Science and

technolog
y
 Development of science
• Development of science in ancient cultures
• Development of science in the classical era
• Development of science in the middle ages
• Development of science during the
renaissance period
• Development of science in the age of reason
and enlightenment
 Development of science in ancient
culture
• Ancient period is the longest period of human
civilization
• Dates back to over 7000 years ago
• The important milestones during this period are
1)Oral transfer of knowledge
2)Development of writing
3)Astronomical information
4)Mathematics and medicine
 1. Oral transfer of knowledge
• Knowledge was passed
orally from generation
to generation
• Knowledge about
cultivation and
astronomical
knowledge were passed
on orally
 2. Development of writing
• It enabled the
knowledge to be stored
• Alphabet was first used
in Egypt
• Some even suggest that
it was first developed in
Sumer
• Paper was invented by
Chinese
 3. Astronomical information
• Simple observation was
the tool
• Sumerians began to
record observations
around 3500 B.C.
• Babylonian astronomy
was the first to give a
refined description of
astronomical
phenomena
 4. Mathematics and medicine
• Egyptians were pioneers in this field
• They developed geometry to preserve the
layout and ownership of farm land which was
flooded by Nile river
• Egypt was also a centre of alchemy research
• The Edwin Smith papyrus is one of the oldest
existing medical document
 II. Development of science in the classical
era (8th century BC to 6th century AD)
• It is the period in which
Greek and Roman
society flourished
• It refers to a long period
of cultural history
centered on the
Mediterranean sea
 Important philosophers
• Thales
• Pythagoras
• Leucippus
• Plato
• Aristotle
• Aristarchus
• Eratosthenes
• Hippocrates
• Euclid
• Archimedes
 Thales
• Father of science
• He postulated non
supernatural
phenomena
• Eg: it was believed that
God causes
earthquakes, he
suggested that it is
because of the agitation
of water
 Pythagoras

• Student of Thales
• Postulated that earth is
spherical shape
 Leucippus

• Introduced atomism- all

matter is made of
atoms
 Plato
• Started the
investigations of nature
 Aristotle

• Student of Plato
• Laid the foundations of
scientific method
• Classified more than
540 animal species
 Aristarchus

• Heliocentric model- sun

is the centre of solar
system
• Currently Copernicus is
given the credit
 Eratosthenes

• Calculated the
circumference of the
earth
 Hippocrates

• Father of modern
medicine
 Euclid
• Introduced the
concepts of definition,
axiom, theorem and
proof
• Written the book ‘
Elements’
 Archimedes

• Greatest mathematician
of all time
• Calculated the area
under the arc of a
parabola, given an
approximate value of pi
• Laid the foundation of
hydrostatics
 Other philosophers
• Hipparchus- first • Galen –performed
systematic star catalog surgeries on brain and
• Herophilos – dissected eye
human body to describe • Theophratus- wrote
the nervous system descriptions of plants
and animals
 III. Development of science in the
middle ages
• Referred to as the medieval era
• It includes the following stages
1)Early middle ages
2)High middle ages
3)Late middle ages
 Early middle ages
• Also known as dark ages
• It resulted in cultural and economic
deterioration that occurred in Europe.
• Greek was the language used for scientific
writings. Later on it declined
• For Latin speaking population Roman writings
were the source of science
• By 6th century churches became the centre of
knowledge and clergy were interested only in
bible
 Why clergy men studied science?
• They studied science for the following reasons
1)Study of nature was pursued for practical
reasons than as an abstract inquiry
2)Need to take care of the sick led to study of
medicine
3)Need for monks to determine the proper time
to pray led to the study of stars
4)The need to compute the date of Easter led
them to study mathematics
• Around 800 AD, Charlemagne was crowned
emperor
• He was the founder of holy Roman empire
• He restored learning and morality in the
environment
• Study of astronomy gained prominence during
this period
• After Charlemagne, emphasis was given on
translating texts from Greek
 High middle ages (Ad 1000-1300)
• Around 1050 AD, European scholars built upon their
existing knowledge from Greek and Arabic texts
• Medieval universities were established around this
time
• The rediscovery of the works of Aristotle
• Importance was given to empiricism
• Roger Bacon and Robert Grosseteste conducted
investigations into optics.
• A description on a possible construction of a
telescope has also been found
 Late middle ages (AD 1300-1450)
• Occam’s Razor is a heuristics used by modern science to
select between two or more underdetermined theories
• It was derived from William of Occam’s logical studies
• They started studying the controversial scientific treatises of
the Byzantine and Islamic empires
• Thomas Bradwardine distinguished kinematics from dynamics
• Nicole Oresme advocated that earth moves
• Outbreak of plague put a stop to the massive scientific change
 IV. Development of science during the
renaissance period (AD 1450-1650)
• Renaissance is an Italian word meaning rebirth
• The invention of printing press by Johan
Gutenberg in 1436
• Science was revived by philosophers like
Copernicus, Johan Kepler, Francis Bacon,
Galilei and William Harvey
 Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543)

