GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

MODULE I: General Concepts and Historical Developments in Science,

Technology, and Society

Section 1: Introduction to STS

Science and Technology Defined

 has been a part of our schools' curriculum as subject matter
 forms part of the foundation courses
 primary role: shaping a holistic individual and productive citizen.

Science comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge."

 a system or method of finding answers to questions about the nature of the
universe.
 as a discipline:
o empirical: arguments are based on observations and experience,
which are systematically collected and then analyzed
o evidence-based: descriptions of the behavior of the universe and of
living and non-living things
Soft sciences: psychology, sociology, philosophy, and communication
Hard sciences: physics, biology, chemistry, and physiology.

John Heilbron (American science historian)

 viewed science not only about what it is but also what it does
 modern science is discovery as well as invention
 science as a discovery of regularity in nature, enough for natural phenomena
to be described by principles and laws
 science required invention to devise techniques, abstractions, apparatuses,
and organization in describing these natural regularities and their law-like
descriptions.

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge, laws, and principles to

produce services, materials, tools, and machines aimed at solving real-world
problems.
 from the Greek root techne, meaning "art, skill, or cunning of hand."
 very purposive: has practical reasons beyond just describing the behavior of
the universe
 Purpose: to make our lives more convenient, more efficient, and more
comfortable.

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO and co-founder)

 "What defines a technological tool? One historical definition: something that
takes a human's sense or ability and augments it and makes it more
powerful.”

Technology is much older than science

 happened even before our ancestors made formal the study of the behavior of
the universe
 five-minute theorem: where engineering sciences progressed from
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o ancient engineering practice which tested the strength of a building

o if a building stood still five minutes after its scaffoldings and support
were removed, it will probably last forever

The Birth of STS as a Field of Study

 born in the 20th Century as an academic enterprise

Two important periods of 20th-century history:

 Interwar Period: period between the end of World War I and the beginning of
World War II
o saw significant changes in economy, politics, and society on a global
scale.
 Cold War: period after World War II, commencing in 1945 until roughly 1991,
o saw a time when previously warring nations directly continued to wage
war through indirect conflict
o foregrounded the post-World War II geopolitical tensions between the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and primarily the
United States of America (USA) and its allies in Europe.
 Direct capacities: (military and nuclear technologies)
 Indirect capacities: (industrial, communication, and transportation
technologies)

Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

 young academic field that combines previously independent and older
disciplines, such as history of science, philosophy of science, and sociology of
science
 an interdisciplinary field
 a socially embedded enterprise
 Kennedy School: STS seeks to bridge the gap between two traditionally
exclusive cultures: humanities (interpretive) and natural sciences (rational), so
that humans will be able to better confront the moral, ethical, and existential
dilemmas brought by them.
 applies methods drawn from history, philosophy, and sociology to study the
nature of science and technology and judge its value, scope, and impacts in
society.
 a hybrid field which aims to integrate cross- disciplinary frameworks,
 questions how scientific discovery and technological developments link up
with broad social ventures, such as politics and governance, public policy, law
and justice, ethics and morality, economy, sociology, anthropology, and
culture.

Lewis Wolpert (2005), a South African-born British developmental biologist,

author, and broadcaster, in his Medawar Lecture in 1998
 Is science dangerous?
 In contrast to technology, reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has
no moral or ethical value
 science is not the same as technology
 Science simply describes how the universe works. Its aim is to produce ideas
and explanations about how the world works.
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 Technology is the application of that knowledge to create something or use it

for some practical purpose.
When some science or scientific experiment is proven unreliable or breaches the
principles of the scientific method, then we can impose moral and ethical standards
upon such science or experiments.
Other scientific endeavors are problematic not in what they are concerned about
but in how the experiments and research are funded.

Research funding: a staple source of financial backbone, especially for researchers

and scientists who often have brilliant ideas but very little support from government
and science ministries.

Socially Responsible Science

Modern science and technology ushered in an era where many of the
challenges and difficulties faced by those who came decades and centuries before
us are no longer a cause for concern today.
This is the irony of complexity: as scientific and technological advancements
move us forward, they, at the same time, open the possibilities for more catastrophic
outcomes.

Carl Sagan (American scientist), as quoted in Tom Head's (2004) book:

 "We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet
have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and
technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster."

Here are some ways in which scientists can engender socially responsible
science as adapted from science and engineering ethicist and consultant Prof.
Stephanie J. Bird (2014):
1. Ensure accurate and reliable research: scientists must ensure
methodological accuracy for science to generate reliable ideas about how the
world works and, ultimately, be free from moral and ethical values.
2. Oppose misuse or abuse in the application of research findings:
Scientists must stand and speak against those who misuse and abuse
scientific ideas, such as in politics and governance and business and
economy.
3. Attend to both the limitations and the foreseeable impacts of their work:
Scientists must be fully transparent about their research,
4. Participate in discussions and decisions regarding the appropriate use
of science in addressing societal issues and concerns: scientists must
use their voice and engage in discursive participation on how to use and how
not to use their findings in addressing social problems.
5. Bring their specialized knowledge and expertise to activities and
discussions that promote the education of students and fellow citizens
6. Enhance and facilitate informed decision-making and democracy:

Public Understanding of Science

People casually talking about science is far-fetched. They think they neither
have the technical knowledge nor the appropriate language to do so. As a result,
throughout history, scientific findings have been, for the most part, exclusive and
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accessible only to scientists and a small inner circle, thus missing out on the many
benefits of public understanding of science.

