STS-C1_A

• Science, Technology and Society

  An interdisciplinary course designed to examine the ways that science and technology shape, and are shaped by, our society
• Science and Technology Studies (STS)

  A relatively recent discipline, originating in the 60s and 70s, following Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)
• STS was the result of a "sociological turn" in science studies
• STS makes the assumption that science and technology are essentially intertwined and that they are each profoundly social and profoundly political
• Science


  An evolving body of knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation
• Technology


  Science or knowledge put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools
• Society


  The sum total of our interactions as humans, including the interactions that we engage in to understand the nature of things and to create things
• How science is used in technology

  1. Science is the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world through systematic observation and experiments. Through science, we develop new technologies.

  2. Technology is the application of scientifically gained knowledge for practical purpose.

  3. Scientists use technology in all their experiments.
• Scientific method


  The systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses
• Society


  A group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
• Figure 1 shows the interrelationship of science, technology and society
• The role of science and technology

  • Alter the way people live, connect, communicate and transact, with profound effects on economic development
  • Key drivers to development, because technological and scientific revolutions underpin economic advances, improvements in health systems, education and infrastructure
  • The technological revolutions of the 21st century are emerging from entirely new sectors, based on micro-processors, tele-communications, bio-technology and nano-technology. Products are transforming business practices across the economy, as well as the lives of all who have access to their effects. The most remarkable breakthroughs will come from the interaction of insights and applications arising when these technologies converge
  • Have the power to better the lives of poor people in developing countries
  • Differentiators between countries that are able to tackle poverty effectively by growing and developing their economies, and those that are not
  • Engine of growth and interventions for cognitive enhancement, proton cancer therapy and genetic engineering
• Science and technology have had a major impact on society, and their impact is growing
• Science influences society through its knowledge and world view
• The effect of science on society is neither entirely beneficial nor entirely detrimental
• The impact of science and technology on society is evident. But society also influences science
• There are social influences on the direction and emphasis of scientific and technological development, through pressure groups on specific issues, and through generally accepted social views, values and priorities
• Paradigm


  A distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitutes legitimate contributions to a field
• Paradigm shift


  The successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science
• Paradigm shift is another expression for more significant changes within belief systems
• Thomas Samuel Kuhn


  An American physicist, historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in both academic and popular circles
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

  A book about the history of science by the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn, its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of scientific knowledge
• The Kuhn Cycle


  A simple cycle of progress described by Kuhn in his book

  
• Kuhn challenged the world's current conception of science, which was that it was a steady progression of the accumulation of new ideas
• Science advanced the most by occasional revolutionary explosions of new knowledge, each revolution triggered by introduction of new ways of thought so large they must be called new paradigms
• Kuhn argues that paradigms change in scientific revolutions. Scientists go through a crisis and transition to a new paradigm, a new way of seeing the world. It is not possible to compare paradigms and it is not possible to say whether one is more right than the other
• Kuhn argues that science is not moved by a rational process but more by a social unity
• The steps of the Kuhn Cycle

  1. Pre-science (also called the pre-paradigm stage)

  2. Normal science

  3. Model drift

  4. Model crisis

  5. Model revolution

  6. Paradigm change (also called a paradigm shift)

  
• During "normal science," when the current paradigm is in place, these anomalies are discounted as acceptable levels of error
• During "revolutionary science" or a paradigm shift, these anomalies become the center of attention as scientists attempt to construct a new world view that incorporates and explains them
• Historical examples of paradigm shifts


  • Slavery is acceptable to now slavery being unacceptable
  • Role of Children in Society - Child labor was, now is not acceptable
  • Male Superiority - Beating wives was, now is not acceptable
  • Reading and the Control over information - Invention of the printing press (& other major inventions) allowed for the elites control over reading / writing to end
  • The Reformation- broke monopoly of Catholic Church and Christian's "relationship" with God
  • Darwin's theory of evolution
  • Plate Tectonics— create a physical model of the Earth's structure
  • Albert Einstein's space-time is not fixed or objective—subject to observer's state of motion relative to other object
• Many physicists in the 19th century were convinced that the Newtonian paradigm that had reigned for 200 years was the pinnacle of discovery and that scientific progress was more or less a question of refinement
• When Einstein published his theories on General Relativity, it was not just another idea that could fit comfortably into the existing paradigm. Instead, Newtonian Physics itself was relegated to being a special subclass of the greater paradigm ushered in by General Relativity
• Kuhn later conceded that the process of scientific advancement might be more gradual
• the Newtonian paradigm that had reigned for 200 years was the pinnacle of discovery and that scientific progress was more or less a question of refinement
• When Einstein published his theories on General Relativity, it was not just another idea that could fit comfortably into the existing paradigm
• Newtonian Physics itself was relegated to being a special subclass of the greater paradigm ushered in by General Relativity
• Newton's three laws are still faithfully taught in schools, however we now operate within a paradigm that puts those laws into a much broader context
• Kuhn's theory itself was something of a game changer at the time, since scientists were not accustomed to thinking of what they were doing in such metaphysical terms
• Kuhn's theories are today understood to be part of a greater paradigm shift in the social sciences, and have also been modified since their original publication