An Introduction to Science and Technology
The name of this class is "The Impact of Science and Technology upon Business and Industry." In this class we have two goals. The first of these is understanding a basic scientific or technological topic. Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, is the "so what" question--why is a particular science or technology important to our day-to-day lives?
Science and technology seem to be all around us. We encounter them constantly throughout the day. Most of us were awakened this morning by a clock or clock radio powered by electricity. We then go to the refrigerator and/or stove to prepare our breakfast. While eating, we may take a number of pills for any of a variety of reasons--pain medications, anti-depressants, birth-control pills, heart or cholesterol-reducing drugs, antibiotics, and others. We travel to work or to school in cars and subways; on the way we may here a weather report based on satellite photographs, or talk to a friend on a cell phone. Once we arrive there we will probably find ourselves using computers and computer-controlled devices.
In this class we will be examining some of the science and technology that affect us in our day to day lives. In particular, we will learn a bit about computers, germs and disease, household appliances, and space technology and how they work. But even more importantly, we will ask the question of why do we care? How does a particular science or technology affect our lives? Why does it affect us the way that it does? How did things get to be this way? Could there be better ways to address or solve the same problem, or is this the best possible solution? Do we want to support this science or technology with our money and/or tax dollars?
What is Science?
First, however, we should spend some time defining our terms. First, we should ask the question what is science? This question may not be as easy to answer as one might think. The question may call to mind things like I mentioned above: rockets blasting off, or lab full of strange "scientific" machines and bubbling test tubes and beakers full of odd-colored liquids. Or we might think of famous scientists, like Madame Curie, or Albert Einstein, or Carl Sagan. However, we are thinking of the tools and people of science, not science itself. While no single definition of science is complete, we might say that science is an orderly quest for knowledge about the physical universe. For example, a child may collect fireflies (also known as "lightning bugs") in a jar because they are fun to chase and glow with an interesting light. However, this is probably not science; there is no search for underlying, repeatable principles. What science is able to ask are questions such as these:
These are good questions. To answer them, we would have to use the tools and methods of science: microscopes, test tubes and, most importantly, keen observation. Using these, we can detect underlying physical patterns about firefly behavior and function.
However, there are questions that science cannot answer:
While also an interesting question, it is not one that science can address, because it asks a question which is not readily addressable through physical means. No matter how much we study fireflies, we will probably not know the answer to this question. Similarly, science does not, and probably never will, provide answers to questions like "What is my purpose on earth?" or "Why does the universe exist?" While these questions are extremely important--indeed, perhaps the most important questions that may be asked--but science cannot answer them. Religion also looks for patterns in the universe, but often relies on sources of information that may include, but is not limited to, physical, repeatable experiments and observation. Religion may also deal with issues that go beyond physical existence.
Please note, however, that the there are questions that walk a fine line between science and non-science. Psychology, sociology, and linguistics (the study of languages) try to do this, with mixed success. Humans and animals are observable and predictable…but only to a point. And there are also some questions that may or may not be answerable by science:
What is Technology?
We have now spent a little time thinking about science. But what is "technology," which we often associate with science? Again, there are numerous answers. However, for this class we might define technology as tools and skills which magnify natural human abilities. Examples include levers, magnifying glasses, stethoscopes, microscopes, etc. Note that "technology" can be very simple or quite complex. Airplane, computers, and electron microscopes are complex. But here are example of simple technologies: the ability to bake mud bricks in the sun the build a house. Even more advanced is a hammer and nails--these, too, are technology.
Interestingly, it is possible to have a technology without understanding the underlying science behind it. For example, during pioneer days people used to make give willow bark tea to people to bring down fevers. This home remedy probably worked--willow bark turns out to contain a naturally-occurring form of aspirin. Indeed, there are drugs prescribed today by doctors which seem to work, but scientists do not fully understand why they are effective. These include widely-used drugs such as myostatin, tetracycline, valium, prozac, paxil, and wellbutrin, as well as a number of anti-malaria, anti-leprosy, and anti-tuberculosis drugs. The same is true for certain artificial flavors--we know what they taste like, they seem to be safe--but nobody knows (yet) how they work to give us their taste. The exact function of vitamin E is also poorly understood.
While this may seem a little spooky, think about it for a minute--how many of us really understands how a radio works, or even how our car's automatic transmission functions? There are lots of examples of technologies which we use, without an understanding of the underlying science. Similarly, we take anti-malaria drugs and anti-depressants because we know that they make us feel better, not because we know exactly how they work.
And the "Impact" Part…?
Often when we think of science and technology, we think if it like it is "just there"…something that has its own existence, sort of like a mountain or a hurricane. This is not necessarily the case. Science and technology are produced by humans, and are thus the product of conscious and unconscious choices. We may take antibiotics, such as penicillin, for granted. However at some point scientists (like Alexander Fleming) decided to spend some time trying to see if they could discover chemicals that could kill infections without killing the human patient. Later on, technologists and business people decided that it was worth the risk and effort to make large amounts of the hard-to-produce compound and try to sell it. But why wasn't it sold 10 years earlier? Or 10 years later? And why is penicillin a household word while, say, streptomycin (another very common and effective antibiotic) is not?
Here is another one: cars exist to move us from place to place. Most people in the United States (and probably the rest of the world) could probably get by with just a few basic models of cars and light trucks. Yet this is clearly not the case--we have a number of major car companies, each producing a variety of colors, accessories, and trim lines. Obviously, then, cars mean more to us than simply transportation--they are also a means of personal expression, perhaps even an art form.
Questions such as these soon expand to include other areas, as well. For example, why do most of our personal computers generally say "Intel (or AMD) inside" and run Windows, instead of "Motorola Inside" and behave like a Macintosh? Why do our refrigerators now run on electricity instead of, say, propane…even though the annual cost of propane fuel would probably cost significantly less than the electricity? Why doesn't the U.S., or anybody, have a moon base? These are some of the questions that we will be examining in this class.