Marincola (2006): explains that in this day and age it is crucial that the public
participates in science issues affecting their lives and their own self-interest.

Emerging Ethical Dilemmas

 Ethical dilemmas: issues in which a difficult choice must be made between
two or more options. They are called dilemmas because there is no single
approach to resolve the issue free from any potential breach of ethical
guidelines.
 When faced with an ethical dilemma, a person needs to select a response to
a situation that does not align with any of the existing and established ethical
codes, societal norms, or their personal moral judgment of what is right and
wrong.

Dr. Jessica Baron (writer, consultant, and tech ethicist), in collaboration with the John
J. Reilly Center for Science, published the 2021 top 10 list of emerging ethical
dilemmas in science and technology:
1. Robot abuse: Why would anyone hit a robot? And why is it so uncommon?
2. Doomscrolling: Should you put down your phone for your mental health?
3. Your "Digital Twin": a digital version of yourself could involve everything from
your genome to your search history. But will it be used for good?
4. The tech battle for the Arctic: A new "Cold War" or the setting for WWIII?
5. Secret surveillance apps: is someone tracking your every move? You may
not even know what apps lurk in your devices.
6. Facebook: is it time to stop pretending that this platform is making our lives
better?
7. Selfie medicine: is this the future of medical care?
8. The sleep-tracking app that alters your dreams: Real-life Inception: cool or
creepy?
9. CIVVL: A most uncivil app for evicting people from their homes
10. The weaponization of data voids: people are creating rabbit holes of
misinformation.

Section 2: Historical Antecedents and Inventions Across Time and Context

History of Science
 subdiscipline of STS
 the study of the development of science across time
 explores how science evolved and is evolving
 asks questions regarding the relationship between scientific progress and
larger social, political, economic, and cultural contexts

Professor Lawrence Principe of Johns Hopkins University

 explains that historians of science aim to get a true and accurate depiction of
science in the past
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 they study how scientific ideas developed (evolution), where they came from
(genesis), and why (context).

Historical Antecedent
 antecedent is a precursor to the unfolding or existence of something
 historical antecedent in science and technology: is the previous state of
science and technology before something more advanced was created
o antecedents can refer to the older and tangible counterparts of a more
advanced, more efficient, and more useful tool, device, or technology.
o antecedents can also refer to the prevailing and non-tangible societal
conditions

Ancient Age
 our ancestors relied on protoscience (an era when the scientific method was
just unfolding)
 the development of proper science, through the rise of scientific thinking and
the scientific method, took place only during the Middle Ages
 knowledge and understanding about how the world works was handed down
through generations using oral tradition
 build ancient civilizations such as:
o Mesopotamia (3500-500 B.C.)
o Indus (3300-1900 B.C.)
o Ancient Egypt (3150-31 B.C.)
o Ancient Greece (2700-479 B.C.)
o Ancient China (2100-221 B.C.)
o Ancient Rome (550 B.C. - 465 A.D.)

Outstanding Ancient Age Inventions

Ancient Wheel
 No one knows exactly who invented and when the wheel was invented.
 ancient wheel grew out of a mechanical device called the potter's wheel (a
heavy flat disk made of hardened clay) which was spun horizontally on an
axis.
o Sumerians invented the potter's wheel shortly after 3500 B.C.
 1000 to 1500 years later that the wheel was first used on carts.

Paper
 3000 B.C. ancient Egyptians began writing on papyrus (a material similar to
thick paper)
 papyrus was made from the papyrus plant that grew near the Nile River
o lightweight, strong, durable, and, more importantly, portable.

Shadoof
 used by ancient Egyptians to irrigate land
 also spelled as "shaduf," a hand-operated device for lifting water
 introduced the idea of lifting things using counterweights
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Antikythera mechanism
 ancient world's analog computer invented by the Greeks
 discovered in 1902 and retrieved from the waters of Antikythera, Greece
 like a mantel clock
 predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological
purposes
 oldest known antecedents of modern clockwork
 invented by Greek scientists between 250-87 B.C.

Aeolipile
 known as Hero's engine
 the ancient precursor of the steam engine
 Hero of Alexandria is credited for the demonstration of the aeolipile in first
century A.D.
 a steam-powered turbine, which spun when the water container at its center
was heated
 first rudimentary steam engine
 one of many "temple wonders" at the time
 Vitruvius (Roman author, architect, and civil engineer) described the aeolipile
as a scientific invention through which "the mighty and wonderful laws of the
heavens and the nature of winds" may be understood and judged.

Middle Ages
 not as stagnant as alternate terms, such as the "Medieval Period" and "Dark
Ages" suggest
 three subperiods:
o Early Middle Ages (476-1000 A.D.)
o the High Middle Ages (1000-1250 A.D.)
o the Late Middle Ages (1250- 1500 A.D.)

