Nature of Science: Its Effects on Technology and Society

Science technology and society: What is the true nature of science?
© 2014 by MyInfoBasket.com

People ought not to forget science’s most powerful and feared arsenals: the Atomic, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons. These weapons of mass destruction that are still idly waiting to be used may (or will) one day easily destroy everything and anything in the biosphere, including human beings

THERE WAS NO FEELING of global warming then, but just the same, he was finding comfort in immersing his body in water anyhow. But when the idea came to Archimedes how to test the gold crown of the king for fraudulent admixture of silver, he is said to have leaped out of his bath-tub and run naked down the streets of Syracuse (Sicily), shouting “Eureka”, which means “I have found it!”

The water, being displaced by his body, overflowed when the famed Greek inventor immersed himself in the bath-tub. He thus realized that silver mixed with the gold of a crown of a given weight would increase its bulk and so cause the crown to displace more water than that one of pure gold.

Of course, running naked on the street (except during the ‘oblation run’ in the University of the Philippines, perhaps) is scandalous, if not necessarily illegal. But it’s understandable that people get delighted when they find out through science the basis of some natural phenomenon. Who would not be, especially nowadays that various awesome technical advances have been consequently brought about by science.

Science technology and society: The beauty of science

Paulinus F. Forsthoefel, in his book Religious Faith Meets Modern Science (Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1995, pp. 4-5) vibrantly illustrates what science has achieved so far:

“… the discovery of materials with semiconductor properties led to the preparation of micro-chips and these in turn to the invention of computers. Computers made possible round-trips to the moon and a host of applications in all aspects of modern life. Imagine the amazement and wonder of one of our ancestors brought back to life as he or she surveys all the tools provided for man’s well-being by modern technology. Night is banished by electric lights, distant events are brought into home by TV via satellites, food is preserved fresh in an electric refrigerator and quickly prepared in a microwave oven, travel to Paris for a shopping tour is made possible by supersonic jet, and so forth and so on.”

In fact, at the dawn of the 21st Century, science is said to have transcended the boarders of human understanding and expanded our knowledge of the things that were once unknown, making everything easier, faster, lighter, and better.

Scientific studies about human beings have given a monumental progress for Medicine and Surgery; diseases that were once incurable have become easily cured, and even changing parts of man’s body has been made possible. The modern facilities of communication have made contact between people who are miles apart easily patched within seconds.

Misgivings about Science

Does it mean however, as some science practitioners contend, that science is the only valid road to knowledge? Does science have the monopoly in explaining all man needs to understand? But isn’t claiming that equivalent to saying that “eureka” can only be uttered inside the bath-tub?

Furthermore, people ought not to forget science’s most powerful and feared arsenals: the Atomic, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons. These weapons of mass destruction that are still idly waiting to be used may (or will) one day easily destroy everything and anything in the biosphere, including human beings.

Yes, science may have had shown capabilities of healing and creating—but equally evident is its capacity for mass killing and destroying. This is a crucial issue in the topic science technology and society.

For now we are safe, but for how long? … continue reading

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Related: Scientism: The worship of god named science

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