Science, Technology and Society

INTRODUCTION

Science, technology and society (STS), is an offshoot of science studies. It is also

referred to as science and technology studies. It tackles how how social, political, and
cultural values influence scientific research and technological innovation, and how these,
in turn, affect society, politics and culture. It also delves on the contemporary world and
how modern scientific knowledge breeds new inventions and discoveries which give us a
glimpse of what the future promises for humanity.

Our immense knowledge about science and technology serves a strong fundament
that makes the intertwining relationship of the ancient civilization and the modern society
visible and through the lenses of the present world that we can take a quantum leap of
projecting the wonders of the post-modern world.

As we come across into the different settings of the study, we will become adept
dissecting the social and cultural facets of modern science and technology with the
social, political, economic, and cultural landscapes of change and development.

Science Technology and Society (STS) teaching and learning modules intend to
provide a spark for rekindling students’ interest in learning science. Moreover, these
modules seek to instil among the students of valuing the relevance of science in everyday
life.
STS is a multidisciplinary scientific field which embodies a thorough understanding of
relevant issues about climate change and the genesis of nanotechnology as it makes
revolutionary advances across medicine, communications, robotics, agriculture and
human evolution.
Science, Technology and Society

Learning Engagement1 of the module deals with an overview of what Science and
technology is on various perspectives. It also present the historical development of science
and technology from the ancient to the modern civilization.
Learning Engagement 2 of the module is about science, technology, and society
and the human condition. It present some philosophical thoughts on the impact of
science and technology towards living a good life.
Learning Engagement 3 are special topics that are relevant to the living condition
of the present society. The module deals with the flourishing virtual society, advancement
in gene therapy, the status of Philippine biodiversity, the wonders of nanoworld and the
global issue on climate change.
This module was designed to adopt the blended learning approach in teaching STS
amidst the unfortunate circumstance of teaching the students via online and distance
learning.
This is aligned with the course SCITES1 – SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY,
offered as general education subject in Science to be taken by the students across all
courses all programs.
This course discusses how science has influenced human society and vice-versa. It
examines the interaction between the human quest to understand the natural world and
how this understanding has fashioned society and its development.
Moreover, the course offer the students a taste of interdisciplinarity - the weaving
together – of two or more disciplines to come up with a deeper understanding of the
course in particular and the world in general. Its three units contain discussions on history,
philosophy and science.
It is hoped that by the end of the course, students have instilled appreciation of the
different contributions of science and technology in various facets of their lives without
compromising the integrity of their environment.
And as a culmination of their understanding of the course, the students are required
to generate a scientific research related to science and technology which merely tackles
present issues coexisting with the human society and the environment.
Science, Technology and Society

Learning Engagement 1

SCIENCE AND T ECHNOLOGY: An Overview

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS: A Glimpse

H
Introduction

Science may not be a magic wand that can create miracles but it makes
wonders beyond expectations.
Technology on the other hand is almost a perfect masterpiece that reflects the
ingenuity of the human minds.
Both are essential for man to live and exist. Science and technology have enabled
man to look further than our planet. It had shrunk the world and put it on our hands. It has
defied borders among nations yet it has forged inequality among people.
Science and technology made a great influence on our daily lives. Science and
technology made a great impact to the society. Science and technology created a
great advantage on world affairs. And the impact intensifies as time flies.
Science and technology has evolved to supremacy that it became the elixir and
oasis of man’s existence.
It is through science and technology that we are becoming more capable without
realizing that we become more dependent on it. Co-dependency may be mutual yet we
are being posed by the thought that we could not live without it anymore.
The question is - are humans dependent on science and technology? or
is science and technology dependent on humans?
For most, science and technology had dispersed pieces of heaven, but for some it
disposed bits of hell.
Science, Technology and Society

Section 1: Introduction to STS: An Overview

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. discussed various perspectives related to science and technology;

2. explained how knowledge in science and technology transformed society;
3. assessed how discoveries and inventions related to S & T that influenced the
society in the different facets of their lives.

Lesson Proper

Definitions of Science

Science is any system of knowledge that is

concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and
that entails unbiased observations and systematic
experimentation. In general, a science involves a pursuit of
knowledge covering general truths or the operations of (Source: creation.com)

fundamental laws. (britannica.com)

Science (from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge"), is a systematic
enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and
predictions about the universe. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science)
Science is the concerted human effort to understand, or to understand
better, the history of the natural world and how the natural world works, with observable

Source: googleusercontent.com
Science, Technology and Society

physical evidence as the basis of that understanding1. It is done through observation of

natural phenomena, and/or through experimentation that tries to simulate natural
processes under controlled conditions.

Science from an Individual Perspective

In most cases, people collect information to test new ideas or to disprove old ones.
Scientists become famous for discovering new things that change how we think about
nature, whether the discovery is a new species of dinosaur or a new way in which atoms
bond. Many scientists find their greatest joy in a previously unknown fact (a discovery) that
explains something problem previously not explained, or that overturns some previously
accepted idea.
That's the answer based on noble principles, and it probably explains why many
people go into science as a career. On a pragmatic level, people also do science to earn
their pay checks. Professors at most universities and many colleges are expected as part
of their contractual obligations of employment to do research that makes new
contributions to knowledge. If they don't, they lose their jobs, or at least they get lousy
raises.
Scientists also work for corporations and are paid to generate new knowledge
about how a particular chemical affects the growth of soybeans or how petroleum forms
deep in the earth. These scientists get paid better, but they may work in obscurity because
the knowledge they generate is kept secret by their employers for the development of
new products or technologies
Science from the Societal Perspective
If the ideas above help explain why individuals do science, one might still wonder
why societies and nations pay those individuals to do science. Why does a society devote
some of its resources to this business of developing new knowledge about the natural
world, or what has motivated these scientists to devote their lives to developing this new
knowledge?
One realm of answers lies in the desire to improve people's lives. Geneticists trying to
understand how certain conditions are passed from generation to generation and
biologists tracing the pathways by which diseases are transmitted are clearly seeking
Science, Technology and Society

information that may better the lives of very ordinary people. Earth scientists developing
better models for the prediction of weather or for the prediction of earthquakes,
landslides, and volcanic eruptions are likewise seeking knowledge that can help avoid the
hardships that have plagued humanity for centuries. Any society concerned about the
welfare of its people, which is at the least any democratic society, will support efforts like
these to better people's lives.
Another realm of answers lies in a society's desires for economic development.
Many earth scientists devote their work to finding more efficient or more effective ways to
discover or recover natural resources like petroleum and ores. Plant scientists seeking
strains or species of fruiting plants for crops are ultimately working to increase the
agricultural output that nutritionally and literally enriches nations. Chemists developing
new chemical substances with potential technological applications and physicists
developing new phenomena like superconductivity are likewise developing knowledge
that may spur economic development. In a world where nations increasingly view
themselves as caught up in economic competition, support of such science is nothing less
than an investment in the economic future.
Another whole realm of answers lies in humanity's increasing control over our planet
and its environment. Much science is done to understand how the toxins and wastes of
our society pass through our water, soil, and air, potentially to our own detriment. Much
science is also done to understand how changes that we cause in our atmosphere and
oceans may change the climate in which we live and that controls our sources of food
and water. In a sense, such science seeks to develop the owner's manual that human
beings will need as they increasingly, if unwittingly, take control of the global ecosystem
and a host of local ecosystems.
Lastly, societies support science because of simple curiosity and because of the
satisfaction and enlightenment that come from knowledge of the world around us. Few
of us will ever derive any economic benefit from knowing that the starlight we see in a
clear night sky left those stars thousands and even millions of years ago, so that we
observe such light as messengers of a very distant past. However, the awe, perspective,
and perhaps even serenity derived from that knowledge is very valuable to many of us.
Science, Technology and Society

Likewise, few of us will derive greater physical well-being from watching a flowing
stream and from reflecting on the hydrologic cycle through which that stream's water has
passed, from the distant ocean to the floating clouds of our skies to the rains and storms
upstream and now to the river channel at which we stand. However, the sense of
interconnectedness that comes from such knowledge enriches our understanding of our
world, and of our lives, in a very valuable way. In recognizing that the light of the sun and
the water of a well are not here solely because we profit from their presence, we
additionally gain an analogy from which we can recognize that the people in the world
around us are not here solely to conform to our wishes and needs. When intangible
benefits like these are combined with the more tangible ones outlined above, it's no
wonder that most modern societies support scientific research for the improvement of our
understanding of the world around us.
Science and Change
If scientists are constantly trying to make new discoveries or to develop new
concepts and theories, then the body of knowledge produced by science should
undergo constant change. Such change is progress toward a better understanding of
nature. It is achieved by constantly questioning whether our current ideas are correct. As
the famous American astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) put it, "Question everything".

(Source: asianscientist.com)

The result is that theories come and go, or at least are modified through time, as old
ideas are questioned and new evidence is discovered. In the words of Karl Popper,
"Science is a history of corrected mistakes", and even Albert Einstein remarked of himself
"That fellow Einstein . . . every year retracts what he wrote the year before". Many scientists
have remarked that they would like to return to life in a few centuries to see what new
knowledge and new ideas have been developed by then - and to see which of their own
Science, Technology and Society

century's ideas have been discarded. Our ideas today should be compatible with all the
evidence we have, and we hope that our ideas will survive the tests of the future.
However, any look at history forces us to realize that the future is likely to provide new
evidence that will lead to at least somewhat different interpretations.
Some scientists become sufficiently ego-involved that they refuse to accept new
evidence and new ideas. In that case, in the words of one pundit, "science advances
funeral by funeral". However, most scientists realize that today's theories are probably the
future's outmoded ideas, and the best we can hope is that our theories will survive with
some tinkering and fine-tuning by future generation
The notion that scientific ideas change, and should be expected to change, is
sometimes lost on the more vociferous critics of science. One good example is the Big
Bang theory. Every new astronomical discovery seems to prompt someone to say "See, the
Big Bang theory didn't predict that, so the whole thing must be wrong". Instead, the
discovery prompts a change, usually a minor one, in the theory. However, once the
astrophysicists have tinkered with the theory's details enough to account for the new
discovery, the critics then say "See, the Big Bang theory has been discarded". Instead, it's
just been modified to account for new data, which is exactly what we've said ought to
happen through time to any scientific idea. (gly.uga.edu)

Definitions of Technology

(Source: encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.c 1)

Etymology The word technology comes from two Greek words,

transliterated techne and logos. Techne means art, skill, craft, or the
way, manner, or means by which a thing is gained. Logos means
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word, the utterance by which inward thought is expressed, a saying,

or an expression. So, literally, technology means words or discourse
about the way things are gained.

Contemporary Lately, technology has come to mean something different. In one

Usage respect, the term has come to mean something narrower -- the
above definition would admit art or politics as means of gain, yet
though those activities are permeated by technology now, most of
us would not consider them to be examples or subsets of
technology. In another respect, this definition is too narrow, for when
most of us speak of technology today, we mean more than just
discourse about means of gain.

Working In this essay I will refer to technology in five different senses. Following
Definitions are some working definitions.

the First, technology is the rational process of creating means to order

technological and transform matter, energy, and information to realize certain
process valued ends. The significance of this definition will become clearer
below.

technological Second, technology is the set of means (tools, devices, systems,

objects methods, procedures) created by the technological process.
Technological objects range from toothbrushes to transportation
systems.

technological Third, technology is the knowledge that makes the technological

knowledge process possible. It consists of the facts and procedures necessary to
order and manipulate matter, energy, and information, as well as
how to discover new means for such transformations.
Science, Technology and Society

a technology Fourth, a technology is a subset of related technological objects

and knowledge. Computer technology and medical technology
are examples of technologies.

the Finally, technology is the system consisting of the technological

technological process, technological objects, technological knowledge,
system developers of technological objects, users of technological objects,
and the worldview (i.e., the beliefs about things and the value of
things that shape how one views the world) that has emerged from
and drives the technological process. (engr.oregonstate.edu)

(Source: https://cdn1.byjus.com/wp-conten 1)

Nine Inventions from the 21st Century That Are Still Shaping Our World Today
Source: Donovan Alexander
interestingengineering.com

The 21st century has been an exciting time for those of us who dabble or are simply
interested in the realms of technology. If you were born in any of the previous decades,
you have had the opportunity to bear witness to some of the most important innovations
and advancements in human history.
Science, Technology and Society

1. SOCIAL MEDIA
Ok, let’s start with the more obvious and
controversial one, social media. You might have
grown tired of seeing your friends' countless
posts or the constant threats to your own
privacy but at one point
(Source: alexsl/iStock)

Social media held a truly exciting promise,

to connect people across the world. Tools like Friendster and MySpace entered the scene
in 2002 and 2003 respectively, opening the doors for the eventual giant Facebook.
Social media is everywhere. There is a good chance that you read this post from our
social media page. Social media does connect people and businesses across continents,
is a hub for both great and useless information, and has even been a stage for major
political movements.
Just to put everything into scale, there are currently 7.5 billion people on this planet
and 2.89 billion of them can be found on some sort of social media platform. Social media
is going to be around for a while.

2. MULTI-USE ROCKETS

Hate him or love him, Elon Musk has made some

tremendous contributions to our planet. His company
SpaceX has gone on to develop rockets that can be
recovered and reused for other launches. It was in
2017 when SpaceX became the first to use one of
these rockets again for another mission.
(Source: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-c 1)
Science, Technology and Society

3. THE CAPSULE ENDOSCOPY

All thanks to massive advancements in light-emitting electrodes, image sensors, and
optical design in the 90s, the capsule
endoscopy was able to be created. First used
in 2001, the technology uses a tiny wireless
camera the size of a common pill.
This allows doctors to explore and
examine the human body, specifically the
digestive system, to identify any potential
Internal bleeding, inflammation, or cancerous
tumors. (Source: CHUYN/iStock 1)

4. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
The idea of a blockchain did not first appear in 2008. In fact, Stuart Haber and W.
Scott Stornetta first envisioned the idea in 1991. However, it was not until the emergence of
Bitcoin in 2008 when blockchain technology truly became relevant. People around the
world are excited about blockchain as it has the potential to change industries outside of
the cryptocurrency world.
From car-sharing to cloud sharing,
blockchain technology offers greater
transparency increased efficiency and speed,
improved traceability, and enhanced
security just to name a few benefits.

(Source: https://miro.medium.com/max/974/ 1)
Science, Technology and Society

5. BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Remember last year when you could not
go one day without seeing or hearing about
cryptocurrencies? Bitcoin’s unprecedented rise
in value force the world to pay attention to
these decentralized tools. There were previous
attempts to create cryptocurrencies in the late
90s, but it was the mysterious Mr. Nakamoto
and his creation of Bitcoin that would go on to
(Source: pcmag.com 1) become a staple of culture.
Cryptocurrencies are already changing the way we conduct financial transactions
offering a transparent, secure, and decentralized way to conduct business.
6. MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEMS
Imagine where you
would be without that smooth
and easy to use operating
systems found on your phone.
Whether you love Android or
Apple’s iOS, operating
systems change your mobile
device’s interface for the
better, opening the doors to
Better user experiences and (Source: hocus-focus/iStock 1)
greater technological advances.

7. 3D PRINTING
One of our personal favorites, 3D printing has a lot of hype around it because of its
potential to disrupt everything from the food industry to the aerospace industry. In fact,
there are a lot of examples of how that has already begun. Now, 3D printing is not
completely new to the 21st century.
Science, Technology and Society

(Source: https://pegus.digital/wp-content 1)

8. GENE EDITING / CRISPR

The fascinating thing about gene editing is that it has played a big role in various
aspects of science fiction before coming into fruition. Back in 2012, researchers from the
University of California, Berkeley and a separate team from Harvard, as well as the Broad
Institute, independently discovered the power of the bacterial immune system known as
clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic
repeats or CRISPR.
(Source: https://factbasedhealth.com/wp-c 1)

9. THE INTERNET OF THINGS

This is probably another buzzword that you hear

thrown around a lot. Originally conceived towards the
end of 1999 by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy,
we would go on to see the real application of IoT in

our consumer devices and

appliances in the 21st century. Yet,
the IoT has the potential to unlock
the “fourth industrial revolution”
driving innovation in places like
artificial intelligence and robotics.
(Source: 4x-image/iStock 1)
Science, Technology and Society

Synthesis

Assessment

I. Cite the advantage and disadvantage of the given inventions of the 21st Century. Two
(2) points for every sensible and realistic answer.

INVENTIONS ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE

1. Social Media

2. Multi-use Rockets
3. The Endoscopy Capsule
4. Blockchain Technology
5. Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrencies
6. Mobile Operating
Systems
7. 3D Printing
8. Gene Editing/CRISPR
9. The Internet of Things
Science, Technology and Society

II. Essay:
Guide Questions:
o Cite one (1) problem related to science and technology that is faced by the
human race today.
o Come up with two (2) scientific solutions for the problem.
o Are the solutions proposed ethical? How can we manage then ethical
dilemmas in science and technology?

Criteria for the essay:

Numeric
Rating Evaluation Criteria
An important main idea is clearly stated.
17-20 Supporting details are relevant and convincing.
How the evidence supports the main idea is clear, reasonable, and
explained in detail.
A main idea is stated.
14-16 Supporting details are mostly relevant.
How the evidence supports the main idea is mostly clear and
reasonable.
Some explanation is given.
A main idea is not stated or is not correct.
Supporting details are not relevant or are missing.
10-13 How the evidence supports the main idea is not clear, not
reasonable, and/or not explained

*A deduction of 1 point for every item not observed.

Reference: www.learningsciences.com/bookresource
Performance Assessment © 2015 Learning Sciences International
Science, Technology and Society

Section 2: Historical Antecedents: A Glimpse

Introduction

Human civilization had prospered in the ancient times out of necessity for survival
and the endowed talent and skills of the people.
Science and Technology has been around from the beginning of time. It evolved
from the everyday efforts of people trying to improve their way of life. Throughout history,
humankind has developed and utilized tools, machines, and techniques without
understanding how or why they worked or comprehending their physical or chemical
composition
Science and technology have had an immeasurable influence on the formation of
our understanding of the world, our view of society, and our outlook on nature. The wide
variety of technologies and science discoveries produced by humanity has led to the
building and development of the civilizations of each age, stimulated economic growth,
raised people’s standards of living, encouraged cultural development, and many other
human activities.
The impact of science and technology on modern society is broad and wide-
ranging, influencing such areas as politics, medicine, transportation, agriculture,
communications, and many more. The fruits of science and technology fill every corner of
our lives.

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. discussed how ancient inventions and discoveries changed the world over the
course of history;
2. explained how these ancient inventions and discoveries made their impacts to
the cultural, political and economic perspectives of the people;
3. discussed the scientific and technological developments in the Philippines.
Science, Technology and Society

Lesson Proper

ANCIENT TIMES
In the ancient times, people were concerned with transportation and navigation,
communication and record-keeping, mass production, security and protection, health
aesthetics, and agriculture.

SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
Sumer was the southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq and
Kuwait) which is generally considered the cradle of civilization.
The name comes from Akkadian, the language of the north of Mesopotamia, and
means “land of the civilized kings”. The Sumerians called themselves “the black headed
people” and their land, in cuneiform script, was simply “the land” or “the land of the black
headed people” and, in the biblical Book of Genesis, Sumer is known as Shinar.
Science, Technology and Society

The Sumerians lived from 3500 B.C. – 2000 B.C.

although other sources say that the civilization
started as early as 3000 B.C

Way of Living
The Sumerians built small square houses built of
mud. The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia or the
Fertile Crescent. This area is between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers and runs along the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea.

The word Mesopotamia is a Greek

word meaning “Land between the
Rivers.”
The Sumerians were very inventive
and hardworking. They were mostly
farmers and had well organized
communal (community) life.

The Sumerians were also skilled in the use of such metal as copper, gold, silver and
had developed by 3000 B.C. Fine artistry as well as considerable knowledge about
technology. They were not only craftsman and farmers, but scribes, scholars, priests,
priestesses, and merchants also.

Their Hero
The ancient Sumerians were great story tellers. Thousands of years ago, they created the
story of Gilgamesh, an epic, a long story about a hero
Gilgamesh is one of the oldest recorded stories in the world. It's about an ancient
King of Uruk who may have actually existed and whose name - Gilgamesh - is on the
Sumerian King List.
Science, Technology and Society

According to the epic, Gilgamesh was not just a hero. He was the first superhero! He was
part god and part human. He had many special powers.

Worshipping
The Sumerians built temples called ziggurats in the center of their cities. They were
used as a house for the cities’ gods. The temple was raised on a platform, and was made
of thousands of mud bricks.
Some of the gods that they worshipped were
Anu, the heaven god, Ea, the water god , and Enki,
the god of wisdom. In all, there were over 3,000 of
them

INDUSTRY CREATION

They developed trade, and established

industries, including weaving, leather work, metalwork, masonry, and pottery, frying pans,
razors, cosmetic sets, shepherd’s pipes, harps, kilns to cook bricks and pottery, bronze
hand tools like hammers and axes, the plow, the plow seeder, and the first superhero,
Gilgamesh. They also and used looms to weave cloth from wool and because they traded
heavily throughout the Persian Gulf, they invented the sailboat.
The primitive pictograms of the
early Sumerian (i.e. Uruk) era suggest that
"Stone was scarce, but was already cut
into blocks and seals. Brick was the
ordinary building material, and with it
cities, forts, temples and houses were
constructed. The city was provided with
towers and stood on an artificial platform;
the house also had a tower-like
appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened
with a sort of key ; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double.
Science, Technology and Society

The foundation stones - or rather bricks - of a house were consecrated by certain objects
that were deposited under them."
The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the ziggurats, large
layered platforms which supported temples. The Sumerians also developed the arch,
which enabled them to develop a strong type of roof called a dome. They built this by
constructing several arches. Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced
materials and techniques, such as buttresses, recesses, half columns, and clay nails.

Let’s not discount the making bronze from

copper and tin and beer brewing. Chemical
analysis has identified a 6,000-year-old brewery at
an archaeological site in what is now modern
Iran. The evidence, which was published recently
in the scientific journal Nature, suggests that
fermentation of barley was first practiced in
Sumer between 4000 and 3000 BC.

WRITING AND SCHOOLS

After Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Sumerians'
cuneiform writing system is the next oldest which has
been deciphered. The status of even older
inscriptions such as the Vinča signs and the even
older Jiahu symbols is controversial. Since
hieroglyphs are considered "pictures", the Sumerians
invented the first writing system, with actual "letters"
developing Sumerian cuneiform writing out of earlier
proto-writing systems by about the 30th century BCE. The earliest literary texts appear from
about the 27th century BCE.
Science, Technology and Society

Several centuries after the invention of

cuneiform, the use of writing expanded beyond
debt/payment certificates and inventory lists to be
applied for the first time, about 2600 BC, to
messages and mail delivery, history, legend,
mathematics, astronomical records, and other
pursuits. Conjointly with the spread of writing, the
first formal schools were established, usually under
the auspices of a city-state's primary temple.

You wanna know how ridiculously smart they

were?
Take for instance the cuneiform seals they
created. This was their mail system. A scribe would
write on a piece of clay, backwards so when it was
sent to the message receiver, they would take the seal
and roll it out on a soft piece of clay. Then they would
be able to read what was sent. A Dyslexic's dream job.
Science, Technology and Society

The Sumerian language remained in official and literary use in the Akkadian and
Babylonian empires, even after the spoken language disappeared from the population;
literacy was widespread, and the Sumerian texts that students copied heavily influenced
later Babylonian literature. Some Mesopotamian words are still in use today. Words like
crocus, which is a flower, and saffron, which is a spice, are words borrowed from the
ancient Mesopotamia.

INVENTIONS

Sailboat
The Sumerians made many contributions to modern civilization.
They invented the sail. This allowed them to trade up and down the Tigris and Euphrates
Sailboats were of utmost importance to them as transportation was essential to their
culture. Five thousand years ago Mesopotamians started using sailing boats.
Since Mesopotamia was situated between two famous rivers, namely the Euphrates and
the Tigris, they needed water transportation for travel and trade.

The Sumerians had three main types of

boats:
- skin boats comprised reeds and animal
skins
- sailboats featured bitumen
waterproofing
- wooden-oared ships, sometimes pulled
upstream by people and animals
walking along the nearby banks.
Science, Technology and Society

Cuneiform
The term ‘Cuneiform’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘Cunus’ which means
wedge. They pressed wedge shaped marks on soft clay tablets with the help of sharp reed
pen. They hardened these tablets by drying them up in the sun.
These Cuneiform writings of the “Sumerians were read from right to left. Thus the
development of Cuneiform script was the outstanding contribution of Sumerians to the
civilisation of mankind Uruk city & The Great Ziggurat of Ur: Uruk (modern Warka in Iraq)
where city life began more than five thousand years ago and where the first writing
emerged was clearly one of the most important places in southern Mesopotamia.

