STS

• Science


  Organized, well-founded body of knowledge of natural phenomena
• Philosophy


  Love of wisdom
• In ancient times, science was called "philosophy of the natural world" and the first scientists were called "philosophers of nature"
• Lacking in technology, they heavily relied on careful observation, reason and common sense to acquire knowledge
• The first undertaking by the first scientists (philosophers of nature) towards understanding the natural world


  Name and classify the objects found in nature
• Branches of biology

  • Biology
  • Botany
  • Zoology
• Other scientific fields


  • Geology
  • Physics
  • Astronomy
• Scientific method


  Process of discovering knowledge about the natural world based on making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing peer-reviewed theories that best explain the known data
• Four definitions of science

  • Science as knowledge
  • Science as a field of systematic inquiry into nature
  • Science as a form of human cultural activity
  • Science as a total societal enterprise
• Technology


  Application of scientific knowledge, laws and principles to produce services, materials, tools, and machines aimed at solving real-world problems
• Four definitions of technology

  • Technology as techniques
  • Technology as a technology
  • Technology as a form of human cultural activity
  • Technology as a form of societal enterprise
• Technology is dynamic; it keeps on improving because our needs and demands for technology keep on changing
• During the industrial age, companies with large sums of capital had the potential of employing expensive technological tools to gain the competitive advantage
• The information age provides a different work environment, and this has helped small businesses gain position in highly competitive markets
• Types of technology

  • Communication Technology
  • Construction Technology
  • Assistive Technology
  • Medical Technology
  • Information Technology
  • Entertainment Technology
  • Business Technology
  • Educational Technology
• Difference between technology and science

  Technology develops and explains the human-made world; it involves development, processing, and management

  Science explains the natural world; science refers to systematic methodology used to gather accurate information about shared reality
• How to solve problems using technology

  1. Identifying a technological problem

  2. Developing a solution

  3. Evaluating the solution

  4. Communicating the solution
• Society


  A larger group of individuals, who are associative with each other
• Definitions of society


  • A society is the largest number of human beings who interact to satisfy their social needs and who share a common culture

  A society may be illustrated as an economic, social, or industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals

  A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations

  A society is a group of people broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture

  In Sociology, society refers not to a group of people but to the complex pattern of the norms or interaction or relationships that arise among them
• Basic elements or characteristics of a society

  • Likeness
  • Reciprocal awareness
  • Differences
  • Interdependence
  • Cooperation
  • Conflict
• Types of societies throughout history

  • Hunters and gatherers
  • Pastoral society
  • Agricultural society
  • Feudal society
  • Industrial society
  • Information society
• Technological means


  • Allowed people to grow in numbers and form more prominent families
  • Gave rise to the first form of nobility and division among labor
  • There were warriors, educators, farmers, artisans and others
  • Began to appear like a functioning system
• Feudal society


  A system that began as early as the 9th century where a wealthier member of the nobility lay claim to lands which were farmed and worked on by common people in exchange for food and housing
• Industrial society


  • With the further advent of technology, people were able to put the machines to work and establish factories
  • This revolution began in 18th century Britain and quickly spread to the rest of the world
  • Meant that many people could get employment and support their families
  • Rise of industry, transportation, housing, education
• Post-Industrial society


  • Factories are still present, but with a lot more technology and with the appearance of the digital age
  • We now have computers in our pockets, social networks on the internet and even intelligent machines
• Types of Generation

  • Baby Boomers (1946-1964, 56-74 years old)
  • Generation X (1965-1979, 40-55 years old)
  • Gen Y (Millennial) (1980-1994, 24-39 years old)
  • Gen Z (1996-2015, 5-24 years old)
• Antecedent


  A thing that comes before something else
• We use the scientific method to acquire knowledge of the natural world
• Scientific method

  • Empirical
  • Replicable
  • Provisional
  • Objective
  • Systematic
• During the Middle Ages, most scholars believed that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe
• Geocentric theory


  The idea that the moon, the sun, and the planets all moved in perfectly circular paths around the earth
• The geocentric theory came from Aristotle, the Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C.
• The Greek astronomer Ptolemy expanded the geocentric theory in the second century A.D.
• Christianity taught that God had deliberately placed the earth at the center of the universe
• Scientific Revolution


  A new way of thinking about the natural world based upon careful observation and a willingness to question accepted beliefs
• The age of European exploration fueled a great deal of scientific research, especially in astronomy and mathematics
• Heliocentric theory


  The theory that the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolve around the sun
• Nicolaus Copernicus reasoned that the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun
• Tycho Brahe carefully recorded the movements of the planets for many years and produced mountains of accurate data based on his observations
• After Brahe's death, his assistant Johannes Kepler continued his work and concluded that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion