Science and Technology and Society

Home Activities

Make a research on the following: Answer briefly the following topics:

General Concepts & Historical Development interaction between Science, Technology and
Society

a. Science’s contribution to human civilization

Early humans attempted to understand the unknown world, they were curious about
their nature. They observed and started to record patterns, cycles and repetitions of what
was happening in their environment and started to look for an answer. With their
experience they were able to analyze and organize information and learned which led to
understanding of science.
Because early human were able to organize and study information, they used the
information they acquired in starting the primitive technology thus gave its way to the birth
of technology. Therefore, technology has come to reality because of the desire of early
humans to thrive and survive, which later improved and made their life easier.
THE DAWN OF THE FIRST CIVILIZATION
Ancient human were able to discover and invent tools and methods as science
developed and progressed. With the availability of new scientific instruments and
techniques, archeology excavation has provided us with data and evidences. Facts
have been unearthed and reveled that even during primitive time, people have
already developed skills and technologies which served and supplied their needs for
survival. Mankind existed long before the written word, there was no historical
evidences of how people liven then because written records of any kind dated only
in about 5,000 B.C.
People then discovered, learned and developed science and technology as the
consequence of their search for food, and other survival needs, for practical reasons
and even curiosity.
 Discovery of mud plaster that led to pottery and mud brick house; first known
pottery was in Japan around 10,000 B.C

EVIDENCES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DURING PRE-HISTORIC TIMES (3000-5000 B.C.)

Man’s achievements in science can be categorized as: (a) discovery (recognition
and observation of new objects); (b) invention (mental process wherein man’s
various discoveries, observation and experience are put together to produce new
ways (operation) and means (tools) of obtaining things (useful).
Stone Age: This period was marked by which stone was widely used to make
tools and implements. Dated roughly 3.4 million years ago, and in about 8000 BC
this era was divided into three separate periods – Paleolithic Period (Early),
Mesolithic Period (Middle), and Neolithic Period (New) – based on the degree of
sophistication in the fashioning and use of tools. It is believed tool making began
very early in the olden times.
The era of Australopithecus and Paranthropus were contemporaneous with the
evolution of the genius Homo. Man was a food gatherer, depended for his
subsistence on hunting wild animals and birds, fishing, and collecting wild fruits,
nuts, and berries.
Tools developed gradually from single to all-purpose tools to a collection of
varied and highly specialized type of tools, each designed to serve in connection
with a specific function. The trend was from a stage of non-specialization to stages
of relatively high degrees of specialization. In the manufacture of stone implements,
four fundamental traditions were developed by the Paleolithic ancestors: (1) pebble
tool traditions; (2) bifacial-tool, or hand-axe traditions; (3) flake-tool traditions and
(4) blade-tool traditions.
Stone tools were made from a variety of stones: flint and chert were shaped or
chipped for use as cutting tools, flakes, blades and weapons; Flaking was able to
produce a wide range of special tools that was used for cutting, chopping, scraping
and sawing. Basalt and sandstone were used for ground stone tools. Wood, bone,
shell, antler and other materials were widely used, as well.
The Early Stone Age includes the most basic stone toolkits made by early
humans. The oldest stone tools, known as the Oldowan toolkit, consist of hammer
stones that show battering on their surfaces; stone cores that show a series of flake
scars along one or more edges; and sharp stone flakes that were struck form the
cores and offer useful cutting edges. Handaxes are cutting tools as well as other
kinds of ‘large cutting tools’ are characteristic of an Archeulean toolkit.
During middle Paleolithic time, the pace of innovation in stone technology
began to accelerate. Handaxes were made with exquisite craftsmanship, and
eventually gave way to smaller, more diverse toolkits, with an emphasis on flake
tools rather than large core tools. One of the main innovations was the application
of ‘prepared core technique,’ in which a core was carefully flaked on one side so
that a flake of predetermined size and shape could be produced in a single blow.
This technique probably raised the level of standardization and predictability in
stone technology.
Middle Stone Age toolkits included points, which could be hafted on the shafts
to make spears. When smaller points were eventually made, they were attached to
smaller, sleeker shafts to make darts, arrows, and other projectile weapons. Stone
awls have been used to perforate hides and scrapers. Many important inventions
appeared, such as needles and thread, skin clothing, the harpoon, the spear
thrower, and special fishing equipment.
Bronze Age: The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the three-age.
Stone Bronze-Iron system and generally followed the Neolithic period. This period is
 marked with the beginning of mining and metallurgy. Bronze denotes the first
period in which metal was used, man began smelting copper and alloying with tin or
arsenic to make bronze tools and weapons. Copper-tin ores are rare, as reflected in
the fact that there were no tin bronzes in Western Asia before trading in bronze that
began in the third millennium B.C. Bronze itself is harder and more durable than the
other metals available at the time, allowing Bronze Age civilizations to gain
technological advantage.
Iron Age is the period of time in prehistory when the dominant tool making
material was iron. Preceded by the Stone Age and Bronze Age, the transition from
Bronze Age occurred at different times in different places on Earth. As the name
suggests, Iron age Technology is characterized by the production of tools and
weaponry using ferrous metallurgy or iron work more specially from carbon steel.
Meteoric iron has been used by human since 3200 BC, but ancient iron production
did not become widespread until the ability to smelt iron ore, remove impurities
and regulate the amount of carbon in the alloy were developed.
The distinctive dark metal brought with it significant changes to daily life in
ancient society, from the way people grew crops to the way they fought wars. Iron
made life a lot easier in those days, much of European had settled into small village
life, toiling the soil with iron farming tools, such as sickles and plough tips, made the
process more efficient and allowed farmers to exploit tougher soils, try new crops
and have more time for other activities.

