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 FAILURE

Success: 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 posttraditional , 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 TECHNOLOGY

STS 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 TECHNOLOGY

Science studies, a branch of the sociology of scientific
knowledge that 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 the history of
medicine.

 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 AND TECH. INNOVATION

The technological innovation system is a concept developed
within the scientific field of innovation studies which serves to
explain the nature and rate of technological 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 a technology in the sense of a knowledge field, to
a product or an artefact, or to a set of related products
and artifacts 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 CHEMISTRY

Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and
interactions of all biological and non-biological components of
foods. The biological substances include such items
as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, and milk as examples. It is
similar to biochemistry in its main components such
as carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, but it also includes areas
such
as
water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, food
additives, flavours, and colours.

STRUCTURE OF GLUCOSE;

NICOTINE STRUCTURE

EFFECT OF NICOTINE;

 This discipline also encompasses how products change under

certain food 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 dairy products
with microorganisms that convert lactose to lactic acid; an
example of preventing a process would be stopping the
browning on
the
surface
of
freshly
cut Red
Delicious apples using lemon juice or other acidulated water.

WATER IN FOOD SYSTEMS

A major component of food is water, which can encompass

anywhere
from
50%
in meat products
to
95%
in lettuce, cabbage, and tomato products. It is also an excellent
place for bacterial growth and food spoilage if it is not properly
processed. One way this is measured in food is by water
activity which is very important in the shelf life of many foods
during processing.

 One of the keys to food preservation in most instances is

reduce the amount of water or alter the water's
characteristics to enhance shelf-life. Such methods
include dehydration ,freezing , and refrigeration This
field encompasses the "physiochemical principles of the
reactions and conversions that occur during the
manufacture, handling, and storage of foods.

USE IN AGRICULTURE
Agricultural engineering is the engineering discipline that
applies engineering
science
and
technology
to agricultural production
and
processing. Agricultural
engineering
combines
the
disciplines
of mechanical, civil, electrical and chemical engineering
principles with a knowledge of agricultural principles. design
of agricultural
machinery,
equipment,
and
agricultural structures.
internal combustion engines as applied to agricultural

INITIAL RESPONSES
Society 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 Asia
US 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 MOTIVATIONS

1. 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 SOCIETY
Study 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

1945 1960 ;

Dormant concern
Emerging affluence via S&T
Increasing 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.