Wheel and Cart

A great contribution of the Sumerians to the history of
mankind was ‘wheel’. This wheel accelerated the progress
of Sumerian civilization.
The potter made pottery of various shapes and sizes
through this wheel. The wheeled carts facilitated trade and
commerce on land route. This invention of wheel by the Sumerians made them immortal in
the annals of history.
Evidence of wheeled vehicles appeared in the mid 4th millennium BC, near-
simultaneously in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus (Maykop culture) and Central
Europe. The wheel initially took the form of the potter's wheel. The new concept quickly led
to wheeled vehicles and mill wheels.
Near the northern side of the Caucasus several graves were found, in which since 3,700 BC
people had been buried on wagons or carts.
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Agriculture (Irrigation, Dikes and Plow)

Sumerians ushered in the age of intensive agriculture and irrigation.
The Sumerians knew that they had to control the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In the spring
the rivers flooded, and when they receded and left natural levees behind. The Sumerians
built the levees higher and used them to keep back the flood waters. In the summer, when
the land was dry, the Sumerians poked holes in the levees. The river water ran through the
holes and made irrigation channel in the soil. An irrigation system took which took planning
in draining the marshes for agriculture.

Wheat, barley, sheep, and cattle were foremost among the species cultivated and raised
for the first time on a grand scale.
Civilization rose alongside fresh water rivers. The land may have been fertile, but the
ancient Mesopotamians learned the rivers could not be trusted to flood their fields when
they needed them to.
Rain was also something that could not be counted on. So, the Mesopotamians
invented irrigation. They dug a maze of ditches and waterways from the rivers to their
fields, creating a dependable source of water for their crops.
Throughout history, great cities and civilization would not have risen without a source
of clean and drinkable water. The economy of the Sumerians relied heavily to agriculture.
Agriculture provided the people food made from several crops. Lettuces, beans, and
onions provided nutrients to the Sumerians. But the most widely cultivated crop was
barley. Barley allowed the Sumerian to produce bread and also alcohol, in particular, ale.
Ale became an important part of Sumerian society.
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Road
The oldest constructed roads discovered to date are in former Mesopotamia, now
known as Iraq. The location in the land of the Sumerian people offered fertile soil and, with
irrigation, crops and livestock were raised successfully.
The Sumerians used meticulous brick-
making skills, forming identical mud bricks
for building. After drying they would take
them to the site of a temple and set them
in place with bitumen. Bitumen is the
natural sticky black substance in asphalt.
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Math and Astronomy

All these accomplishments imply that the people of Sumer were advanced in math for
their time period.

They invented and developed arithmetic by using several different number systems
including a mixed radix system with an alternating base 10 and base 6. This sexagesimal
system became the standard number system in Sumer and Babylonia. They made a
system of numbers that, unlike today's Base-10 System, was Base-60.
For example: how we tell time, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in
a minute. It is amazing they invented something so critical that we still use today.

The Number Six

The Sumerians had a counting system based on the
number six, and they made a system of tracking time
based on this system. This is why our modern system of time
uses numbers that are divisible by six: 60 seconds, 60
minutes, 24 hours.
They also divided up the circle into 360 degrees. They had a wide knowledge of
mathematics including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, quadratic and cubic
equations, and fractions. This was important in keeping track of records as well as in some
of their large building projects. The Mesopotamians had formulas for figuring out the
circumference and area for different geometric shapes like rectangles, circles, and
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triangles. Some evidence suggests that they even knew the Pythagorean Theorem long
before Pythagoras wrote it down. They may have even discovered the number for pi in
figuring the circumference of a circle.

And because of their trading they created

a sophisticated accounting system. They kept a
written records of how much was given, to who,
and when, along with calculating inventory

They also invented the calendar. By studying the phases of the Moon, Sumerians
created the first calendar. It had 12 lunar months and was the predecessor for both the
Jewish and Greek calendars. A Lunar calendar that is more accurate then the Gregorian
Calendar we use today. The Babylonian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with years c by
decree. The calendar is based on a Sumerian (Ur III) predecessor preserved in the Umma
calendar of Shulgi (c. 21st century BC). onsisting of 12 lunar months, each beginning when
a new crescent moon was first sighted low on the western horizon at sunset, plus an
intercalary month inserted as needed.
The Sumerians were among the first astronomers, mapping the stars into sets of
constellations, many of which survived in the zodiac and were also recognized by the
ancient Greeks.
They were also aware of the planets that are visible to the naked eye. Their
astronomers developed advanced mathematical functions to permit them to accurately
plot and forecast - for many hundred years ahead - cyclical planetary orbital movements
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and alignments. Some of our familiar zodiacal `animal' names are found in Sumerian
records.
The zodiac is the term used to describe the
circle of twelve 30� divisions of celestial longitude
that are centred upon the ecliptic - the path of the
sun. The term zodiac derives from Latin zōdiacus,
which in its turn comes from the Greek ζoδιακoς
κύκλος (zōdiakos kuklos), meaning "circle of animals".

From the earliest of times, the zodiac has been

universally used to predict or reflect characteristics of
personality, whether from the Chinese, Mesopotamian, Indus Valley, Egyptian or any other
culture, echoing the ancient philosophy 'As above - so below'... what we today call
astrology.
Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for purpose in the heavens.
We know from ancient records that the Greeks inherited their knowledge of the
heavens primarily from the Mesopotamians, who in turn inherited their knowledge from the
Sumerians
The zodiacal map was used for practical mathematical & observational
purposes.The Zodiac of Sumer, definitely complete by the time of Babylon, was adopted
by the Greeks much later.
Babylonians and the Chinese were using the 19 year Sun-Moon cycle in their
calculations - by the 6th Century BCE. Today it is called the 'Metonic' cycle after a Greek
who wrote of it some hundred years

Cities
Some of the most well-known cities in the Sumerian civilization were Uruk, Ur, Kish,
Evida, Lagash, Nippur, and Sumer.
Within Uruk, the greatest monument was the Anu Ziggurat on which the White
Temple was built and dedicated to the sky god Anu, this temple would have towered well
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above the flat plain of Uruk, and been visible from a great distance even over the
defensive walls of the city.

Architecture
Rulers lived in large palaces.
Most Sumerians lived in houses with
many rooms around a small courtyard.
Mud bricks were the houses’ main
building blocks.
A ziggurat, or pyramid-shaped temple
tower, rose above each city.
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The Arts
Sculptors produced many statues of the gods for
their temples.
Jewelry was a popular item made from imported
gold, silver, and gems.
Engraved cylinder seals are one of Sumer’s most
famous types of art.
Other examples of Sumerian
technology include

- tools and weapons: saws, chisels, hammers, braces, bits,

nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints,
arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, armor
Boots and sandals (footwear) - evidence exists for the use of leather by the ancient
Sumerians as far back as 6000 BC. Preserved specimens of leather dating to 5000 BC have
been found. Egyptian stone carvings of about the same date show leather workers.
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The Sumerians also developed a complex

system of sewers and flush toilets to rid cities of
waste and unhealthy effects of swamps.

The inventions and innovations by the

Sumerians placed them among the most
creative cultures in human pre-history and history.
Sumerian scientific achievements were important
to the modern world.

BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION
Babylonian civilization emerged near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The Babylonians were great builders, engineers, and architects.
One of their major contribution is the Hanging Gardens if Babylon, one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

It is a famous from stories of historians and is painted to portray the place. Historians
believes that The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a structure made up of layers upon
layers of gardens inside that contained several species of plants, trees and vines.
The legends say that it was made by the great Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II,
for his wife, Queen Amytis. However, no physical evidence has been found to prove the
existence of the said garden.
People have been debating about the existence of the said mythical place.
And some said it was just a product of the creative imagination of the great king because
it lacked documentation or archaeological evidence.
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On the other hand, if it really existed, it must have been destroyed by war, erosion or
an earthquake. True or not, hearing the stories and description of the place would be
enough to inspire awe to anyone.

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Well-known for their engineering feats especially the infrastructures established by
Pharaoh, the Egyptians also contributed other practical things that the world now
considers as essential.
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Paper or Papyrus
One of the earlier contributions of Egyptians
Papyrus – a thick type of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus
(plants that grew abundantly along the Nile River in Egypt).

They were able to process the plant in order to produce thin sheets on which one
could write down things.
Lighter and thinner than clay tablets, it was easy to carry and store.
A major accomplishment in Egyptian record-keeping and communications.

Ink
Invented by the Egyptians used to write in papyrus. Made by combining soot with
different chemicals to produce inks of different colors. Withstands the elements of nature
since it was used to record history, culture, and codified laws. Tamper-proof so that it
could not simply tinker with those written down by authorities.

Hieroglyphics
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Formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined Iogographic
and alphabetic elements.
Hieroglyphs – a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system.
Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphics for religious literature on papyrus and wood.
Can be seen today and remains to be as famous as the pyramids where they were found.