b. Nature of Society & sense of values.

Nature of Society
The Sociologist will tell you that their main job is to study society. The society ¡s made
up of community of people. Among these people are scientists and technologists. What
proceeds from the work of the scientists and technologists are used up by the society? When for
instance a plane is developed by the scientist and technologist, the recipients (users) are the
people in the society. Society itself is not stagnant. Society is dynamic. Look back to your village
that you were growing up.
It is possible that you have electricity now, pipe borne water, road that connects your
village to their own etc. There are more plans to turn your village to a much better place than
what you currently have. It is like science and technology-dynamic and tentative. Thus, scientists
and technologists abode in a community (society) they see the need of the society. As one
grows, the other grows. If one is stunted the other will be stunted. Any factor that affects the
society has effect on the scientist and the technologist who are also part of the society. While
there are probably no end of examples of scientific progress having a major effect on people’s
sense of values, and changing the nature of society itself, the following is an introduction to just
a few of the more famous examples.
 The centennial anniversary to one of the most amazing years in history (the “Miracle
Year” of 1905) is fast approaching, when Albert Einstein, one of the premier scientists of the
20th century, issued in rapid succession a theory of the photon, a theory of Brownian motion,
and the Special Theory of Relativity, all of which served to overthrow the then-prevailing views
of physics. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity became the foundations for all later physics,
contributing greatly to progress in various fields of science. At the same time, ¡t altered people’s
concepts of space and time, and had a huge effect on philosophy and thought. In the field of
astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a theory, later bolstered and refined by Johannes
Kepler and Galileo Galilei, which had a great effect on the development and reform of society,
overthrowing Europe’s medieval sense of values and driving it into the modern age.
In recent years, however, examples of such society-changing advances have become
increasingly common. For example, Edwin Hubble’s discovery in 1929 that the universe was
expanding led directly to the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe (1946) by George
Gamow and others. In 1965, Amo Penzias and Robert Wilson detected cosmic background
radiation pervading the universe, providing powerful evidence for the Big Bang theory. These
discoveries gave people a new “sense of the universe.” Moreover, advances in space
development have greatly expanded the space available for possible human activities, and
opened up new frontiers for humanity where people can dream.
At the same time, images of Earth taken from space have given people all over the
world a new “view of the Earth,” vividly revealing its beauty and irreplaceability. Furthermore,
the revelation in 1974 by Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina that chlorofluorocarbon gases
were causing depletion of the ozone layer, followed in 1985 by the discovery of a ozone hole,
and had a huge effect on efforts to protect the global environment.

c. In Society and Education

The 1m pacts of Science on Society
If social forces have an ongoing impact on science, it’s equally true that science, through
its practices and outcomes, has an ongoing impact on society too.
Consider the following:
 role in advancing access to food and in supporting health outcomes in the
developing world;
 impacts on sustainable environments and biodiversity
 role in supporting a growing global human population
 impacts on human health, from nutrition to allergens to indirect environmental
impacts
 nature of economic and legal landscape related to intellectual property and
ownership of genetic information
 extent of increased pesticide use in support of pesticide-resistant crops
 potential for water-efficient and pesticide/herbicide free crops; and
 extent of impacts on non-target species.
 For each of these areas, scientific research continues to lead to a changing epistemic
landscape in which scientific knowledge and local knowledge butt up against each other.
Despite epistemic claims from the scientific community that genetically engineered food is safe
for consumption and poses little threats to traditional farming practices, the local epistemic context
— informed politically, socially, and ethically — does not allow for a reconciliation of that
scientific knowledge within the local context. Despite great potential for significant broader
impacts of science of society, most of the impacts to date have been indirect. Environmentally,
the implementation of genetically engineered species stands at odds with the unknown risks to
existing species and ecosystems directly and to human health indirectly. Consideration of the
diverse range of intersecting issues and values at play in discussions about genetic engineering
of organisms can help to identify and examine such broader impacts of this research things.