Early Middle Ages (476-1000)

 following the collapse of the Roman Empire
 concerned with peacekeeping and empire building than honing centers of
learning and knowledge production.
 known as the "true Dark Ages," where society slipped from a period of
reason and high philosophy and into one of barbarism and ignorance
 marked by frequent wars and conflict, population shifts, and the visible
disappearance of urban life
 Progress in the scientific method took shape in the production of illuminated
manuscripts in Ireland.

Bi Sheng (990-1051 A.D.)

 invented the movable type printing towards the end of the Early Middle Ages
during the Song Dynasty
 replace woodblock printing

Yi Xing (Buddhist Mok)

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 invented the world's first mechanical clock in 725 A.D. which ran by dripping
water on a wheel that made one revolution every 24 hours

High Middle Ages (1000-1250)

 a time of prolonged war between Christians and Muslims and one of territorial
bickering between Spain and the East
 trade flourished, translation grew steadily
 by mid-11th century scholars from all around Europe came to translate into
Arabic even more Latin books and texts. The growth of translation allowed
knowledge transfer to blossom as it channeled what the Greeks wrote and
knew into the European consciousness
 medieval universities, individually known as stadium generale, were also
booming in Europe:
o University of Bologna (founded in 1088)
o University of Oxford (1167)
o University of Cambridge (1209)
o University of Paris (1215). These studia generalia hosted many High
Middle Age scholars, like the Italian Gerard of Cremona (c. 1114-1187)
of the Italian School of Translators, whose work relied on knowledge
and use of Arabic.

Thomas Aquinas
 led the transition from Platonic reasoning to Aristotelian empiricism

Robert Grosseteste
 promoted for the dualistic scientific method
 believed that empiricism should be used to propose laws governing the
universe and that the laws may be used to forecast outcomes

Roger Bacon
 took Grosseteste's work and Aristotle and the Islamic alchemists to propose
the idea of induction as the foundation of empiricism
 described the method of observation, hypothesis, experimentation,
independent verification, and documentation of results

Su Song
 developed a more sophisticated version of the mechanical clock called the
"cosmic empire" in 1092

Navigational compasses
 sophisticated versions were invented between the second century B.C. and
first century A.D., and used in Chinese ships by 1000 A.D.

Late Middle Ages (1250-1500)

 delivered the world from a medieval society into a modern one
 begun in the mid-13th century and ended in the 14th century
 wiped out the gains of the flowering of science and widespread prosperity
from the High Middle Ages
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 social order was triggered by a series of famines and plagues which swept
through Europe: Great Famine (1315-1317) and Black Death (1346-1353)
o caused depopulation to almost half of the populace
 Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the Peasants' Revolt (1381), the burning
of Joan of Arc at the stake (1431), and the fall of Constantinople to the
Turks (1453)
 thinkers layered the philosophy of Christian scholasticism with accompanying
science
 Christian scholastics became more open to factor out divine intervention in
their attempts to explain natural phenomena

William of Ockham (English Franciscan friar)

 proposed the idea of parsimony based on his work on logic studies in 14th
century
 parsimony, known as the famous Ockham's Razor, is still used in modern
science to choose between two or more competing theories, of which the
simpler theory or explanation to a phenomenon is to be preferred.

Jean Buridan (French philosopher)

 established the antecedents of Newtonian physics, particularly that of
inertia, by challenging Aristotelian physics
 developed the theory of impetus, which is a motive force enabling a body to
move in the direction in which the mover sets it in motion.
o provides a mathematical formula: impetus = weight x velocity.
Thomas Bradwardine (English physicist)
 He and his colleagues differentiated kinematics from dynamics
 proposed the mean speed theorem, which they demonstrated through the
Law of Falling Bodies, which can be considered as a predecessor of
Galileo's work on falling objects.

Nicolas d'Oresme (French philosopher)

 in his Livre du ciel et du monde, he discussed a theory about a heliocentric
universe
 first to argue that it would be more economical for the Earth to rotate on its
own axis rather than the entire sphere of stars.
o He argued this two centuries before Nicolaus Copernicus' seminal
work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium would be published.

Outstanding Middle Age Inventions

Heavy Plough
 it became possible for the first time to harness clay soil.
 University of Southern Denmark professor Thomas Bernebeck Andersen
describes the impact of the invention of the heavy plough as follows, "The
heavy plough turned European agriculture and economy on its head.
Suddenly, the fields with the heavy, fatty, and moist clay soils became those
that gave the greatest yields"
 resulted in the rapid economic prosperity of the northern territories of Europe.
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 stirred an agricultural revolution in Northern Europe

Gunpowder
 Around 850 A.D., Chinese alchemists accidentally invented black powder or
gunpowder
 might have been an unintended by-product of attempts made by the Chinese
to invent the elixir of life, which is why the Chinese called it huoyao, roughly
translated as "fire potion."

Paper Money Although

 Chinese are credited for the invention of paper money in the 7th century
A.D. as an offshoot of inventing block printing
 In 13th-century Mongols attempted to introduce paper money into the
Middle Eastern market, but this immediately proved to be a failure.

Mechanical Clock
 determine not only the hour but also the minute and second of every moment
 drastically changed the way days were spent and work patterns were
established, particularly in the more advanced Middle Age cities.

