Thursday, 21 September 2017

Science versus Technology, High Technology, and Technological Change

"Technology" refers to the methods people develop to satisfy their needs and wants. All people have the same basic needs. Among them are food, shelter, education, good health, and safety. Beyond these basic needs, they have wants, such as video games and cell phones.


Technology is concerned with ways of making and doing things. It touches nearly every aspect of life. It affects the foods you eat and the ways you spend your free time. Some fields have advanced rapidly because of developments in technology. These fields include agriculture, industry, medicine, transportation, and communication.

Science versus Technology


The terms "science" and "technology" are often confused. This is largely because much of modern technology is based on science. In simple terms, the concern of science is "why." The concern of technology is "how." But the relationship between the two is more complex. Some technologies depend heavily on science.

Technologies used in the electronics industry are examples. Technologies used to make items such as furniture depend much less on science. Sometimes entire sciences arise from technologies. For instance, powered flight led to aerodynamics. Primitive metalworking led to metallurgy.

What Is High Technology?


The term "high technology" describes the use of the latest scientific advances to make products and materials. It is often used in the shortened form, "high tech." Genetic engineering, robotics, and electronics are high-tech fields.

Technological Change


Over the centuries, people have greatly improved their lives through technology. Shelter has improved from caves to houses. Food supplies have increased as people have developed better ways to plant crops and raise livestock.

Some changes in technology result from earlier developments. For example, early automobiles were often uncomfortable and unsafe. New technologies were developed to solve these problems. They included ways of building better and smoother roads, better tires, and so on.

Sometimes change in one area of technology leads to change in others. Advances in military aircraft were carried over into commercial aviation. The military developed radar to spot enemy aircraft. Now it also helps control air traffic at busy airports. The pace of technological change has greatly quickened in modern times. Technology itself is largely responsible for this faster pace of change. It has brought improvements in communication, transportation, and methods of production.

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