d. Creating advanced schools

e. Classroom use

The study of “Science, Technology and Society” (STS) examines the roles of science and
technology in society, how science and technology reflect social, economic and cultural values,
and the human and ethical implications of emerging technologies. Science, technology and
society (STS), also referred to as science and technology studies, is a branch or offspring of
science studies. It considers how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research
and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture. NSTA
has identified eleven features of STS programs. These features according to (Yager 1992)
indicate the importance of instruction over curriculum and indicate how the context of human
experience is attained. STS programs are those which include:
 Students identification of problems with local interest and im pact.
 The use of local resources (human and material) to locate information that can
be used in problem resolution.
 The active involvement of students ¡n seeking information that can be applied
to solve real life problems.
 The extension of learning beyond the class period, the classroom, the school.
 A focus upon the impact of science and technology on individual students
 A view that science content is more than concepts which exist for student to
master on tests.
 An emphasis upon career awareness especially careers related to science and
technology
 Opportunities for students to act in their communities as they attempt to
resolve issues they have identified.
 Identification of ways that science and technology are likely to impact on the
future.
 Some autonomy in the learning process (as individuals are identified and
considered).
Yager states that STS is focusing upon current problems and issues and attempts at their
resolution as the best way of preparing students for current and future citizenship roles. This
according to him means identifying local, regional, national and international problems with
 students, planning for individual and group activities which address them. Emphasis on STS is
responsible decision making in the real world of the student.
We can attempt defining each of the words. Science is the systematic study of nature,
both living and nonliving aspect of nature including natural phenomena like thunder, weather
etc. Technology is the organization of knowledge for the achievement of practical purposes or a
set of skills, techniques or activities for shaping materials and fabricating objects for practical
ends. Society is the system of collective, cohabitation of groups of individuals with mutual
understanding, benefits and common goals.
The three, science, technology and society aim at increasing our ability to comprehend
and apply the concepts of scientific and technological systems. STS can be therefore defined as
the discipline that raises a generation of citizens who understand the nature of things ¡n the
environment; a generation of citizens who are aware of changes taking place around them; a
generation who can adjust to the changes in the environment; a generation who is equipped to
deal with forces that influences the future, a generation who can take her future ¡n her own
hands.
Science is dynamic, so is technology and society. As science and technology, the society
¡s affected both positively and negatively. The society becomes complex ¡n accepting and using
new science, technology and society. Science educators have formed a discipline from the
three. When we say STS, we are talking about a discipline that embodies the relationship of
science and technology and how the two shape the society and vice-versa.

f. Inventors and inventions of STS

Dr. Arturo Alcaraz

Dr. Arturo Alcaraz is a volcanologist specializing in geothermal energy
development. In 1967, Arturo Alcaraz and team powered an electric light bulb using steam-
powered electricity. This was the first geothermal power generated in the Philippines.

Julian Banzon (1908 - 1988)

Filipino chemist, Julian Banzon researched methods of producing alternative
fuels. Julian Banzon experimented with the production of ethyl esters fuels from sugarcane
and coconut.

Pedro Escuro (1923 - )

Filipino scientist, Pedro Escuro is best known for his isolation of nine rice
varieties, thus was renowned by developing rice breeding in the country. The Pedro Escuro
rice varieties are: Milpal 4, HBD-2, Azmil 26 and C-22 and C-18, C4-63, C4-137, C-168 and C-
12.

Dr. Francisco Fronda (1896 - 1986)

Dr. Francisco Fronda is known as the Father of poultry science in the Philippines.
Francisco Fronda has improved methods of production for the poultry and livestock
industry.
 Felix Maramba
Felix Maramba built a coconut oilfueled power generator. He also is the
developer of one of the world's most profitable biogas systems.

Luz Oliveros Belardo (1906 - 1999)

Filipino chemist, Luz Oliveros Belardo researched the phytochemical properties
of plants in the Philippines for natural products, essential oils, and the medicinal qualities.

