Chapter Outline

Technology and Science

Science and technology have had both a positive and a negative impact on human society, especially with regards to the following areas:

• community life
• work
• health
• communication

Community Life

• The shift from nomadic life to farming life led to the development of the city—a technological phenomenon with many facets, including networks of transportation, communication, and trade systems.
• The nineteenth century witnessed the Industrial Revolution, which was made possible by the invention of textile manufacturing machines. New machinery led to an increase in production and a division of labor.
• The twentieth century saw the birth of suburbs. The invention of the trolley car and automobile made it possible for people to commute from their homes outside of the city to their jobs in the city.

Work

• Technological innovations saved physical energy and lessened the amount of work people had to do.
• The concept of leisure developed from labor-saving technology. People no longer had to use all their time and energy for basic survival but could relax and have fun when their work was over.
• Today many people work in order to take advantage of leisure—earning money for the purchase of material goods and entertainment events.

Health

• The greatest innovation of technology was longevity. The human life span increased from 47 years to 77 years over the last century.
• A large part of technology has been dedicated to the advancement of medical science—development of vaccines, anesthesia, and antibiotics.
• Some current innovations, such as cloning, could have a drastic impact on society.

Communication

Since the time of writing, inventions and innovations in communication have had a major influence on society. Some scholars believe that evolving means of communication were the key elements in the development of all the great ancient societies:

• Egypt was transformed by papyrus and written hieroglyphics.
• Ancient Babylonia used cuneiform writing to develop a sophisticated economic system.
• The Ancient Greeks’ love of the spoken word led them to perfect public speaking, persuasive rhetoric, drama, and philosophy for the administration of their empire.
• The Romans developed an unparalleled system of government that depended on the Roman alphabet.
• The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1400s led to the advancement of reading and knowledge that is characteristic of modern society.
• The development of the World Wide Web revolutionized the way society interacts.

Progress

• Progress can be defined as a series of improvements in human life marked by inventions and discoveries.
• Progress can only be achieved if the positive attributes of technological innovation are greater than the negative attributes.
• Two potentially negative consequences of progress are the destruction of the environment and the loss of what it means to be human.