Science, Technology And Society

ITRODUCTION

As it becomes evident from historical observations, research was creation of the curiosity which is caused by the human nature. A lot of the discoveries that occurred in the ancient years were achieved by luck. After that they acquired experience and skills to explore more and more for new achievements. The acute interest on discovering new methods and ideas gave answers to questions which faced the society of each period. All this doubts could not be answered on their own. Some people had to make researches on specific subjects, they had to observe them and after a lot of work on it they had to present the result. They got experience on resolving problems of humanity and so science appeared. Nowadays, science is involved in every aspect of our life, even in subjects that we can not imagine. We can meet remarkable examples of scientific achievements in technology and also in society but they will be analyzed in the next chapters.

THE PHASES IN INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE

As the introduction prepared us for this, we can discern three different phases in the history of institutional development of science. If we put them in an order according to chronological interest that each phase has, we could say that the first one is the pre-science phase, the second is the science for gentlemen and the third is the phase of professional science. (Dr. Nedeva Maria, Lecture “The story of science”, 2006)

THE PRE- SCIENCE PHASE

The pre- science phase unrolled in the ancient years. In those years science appeared in Egypt, Greece, India, etc. These ancient researchers put the bases for the development of science and gave to the society very important information about astronomy, mathematics, physics and medicine. In this phase we could report that the ideas were not very systematic. The theoretical development was in a very low level and so was the development in mathematics. The importance of this phase was the primitive discoveries that took place. (Dr. Nedeva Maria, Lecture “The story of science”, 2006)

SCIENCE FOR GENTLEMEN

This period unrolls from the 15th to the 19th century, mainly in the Western and Northern Europe. The reason that this period was characterized as the science for gentlemen is because only wealthy, male could have a place in the Universities and generally in the scientific society. This phase is characterized by scientific theories and emerging practical orientation and relevance. They were many changes in the universities too. In this period lot of the universities which exist in our days were established then, for example The University of Manchester, The Cambridge University, The Oxford University, etc. (Dr. Nedeva Maria, Lecture “The story of science”, 2006)

THE PROFESSIONAL SCIENCE PHASE

This phase is characterized as professional because of the systematic way that everything functioned. Professional science unrolled from the 19th century until our days. Its main characteristic is the professional education which has a close relationship with the research and supports the creation of new scientists. In current period we can meet very complex institutions which are responsible of the most inventions all over the world. These institutions and all these scientific branches try to contribute to wealth creation and above all to the quality of life. Finally it is obvious that in this phase exists an increased demand for public support of science(Dr. Nedeva Maria, Lecture “The story of science”, 2006).

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

If science could be seen from a more general point of view we would be able to realize that science contains two different parts. The first is the theoretical part and the second is the practical part. The theoretical part is concerned with the knowledge and the principles which a scientist uses to understand an issue and give a possible solution to a problem. In order to get this possible solution scientist have to rely on principles which are already accepted in the society as reliable. These scientists work out the solution with the existing materials. The combination of the materials they have used and the knowledge they occupy will give something new. This new theory which scientists have discovered must be re- examined again and again to ensure that it does not have any theoretical fault. After this confirmation and before they give to the public their research it must be peer reviewed by specialists who compose the presidential commission. On the other hand “some scientists complain that, in practice, peer review stops critical science being disseminated” (Andy Rowell, The Guardian, 2003). There are a lot of different opinions in science and mainly on how science should work because of the chaotic issues it includes. So we could say that there is a justification about the confusion that exists.

The second part of science is the practical which deals with the transformation of theory in deed. After we confirm that the theoretical part works successfully we have to step into the practical part. In this part scientists work in laboratories. They have to check out if they can achieve the desired result in reality. They have to make experiments to ensure that what they have done can work without putting anyone in danger. After the scientists get the proof they need, comes the part of demonstrating their product to the presidential commission and get approval of their work. Finally, when they get the approval, their product can be published and used by those interested.

Generally in science we can meet people who are interested