Emerita De Guzman
Filipino scientist Emerita De Guzman researched the propagation of pure
macapuno trees. Her research led to the faster propagation of pure macapuno trees and
increased macapuno nut production from 3-5 macapuno nuts to 14-19 nuts (1980). She also
invented tissue culture techniques for the rapid propagation of abaca and banana plants.

Dr. Fe Del Mundo (1911 - 2011)

Filipino doctor, Fe Del Mundo is credited with studies that lead to the invention
of an improved incubator and a jaundice relieving device.

Gregorio Zara (1902 - 1978)

Famous Filipino Scientist, Gregorio Zara invented, made improvements to, or
discovered the following: invented the two-way television telephone or videophone (1955)
patented as a "photo phone signal separator network"; discovered the physical law of
electrical kinetic resistance called the Zara effect (around 1930); invented an airplane engine
that ran on plain alcohol as fuel (1952).

g. Technological developments globally

The development of science and Technology is as old as mankind. Many ‘inventions’

claimed after the 11th century in fact dated back to the Greeks and Chinese many centuries
before.
Scientific information proposed by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle (384 — 322 BC) and
others was lost in the dark ages in Britain and Europe after the collapse of the Roman
Empire.
The Birth of Technology (2 Million Years BC)
Tools
The birth of ‘technology’ was when the first human-like species, Homo Habilis (‘skilful
person’ 2.6 million years BC) made sharp cutting edges from stone. Later, Homo
Neanderthals or cave men (200 000 — 30 000 years BC) used tools and weapons and were
the very successful ancestors of Homo sapiens, the species we recognize as our ancestors
today. Swords, daggers and other weaponry represented a warlike society but are also
interpreted as items of social status, perhaps given as diplomatic gifts between tribes (Iron
Age Celtic dagger from 250 —50 BC).
 Metals
Lead (Pb), one of the softest metals, was being extracted from rock in 6500 BC in
Anatolia (now Turkey), followed by copper (Cu) three thousand years later in Mesopotamia.
The Iron Age was built on a hard, strong and versatile metal, iron (Fe).

The wheel

The longest-used invention in human history, had the biggest influence on the
development of modern civilization. Around 4500 BC the wheel and axle combination
became the most important invention of all time. Carts came into common use. By 2000 BC
wheels had windmills to provide power.

New Inventions (9th 18th Century)

Arab Alchemy
Turning common metals into
precious metals, proved to be a dead end around the 9th Century AD. Nevertheless, Arabs
were clever chemists and discovered many chemicals that we use today.

Gunpowder
Gunpowder is a substance used in guns to propel (move forward) the bullet. The recipe
for making gunpowder appeared in a book in Europe in 1242. Roger Bacon (1214 — 1294),
an English friar and philosopher, was the first to describe its formula. Guns soon followed.

Printing
The 15th century saw the start of mechanical printing machines able to make identical
copies of sheets of paper and books. Spreading knowledge and information was a very slow
process before the invention of typography. Johannes Gutenberg (1398—1468) developed
the first mechanical printing machine in the 1440s. The first printed book was the Bible in
1456 with a run of 150 copies. Each Bible previously took three years to make by hand.
 
The Telescope
The telescope was invented by Dutchman Hans Lippershey (1570 — 1619). In 1610,
using his improved design, Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642) was able to prove that the Earth
revolved around the Sun. This confirmed the ideas of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus
Copernicus (1473—1543) but it angered the Catholic Church who had adopted the idea that
the Earth was at the centre of everything. The Harlan J. Smith Telescope, McDonald
Observatory in Fort Davis (USA). Founded in 1932, it is the observatory of the University of
Texas and operates six telescopes.

The Microscopes
Looking at small things became possible when a Dutch maker of spectacles, Hans
Janssen and his son, put glass lenses together in 1590 to make a primitive microscope.
 Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632—1723) took this invention a step further in 1676 with a
magnification of 270 times and discovered tiny single-celled creatures in pond water.
Ultimately, this helped our understanding of microorganisms and disease. A microscope is
an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the unaided eye. Today,
there are electron microscopes, using magnetic fields and electron rays instead of lenses
and light, making it possible to see even atoms.
 
Lightning Conductor
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin (1706 —1790), the American statesman, philosopher and
scientist proved that lightning was a form of electricity when he flew a kite in a
thunderstorm. Around 1754, Franklin and the Czech scientist, Prokop Diviš (1698 - 1765)
independently developed the lighting conductor to protect buildings from being hit and
damaged by lighting.

