Importance of science and technology studies in contemporary society

Importance of science and technology studies in contemporary society

Prepared by; Mr. Sagar P. Patoliya AND Mr. Dodiya Chirag

Importance of science and tech.Science, technology and society (STS), also referred to as science and technology studies, is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture. STS scholars are interested in a variety of problems including the relationships between scientific and technological innovations and society, and the directions and risks of science and technology. Diagram of science and technology

What is relation between s & t ?Science and technology are intimately bound up with the three leading concern of contemporary society military ,economics, and medical significance national competitiveness factor . The unfolding of developments has raised important social issues.Human success and failureSuccess: discovery of the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) , the green revolution , antibiotics, the conformation of big bang theory.Failures : Bhopal , chemobyl, space shuttle disaster , DDT, building collapse , air disaster etc . Due to irresponsible scientific and technological practices. Determination the factor contributing to such successes and failure is worthwhile intellectual endeavour.Image of ddt

Threats of human survival:Understanding the condition that lead to the creation and irresponsible use of potent products that pose threat on human survival in order to prevent their production and diffusion is both an urgent and difficult task.

ETHICAL DILEMMAS :

the ethical conflicts posed by science and technology based dilemmas requires careful analysis and technology applied to euthanasia . The lessons they teach about problematic aspects established ethical ideas and assumption and related social practices in face of rapid , potent scientific and technological change must be absorbed so that appropriate changes can be made.

Transplantation of bone marrow

Disparities in human well being ;

Understanding the genesis of the gap and developing effective strategies for decreasing it are clearly issues of great intellectual and practical importance . The existence of glaring disparities and the widespread belief that science and technology resources will be required diminish them is great reason that such forces (gap)have taken on growing social importance.

Social conflict:Society capacity is taxed on conflict resolution . Institutional mechanisms are required of conflict resolution.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ROLES:The social importance of science and technology studies lie on the social and cultural roles that the afore mentioned force.

Science:Combating irrationality . Science is assigned the task of weaning the populace from superstition irrational belief and behaviour. Science had been the pre-eminent source of cognitive authority. The demand for standards , guidelines and principles put upon science in contemporary society is the obverse of conditions faced by classical workers like Galileo.Empirical finding is upheld over a priori proposition say of church.

Cell, chromosome and dna;

Dna strand;

Technology :-

The role of technology in contemporary society is more of sustaining the private corporation and hope that benefits would trickle down to society at large . Technology as the source of personal identify in post-traditional , achievement oriented society.Technology has created sociological issues on social integration and stratification i.e. , used to counteract centrifugal tendencies (e.g. the weakened bounds of family and community) characteristics of a large scale highly mobile twentieth century societies.History of science and technologySTS is a new and expanding subject. Like most interdisciplinary programs, it emerged from the confluence of a variety of disciplines and disciplinary subfields, all of which had developed an interesttypically, during the 1960s or 1970sin viewing science and technology as socially embedded enterprises.[citation needed] In 2011, 111 STS programs were counted.History and philosophy of science (1960s). After the publication of Thomas Kuhn's well-known The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which attributed changes in scientific theories to changes in underlying intellectual paradigms, programs were founded at the University of California, Berkeley and elsewhere that brought historians of science and philosophers together in unified programs.Science, technology, and society In the mid- to late-1960s, student and faculty social movements in the U.S., UK, and European universities helped to launch a range of new interdisciplinary fields (such as women's studies) that were seen to address relevant topics that the traditional curriculum ignored. One such development was the rise of "science, technology, and society" programs, which are alsoconfusinglyknown by the STS acronym. Drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, history, political science, and sociology, scholars in these programs created undergraduate curricula devoted to exploring the issues raised by science and technology. Unlike scholars in science studies, history of technology, or the history and philosophy of science, they were and are more likely to see themselves as activists working for change rather than dispassionate, "ivory tower" researchers. Terms of science and technologyScience studies, a branch of thesociology of scientific knowledgethat places scientific controversies in their social context.History of technology, that examines technology in its social and historical context. Starting in the 1960s, some historians questioned technological determinism, a doctrine that can induce public passivity to technologic and scientific 'natural' development. At the same time, some historians began to develop similarly contextual approaches to thehistory of medicine.

History and philosophy of science(1960s). After the publication ofThomas Kuhn's well-knownThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions(1962), which attributed changes in scientific theories to changes in underlying intellectualparadigms, programs were founded at the University of California, Berkeley and elsewhere that brought historians of science and philosophers together in unified programs

Science and tech. innovationThetechnological innovation systemis a concept developed within the scientific field ofinnovationstudies which serves to explain the nature and rate oftechnological change.A Technological Innovation System can be defined as a dynamic network of agents interacting in a specific economic/industrial area under a particular institutional infrastructure and involved in the generation, diffusion, and utilization of technology.The approach may be applied to at least three levels of analysis: to atechnologyin the sense of a knowledge field, to aproductor an artefact, or to a set of related products andartifacts aimed at satisfying a particular (societal) function.With respect to the latter, the approach has especially proven itself in explaining why and how sustainable (energy) technologies have developed and diffused into a society, or have failed to do so.Technology factors :Technological structures consist of artefacts and the technological infrastructures in which they are integrated. They also involve the techno-economic workings of such artifacts, including costs, safety, reliability. These features are crucial for understanding the feedback mechanisms between technological change and institutional change. For example, if R&D subsidy schemes supporting technology development should result in improvements with regard to the safety and reliability of applications, this would pave the way for more elaborate support schemes, including practical demonstrations. These may, in turn, benefit technological improvements even more. It should, however, be noted here that the importance of technological features has often been neglected by scholars. The structural factors are merely the elements that make up the system. In an actual system, these factors are all linked to each other. If they form dense configurations they are called networks. An example would be a coalition of firms jointly working on the application of a fuel cell, guided by a set of problem-solving routines and supported by a subsidy program.