Spinning Wheel
 used for transforming fiber into thread or yarn which is eventually woven into
cloth on a loom
 theorized that the Indians invented the spinning wheel between sixth and
11th century A.D.
 White (1974): the invention of the spinning wheel sped up the rate at which
fiber could be spun by a factor of 10 to 100 times and removed this bottleneck
to cloth production.
o argued that this invention ushered in a breakthrough in linen
production when it crept into Europe in 13th century A.D.

The Modern Age

 postmedieval era beginning in the 1500s to the present
 marked by a steady population increase worldwide, technological innovations,
urbanization, scientific discoveries, and globalization
 split into subperiods: the early modern period and the late modern period
 the defining characteristics of the Modern Age unfolded predominantly in
Europe.

Early Modern Period

 The foundations of the Great Divergence, a period during which the West
overcame pre-modern growth and reached unprecedented levels of wealth
and power in the 19th century, were laid during the Early Modern Period.
 Literacy rates rose and educational reforms were introduced, spurring the
14th-16th century Renaissance and 16th century Protestant Reformation.
 older methods of science were replaced by empiricism and modern science
through the 16th and 17th-century scientific revolutions by Middle Age
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thinkers like Roger Bacon, whose work on the scientific method was the
foundation of experimentation and hypothesis testing
 Reason, rationalism, and faith in scientific inquiry became the hallmark

Johannes Gutenberg's
 Invented movable type printing press, which made more efficient the
processes and practices of knowledge production
Late Modern Period
 beginning sometime in 1750 to 1815
 huge political, social, and economic changes took shape brought by the
combined and complex effects of the First Industrial Revolution (1750), the
American Revolution (1776), and the French Revolution (1789).

The First Industrial Revolution

 altered the ways goods were produced and the fundamental framework within
which the economy, society, and even culture operated.
 The invention of the internal combustion engine, steam-powered ships,
and railways led to the dramatic increase in production capacity and output.
 Manufacturing took the economic spotlight away from agriculture.
o Factory work became a popular model of mass production
 Schools follow the template of a factory in which students were treated as
raw materials to be transformed into products that can competently meet the
demands of modern life.
 Consumer goods became the go- to options of people

French and American Revolutions

 paved the way for national sovereignty and representative democracy
which replaced monarchy
 period of greater secularism gave birth to democracy as a product of
individual rights and progress

Contemporary Period
 people preferred living in the city, received education, read books and
newspapers, participated in politics, spent on consumer goods, and embraced
the identity of citizenship in an industrialized nation
 Urbanization and mass media brought people closer to each other

Outstanding Modern Age Inventions

Compound Microscope
 Zacharias Janssen (Dutch spectacle maker) is credited with the invention of
the first compound microscope in 1590 together with his father
 capable of magnifying objects three times their size when fully closed and
up to 10 times when extended to the maximum.

Telescope
 most important technological invention in the study of astronomy at the time
was the practical telescope, which was built by Galileo Galilei
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 could magnify objects 20 times larger than the Dutch perspective glasses
 Galileo first used the telescope skyward and made important astronomical
discoveries, drastically changed astronomical science

Jacquard Loom
 viewed as one of the most critical drivers of the revolution
 Built by French weaver Joseph Marie Jacquard
 a device that simplified textile manufacturing.
 Prior to the invention of the Jacquard loom, a draw loom was used requiring
two individuals: the weaver and a "drawboy," if figured designs the on textile
were needed
 made mass production easier
 important antecedent of modern computer technology

Engine-Powered Airplane
 Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with designing and successfully
operating the first engine-powered aircraft on December 17, 1903 at Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina
 proved that aircrafts could fly without airfoil-shaped wings. They demonstrated
this in their original "Flying Machine" patent, since slightly-tilted wings, which
they referred to as aeroplanes, were the key features of a powered aircraft.
 marked an age of powered flights. Sans modern knowledge on
aerodynamics and a comprehensive

Television
 John Logie Baird (Scottish engineer) is largely credited with the invention
o successfully televised objects in outline in 1924, recognizable
human faces in 1925, and moving objects in 1926 at the Royal
Institution in London, and demonstrated colored images in 1928
o British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) used this for its earliest
television programming in 1929

Section 3: Revolutions and Society

Tackles the 16th- and 17th-century scientific revolutions

 birth of empiricism and modern science
It focuses on three of the most important scientific revolutions in history:
 Copernican
 Darwinian
 Freudian.

Revolutions in the History of Science

 Scientific revolutions: took place during the 16th and 17th century.
 Scientific revolution: refer to a period in history when drastic changes in
scientific thought, scientific communities, and the scientific method took place.
o a paradigm shift: changes in scientific perspectives from the
traditional to the novel, paving the way for the emergence of modern
science.
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 Jean Sylvain Bailley (18th-century French astronomer, mathematician, and

freemason): scientific revolutions involved a two-stage process of sweeping
away the old and establishing the new

Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers

 beliefs about the nature of the universe
 focused on human society, ethics, and religion
 Greek views about nature were popular for almost 2000 years before major
shifts emphasized abstract reasoning, quantitative thinking, and developing
an experimental scientific method.

Key figures during different scientific revolutions in history did not have it easy.
They and their discoveries and hypotheses were often met with huge resistance and
controversy especially by governments and churches. Throughout this, it took entire
scientific communities and one key figure to another to corroborate and support each
other to dismantle old scientific beliefs, ways, and practices.