The First Industrial Revolution (1760 — 1840)

Steam Power
This era saw the development of steam engines to power factory machinery. Heating
water in a boiler to make steam to power a vehicle was a major technological advance.
James Watt (1736 — 18 19) is recognised as the inventor of the steam engine in 1765.
Water could be pumped out of mines and industrial processes speeded up. George
Stephenson’s (1781 - 1848) Rocket was the first locomotive to pull heavy loads a long
distance. This led to the rapid expansion of railways throughout Britain and the world. The
combination of iron and steam paved the way for the great Victorian engineering projects
of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859). He designed bridges, tunnels, viaducts and
ships. Steam engines enabled the development of pumps, locomotives, steam ships, steam
lorries, etc.
 
Photography
In 1826, after years of experiments, the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
(1765- 1833), using ‘Bitumen of Judea’ spread on a pewter plate and an exposure of eight
hours in bright sunlight, produced the first permanent picture. His technique was improved
upon by his colleague Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) by using compounds of silver, the basis
of modern photography. Already ¡n the 16th century, a device called “camera obscura” was
able to project ¡mages on a board, however, it wasn’t able to capture permanent images.

The Second Industrial Revolution (lgth Century— 1945)

The Electric Light

After many refinements, Thomas Edison’s (1847 — 1931) electric light bulbs were the
best and by 1879 they would last for hundreds of hours, much longer than any of their
rivals. They were also cheap. To sell bulbs, energy was needed, so Edison’s Electric
Illumination Company built their own power station in New York. After many decades he
successfully persuaded the public to opt for clean, convenient electric light rather than gas
lights. Edison made his first light bulbs from bamboo fibres.
The Telephone
This is an invention that made money. Alexander Graham Bell (1847 — 1922) was the
first ¡n the race to patent a machine in 1876 that you could use to talk to someone on the
other side of the world. Admittedly, it was initially from one room to another. The message
was “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you”. A year later ¡n 1877 he set up his company and
demonstrated long distance calls.

The Motor Car

Until the 1860s all prototype motor cars were steam driven. German inventor Nicolas
Otto (1832 - 1891) created an improved internal combustion engine in 1876 and this ¡s still
the way cars work today. In 1885, the first car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, was developed
by Karl Benz (1844-1929). It was a long time before cars became common. Petrol, a cleaning
fluid, was only available from the chemist. Famous names such as Rolls Royce and Henry
Ford developed the technology; Rolls Royce for the rich and Henry Ford for the man in the
street.

The Movies
It has been only just over one hundred years since the first movie, or film, was shown
by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière (1862 - 1954 and 1864 - 1948) in 1895 at the
Grand Café ¡n Paris. The terrifying film was entitled The Arrival of a Train at Ciotat Station.
Surprisingly, the brothers decided that films didn’t have much of a future and went back to
photography. In 1889, George Eastman (1854 - 1932) pioneered celluloid film with holes
punched in the side so that the movie camera could show the film precisely frame by frame.

X-rays
X-rays were quickly adapted for their use in medicine. They are especially useful in
examining the skeletal system, but they can also identify other diseases, for example
pneumonia and lung cancer. Science is impressive when something is discovered that
cannot be seen. German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen (1845—1923) working with electrical
discharges in glass tubes noticed in 1895 that there was a faint glow on a nearby screen.
These rays were invisible and could pass through most materials. He also recorded them on
photographic paper and thus the first X-ray image was developed. He quickly realized the
medical potential of his discovery. Henri Becquerel (1852 — 1908) discovered radioactivity
¡n 1896 while trying to find more out about X-rays. Marie Curie (1867 — 1934), a Polish born
French chemist and physicist and two times Nobel Prize winner, is best remembered for her
research into radioactivity and new radioactive elements.

Communications
Radio waves travel in all directions at an incredible 300 000 km per second. The German
physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857 — 1854) was the first to prove they existed but it was
Guglielmo Marconi (1874—1937) who set up the world’s first radio stations to transmit and
receive Morse code. In 1896, he sent the first message across the Atlantic from Cornwall to
Newfoundland. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909. It was not until 1915
that engineers were able to transmit sound effectively. The first clear television pictures to
be transmitted were sent by Scottish-born John Logie Baird (1888 — 1946). He founded the
Baird Television Company Limited and worked on programmes for the BBC (British,
Broadcasting Corporation).
 Flight
At the turn of the century, in 1903, two bicycle repairmen from Ohio, Wilbur and Orville
Wright (1867 — 1912 and 1871 — 1948) built and flew the first really successful aeroplane
near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. From that time progress was rapid and the military
advantages of flight were realised in WWI.

