Science, Technology,

and Society
Grading
Sytem
Science?
Knowledge about the
structure and behaviour
of the natural and
physical world, based on
facts that you can prove.
Technology?
The practical application
of knowledge especially in
a particular area.
Society?
Society is people in
general.
 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN WHICH
SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS CHANGED THE
COURSE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
After completing this lesson, the students should be able
to:
Learning
1. Discuss the interactions between science and
Objectives: technology and society throughout history,
2. Discuss how scientific and technological
developments affect society and the environment, and

3. Identify the paradigm shift in history.

 Mesopotamia

• From their beginnings in

Sumer
Pythagoras' law • Around 3500 BC,
Mesopotamian people
began to attempt to
record some observations
of the world with
extremely thorough
numerical data.
Mesopotamian cuneiform tablet

• The vigorous notings of the

motions of the stars, planets,
History of Science and and the moon are left on
thousands of clay tablets
Technology in Ancient Cultures created by scribes.
History of Science and Egypt
• Significant advances in ancient
Technology in Ancient Cultures Egypt included:
• Astronomy
• Mathematics
• Medicine

• The 3-4-5 right triangle and other

rules of thumb
• Egypt was also a centre of
alchemical research
• Egyptian hieroglyphs
• The city of Alexandria retained
preeminence with its library
• Edwin Smith papyrus
 Persia
• In the Sassanid period (226 to 652
AD), great attention was given to:
• mathematics
• astronomy

• The Academy of Gundishapur

• Astronomical tables
• Shahryar Tables—date to this period
• Sassanid observatories

• Mid-Sassanid era,
• knowledge came to Persia from the West in the
form of views and traditions of Greece,
accompanied by Syriac

• Christian schools in Iran have

produced great scientists such as
Nersi, Farhad, and Marabai.
History of Science and • Book witten by Paulus Persa

Technology in Ancient Cultures • Early Middle Ages

• stronghold of Islamic science
 Greco-Roman World
History of Science and • 385 BC - Plato founded the Academy

Technology in Ancient Cultures • Aristotle begins the "scientific revolution"

of the Hellenistic period culminating in
the 3rd to 2nd centuries with scholars
such as Eratosthenes, Euclid, Aristarchus
of Samos, Hipparchus and Archimedes.
• Classical Antiquity, the inquiry into the
workings of the universe took place both
in investigations
• Important legacy of this period included
• Substantial advances in factual
knowledge
• An awareness of the importance of
certain scientific problems,
• A recognition of the methodological
importance of applying mathematics
to natural phenomena and of
undertaking empirical research
 India
Evidence of the use of "practical
mathematics".
• The people of the Indus Valley
Civilization (Harappa Civilization)
manufactured bricks whose
dimensions were in the proportion
4:2:1
• Mass-produced weights in regular
geometrical shapes, which included
hexahedra, barrels, cones, and
cylinders
• They designed a ruler—the
Mohenjo-daro ruler
• Kanada
History of Science and • introduced the concept of 'anu' which
he defined as the matter which cannot
Technology in Ancient Cultures be subdivided.
 China
History of Science and • Chinese astronomers observed a guest star,
a supernova, the remnant of which is now
Technology in Ancient Cultures called the Crab Nebula
• Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture
and herbal medicine were also practiced

• Among the earliest inventions were the

abacus, the public toilet, and the "shadow
clock".
• Joseph Needham noted the "Four Great
Inventions"
• Compass
• Gunpowder
• Papermaking
• Printing
• Tang dynasty - time of great innovation,
good deal of exchange occurred between
Western and Chinese discoveries, up to the
Qing dynasty
 History of Science and
Technology in Medieval Ages
 The Dark Ages
• Modern perspective of medieval society is of a war-torn and
History of Science barbaric Europe.
• ‘’Dark Ages’’ means that there are few written records remaining

and Technology in from that era

• The Middle Ages have very little evidence to support the idea that

Medieval Ages there was any progress in society during the periods 500 to 1400
• Modern scholars regard the Golden Age of Islam and the
enlightenment of the Byzantine Empire as the true centers of
knowledge.
History of Science and Technology
in Medieval Ages
Early Medieval Society - The Dark Ages After the Collapse
of Rome
• The Early Medieval period - about AD 500 to 1000
• regarded as the true Dark Ages
• Norse sailors were master navigators
• use the stars and a few instruments to navigate
the trackless ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and
Vinland.