Cosmetics

Used for both health and aesthetic reasons

Kohl – used around the eyes to prevent and even cure eye diseases. It is created by
mixing soot or malachite with mineral galena.
Egyptians also believed that a person wearing make-up was protected from evil and that
beauty was a sign of holiness.
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Wig
Another cosmetic invention of ancient Egyptians.
Worn for health and wellness rather than aesthetic
purposes. Used to protect the shaved heads of the
wealthy Egyptians from harmful rays of the sun,
better than putting on scarf. Considered cleaner
than natural hair because it prevented the
accumulation of head lice.

Water clock/Clepsydra
A device that utilizes gravity that affects the flow of water from one vessel to the
other.
The amount of water (or its height, depending on the methods used) remaining in
the device determines how much time has elapsed since it is full.
In the process, Time is measured. Widely used as a timekeeping device during the ancient
times.
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The Great Pyramids

Built during a time when Egypt was one
of the richest and most powerful civilizations in
the world, the pyramids—especially the Great
Pyramids of Giza—are some of the most
magnificent man-made structures in history.
Their massive scale reflects the unique role that
the pharaoh, or king, played in ancient
Egyptian society.

Did you know?

The pyramid's smooth, angled sides symbolized the rays of the sun and were
designed to help the king's soul ascend to heaven and join the gods, particularly the sun
god Ra.
Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king died, part of his spirit (known as “ka”)
remained with his body. To properly care for his spirit, the corpse was mummified, and
everything the king would need in the afterlife was buried with him, including gold vessels,
food, furniture and other offerings. The pyramids became the focus of a cult of the dead
king that was supposed to continue well after his death. Their riches would provide not
only for him, but also for the relatives, officials and priests who were buried near him.

GREEK CIVILIZATION
Alarm clock
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One of the most utilized gadgets today. Used to tell an individual when to stop or
when to start.
Used large complicated mechanism to time the alarm. They use of water (or
sometimes small stone or sand) that dropped into drums which sounded the alarm.
Plato – believed to have utilized an alarm clock to signal the start of his lecture.
His version used four water vessels lined up vertically. The upper vessel supplied the water
which dropped to the vessel below it, which was set to be filled in a given time. After it
was full, water was siphoned off at a faster rate into the third vessel which would cause the
expulsion of contained air, creating a whistling noise. Afterwards, this vessel would empty
towards the bottom vessel

Water Mill
Also considered as one of the most important contributions of the Greek civilization
to the world. Commonly used in agricultural processes like milling of grains which was
necessary for food production during that time.
Considered better the mills powered by farm
animals which required less effort and time to
operate since it only required access to rivers or
flowing water where a mechanism of a large wheel
with small “buckets” of water attached to it could
be installed.
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ROMAN CIVILIZATION
It is the major contributions of Roman, it
known as gazettes contained
announcements of the Roman Empire to the
people. These gazettes were engraved in
metal or stone tablets and then publicly
displayed.
When paper was invented, it became easier
for the Romans to "publish" matters that needed the attention of the Roman citizen. These
documents were edited and published on the same day that they were recorded.

Bound Books or Codex

With the invention of paper, it became
easier for the civilization to write down everything
that happened in their time. Record keeping was
much easier since paper did not easily break, was
lightweight and did not occupy much space.

As a result, civilization became fond of

record-keeping especially historical events
and newly legislated laws. According to
sources, Julius Caesar started the tradition of
stacking up papyrus to form pages of the
book. The earlier covers were made of wax
but later on replaced by animal skin which
proved to be stronger and long lasting.
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Roman Architecture
It is one of the most visual contributions of
the ancient Roman Empire to the world. Roman
Architecture was still regarded as pioneering
since the Romans were able to adapt new
building and engineering technology on
architectural designs established. Romans are
also creative, redesign old architectural patterns
to adapt the new trends at that time. These
majestic Roman structures can be seen by the way they withstood time and harsh
elements of the environment.

Roman Numerals
Although other number system had already
been established before the Roman Numeral ,
these old system could not keep up with high
calculations requirements due to the increasing
rate of communication and the trade among
nations.
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CHINESE CIVILIZATION
The Chinese civilizations considered to be the oldest civilization in Asia, if not the
world. Also known as the middle kingdom, China is located on the far east of Asia. It was
famous among other ancient civilization because of its silk trade.
Silk
One of the things that connected far east
china to the world.
Although silk is naturally produced by silk
worms, the chinese were the ones who developed
the technology to harvest the silk and process it to
produce paper and clothing.
The silk production resulted in the creation of
the product for trade. The silk trade opened china to the outside world, making way for
cultural, economic, and scientific exchanges. It bridged the gap between western world
and the Middle Kingdom.
It is silkworms that naturally create silk, however, it is Chinese people that invented
how to harvest the silk and use it in clothing and paper thousands years ago. The oldest
silk, which was found in Henan Province, came from the Chinese Neolithic period and
dates to around 3,630 BC. Silk excavated from the Liangzhu culture site in Zhejiang
Province date to roughly 2570 BC. In ancient China, silk was not only a vital invention for
life but also a bridge connecting China to the outside world. The 2,000-year-old Silk Road is
still an important path for cultural, commercial and technological exchange between East
and West.
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Silk, one of the oldest fibers, originated in China as early as 6,000 years ago. The
earliest evidence of silk was discovered at Yangshao culture site in Xiaxian County, Shanxi
Province, China where a silk cocoon was found cut in half, dating back to between 4000
and 3000 BC. Chinese people mastered sophisticated silk weaving tech and closely
guarded secret, and the West had to pay gold of the same weight for the silks. In ancient
times the silk was a very important item made in China and for many centuries
businessmen transported this precious item from China to the West, forming the famous Silk
Road.

Alcohol
The earliest alcohol makers in Chinese legend
were Yi Di and Du Kang of the Xia Dynasty (about 2000

BC－1600 BC). Research shows that ordinary beer, with

an alcoholic content of 4% to 5%, was widely

consumed in ancient China and was even mentioned on oracle bone inscriptions as
offerings to spirits during sacrifices in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC–1046 BC). After that,
Chinese discovered that adding more cooked grain in water during fermentation could
increase the alcohol content, so stronger drinks began to appear. Around 1000 BC, the
Chinese created an alcoholic beverage which was stronger than 11%. The potent libation
was mentioned in poetry throughout the Zhou Dynasty (1050 BC–256 BC). Meanwhile, no
beer in the West reached 11% until the 12th century, when distilled alcohol was first made
in Italy.
The inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula were widely believed to be the first
brewers. However, in 2013, a 9000-year-old pottery found in Henan province revealed the
presence of alcohol, 1000 years before Arabian. Alcohol is known as Jiu in Chinese and is
often used as a spiritual offerings to Heaven and the Earth or ancestors in ancient China.
Study shows that beer with an alcoholic content of 4% to 5% was widely consumed in
ancient China and was even mentioned on oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty
(1600 BC–1046 BC).
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Mechanical Clock
The mechanical clock is an invention we all
use today. According to historical research, the
world’s first clock was invented by Yi Xing, a
Buddhist monk and mathematician of the Tang

Dynasty (618－907). Yi’s clock operated with

water steadily dripping on a wheel that made a

full revolution every 24 hours. As time went on,
clocks were made with an iron and bronze system
of hooks, pins, locks and rods, but still followed Yi
Xing’s clock design. Hundreds of years later, Su Song, an astronomer and mechanist of the

Song Dynasty (960－1279), created a more sophisticated clock, making him the ancestor

of the modern clock.

The world’s first mechanical clock -Water-driven Spherical Birds – was invented by Yi
Xing, a Buddhist monk in 725 A.D.. It was operated by dripping water which powered a
wheel that made one revolution in 24 hours. Hundreds of years later, the inventor Su Song
developed a more sophisticated clock called the Cosmic Empire in 1092, 200 years earlier
before the mechanical clock was created in Europe.

Tea
Tea is a beverage produced by pouring not or boiling water over crushed or
shredded dried tea leaves.
It was believed that first tea was drunk by a Chinese emperor Tea production was
developed when an unknown Chinese inventor created a machine that was able to
shred tea leaves into stripes.
The machine was done using a wheel-based mechanism with sharp edge attached
to a wooden or ceramic pot. Because of the invention, Chinese were able to increase
their production of tea and trade with other nation.
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China thus became known for its tea

exports aside from its silk production. Tea
production developed by the ancient Chinese
may have resulted in making tea as one of the
most popular beverages in the world today.
According to Chinese legend, tea was
first drunk by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nong
around 2,737 BC. Then, an unknown Chinese
inventor created the tea shredder, a small
device that used a sharp wheel in the center of a ceramic or wooden pot that would slice

the leaves into thin strips. During the Tang (618－907) and Song (960－1279) dynasties, tea

production developed rapidly, and tea became a popular drink around the country and
the world. Cha Jing, written by Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty, is widely recognized as the
world’s first scientific work about tea production.