• Polish astronomer who

against Ptolemaic view
regarding the motions
of heavenly bodies (all
heavenly bodies
including the sun
revolve around the
earth)
• He proposed the
Heliocentric model
 Johan Kepler
(1571-1630)
• He gave three laws of
planetary motions
• Kepler discovered that
planets move round the
sun in ellipses
 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
• Galileo made significant
contribution to the field
such as astronomy,
mathematics, physics
and the development of
scientific instruments
• First to use telescope
• First to develop the law
of falling bodies
 Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
• Emphasized the
importance of induction
as a scientific method
• Stressed the
importance of
observation,
experimentation,
analysis and inductive
reasoning
 William Harvey
• Father of modern
physiology
• Discovered the
circulation of blood
through the body
 V. Development of science in the age of
reason and enlightenment (1650-1800)
• Age of reason was an early 18th century movement
which followed after the mysticism, religion and
superstition of the middle ages
• Individuals were free to pursue happiness and liberty
• The age of enlightenment refers to a historical
intellectual movement of the 18th century
• Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, development in
the fields of physics, mathematics and chemistry
 David Hume (1711-1776)
• He stated that
correlation doesn’t
imply causation
 John Locke (1632-1704)
• Father of classical
liberalism
• His work had a great
impact upon the
development of
philosophy
 Issac Newton (1642-1727)
• Contributions in the field of
astronomy, physics, mathematics
and theology
• Theory of gravitation
• Contributions to the fields of
computation, approximation and
probability
• Optics and mechanics
• Newton saw God as the master
creator whose existence could
not be denied.
 George Berkeley (1685-1753)
• Famous for his work on
vision and metaphysics
• Concentrated on visual
and tactual objects
 Nature of science
• Came from the word scientia meaning
knowledge
• Science is organised knowledge especially
when obtained by observation and testing of
facts about the physical world, natural laws
and society
 I. Principles and characteristics
• Objectivity
• Progressive
• Universal basic ideas (knowledge gained from studying one part of the
universe is applicable to other parts as well)
• Empirically based
• Reliable and tentative knowledge
• Observation and inference
• Creative thinking
• Laws and theories are different
• Scientific methods
• Science explains and predicts
• Science cannot answer all questions
 a) objectivity
• Depends upon objective methods and
produces objective results
 b) progressive
• Scientific knowledge leads to new concepts
• Progressive nature of allows us to discard
certain theories ( heliocentric)
 c) Universal basic ideas
• Basic rules apply everywhere
• Law of motion is applicable to all forms of
forces
 d) Scientific knowledge is
empirically based
• Based upon observations of the natural world
• Empirical information forms the basis of
scientific knowledge
 e) Reliable and tentative
knowledge
• Scientific ideas may change over time
• Sometimes it remain unchanged
(pluto’s exclusion from the solar system)

