STS 201: Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIETY
, CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: DEFINITIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS
Science and technology are dynamic processes engaged in by man to satisfy
two- basic needs- the thirst for knowledge and the material requirements for human
survival and prosperity. Science and technology had been around even before the
words biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, and agriculture were coined.
Science is the description, understanding, and prediction of phenomena through
the use and generation of verifiable theories, laws, and principles. Research and
development are usual activities associated with science as a process. Research and
development involve the acquisition of new knowledge and the utilization of such
knowledge to devise new or improved products and processes. (Seludo-Ballena,
Bernal, Paquiz, Ramos and Viet, 2004).
The Oxford Dictionary meanwhile defines science as the intellectual and practical
activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical
and natural world through observation and experiment.
According to McGinn (1991) Science has four meanings:
1. As a Knowledge: the organized, well-founded body of knowledge of natural
phenomena.
2. As a Field of Systematic Inquiry into Nature: the particular field or domain or
systematic inquiry in which such knowledge is sought.
3. As a Form of Human Cultural Activity: a distinct form of human activity in
which such knowledge is sought.
4. As a Total Societal Enterprise: the summation of knowledge, people, skills,
organization, facilities techniques, physical resources, methods and technology,
which is devoted to the study and understanding of the natural world.
INTRODUCTION TO
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIETY
, CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: DEFINITIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS
Science and technology are dynamic processes engaged in by man to satisfy
two- basic needs- the thirst for knowledge and the material requirements for human
survival and prosperity. Science and technology had been around even before the
words biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, and agriculture were coined.
Science is the description, understanding, and prediction of phenomena through
the use and generation of verifiable theories, laws, and principles. Research and
development are usual activities associated with science as a process. Research and
development involve the acquisition of new knowledge and the utilization of such
knowledge to devise new or improved products and processes. (Seludo-Ballena,
Bernal, Paquiz, Ramos and Viet, 2004).
The Oxford Dictionary meanwhile defines science as the intellectual and practical
activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical
and natural world through observation and experiment.
According to McGinn (1991) Science has four meanings:
1. As a Knowledge: the organized, well-founded body of knowledge of natural
phenomena.
2. As a Field of Systematic Inquiry into Nature: the particular field or domain or
systematic inquiry in which such knowledge is sought.
3. As a Form of Human Cultural Activity: a distinct form of human activity in
which such knowledge is sought.
4. As a Total Societal Enterprise: the summation of knowledge, people, skills,
organization, facilities techniques, physical resources, methods and technology,
which is devoted to the study and understanding of the natural world.