Iron and Steel Smelting

Archaeological evidence revealed that iron smelting technology was developed in China

as early as 5th century BC in the Zhou Dynasty (1050 BC－256 BC). During The Spring &

Autumn and Warring States periods (776-221 BC) China went into a flourishing period for

iron smelting. In the Han Dynasty (202 BC －220 AD) central government monopolized the

iron smelting, seeing remarkable development.

It has been confirmed by archaeological evidence that iron, made from melting
pig-iron, was developed in ancient China in the early 5th century BC during the Zhou

Dynasty (1050 BC－256 BC). During the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC－1046 BC) to the Eastern

Zhou Dynasty (1050 BC－256 BC), China went into a flourishing period for steel smelting.
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In the Han Dynasty (202 BC－220 AD), private-

enterprise iron-making was abolished and was

monopolized by the state, creating an iron-smelting
bloom. The first famous metallurgist in ancient China is

Qiwu Huaiwen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386－557

AD), who invented the process of using wrought iron

and cast iron to make steel.

Procelain
Porcelain is a very specific kind of ceramic produced in
the extreme temperatures of a kiln. Porcelain, of course,
originated in China; which is how China gets its name. Early in

the 16th century BC during the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC－1046

BC), the ancient prototypes of porcelain had already

appeared in China. In the Tang Dynasty (618－907), the skill of making porcelain was

perfected, while in the Song Dynasty (960－1279), the art of Chinese porcelain reached its

peak and became popular and famous throughout the world. In 1708, the German
Physicist Tschirnhausen invented European porcelain, thus ending the Chinese porcelain
monopoly.

Compass
The earliest Chinese compasses were probably not originally invented for
navigation, but to harmonize environments and buildings in accordance with the
geometric principles of Feng Shui. It is proved that the earliest Chinese reference recording
a magnetic device used as a “direction finder” is in a Song Dynasty book dated during
from 960 to1279.
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The earliest record about the actual use of a

magnetized needle for navigation is Zhu Yu’s book
Pingzhou Table Talks, written in 1102. The invention
of compass greatly improved the safety and
efficiency of travel, especially oceanic navigation.
A compass is a navigational instrument that
shows directions. The compass was invented by
Chinese between the 2nd century BC and 1st
century AD. It was first used in Feng Shui, the layout
of buildings. By 1000 AD, navigational compasses were commonly used on Chinese ships,
enabling them to navigate. Arab traders sailing to China might learned of the tech and
brought it to the West.

Gunpowder
The gunpowder is one of the most interesting inventions in china. Originally, it was
developed by Chinese alchemists who aimed to achieved immortality. They mixed
charcoal, sulphur, and potassium nitrate, but instead of creating an elixir of life, they
accidentally invented a black powder that could actually generate large amounts of
heat and gas in an instant.
Gunpowder, known since the late 19th century as black
powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate.
Because it burns rapidly and generates a large amount of heat
and gas, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in
firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks.

In ancient China, gunpowder and gunpowder-based weapons

were invented and widely used by military forces to dispel invasion at
the borders
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Gunpowder was invented by Chinese Taoist alchemists about 1000 A.D. when they
tried to find a potion to gain human immortality by mixing elemental sulfur, charcoal, and
saltpeter. It is generally believed that gunpowder spread to Europe during the Mongol
expansion of 1200-1300 A.D.. The interesting fact is that Chinese used this discovery mainly
for firecrackers while Europeans created cannons and guns and dominated China in the
mid-1800s.

Movable-type Printing
The Chinese invention of Woodblock printing first appeared over 2,000 years ago,

and produced the world’s first printings. In the Tang Dynasty (618－907), Chinese began to

print with carved blocks. Then in the 1040s, Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty (960－

1127) invented movable clay type printing, which marked a beginning of a major
revolution in the history of printing.
Woodblock printing was already a widely used
technique in the Tang Dynasty. However, this kind of
printing tech was expensive and time-consuming. Until
the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a man named Bi Sheng
(990–1051) invented movable type printing, making it
quicker and easier. He first carved individual
characters on pieces of clay and then harden them
with fire. These movable type pieces were later glued
to an iron plate to print a page and then broken up and redistributed for another page.
This kind of printing tech rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance, and
later all around the world.

Paper Making
It is known to all that China was the first country in the world to make proper paper.
The invention of papermaking is one of China’s significant contributions to the spread and
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the development of human civilization. According to research, paper was first made

during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC－9 AD).

Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25－220)

successfully invented the world’s first batch of paper

using fish nets, tree bark, bits of rope and rags.
Before paper was invented, the ancient Chinese
carved characters on pottery, animal bones and stones,
cast them in bronzes, or wrote them on bamboo or
wooden strips and silk fabric. These materials, however,
were either too heavy or two expensive for widespread use. The invention and use of
paper brought a revolution in writing and paved the way for the invention of printing
technology.
The invention of paper greatly affects human history. Paper already existed in China
since 105 A.C, however, a eunuch named Cai Lun (ca. 50 AD – 121) made significant
innovation and helped drive its widespread adoption. His advanced paper-making
technology then spread to central Asia and the world through the Silk Road

Umbrella
The inventions of umbrella can be traced back as early as 3500 years ago in China.
Legend has it, Lu Ban, a Chinese carpenter and inventor
created the first umbrella. Inspired by children using lotus
leaves as rain shelter, he created umbrella by making a
flexible framework covered by a cloth.

Acupuncture
The oldest Chinese medicine book “Neijing”, also known as “The Classic of Internal
Medicine of the Yellow Emperor”, shows that acupuncture was widely used as a therapy
in China much before the time it was written. Besides, various kinds of acupuncture
needles were discovered in the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng who died around 200 B.C. This is
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a further proof that acupuncture were already in use in China more than two thousand
years ago
Earthquake Detector
According to court records of the later Han Dynasty, a
seismograph was created by the brilliant inventor Zhang
Heng (78-140 AD) in 132 AD. Its function is to determine the
direction of an earthquake. In 138 AD, this instrument
indicated an earthquake occurring in Longxi a thousand
kilometers away. It was the first time that mankind to detect
an earthquake. Modern seismographs only began development in 1848 in Europe.

Rocket
China is hometown of rockets, ancient
Chinese inventors created rockets by applying
counter-force produced by ignited gunpowder.
According to history, in 228 A.D. the Wei State
already used torches attached to arrows to
guard Chencang against the invading troops of
the Shu State. Later the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
had adapted gunpowder to make rockets. A
paper tube stuffed with gunpowder was
attached to an arrow which can be launched by a bow. This kind of ancient rockets and

Bronze
The skill of produce bronze was mastered by ancient Chinese by 1700 B.C. The
Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 B.C.) and Zhou dynasties (1046-256 BC) brought China into the
Bronze Age and the making of bronze wares reached its peak in this period. Bronze was
mainly used to make weapons, bronze tools and ritual vessels at that time. improved ones
were widely used in military and entertainment activities in China.
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Compared to counterparts in other regions of

the world, the Chinese bronze wares stand out for their
inscriptions and delicate decorative patterns.

The Kite
The kite was developed around 3,000 years ago by ancient Chinese. The earliest
kites were made of wood, called Muyuan (wooden kite). In early times kites were mainly
used for military purposes such as sending a message, measuring distances, testing the
wind and signaling. Over time kite flying developed into playthings and kite flying is now
enjoyed worldwide.
The Seed Drill
The seed drill is a device that plants
the seed into soil at a uniform depth and
covers it. If without this device farmers had
to plant the seeds by hand, resulting in
waste and uneven growth. According to
records, the Chinese using of seed drills
can be dated back to the 2nd Century
BC. The device made farmers’ job easier and highly improved the agricultural output in
China.

Row Crop Farming

In other parts of the world, farmers still scattered seed onto the fields randomly.
While ancient Chinese started planting crops in rows from the 6th century BC. They
planted individual seeds in rows, thus reducing seed loss and making crops grow faster
and stronger. This technology was not used in the western world until 2200 years later
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Toothbrush
The bristle toothbrush was invented in 1498 by Chinese who made toothbrushes with
coarse horse hairs attached to bone or bamboo handles. It was later brought to the new
world by Europeans.