Lamarckism - the more you use something the

bigger and developed it becomes
 f) Observation and inference
• Information gained through senses is
interpreted logically
 g) Creative thinking
• Creativity is a major source of innovation in
science
• (invention of aircrafts)
 h) Laws and theories are different
law theory
• Law is a description of • Theories are explanations
generalized pattern based on for scientific phenomenon
many observations
• It describes what happens in the • They offer explanation for
natural world and are expressed the phenomenon
in mathematical terms • Eg: how rainbows are
• They do not provide any formed?
explanation for the occurrence of
the phenomenon
• Eg: Every action has an equal and
opposite reaction – Newton’s law
 i) Scientific methods
• Variety of methods are used
• Descriptive studies, correlation, experimental
method
 j) Science explains and predicts
• It connects various phenomena and explains
the relationship
• For eg: the proof for a single continent pangea
was obtained from fossils, jig saw fit etc
 k) Science cannot answer all
questions
• It has limitations
• No cure for certain diseases
• No explanation for many phenomenon
 II. Science as knowledge
1) science as empirical knowledge
2) Science as theoretical knowledge
3) Science as practical knowledge
4)Science as validated knowledge
 1)Science as empirical knowledge
• All knowledge comes from sensory experience
• Science is based on evidence
• Aristotle, Bacon, Hobbes are all associated
with empiricism
2)Science as theoretical knowledge
• Scientific theory is a well substantiated
explanation of some aspect of the natural
world, based on a body of facts that have
been repeatedly confirmed through
observation and experiment
• Construction of theory is one of the major
goals of research
• A scientific theory may be wrong which will
be modified or discarded
 3) Science as practical knowledge
• Application of science to increase human
welfare
• Medical field X-Ray was invented by a
physicist
• Eg: photosynthesis, the process through which
plants convert light energy into chemical is
known, if we can apply it, it can answer all the
questions on energy production
4) Science as validated knowledge
• The theories should have predictive power
• Bias can’t be avoided, but the possible source
has to be studied
 Science and scientific temper
1. Significance of observation and
experimentation
2. Empirical explanation and objectivity
3. Scientific temper as fundamental duty of
Indian citizen
 1. Significance of observation and
experimentation