The foregoing typification unfolded many scientific revolutions from the 16th
century to the present:
 16th-century Copernican Revolution in astronomy
 19th-century Darwinian Revolution in evolutionary biology
 18th- 19th-century Freudian Revolution in psychoanalysis

Copernican Revolution
 refers to the 16th-century paradigm shift
 named after the Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model of the universe

 introduced the heliocentric model in a 40-page outline entitled
Commentariolus
 In his model, Copernicus repositioned the Earth from the center of the solar
system and introduced the idea that the Earth rotates on its own axis. The
model illustrated the Earth, along with other heavenly bodies, to be rotating
around the Sun.

Seven axioms or key ideas of heliocentric model:

1. The celestial spheres do not have one common center. The Earth is not at
the center of everything.
2. Earth is not the center of the universe, only the center of gravity and the
lunar orbit. Only the Moon orbits Earth.
3. All the spheres orbit the Sun. "Spheres" means the planets.
4. Compared to the distance to the stars, the Earth to Sun distance is almost
nonexistent. The stars are very much farther away than the Sun.
5. The motion of the stars is due to the Earth rotating on its axis.
6. The motion of the Sun is the result of the Earth's motions (rotation and
revolution).
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7. The retrograde and forward motions of planets is caused by the Earth's

motion. It is caused by the fact that Earth's orbit is of a different length than
the other planets.

Other Key Ideas:

 The idea that the Sun is at the center of the universe instead of the Earth
proved to be unsettling to many.
 The heliocentric model met with huge resistance, primarily from the Church.
 Although Copernicus faced no persecution when he was alive, resistance
came after a wave of Protestant opposition, which happened after
Copernicus' death in 1543 and the publication of his book in the same
year.
 Catholic Church prohibited the reading of De revolutionibus (Copernicus’
Book) for two centuries beginning in 1616.
 The heliocentric model was soon accepted by other scientists of the time,
most profoundly by Galileo Galilei.
 The model marked the beginning of modern astronomy in the study of
cosmology and astronomy.
 Isaac Newton refined the model a century later.

Darwinian Revolution
 Charles Darwin (English naturalist, geologist, and biologist) is credited for
this scientific revolution in the mid-19th century.
 On the Origin of Species (his book) published in 1859, began a revolution
that brought humanity to a new era of intellectual discovery.

Charles Lyell
 During a five-year surveying mission aboard the Royal Navy Brig HMS Beagle
to the Galapagos Islands, Darwin became fascinated by the 18th-century
Scottish geologist Charles Lyell, whose work on geology focused on
uniformitarianism.
 In his Principles of Geology, Lyell argued that observable processes
occurring in the present are sufficient evidence to explain all geological
formations and features across a vast period of time.

Darwin would apply this theory of evolutionary uniformitarianism in his

observations and gathered evidence pointing to what is now known as natural
selection, an evolutionary process by which organisms, including humans, inherit,
develop, and adapt traits that favored survival and reproduction.

Charles Darwin:
 His most important observations applying the theory of evolution include the
famous Darwin's finches: a group of 14 or so closely related specifies of
finches, which went through rapid adaptation to an unstable and challenging
environment.
 In his book, On the Origin of Species, Darwin presented a logical argument
for the mechanism of natural selection based on two observations and
inferences:
o First, individuals in a species vary to some degree in traits.
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o Second, a species produces more offspring than survives to mature

and reproduce.
 Out of these two observations and inferences, Darwin explains that
individuals with traits better fitted to their environments are more likely
to survive and reproduce; hence, their offspring are more likely to inherit
their adaptive traits.

Other Key Ideas:

 Critics accused the theory of being either short in accounting for the broad
and complex evolutionary process or that the functional design of organisms
was a manifestation of an omniscient God.
 Through the Darwinian Revolution, the development of organisms and the
origin of unique forms of life and humanity could be rationalized by an orderly
process of change underpinned by the laws of nature.

Freudian Revolution
 Sigmund Freud (19th-century Austrian neurologist) is credited for stirring the
20th-century scientific revolution.
 Psychoanalysis, as a school of thought in psychology, is at the center of
this revolution.
 Freud developed psychoanalysis as a scientific method of understanding
inner and unconscious conflicts embedded within one's personality, springing
from free associations, and the dreams and fantasies of the individual.

Sigmund Freud
 suggested that humans are inherently pleasure-seeking individuals.
 proposed the id, superego, and ego as the components of his structure of
personality.
o id as the primitive and instinctual part of the mind, containing sexual
and aggressive drives and hidden memories
o superego as the ethical component, providing the moral standards and
acting as the moral conscience of an individual
o ego as the realistic component, mediating between the desires of the
id and superego.
 According to him, the human mind tends to keep evil thoughts and
desires away in the unconscious mind creating a two-sided personality
(i.e., dual personality). This dual personality creates a "Jekyll and Hyde"
situation in a person.

Other Key Ideas:

 Scientists studying human behavior criticized psychoanalysis for lacking
vitality and bordering on being unscientific as a theory. Particularly, the
notion that all humans are destined to exhibit Oedipus and Electra complexes
(i.e., sexual desire for the opposite- sex parent and exclusion of the same-sex
parent) did not seem to be supported by empirical data. In the same vein, it
 appeared to critics that psychoanalysis, then, was more of an ideological
stance than a scientific one.
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Scientific Revolutions and Society - What's the connection?