The Paper Money

Paper money were first developed by the ancient Chinese, who started using
folding money at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century AD. Paper bills were
originally used as privately issued bills of credit or exchange notes. A merchant could
deposit his cash in the capital, receiving a paper “exchange certificate” which he could
exchange for metal coins in other cities.
Actually Chinese are responsible for
countless inventions that have helped shape
the world history. Without these inventions by
the ancient Chinese, the humankind would
have taken more centuries to develop to the
current phase

The Great Wall of China

Once considered the only man-made structure that could be seen from outer
space, The Great Wall of China is said to be the largest and most extensive infrastructure
that the nation built. It was constructed to keep out foreign invaders and control the
boarders of China. Made with stone, Brick, Wood, Earth, and other materials, it showcased
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the extent of Chinese engineering technology at that time. The structure was so massive
and strong that it was said to have literally divided Chine from the rest of the world. The
wall’s construction put the nation among the powerful civilizations during the ancient
times. It was the pride of their land and their crowning glory. Today, with some sections
already in ruins, The Great Wall still continues to be a world attraction due to its historical
significance and architectural grandeur.

MEDIEVAL/MIDDLE AGES
The start of middle ages was marred by massive invasions and migrations. Wars were
prevalent during this time. As such, great technology was needed in the fields of
weaponry, navigations, mass food and farm production, and health

Printing Press
After the Chinese developed woodblock printing, Johann Gutenberg was able to
invent the printing press, a more reliable way of printing using a cast type.
Many events in human history are of great importance for the way we live today.
Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the "movable type" printing press is one of the most
important.
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Microscope
Zacharias Janssen was able to develop the first
compound of microscope. With this device. People were
able to observe organism that were normally unseen by
the naked eye.

Telescope
The Telescope was another great invention in the
Middle Ages. Galileo was considered the first to invent the
telescope but there is confusion between Hans Lippershy and Galileo. Galileo was born in
Italy in Pisa in 1564 and died in 1642. The telescope was invented in the fall of 1609 in
Venice. Galileo also made a book by using the Telescope called The Starry Messenger.
The Telescope magnified 10 times what you could see with out it. The Telescope was
made out of wood and leather, which had a convex main lens and a concave eyepiece.
The telescope is one of humankind's most
important inventions. The simple device that made far
away things look near gave observers a new
perspective. When curious men pointed the spyglass
toward the sky, our view of Earth and our place in the
universe changed forever.
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MODERN TIMES
The booming world population during the 19th century onwards demanded that
more goods be produced at a faster rate. people needed efficient means of
transportation to trade goods, machines that needed animals to operation must be
upgraded
faster communication to establish connections between and among nations.
food and medicine was some of their biggest challenges since health was of great
concern.

Pasteurization

The process of heating dairy

products to kill the harmful bacteria
that allow the food to spoil faster. In
this process, milk could be stored and
consumed for a longer time.

Petroleum Refinery
Better means of powering homes and transportation.
At first the used animal oil for generating light to
illuminate their homes. Samuel M. Kier was able
to invent kerosene by refining petroleum and it
was later referred to as "illuminating oil" then it was
widely used in the industry.
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an
industrial process plant where crude oil is transformed
and refined into more useful products such as
petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied
petroleum gas, jet fuel and fuel oils.
Telephone
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The development of telephone by

Alexander Graham Bell was one of the most
important inventions because it was used as a way
to easily maintain connections and
communications and the government used to
allow them to administer their states well.

Calculator
It was made to compute large numbers faster and easier. This device is easy to
carry.
Calculators have not only greatly enhanced our
ability to perform the regular computations that are
involved in everyday life, but provided humans with the
ability to understand mathematics on a greater scale than
ever imagined.

TELEVISION
Telegram television (also known as a TV) is a machine with a screen. Televisions
receive broadcasting signals and change them into pictures and sound. The word
Telegram television (also known as a TV) is a machine with a screen. Televisions
receive broadcasting signals and change them into pictures and sound. The word
"television" comes from the words tele (Greek for far away) and vision (sight).
The Scottist Jhn Logie Baird is largely credited for the invention of the modern
television. Baid successfully televised objects in outline in 1924, recognizable human faces
in 1925, and moving objects in 1928. Baird’s television technology caught on really swiftly.
In fact, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) used this for the earliest televison
programming in 1929. Despite the first television invented, Baird’s television was later on
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criticized for its fuzzy and flickering images, primarily because it was mechanical
compared to electronic versions that were developed much later.

PHILIPPINE INVENTIONS
Philippine is known to be one of the most
vurnerable countries in terms of Natural disaster. Some of
their build is from material indigenous materials or
created to adapt to the harsh tropical environment.
Salamander Amphibious Tricycle
Philippine is known to be one of the most vurnerable countries in terms of Natural
disaster. Some of their build is from material indigenous materials or created to adapt to
the harsh tropical environment.
Salt Lamp
One of the major needs in the Philippines, as a
developing nation, is electrification. Electricity powers
various type of machines, including light sources. A
young Filipino inventor named Aisa Mijeno was able to
invent a lightning (SALT) lamp, an environment friendly
friendly light source that light on saltwater. Salt lamp is
safer as it poses no risk of time and no toxic gases.
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Medical Incubator
Dr. Fe del Mundo a Filipino pediatrician and the first Asian woman admitted into
Harvard Medical Scholl, devised a medical incubator made from indigenous and cheap
materials which did not run on electricity.

M osquito Ovicidal / Larvicidal Trap System

Dengue, a mosquito borne viral illness, is endemic

is tropical and subtropicalareqs, including the
Philippines. This viral is usually transmitted by Aedes
aegypty mosquito, rampant during the rainy season.
The DOST-ITDI OL trap research team designed the
trap to detect, monitor, and control the population of
the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The
trap works by attracting female mosquitoes to lay eggs on the paddle drenched with an
organic solution
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E-jeepney
A major innovation that changed the
transportation industry in the Philippines was
the development of the jeepney.

Artificial Coral Reefs

Angel Alcal has more than thirty years of experience in tropical marine resource
conservation, Angel Alcala is considered a world class authority in ecology and
biogeography of amphibians and reptiles, and is behind the invention of artifical coral
reefs to be used for fisheries in Southeast Asia.
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Erythromycin
Dr. Abelardo Aguilar, a Scientist from the Philippines who discovered the
Erythromycin in 1949. Dr. Abelardo was testing samples of soils from his backyard and
isolated micro-organisms – a bacteria that lead to the development of the Antibiotic
called Erythromycin.
Back then, Dr. Abelardo Aguilar was
working for a U.S Pharmaceutical company Eli Lily
Co. – a global company based in Indiana U.S.A
founded by a Pharmaceutical Chemist and
veteran of the American Civil War. The Filipino
scientist sent a soil samples to his employer Eli Lily
Co., and the company manages to isolate the
Erythromycin from the metabolic products of a strain of Streptomyces Erythreus found in
the samples sent by Dr. Aguilar.
Banana ketchup or banana sauce is a
popular Philippine fruit ketchup condiment made
from mashed banana, sugar, vinegar, and spices.
Its natural color is brownish-yellow, but it is often
dyed red to resemble tomato ketchup. Banana
ketchup was first produced in the Philippines
during World War II, due to a lack of tomatoes
and a comparatively high production of bananas.
Filipina food technologist Maria Y. Orosa (1893–1945) is credited with inventing a banana
ketchup recipe.
In 1942, banana ketchup was first mass-produced commercially by Magdalo V.
Francisco, Sr. who founded the brand name Mafran (a portmanteau of his given name
and surname) which he registered with the Bureau of Patents. Francisco sought funding
from Tirso T. Reyes to expand his business and thus, the Universal Food Corporation (UFC)
was formed 1960.
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She was passionate about a self-sustaining Philippines and made it her life’s work to
study native food, and the use of fermentation and various preserving techniques to
educate and uplift people in need.

Mole Remover
Rolando de la Cruz is a multi-awarded Filipino scientist and inventor who developed
an ingenuous formula that could easily remove deeply grown moles or warts from the skin
without leaving marks or hurting the patient. His formula was extracted from cashew nut
(Annacardium occidentale), which is common in the Philippines and locally known as
"kasoy".
He was able to formulate a cream to
remove warts and moles on the skin and
later, a painless treatment for the most
common type of skin cancer, which the
Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) recently hailed as the outstanding
invention of the year.

