Introduction to STS

• Science refers to systematic and methodological activity of building and organizing knowledge about how the universe behaves through observation, experimentation or both.
• “Modern science is a discovery as well as an invention”

    ~ John Heilbron, 2003
• Technology is the application of scientific knowledge, laws, and principles to produce services, materials, tools, and machines aimed at solving real-world problems.
• “Techne” meaning ‘art, skill or cunning of hand’
• STS, applies methods drawn from history, philosophy, and sociology to study the nature of science and technology and ultimately judge their value and place in society.
• The Copernican System (Nicholas Copernicus,1543)

  Copernican system, in astronomy, model of the solar system centered on the Sun, with Earth and other planets moving around it, formulated by Nicolaus Copernicus, and published in 1543.
• Greatest Inventions

  1. Printing Press (Johannes Gutenberg, 1440)th Century inventions)
  2. Light Bulb ( Thomas Alba Edison, 1879)
  3. Camera (Alexander Walcott, 1840)
  4. Airplane, Automobiles with combustion engine (Henry Ford,1901)
  5. Calculator, Telephone and smartphones (Blaise Pascal, abacus)
  6. Radio, Television, Internet (20th Century inventions)
  7. Robots, Artificial Intelligence
  8. Banking, Credit Cards
• Helix/ DNA Tests - a digital app store designed to read genomes
• BlessU-2 and Pepper - first robot priest and monk
• Emotion Sensing and Facial Recognition - a software being developed to assess your reactions to anything such as shopping and playing games
• Ransom ware - a way of holding data hostage through hacking and requiring a ransom to be paid
• Textalyzer - a device that analyzes whether a driver was using his or her phone during an accident
• Social Credit system - a system of scoring citizens through their actions by placing them under constant surveillance 
• Google clips - a hands-free camera that lets the user capture every moment effortlessly
• Sentencing software - a mysterious algorithm designed to aid courts in sentencing decisions
• Friendbot - an app that stores the deceased's digital footprint so one can still "chat" with them
• Citizen app - an app that notifies users of ongoing crimes or major events in a specific area
• Antecedents - Defined as a precursor to the unfolding or existence of something.
• The history of science and technology focuses on how science and technology have changed across time.
• Antecedents - Explores the impacts of scientific and technological innovations on social, cultural, political and economic context.
• The rise of ancient civilizations paved the way for advances in science and technology. These advances are for communication, transportation, self-organization, and of living in general.
• Middle Ages

  • This period marks major advances in science and technology. There is a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production and economic growth
• Gravity (Isaac Newton, 1664)

  Gravity is the force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. The force of gravity keeps all of the planets in orbit around the sun.
• Electricity (Michael Faraday, 1821)

  If electricity makes life easier for us, you can thank Michael Faraday. He made two big discoveries that changed our lives. In 1821, he discovered that when a wire carrying an electric current is placed next to a single magnetic pole, the wire will rotate. This led to the development of the electric motor. Ten years later, he became the first person to produce an electric current by moving a wire through a magnetic field. Faraday's experiment created the first generator, the forerunner of the huge generators that produce our electricity.
• Evolution (Charles Darwin, 1859)

  • Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who proposed the theory of biological evolution by natural selection.
  • Darwin defined evolution as "descent with modification," the idea that species change over time, give rise to new species, and share a common ancestor.
• Sterilization and Pasteurization ( Louis Pasteur, 1860)

  Pasteurization and sterilization consist in heating a food to break down its bacterial load. Sterilization almost completely eliminates the bacterial load, while pasteurization only reduces it.
• Theory of Relativity ( Albert Einstein, 1905)

  Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, which he published in 1905, explains the relationships between speed, time and distance. The complicated theory states that the speed of light always remains the same—186,000 miles/second (300,000 km/second) regardless of how fast someone or something is moving toward or away from it. This theory became the foundation for much of modern science.
• Big Bang Theory ( Georges Lamaitre,1927)

  The theory says that all the matter in the universe was originally compressed into a tiny dot. In a fraction of a second, the dot expanded, and all the matter instantly filled what is now our universe.
• Penicillin (Alexander Fleming, 1928)

  In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, which he grew in his lab using mold and fungi. Without antibiotics, infections like strep throat could be deadly.
• DNA (James Watson and Francis Crick ,1962)

  Deoxyribonucleic acid is the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism.
• HIV/ AIDS (Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo 1984)

  Human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
• Science, Technology, and Society is a discipline that provokes critical thinking