• Monastic study kept some of the scientific processes alive

• the monks of Western Europe also studied medicine,
to care for the sick, and astronomy, to observe the
stars and set the date for the all-important Easter
• Their astronomy kept alive mathematics and geometry
History of Science and Technology in
Medieval Ages
The Middle Ages - Charlemagne, Science, and Learning
• During the 9th Century, these small embers of preserved
knowledge leapt to life, as Western Europeans tried to
systemize education; rulers and church leaders realized
that education was the key to maintaining unity and
peace.
• This period was known as the Carolingian Renaissance
• Charles the Great tried to reestablish knowledge as a
cornerstone of medieval society
• Often depicted as the Golden Hero of the Church
• He instigated a revival in art, culture, and learning,
using the Catholic Church to transmit knowledge and
education.
• He ordered the translation of many Latin texts and
promoted astronomy
History of Science and
Technology in Medieval Ages
The High Middle Ages - The Rebirth of Science and Scholasticism
• From 1000 until 1300, saw Western Europe slowly begin to crawl
out of the endless warring, as populations grew and the shared
Christian identity gave some unity of purpose, from the Ireland to
Italy, and from Denmark to Spain.
• The Muslims translated many of the Ancient Greek texts into
Arabic and
• In the middle of the 11th Century, scholars from all around
Europe flocked to Spain to translate these books from Arabic into
Latin.
• Many of the scholars, such as Gerard of Cremona (c. 1114-1187),
learned Arabic so that they might complete their task.
• By the 12th Century – StudiumGenerale - draw scholars from far
afield and mixing the knowledge of the Ancient Greeks with the
new discoveries of the great Muslim philosophers and scientists.
• Contribution of great thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas,
Grosseteste, Francis Bacon, and William of Ockham to the
creation of the Scientific Method cannot be underestimated.
History of Science and
Technology in Medieval Ages
Aquinas and Grosseteste - The Fathers of
Scholasticism and the Scientific Method

• Thomas Aquinas, while more interested in using

philosophy to prove the existence of God, oversaw a
shift from Platonic reasoning towards Aristotelian
empiricism.

• Robert Grosseteste, one of the major contributors

to the scientific method, founded the Oxford
Franciscan School and began to promote the
dualistic scientific method first proposed by Aristotle.
 History of Science and Technology in
Medieval Ages
Roger Bacon - The Shining Light of Science in Medieval
Society
• Roger Bacon - a name that belongs alongside Aristotle,
Avicenna, Galileo, and Newton as one of the great minds
behind the formation of the scientific method.
• He took the work of Grosseteste, Aristotle, and the Islamic
alchemists,
• He described the method of observation, prediction
(hypothesis), and experimentation, also adding that results
should be independently verified, documenting his results
in fine detail so that others might repeat the experiment.
History of Science and
Technology in Medieval Ages
The Late Middle Ages - Scholasticism and the
Scientific Method
• From 1300 until 1500
• Thinkers continued the work of scholasticism,
adding to the philosophy underpinning
science
• Made sophisticated observations and theories
that were sadly superseded by the work of
later scientists.
• Finally, many of the scholastic philosophers
sought to remove divine intervention from the
process of explaining natural phenomena,
believing that scholars should look for a
simpler natural cause
History of Science and
Technology in Medieval Ages
The Black Death - The
Destroyer of Medieval Society
and Scholasticism

• The first Renaissance of the

Middle Ages was halted by a
natural phenomenon, the
Black Death, which killed
over a third of Europeans,
especially in the growing
urban areas.