The University College London aptly puts this cycle of beneficence and progress
as follows:
1. The progress-achieving methods of science need to be correctly identified.
2. These methods need to be correctly generalized so that they become
fruitfully applicable to any worthwhile, problematic human endeavor, whatever
the aims may be, and not just applicable to the one endeavor of acquiring
knowledge.
3. The correctly generalized progress-achieving methods then need to be
exploited correctly in the great human endeavor of trying to make social
progress towards an enlightened, wise world.

Society is only able to move forward because science-based and technology-

driven decision-making has become possible through the scientific revolutions before
us.

Key Figured in the Scientific Revolution Across Time:

1. Rene Descartes
a. cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)
b. Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (Meditations on First Philosophy) in
1641: a philosophical groundwork for the possibility of the sciences
2. Johannes Kepler
a. Laws of Planetary Motion
b. Supernova SN 1604
c. Poinsot polyhedral
d. Conjecture on sphere packing
3. Francis Bacon
a. philosophy of science
4. Galileo Galilei
a. report telescopic observations of the mountains on the moon, the
moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and the rings of Saturn
5. Isaac Newton
a. optics (white light composition) and mathematics (calculus)
b. three laws of motion
6. Paracelsus
a. introduced the use of chemical substances, such as minerals, into
medicine
7. William Harvey
a. first person to correctly describe blood's circulation in the body
b. showed that arteries and veins form a complete circuit
8. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
a. father of microbiology
b. discovered both protists and bacteria

Section 4: Science, Technology, and Nation-Building in the Philippines

GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

A General Survey on the Unfolding of Science and Technology in the

Philippines
 The country's rich history of science and technology was fueled by rich
natural resources, which were the large source of medicinal and
therapeutic products and methods of early settlers.

Precolonial Filipinos
 exhibited advanced engineering knowledge as evidenced by the Banaue
Rice Terraces, which is a hallmark of Philippine science and technology at
the time.

Arrival of the Spaniards

 sped up the development of science and technology in the country with the
introduction of formal education and the establishment of scientific
institutions.
 Rodriguez (1996): the colonizers' recognition of the country's lush flora
(plant) and fauna (animals) entailed an emphasis on biology in formal
education, which is evidenced by a number of botanists who advanced the
study of endemic fauna in the country.
 Rise of the Galleon trade meant that agriculture at the time was left relatively
underemphasized.

The American period

 science and technology progressed at the helm of the Bureau of
Government Laboratories established in 1901, which dealt with the study
of tropical diseases and laboratory projects.
o This was later replaced by the Bureau of Science in 1905, which was
the country's primary research center when World War II broke out,
(Cariño, 1993).
 In 1933, the National Research Council of the Philippines was established,
which played an important role in the advancement of science and technology
at the time (Reyes, 1972).
 In 1946, the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science.
 Science Act of 1958, establishing the National Science Development
Board (Cariño, 1993).
 Science geared towards the country's traditional strengths: agriculture,
forestry, medicine, pharmacy, and food processing.

Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.

 placed greater importance on science and technology as a matter of national
development.
 1973 Philippine Constitution, in Article XV Section 9 declared,
"advancement of science and technology shall have priority in the national
development."
 The era saw the enactment of various laws that drove the development of
science and technology in the country.
 Several agencies and organizations were established:
GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

o National Grains Authority (now the National Food Authority)

o Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA)
o International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)\
o National Committee on Geological Sciences
 In 1976, Marcos established the National Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST) to be the reservoir of scientific and technological
expertise in the country.
Corazon Aquino
 Cariño (1993) reported that Corazon Aquino's presidency placed an even
greater emphasis on science and technology on its role towards economic
recovery and sustained economic growth, as articulated in the Medium Term
Philippine Development Plan of 1987-1992.

Fidel Ramos
 believed that science and technology was one of the means through which
the Philippines could attain the status of a newly industrialized country.
 number of science and technology personnel and scholars grew speedily.
 Republic Act 8439 or the Magna Carta for Science and Technology
Personnel

Joseph Estrada
 Two key laws relating to science and technology were passed:
o Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999
o Republic Act 8790 or the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

 dubbed as the "golden age" of science and technology in the Philippines
 numerous laws and projects were passed to push technology as a key to
economic progress.

President Benigno Aquino III

 Republic Act 10601 or the Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization
(AFMech) Law, which aims to beef up agriculture and fisheries through
mechanization
 Republic Act 10692 or the PAGASA Modernization Act, which compels and
provides support for the Philippine weather bureau to modernize its
technological operational capacity.
 Republic Act 10844 or the Department of Information and
Communication Technology Act of 2015, recognizing the vital role of
information and communication in nation-building.

Rodrigo Duterte,
 Republic Act 11035 or the Balik Scientist Program Act strengthening the
Balik Scientist Program, first established in 1975:
o provided support for returning Filipino scientists from abroad to
participate in the Grants-in-Aid research program of the
Department of Science and Technology
GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

o support for returning scientists to implement their projects in

accordance with government regulations and the need for such
programs
o provides for tax and duty exemptions
o importation of professional equipment and materials
o free medical and accident insurance for returning scientists.
 In 2020, President Duterte conferred the Order of National Scientist to Emil
Q. Javier for his outstanding work in the field of agriculture.

