Timeline showing the paradigm shifts Historical Antecedents that Changed the Course of Science and Technology

IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Why is it important to study history of science and technology?

In the talk explained by Hannu Rajaniemi, a mathematical physicist, science innovator, and writer, entitled “The Big History of Modern Science”, he discussed his belief that science and technology are amongst the most important factors driving societal change and that modern physics is full of beautiful ideas that resonate with stories he would like to tell. Progress at some point is often related to technology and where there is progress in research, technology occurs. The research, technology, and growth are also equal to each other. Growth in every person to a nation is needed in all respects, and science and technology go hand in hand for growth to happen. Science is generally defined as the study of information which is translated into a method that relies on the interpretation which comprehension of evidence. Technology is simply the implementation of an understanding of science.

What are the implications of Science and Technology to society?

Science, technology and engineering are essential criteria for any prosperous society, especially in today's search for knowledge-based economies. If nations struggle to adopt science and technology, then the chances of improving themselves become negligible, and hence may even be listed as an undeveloped country. Science and technology have profoundly affected society, and its effect is on the rise. By fundamentally altering our ways connection, how we work, our shelter, clothes and food, our transport systems, and even the duration and also the quality of life itself, science has brought about improvements in morale values and fundamental human philosophies. Science has changed how we live, and what we believe, starting with the plow. Science has given man the ability to address social issues such as economics, architecture, schooling, and justice by making life easier; to build cultures; and to change the human circumstances. Yet it has also placed us in the special place that could destroy ourselves.

It was also claimed by Hannu Rajaniemi that the observation of how the nucleus was made of protons and neutrons surrounding a cloud of electrons allowed use of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which atomic power and missiles were created that caused horrible things to happen. In addition, he clarified that what caused the major explosion was a small system called a transistor, which was designed by a team headed by William Shockley at Bells Laboratories in 1947. It's also the basic building block in computers. It can store 1 or 0 much like a nuclear bomb. I was struck by how seeing the large in the small and vice-versa of this stuff really put a lot of lives upside down. Until people with power understand that violence and devastation are not the means of achieving purposes, the capacity for such applications of disruptive technologies will still be a possible threat to the dignity of society , culture, and life on earth as we know it. He continued to address topics that I felt were minor but that played an significant role in our lives; such as how we assumed that only 2 percent of DNA was useful and rest was garbage, but now we've discovered that 98 percent of our DNA is actually the cell control mechanism. Without proper adoption of science and technology, no country will develop, and all those nations that were considered low-growth have proven where they stand today and this has happened only because of science and technology.

What pushed people to invent different technologies?

According to the well-known expression, "necessity is the mother of invention;" in other words, people create things because society has complicated issues that need to be overcome. There is some reality in this, but less than you would think. It would be more appropriate to claim that innovations work because they perform practical jobs that people know need to do. But in the first place, the motivations for innovations also have little or nothing to do with 'necessity,' particularly in the modern era, where practically any need we have is fulfilled with any number of current gadgets and machines.