Use in food chemistryFood chemistryis the study ofchemicalprocesses and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items asmeat,poultry,lettuce,beer, andmilkas examples. It is similar tobiochemistryin its main components such ascarbohydrates,lipids, andprotein, but it also includes areas such as water,vitamins,minerals,enzymes,food additives,flavours, andcolours.Structure of glucose;

Nicotine structure

Effect of nicotine;

This discipline also encompasses how products change under certainfood processing techniques and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from happening. An example of enhancing a process would be to encourage fermentation of dairyproducts withmicroorganismsthat convertlactosetolactic acid; an example of preventing a process would be stopping the browningon the surface of freshly cutRed Deliciousapplesusinglemonjuice or otheracidulated water.Water in food systems

A major component of food is water, which can encompass anywhere from 50% inmeatproducts to 95% inlettuce,cabbage, andtomato products. It is also an excellent place forbacterialgrowth and food spoilage if it is not properly processed. One way this is measured in food is bywater activity which is very important in the shelf life of many foods during processing. One of the keys tofood preservationin most instances is reduce the amount of water or alter the water's characteristics to enhance shelf-life. Such methods includedehydration ,freezing , andrefrigerationThis field encompasses the"physiochemical principles of the reactions and conversions that occur during the manufacture, handling, and storage of foods.

Use in agricultureAgricultural engineeringis the engineering discipline that appliesengineering science and technology toagriculturalproduction and processing. Agricultural engineering combines the disciplines ofmechanical,civil,electricalandchemicalengineering principles with a knowledge of agricultural principles. design ofagricultural machinery, equipment, and agriculturalstructures.internal combustion enginesas applied to agricultural machinery.

Initial ResponsesSociety at Large 1969-US-National Environmental : impact statements before proceeding with public or private projects requiring planning permission or state funding of any kind of state license, permission or aid.

Complementary Legislation: 1970 STS became the Focus of heightened governmental concern.

1970 Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) charged with protecting workers against dangerous or unhealthy work environments. 1972 US Congress passed the Technology Assessment Act creating the office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to supply congress with policy issues information containing scientific or technological components.

1993 Arab oil embargo forced society to consider alternative energy sources: wind, tidal, geothermal, solar and other soft path energy technologies to conserve energy and environmental/financial resources.Debate on Appropriate Technology for Third World countries.

The Acadernic World Mixed beliefs from critical thinking to balanced consideration on the impact of S&T on society. Perceived as interdisciplinary. STS became an innovative from of liberal education appropriate for the technological era. Belief - that STS will guide future decisions in law, business, education, engineering, science and journalism.

Survival and Consolidation

1970 increase in STS matters due to episodes of controversial scientific and technological developments ,e.g. Malfunctioning of the US defense computer system , the birth of the worlds first lest tube baby.Little opposition of s & t in society and academia due to the emergence of NICs of AsiaUS Strategic Defense initiative/star Wars program ; first artificial heart transplants; labor displacement due to automation.US Strategic Defense initiative/star Wars program ; first artificial heart transplants; labor displacement due to automation.STS received new impetus from philanthropic foundation efforts to promote basic grasp of scientific, technological and mathematical thinking and methods among nontechnical college and university students.

Two fold Motivations1.Technical Literacy to precondition enhanced public understanding of technology and science, something essential for realizing meaningful participatory democracy in the contemporary era.2. Economic motive The deteriorating levels of mathematical and scientific learning in American society at large are believed to jeopardize future American economic competitiveness.The potency , complexity ,and rapidity of development of the aforementioned forces in contemporary society, coupled with the scope, magnitudes and often controversial nature of social changes associated with them had made STS concern and activity a vital and perhaps permanent feature of the contemporary social and intellectual landscapes.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY : A NEW FIELD OF STUDY;The increasing recognition of the growing importance of science and technology in contemporary society during the last two decades led to the birth of STS as new academic field.

Study of the interaction of science, Technology and societyStudy of the contributions of S&T to the transformation of social institutions like work and the family; on economic growth and international affairs & ethical issues posed by scientific and technological innovations. On the one hand, S&T as affected by social factors such as ideology , political and economic forces ,and cultural values.

Internal the studies of phenomena such as the general natures and interrelationships of science and technology ,the social structures and rewards systems of the progressions of science and engineering ,and social aspects of everyday scientific and technological activity.

External the initiation and socialization of new scientists into the scientific community ,as well as the adoption of proposed changes in theory and practice.

THE RISE OF S & t A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ;The rise is pervasive , potent and problematic .Social responsibility of scientists and engineers.

1945 Manhattan project Culminating to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings Robert Open hairnet Director acknowledged the radially altered relationship of science , technology and society spawned by the atomic age: the physicist have know sin.

1945 1960 ;

Dormant concernEmerging affluence via S&TIncreasing role of government in funding scientific and technological work - served to suppress the issues on the negative effects of S&T.

Development of the H bomb and its deployment for possible use with the USSR and china brought new concerns.

Precipitating Factors Twin Crises of War and Environment;1960 Rachel Carson silent spring brought public awareness on environmental concerns. Vietnam War precipitated social protest .implicated S&T.

Toxic chemical waste disposal ,oil ring & tanker spillage ,strip mining ,agent orange, napalm , anti-personnel bombs and other untoward incidences debited to S&T.