Inventions by Filipino Scientists

 Necessity has always been the mother of Philippine inventions.

Electronic Jeepney
 Jeepney: one of the most recognizable international symbols of the
Philippines and the most popular mode of public transportation in the
country. Also, one of the most enduring symbols of Filipino ingenuity.
 Designed and improvised from scratch out of military jeeps that the Americans
left in the country after World War II.
 E-jeepney was introduced in Metro Manila and Bacolod City
o the inventive response to criticisms of the traditional jeepney that
belched smoke, directly causing air pollution which also made it
unsustainable and uneconomical.

Erythromycin (Abelardo Aguilar)

 one of the most important local medical inventions
 Invented by an Ilonggo scientist Abelardo Aguilar out of a strain of
bacterium called Streptomyces erythreus, from which the drug got its name.
 As with several other local scientists, however, Aguilar was not credited for
this discovery but Aguilar's US employer, to whom he sent the strain for
separation. The US company eventually owned the credit entirely for this
discovery.

Medical Incubator (Fe del Mundo)

 World-renowned Filipino pediatrician and National Scientist Fe del Mundo
is credited for the invention of the incubator and jaundice-relieving device.
 Del Mundo:
o first woman pediatrician to be admitted to the prestigious Harvard
University's School of Medicine
o founder of the first pediatric hospital in the country
o won the 1977 Ramon Magsaysay Awards for her pioneering work in
pediatrics for eight decades
 The original improvised incubator: consisted of two native laundry baskets
of different sizes that were placed one inside the other. Warmth was
generated by hot water bottles placed around the machine. A makeshift hood
over the baskets allowed oxygen to circulate inside the incubator.

Mole Remover (Rolando dela Cruz)

GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

 Rolando dela Cruz is credited for the invention of a local mole remover
(2000) that made use of extracts of cashew nuts (Annacardium occidentale),
which were very common in the Philippines.
 Dela Cruz won a gold medal for this invention in the International Invention,
Innovation, Industrial Design, and Technology Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia in 2000.

Banana Ketchup (Maria Orosa)

 also called "Banana Sauce"
 Filipino food technologist Maria Orosa is credited for the invention of
banana ketchup, a variety of ketchup different from the commonly known
tomato ketchup.
 Orosa invented the banana ketchup at the backdrop of World War II when
there was a huge shortage of tomatoes.

List of Filipino scientists as pillars of Philippine science and technology:

1. Paulo Campos 11. Ame Garong
2. Gelia Castillo 12. Carmen Velasquez
3. Angel Alcala 13. Raymundo Punongbayan
4. Lourdes Cruz 14. Encarnacion Alzano
5. Ricardo Sigua 15. Gavino Tronio
6. Dolores Ramirez 16. Leticia Afuang
7. Baldomero Olivera 17. Alfredo Galang
8. Maria Ligaya Braganza 18. Alicia Magos
9. Diosdado Banatao 19. Gemma Teresa Narisma
10. Perla Santos-Ocampo 20. Benito O. de Lumen

MODULE 2: Science, Technology, and Society and The Human Condition

Section 1: Technology as a Way of Revealing

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)

 one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century, while being
considered one of the most controversial as well.
 Opposed positivism and technological world domination together with
leading postmodern theorists of the time, including Jacques Derrida, Michel
Foucault, and Jean-François Lyotard.
 In 1933, he joined Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party
(NSDAP) or The Nazi Party.
 His philosophy focused on ontology or the study of "being" or, in German,
Das Sein.
 The Question Concerning Technology (famous work)

The Essence of Technology

 The essence of technology can be captured in its definition.
GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

In his treatise, The Question Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger (1977)

explains the two widely embraced definitions of technology:
1. Instrumental:
o Technology is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end.
o It is a tool available to individuals, groups, and communities that desire
to make an impact on society.
o It is an instrument aimed at getting things done
2. Anthropological:
o Technology is a human activity.
o To achieve an end and to produce and use a means to an end is, by
itself, a human activity.

Technology as a Way of Revealing

 the true can only be pursued through the correct; what is correct leads to what
is true. In this sense, Heidegger envisioned technology as a way of
revealing a mode of "bringing forth."
o Bringing forth can be understood through the Ancient Greek
philosophical concept poiesis: an act of bringing something out of
concealment, which is the truth.
o The truth is understood through an Ancient Greek concept of aletheia:
translated as unclosedness, unconcealedness, disclosure, or truth.
 For Heidegger, technology is a form of poiesis: a way of revealing that
unconceals aletheia or the truth.
 This revealing is seen in the way the term techne (Greek root word of
technology), is understood in different contexts.
o In philosophy, techne resembles the term episteme: refers to the
human ability to make and perform.
o Techne also encompasses knowledge and understanding.
o In art, it refers to tangible and intangible aspects of life.
o The Greeks understood it as something that encompasses not only
craft, but other acts of the mind, way, and poetry.