Rockets and Space Flights

The earliest rockets were used in China in the 11th century but by the 19 th century
speed and accuracy were much improved. Knowledge of astronomy meant that scientists
knew the relative movements of the planets in relation to the Earth. A Russian mathematics
teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857—1935), was the first person to draw up plans for
space stations and air locks to allow space walks. He correctly calculated that a rocket would
have to travel at 8 km per second to leave the atmosphere and that liquid rocket fuel would
be essential. American scientist Robert Goddard (1882—1945) not knowing of Tsiolkovsky’s
ideas, independently developed liquid fuelled rockets from 1926. Ultimately, NASA took up
the challenge but the Russians eventually won the race to put a man into orbit. Yuri Gagarin
(1934 — 1968) orbited the earth ¡n 1961. In the US, NASA scientists redressed the balance in
the space race with their moon landing in 1969. The Proton rocket is a type of Russian space
vehicle. It was first launched in 1965 and it is still used today, which makes it one of the
most successful rockets in the history of space flight.

The Atomic Bomb

Science and technological advances can be seen as good or bad. The invention of
gunpowder must have seemed like that. In 1932, physicists John Cockcroft (1897 — 1967)
and Earnest Walton (1903 — 1995) did the impossible. They split the atom. They proved
Albert Einstein’s (1879— 1955) theory of relativity (E=mc2) and unlocked the secrets of the
atomic nucleus. Splitting the atom was a brilliant scientific achievement. However, having
that knowledge allowed scientists to develop the atomic bomb. The use of an atomic bomb
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to end the WWII in 1945 was a political decision that
was highly controversial. We now know that there is no turning back once scientific and
technological discoveries have been made. The cloud of smoke and flame produced by a
nuclear explosion is called a “mushroom cloud” because of its typical shape.

The Third Scientific-Technical Revolution (1945 - )

After the WWII new discoveries and advances in science and technology came thick and
fast. Plastics were developed for the first time. In 1949, the first practical programmed
electronic computer ran mathematical problems. It fitted into one room! In the 1960s, the
electronic silicon chip was invented, computers became smaller and more powerful. In
1984, the CD was born and the digital revolution began. The worldwide web has given us
access to billions of documents with information and images as well as online shopping and
banking. Mobile telephone technology means we have instant contact with friends and
family. During this period, there have also been huge advances in genetics since the
discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. Today, Biotechnology and genetic engineering
show fast growth trends and, also, are big business. DNA contains the genetic information
for the reproduction of life. In the beginning, computers were mostly used for mathematical
 operations. The first electro-mechanical computer was built ¡n the USA in 1946 by Eckert
and Mauchly.

h. Technological developments in the Philippines

In the Philippines, even before period of colonization, our society has been faring on its
improvement in terms of Science and Technology especially in agriculture, handicraft and
medicine. During colonization, there was a slow growth of S&T since majority of its
sophistication is brought about by the foreign invaders. The establishment of Bureau of Science
by Americans paved the way for the initial growth of S&T in the country. During post-colonial
period where Philippines had given the autonomy for executive, administrative, judicial and
legislative operations, different programs and policies of the government gear towards
reinforcing progress of S&T. Many Filipinos were renowned not only in the national but also
around the global society for their outstanding feat.
Botany and Biology
Botany and biology are two of the highly sought-after research topics in the
Philippines, given its rich biodiversity in flora and fauna.Several Filipino scientist have pioneered
¡n the field of biology. Eduardo Quisumbing, a biologist who graduated MS in Botany at the
University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1921, and Ph.D. ¡n Plant Taxonomy, Systematics and
Morphology at the University of Chicago in 1923. He conducted research on taxonomic and
morphological papers deal with orchids and authored the book M country on the seaweed flora
titled Field guide and atlas of the seaweed resources of the Philippines.

Biotechnology
The Philippines Biofuel Act of 2006, RA 0376 mandates an increase of the
minimum 5% bioethanol blend (E5) in gasoline to 10% ethanol blend (ElO). In 2011, 600 million
liters of gasoline was consumed by car owners in the Philippines, ¡f the 10% bioethanol blend
would be followed, this would be equivalent to 1 million metric tons of sugar. Ethanol is an
alcohol produced from fermenting carbohydrates in plants. Bioethanol can be produced mainly
from three different kinds of raw materials, namely simple sugars, starch, and lignocellulosic
biomass.

