losing the saved data
  • Chance of data theft
  • Serious mistakes like wrong test, billing errors, unnecessary procedures etc.
  • Expensive
  • Requires lots of battery power