Technology as Poiesis: Does Modern Technology Bring Forth or Challenge

Forth?
 Modern technology is revealing not in the sense of bringing forth or poiesis.
 Heidegger made a clear distinction between technology and modern
technology
o Technology: challenges nature
o Modern technology: challenges nature by extracting something from it
and transforming, storing, and distributing it.
 Heidegger considers modern technology's way of revealing as a way of
challenging forth because it makes people think of how to do things faster,
more effectively, and with less effort.
 The challenging forth of modern technology is seen everywhere : in the rise
and depletion of petroleum as a strategic resource; the introduction and use of
synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, and toxic materials into the consumer
stream that bring about adverse effects on human health; and the use of
GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

ripening agents in agriculture that poses threats to food safety and health
security.

Enframing as Modern Technology's Way of Revealing

 Enframing, according to Heidegger, is similar to two ways of looking at the
world: calculative thinking and meditative thinking.
o calculative thinking: humans desire to put an order to nature to better
understand and control it
o meditative thinking: humans allow nature to reveal itself to them
without the use of force or violence.
 Enframing: is a way of ordering (or framing) nature to better manipulate it.
o It happens because of how humans desire security, even if it puts all of
nature as a standing reserve ready for exploitation.
 Modern technology challenges humans to enframe nature. Thus, humans
become part of the standing reserve and an instrument of technology, to be
exploited in the ordering of nature.
 Destining: the role humans take as instruments of technology through
enframing.

The Dangers of Technology

 The dangers of technology lie in how humans let themselves be consumed by
it.
 Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho: remarked that it is boastful for humans to
think that nature needs to be saved, whereas Mother Nature would remain
even if humans cease to exist.
o Hence, in facing the dangers of technology, the fear of disappearing
from the face of the Earth should concern people more potently than
the fear of the Earth disappearing.
 The correct response to the danger of technology is not simply dismissing
technology altogether.

Art as the Saving Power

 Friedrich Hölderlin (German poet) quoted by Heidegger, said: "But where
danger is, grows the saving power also"
o The saving power can be traced exactly where the danger is in the
essence of technology.
 Heidegger proposed art as the saving power and the way out of
enframing: "And art was simply called techne. It was a single, manifold
revealing"
 Heidegger saw art as an act of the mind.
o Art encourages humans to think less from a calculative standpoint.
Instead, it inspires meditative thinking where nature is seen as an art
and that, in all of art, nature is most poetic.

Questioning as the Piety of Thought

 The closer we come to the danger, the more brightly do the ways into the
saving power begin to shine and the more questioning we become. For
questioning is the piety of thought (1977, p. 19).
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 Heidegger underscored the importance of questioning in the midst of

technology.
 Questioning is the piety of thought. It is only through questioning that
humans are able to reassess their position not only in the midst of technology
around them, but also, and most importantly, in the grand scheme of things.
GE 7: STS Mid Terms Reviewer

Section 2: Human Flourishing in Progress and De-development

Human Flourishing in Progress

 Human flourishing is the term given to the ability to live a good life. It is the
result of living a virtuous and value-driven life.
o VanderWeele (2017) defines human flourishing as the effort of an
individual to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment not only for their
own but also other members of the community where one belongs
o Consists of a broad range of outcomes: mental, physical, and
emotional health and happiness and life satisfaction, meaning and
purpose in life, and close social relationships.
 Human person: a term commonly used in Philosophy to describe the
essence of humankind, or the meaning of being human.
o a human person will have satisfied the requisites of human flourishing:
 First, a human person is physical being, reaching a state of
overall health in mind, body, and spirit. This component requires
individual takes care of their body.
 Second, a human person is a knower, having used their
fundamental dispositions and characteristics as humans to be
aware, grow in knowledge, and pursue lifelong learning for the
sake of a full life.
 Third, a human person is a responsible agent, living a life of
full responsibility for their own actions, thoughts, feelings, and
emotions to impact change in their lives and enjoy the reward of
human flourishing.
 Finally, a human person is a person relation to other
persons, extending the fruits of a good life through community
participation, joyful friendships, happy family life, and fulfilling
and close relationships with significant others; to society; to
God; and to the end or purpose of human life.

Human Flourishing in De-development

 Despite efforts to close out the gap between poor and rich countries, the
growth gap keeps widening, a 2015 BBC report stated (Reuben, 2015).
o The report claimed that the widening of the growth gap slowed or fell
during the financial crisis and is now growing again.

Jason Hickel (Anthropologist at the London School of Economics)

 criticizes the failure of growth and development efforts dating back to seven
decades ago to eradicate poverty
 offers a nonconformist perspective towards growth and development in his
article titled, "Forget 'developing' poor countries, it's time to 'de-develop'
rich countries."\
 first development theorist, who advanced a radical view of addressing poverty
by dismissing "developing poor countries" approaches, and arguing the case
for "de-developing rich countries" approaches
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Hickel's "De-developing Rich Countries": Poiesis, Enframing, and the

Questions We Must Ask
 brought forth questions about whether we have done things "right" and, in this
process, challenged Western models of growth and development.
 Hickel argues against the need for "more growth," as this simply produced
more people living under the poverty threshold.
 Hickel introduces the idea that, to resolve the failure of the Western world to
bridge the economic gap, poor countries must not anymore "catch up" with
the rich ones, but rich ones must "catch down."
 Hickel radicalizes the approach to bridging the growth gap by introducing a
largely social one, that is, by "de- developing rich countries."