• Scientific method refers to a body of

techniques for investigating phenomena,
acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and
integrating previous knowledge
• It consists of the collection of data through
observation and experimentation and the
formulation and testing of hypotheses
 Elements of scientific process
• Characterization : how to understand a phenomenon, decide
what to observe about a phenomenon, how to define the
research problem and how to measure the phenomenon
• Hypothesis and theory: the research questions before
performing research, often based on earlier research
• Prediction: what answers or results do we expect? What is
the logic of the result?
• Observation or experimentation: testing characterization,
hypothesis, theory and predictions, understanding a
phenomenon better and drawing conclusion.
 Types of experiments
• Experiments are used
1) to make observations in controlled environments
2) To eliminate undesired external factors
• Three types of experiments
1) Controlled experiments: it refers to the investigation where
the results obtained from an experimental sample are
compared with a control sample
2) Natural experiment: carried out in an artificial situation,
where the researcher attempts to control the confounding
variables
3) Field experiment: performed outside the lab, in the real
world, but follows the steps of scientific process
 2. Empirical explanation and
objectivity
• Empirical denotes information is acquired by
means of observation/experimentation
• Scientific process is a systematic process
• Objectivity is a value that informs how science
is practiced and how scientific truths are
created.
• The conclusions drawn by the researcher must
be objectively verified
 3. Scientific temper as fundamental
duty of Indian citizen
• The mental attitude which is behind the
method of acquiring reliable and practical
knowledge is scientific temper.
• Not accepting answers without scrutiny-
essential feature of scientific temper
 Scientific temper involves
• Mental attitude which is behind the method of
acquiring reliable and practical knowledge
• Not accepting answers without testing and trial
• Requiring solid information and inconvertible data
• Not accepting views just because they are
traditionally accepted
• Not observing superstitious practices
• Openness of mind and absence of dogmatism
(opinionated)
 Scientific temper
• Is important for the progress of the country
• Article 51 A says it is our fundamental duty to
develop a scientific temper
 Science and superstition
• Science has evidence to • Superstitions stem from
support the claims cultural beliefs
The main areas under science and
superstition are
1. Role of science in exploding myth
2. Blind beliefs and prejudices
3. Role of science and scientific temper in
promoting tolerance and harmony
1. Role of science in exploding the
myth
• A myth is a story based on tradition or legend,
which has a deep symbolic meaning
• Myths are often used to explain universal and
local beginnings and involve supernatural
beings
• Few myths broken by science are:
• Earth is the center of the solar system
• The sun is not a star
• The sun is a burning ball of fire
• The sun revolves around the earth
• According to religious belief, god created man
• If humans came from apes, why are not apes
evolving into humans?
• Heavier bodies fall at a faster speed than the lighter
ones
• Earth is flat
 2. Blind beliefs and prejudices
• Blind belief is a mental act, condition or habit
of placing blind faith, trust or confidence in
some one or something
• Prejudice is an adverse opinion formed
beforehand
 Blind beliefs have adverse effects
such as
• Increase in caste and communal violence
• Lack of tolerance in the society
• Favoritism based on caste, religion etc.
• Disorder in the society
• Looting by anti social elements
• Molestation of women
• Disruption of economic activities in offices
• Waste of time, money and effort
3. Role of science and scientific temper in
promoting tolerance and harmony
• Science can promote tolerance and harmony
• It will make us unbiased
 Tolerance
• To live and to let others live in peace
• Tolerance is a positive and cordial effort to
understand another’s beliefs, practices and
habits without necessarily sharing or
accepting them
 Importance of tolerance
• Promoting peace and harmony
• Facilitates cooperation
• Develops relations
 Harmony
• It means living in agreement with each other
• Scientific temper helps to develop positive
attitude towards each other
 Harmony can be developed
through
• Law and order administration
• Education
• Role of media
• Role of religious leaders
• Role of youth
 Science in everyday life
• Technology has originated from the Greek
word ‘tekhnologia’ meaning systematic
treatment of an art, craft, or technique.
• Technology is the application of tools,
materials, processes and systems to solve
problems and provide benefits to humanity.
 Role of technology in
development
Communication
E commerce
Transport
Medicine
Education
 Communication
• A few decades back, having a landline
connection in India was considered as a sign
of luxury.
• In the distant past, people used to
communicate through pigeon post, human
messengers on foot, horseback etc.
• Then came the telegraph system where
messages were send on communication lines.
Later these systems gave way to landline
telephones, computers, internet and emails.
• Following these came many wireless (mobile/
satellite) and wired (Optical fibers)
technologies. These technologies provided
better communication and data rates that
increased with each generation (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G)
 Ecommerce
• All the banks provide net banking facilities
these days
• The net banking and mobile banking systems
enabled by the latest technologies provide
customers simplified and faster banking
services.
 Transport
• Transportation facilities have improved
drastically over the years by making it quicker
and more efficient.
• Technological advances in engineering have
made our engines more efficient and faster.
• Today vehicles can be tracked, flight and train
information can be known instantly, anything
can be send from one part of the world to
another easily and quickly.
 Medicine
• Digitization of medical records made it
possible for doctors and physicians to
instantly access the old medical records of
patients.
• Robotic surgery can be performed for a wide
range of procedures including hysterectomies,
urology conditions and ophthalmology
procedures to name a few.
 Education
• Technology has left its mark in the realm of
education as well.
• Lectures of eminent professors across the
world are available on internet.
• Online tuitions are very common these days.
The availability of educational resources such
as e books, interactive books etc. have given a
great momentum to the field of education.
Any connection between science
and technology?
Interrelation between science and
technology
• All technological advancement begins with
some scientific theory.
• Any new knowledge or theory from science
will eventually influence a technological
advancement.
• Similarly, a new technological advancement
may lead to a new discovery.
• Similarly, Technological practices, knowledge
and outcomes can provide mechanisms for
science to gain a better view of its defined
world, and in fact can provide serious
challenges to the defining of that world.
• The technological artefacts such as
microscope have opened a new visible world
before the scientists to investigate.
• In a nutshell, it could be said that science and
technology are two sides of the same coin.
Both influence each other, but still exist as
unique entities.
Distinction between science and
technology
 Science Technology

Science is knowing. Technology is doing.

Science is a knowledge base, where studies are carried out systematically Technology is an application of science.

to predict an outcome.

The various branches of study like biology, chemistry and psychology are Technology provides the tools to study science.

all examples of science.

Goal of science is the pursuit of knowledge. Technology is used to improve the lifestyle of mankind.

In science the goals are achieved through scientific processes. In technology, goals are achieved through key technological processes.

Science aims at explaining something. Technology aims at developing something for the welfare of people.

In science, the focus is more on analysis, generalizations and the creation Technology focuses more on analysis and synthesis of design.

of theories.
 In science, drawing correct conclusions are based on In technology, decisions are made on the basis of
theories and accurate data. incomplete data and approximate models.

Science, makes value free statements. In technology, activities have values loaded with them.

Science is controlled by experimentation. Technology involves many processes like design,

invention and production.

The skills required to excel in science are experimental The skills required to excel in technology are designing,
and logical skills. constructive and problem solving skills.
• Thank u