Engineering
Engineering is the field of science that applies both science and math to solve
problems. It concerns the use of technology in practical ways that can advance the human
condition. Some of the fields of engineering include mechanical engineering, electrical
engineering, civil engineering, structural engineering, and industrial engineering. In the
Philippines, many organizations and research institutes for engineering were established, such
as the National Engineering Center and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers. The National
Engineering Center (NEC) was first established on January 27, 1978 as the research arm of the
University of the Philippines College of Engineering. It absorbed the UP Industrial Research
Service Center, the National Hydraulic Research Center, the Training Center for Applied Geodesy
and Photogrammetry, the Transport Training Center, and the Building Research Service.

Agriculture and Aquaculture

Agriculture is the field in science wherein it concerns with the different
techniques of land cultivation, crop and livestock raising, or otherwise, farming. The Department
of Agriculture (Philippines) (DA) is a government agency responsible for the development of the
Philippine’s agriculture by generating policies, investments, and support services which are
significant in the local and export-oriented trade. different produce such as crops, fruits, and
livestock and a decrease in the prices of vegetables.

Metal Industry
This industry deals with the creation and innovation of metallic and steel
products. The metal/steel industry have shown remarkable technological dynamism over the
centuries and with the growing product innovation, there have been a great significance on the
steels’ economic and political influence. The Philippines have become part of the growing
revolution of the industry. The Metal Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) is a
government agency under the Department of Science and Technology that supports the local
metals and engineering industry through support services enhancing the industry’s competitive
advantage.

Food and Nutrition

Food science or nutritional science is the field of science studying the nature of
foods and the natural changes in them resulting from handling and processing. It is the science
concerned with food and nourishment and the role of nutrients in health. In the Philippines,
food and nutrition research investigates the ideal diet for Filipinos to solve the problem of
malnutrition and the current state of nutrition. freshwater shellfish, and coral reef resources).
Some samples showed that the ancient Filipinos practiced prolonged breast feeding. Health.
One aspect of healthcare is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases; the other
pertains to provisions for medical care for people in the community. In the Philippines,
healthcare is under the Department of Health (DOH). This government office ¡s responsible for
organizing public healthcare and making sure that all Filipino citizens have access to quality
health services. This office is also responsible for supervising and funding researches pertaining
to new medicines and medical devices. The DOH has different bureaus, all of which have
different areas of specialization, these are the Bureau of Health Devices and Technology, Bureau
of Health Facilities and Services, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, Bureau of Local
Health Development, Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Surveillance, and Food and
Drug Administration.
 Anti-cancer research
Soybean is a very sought-after crop, as its by products are used to generate
bioethanol, and most importantly it is linked with cancer research. During the past decade,
soybean has been extensively studied due to its 43-amino acid polypeptide called Lunasin. The
anti-cancer properties of Lunasin was first discovered by Dr Alfredo Galvez and Dr. Benito de
Lumen, both Filipino doctors, when they were enhancing the nutritional properties of soy
protein. Dr. Galvez observed mitotic disruptive properties of Lunasin ¡n mammalian cancer
cells, he saw that it prevented normal cells from turning into cancerous cells. This eventually
lead to more research about its anti-cancer properties. In 2005, Dr. de Lumen conducted an
experiment on Lunasin using skin cancer mouse models, he discovered that Lunasin internalizes
in mammals within minutes of exogenous application, it eventually ends up in the nucleus
wherein it inhibits the acetylation of core histones. Dr de Lumen observed that in spite of
Lunasin’s anti-cancer properties, it does not inhibit the growth of normal mammalian cell lines.
A very recent study on Lunasin showed that at certain doses, ¡t reduced non-small cell lung
cancer tumor volume by 63%, it also showed a capability of inhibiting non-small cell lung cancer
cells by suppressing the cell-cycle dependent phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein.
More studies of Lunasin also showed that it possesses antioxidative, anti inflammatory, and a
cholesterol regulating role; all of which makes it a very good potential source of dietary
supplements. All of these researches would have not been at the level of where ¡t ¡s now, ¡f not
for the Filipino doctors who first discovered Lunasin.

Social sciences
Notable Filipino scientist have been contributors in the field of social science in
the country. Raul V. Fabella was an academic, economist and scientist that graduated in
Seminario Mayor-Recoletos (Bachelor of Philosophy; 1970); the University of the Philippines
School of Economics (Master of Arts; 1975); and Yale University (Doctor of Philosophy; 1982). He
had written articles in both theoretical and applied fields: political economy and rent-seeking;
the theory of teams; regulation; international economics;and mathematical economics and was
associated with the concepts of “Olson ratio” in rent-seeking, egalitarian Nash bargaining
solutions, and debt-adjusted real effective exchange rate.

Forestry
Forestry is the field of science that practice planting, managing and taking care
of trees. The governing body for the Philippine forestry ¡s the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR).This department started way back ¡n 1863, when the Spanish Royal
Decree established the Inspection General de Montes. This was transformed into the
Department of Interior in 1901. Then when the government reorganized, it became the
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. During 1987, the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources was formally established. Under this department, the Forest
Management Bureau was the sector that focuses on preserving the forest and the harvesting of
its resources. The Philippines have an actual forest cover at 6.5 million hectares (ha) or 24% of
the total land area. A lot of Filipinos rely on these resources for their survival. The country’s goal
is to have a sustainable forest-based industry that can contribute to the socio-economic
development and support the disadvantaged sectors of society.

i. Science and Technology since Philippines Independence

Science and technology in the Philippines represents the wide scientific and
technological advances the Philippines has made. The main managing agency responsible
for science and technology (S&T) ¡s the Department of Science and Technology(DOST). The
science department have consulting agencies for Forestry, Agriculture and Aquaculture,
Metal Industry, Nuclear Research, Food and Nutrition, Health, Meteorological and the
Volcanology and Seismology. Numerous national scientists have contributed in different
fields of science including Fe del Mundo in the field of Pediatrics, Eduardo Quisumbing ¡n
the field of Plant taxonomy, Gavino Trono in the field of tropical marine Phycology, and
Maria Orosa in the field of Food technology.

Pre-Spanish Period

Even before the colonization by the Spaniards in the Philippine islands, the natives of
the archipelago already had practices linked to science and technology. Filipinos were
already aware of the medicinal and therapeutic properties of plants and the methods of
extracting medicine from herbs. They already had an alphabet, number system, a weighing
and measuring system and a calendar. Filipinos were already engaged in farming, ship-
building, mining and weaving. The Banaue Rice Terraces are among the sophisticated
products of engineering by pre-Spanish era Filipinos.

Spanish Colonial Period

The colonization of the Philippines contributed to growth of science and technology in

the archipelago. The Spanish introduced formal education and founded scientific institution.
During the early years of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Parish schools were established
where religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music was taught. Sanitation and more
advanced methods of agriculture was taught to the natives. Later the Spanish established
colleges and universities in the archipelago including the University of Santo Tomas. The
study of medicine in the Philippines was given priority in the Spanish era, especially in the
later years. The Spanish also contributed to the field of engineering in the islands by
constructing government buildings, churches, roads, bridges and forts. Biology is given
focus. Contributors to science in the archipelago during the 19th century were botanists, Fr.
Ignacio Mercado., Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Dr. Leon Ma Guerrero, chemist
Anaclento del Rosario, and medicine scholars Dr. Manuel Guerrero, Dr, Jose Montes and Dr.
Elrodario Mercado. The Galleon Trade have accounted in the Philippine colonial economy.
Trade was given more focus by the Spaniard colonial authorities due to the prospects of big
profits. Agriculture and industrial development on the other hand were relatively neglected.
The opening of the Suez Canal saw the influx of European visitors to the Spanish colony and
some Filipinos were able to study in Europe who were probably influenced by the rapid
development of scientific ideals brought by the Age of Enlightenment.

American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era

The progress of science and technology in the Philippines continued under American
rule of the islands. On July 1, 1901 The Philippine Commission established the Bureau of
Government Laboratories which was placed under the Department of Interior. The Bureau
replaced the Laboratorio Municipal, which was established under the Spanish colonial era.
The Bureau dealt with the study of tropical diseases and laboratory projects. On October 26,
1905, the Bureau of Government Laboratories was replaced by the Bureau of Science and on
December 8, 1933, the National Research Council of the Philippines was established.The
Bureau of Science became the primary research center of the Philippines until World War Il.
Science during the American period was inclined towards agriculture, food processing,
forestry, medicine and pharmacy. Not much focus was given on the development of
industrial technology due to free trade policy with the United States which nurtured an
economy geared towards agriculture and trade. In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced
by the Institute of Science. In a report by the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950,
there is a lack of basic information which were necessities to the country’s industries, lack of
support of experimental work and minimal budget for scientific research and low salaries of
scientists employed by the government. In 1958, during the regime of President Carlos P.
Garcia, the Philippine Congress passed the Science Act of 1958 which established the
National Science Development Board.