In March 1997, dela Cruz established RCC Amazing Touch International Inc., which
runs clinics engaged "in a non-surgical removal of warts, moles and other skin growths,
giving the skin renewed energy and vitality without painful and costly surgery."
In September 2000, The formula won for de la Cruz a gold medal in International
Invention, Innovation, Industrial Design and Technology Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. De la
Cruz's latest product called DeBCC, purportedly an effective cure for skin cancer
garnered another two international gold medal awards, the first from the Archimedes
Inventors’ Show in Moscow, Russia in March 2005, and the second one from the IENA
International Inventors’ Forum in Nuremburg, Germany in November 3, 2005. The same
invention also got the highest score from a panel of international judges, and was
awarded the top World Invention Winner – Diamond Award and the Overall Inventors’
Award for 2006 in the British Invention Show last October 21, 2006 in London.
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Dela Cruz is also recipient of the Department of Science and Technology’s Tuklas
Award for Most Outstanding Invention in 1998 for his DeMole and DeWart products that
are now available in malls.
A former barber in Caloocan City, Dela Cruz recalled seeing scars on the faces and
necks of his clients, and would ask them about the scars.

Synthesis

Science and technology will most likely continue to be regarded by humanity as

an invaluable commodity. However, the relationship between science and technology
and society is so dynamic that it assumes many forms and shapes with the changing times.
It is hoped that the diverse potentials of science and technology will be used to
solve the serious issues faced by humanity, such as global environmental problems and
world pandemics. Moreover, it is also important to hold the firm belief that science and
technology must be faithfully passed on to future generations as an irreplaceable asset of
humanity that should be treasured but not to be worshipped and regarded as miracles
that will obliterate the human essence in us.

Assessment

STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF THE GIANT (50 pts.)

A student will be assigned to one of the three time periods (ancient, middle,
modern) and to include the Philippine inventions. Each student should search for one
great achievement during his/her assigned period aside from those discussed. Afterwards,
accomplish the following:
1. Present a picture of the chosen achievement (the image approximately half the
size of a letter-size bond paper.
2. Include a discussion in own words how the invention works. Identify also the use
and purpose of the invention/discovery. Text to be placed under the image.
3. Present the output in class, Conclude the report by discussing how the invention
impacted the people and society during the time period when they were made.
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Section 3: Intellectual Revolutions

Introduction

The Scientific Revolution is a complicated and disjointed movement upon whose

periods and actors historians do not always agree. Some scientists of the period built on
the works of those who came before them. Others made their own contribution strictly
from their own observations and at times contradicted the evidence and conclusions of
their contemporaries. With that caveat made, many historians claim that it began with
Copernicus and ended with Isaac Newton 150 years later.

During this century and a half of scientific innovation, numerous achievements were
made in science and astronomy. The modern scientific method of observation, hypothesis,
experimentation, analysis and conclusion was sculpted and refined in this era, and
important discoveries were made concerning gravity, the skeletal and muscular systems of
the human body and the rotations of the planets.

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. discussed how intellectual revolution shaped society across time;

2. explained how the scientific thoughts of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Darwin
transformed the views of society in terms of intellectual, moral and social aspects;
3. discussed the scientific and technological developments in the Philippines.
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Lesson Proper

Pre-test:
Instructions: On the space provided, write TRUE if the statement is correct or FALSE if
it is not.
_______ 1. An intellectual revolution emerges as a result of the interaction of man and
society.
______ 2. Intellectual revolutions are necessary in understanding how society is transformed
by science and technology.
______ 3. Intellectual revolutions are often met with huge support and general
acceptance
______ 4. Intellectual revolutions shape science and technology and often spare society
from its influence.
______ 5. The Copernican Revolution introduced the concept of heliocentrism.
______ 6. According to Copernicus , the Earth is at the center of the solar system.
______ 7. The Darwinian revolution changed the way people understood nature and
evolutions.
______ 8. Charles Darwin received huge support from the church.
______ 9. Sigmund Freud introduced scientific approaches to understanding the human
subconscious.
______ 10. The Freudian Revolution was, in itself controversial and met with resistance.

Scientific Revolution, drastic change in scientific thought that took place during the
16th and 17th centuries. A new view of nature emerged during the Scientific Revolution,
replacing the Greek view that had dominated science for almost 2,000 years. Science
became an autonomous discipline, distinct from both philosophy and technology, and it
came to be regarded as having utilitarian goals. By the end of this period, it may not be
too much to say that science had replaced Christianity as the focal point of European
civilization. Out of the ferment of the Renaissance and Reformation there arose a new
view of science, bringing about the following transformations: the reeducation of
common sense in favour of abstract reasoning; the substitution of a quantitative for a
qualitative view of nature; the view of nature as a machine rather than as an organism;
the development of an experimental, scientific method that sought definite answers to
certain limited questions couched in the framework of specific theories; and the
acceptance of new criteria for explanation, stressing the “how” rather than the “why” that
had characterized the Aristotelian search for final causes.
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PTOLEMAIC THEORY

Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek mathematician,

astronomer, geographer and astrologer. He lived in the city of
Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt under the rule of
the Roman Empire, had a Latin name, cited Greek
philosophers, and used Babylonian observations and
Babylonian lunar theory. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Earth was the center of the Universe according to Claudius Ptolemy, whose view
of the cosmos persisted for 1400 years until it was overturned — with controversy — by
findings from Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.
A Geocentric View
Ptolemy synthesized Greek knowledge of the known Universe. His work enabled
astronomers to make accurate predictions of planetary positions and solar and lunar
eclipses, promoting acceptance of his view of the cosmos in the Byzantine and Islamic
worlds and throughout Europe for more than 1400 years.
Ptolemy accepted Aristotle’s idea that the Sun and the planets revolve around a
spherical Earth, a geocentric view. Ptolemy developed this idea through observation and
in mathematical detail. In doing so, he rejected the hypothesis of Aristarchus of Samos,
who came to Alexandria about 350 years before Ptolemy was born. Aristarchus had made
the claim that the Earth revolves around the Sun, but he couldn’t produce any evidence
to back it up.

Map of the Universe according to Ptolemy, from a 17th century

Dutch atlas by Gerard Valck © Bettmann/CORBIS

Based on observations he made with his naked eye,

Ptolemy saw the Universe as a set of nested, transparent
spheres, with Earth in the center. He posited that the
Moon, Mercury, Venus, and the Sun all revolved around Earth. Beyond the Sun, he
thought, sat Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the only other planets known at the time (as they
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were visible to the naked eye). Beyond Saturn lay a final sphere — with all the stars fixed to
it — that revolved around the other spheres.
This idea of the Universe did not fit exactly with all of Ptolemy’s observations. He was
aware that the size, motion, and brightness of the planets varied. So he incorporated
Hipparchus’s notion of epicycles, put forth a few centuries earlier, to work out his
calculations. Epicycles were small circular orbits around imaginary centers on which the
planets were said to move while making a revolution around the Earth. By using Ptolemy’s
tables, astronomers could accurately predict eclipses and the positions of planets.
Because real visible events in the sky seemed to confirm the truth of Ptolemy’s views, his
ideas were accepted for centuries until the Polish astronomer, Copernicus, proposed in
1543 that the Sun, rather than the Earth, belonged in the center.
After the Roman Empire dissolved, Muslim Arabs conquered
Egypt in 641 CE. Muslim scholars mostly accepted Ptolemy’s
astronomy. They referred to him as Batlamyus and called his book
on astronomy al-Magisti, or “The Greatest.” Islamic astronomers
corrected some of Ptolemy’s errors and made other advances,
but they did not make the leap to a heliocentric (Sun-centered)
universe.
Ptolemy’s book was translated into Latin in the 12th century and known as The
Almagest, from the Arabic name. This enabled his teachings to be spread throughout
Western Europe.
We know few details of Ptolemy’s life. But he left one personal poem, inserted right
after the table of contents in The Almagest:
Well do I know that I am mortal, a creature of one day.
But if my mind follows the wandering path of stars
Then my feet no longer rest on earth, but standing by
Zeus himself, I take my fill of ambrosia, the food of the gods.
Source : Cynthia Stokes Brown
https://www.khanacademy.org/
For Further Discussion

Even though Ptolemy’s system was wrong, people believed in it. Why?
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COPERNICAN THEORY
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance-
era mathematician and astronomer, who
formulated a model of the universe that placed
the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the
universe, in all likelihood independently of
Aristarchus of Samos, who had formulated such a
model some eighteen centuries earlier. Wikipedia
(Source: nagaitoshiya.com)

This caused the paradigm shift of how the earth and sun were placed in the
heavens/universe. It is the idea that rejected Ptolemaic model (earth is the center of the
solar system) and proved the heliocentric model (Sun is the center of the solar system
having the earth revolving around it.)
Copernicus proposed that the sun was stationary in the center of the universe and
the earth revolved around it. Disturbed by the failure of Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the
universe to follow Aristotle’s requirement for the uniform circular motion of all celestial
bodies and determined to eliminate Ptolemy’s equant, an imaginary point around which
the bodies seemed to follow that requirement, Copernicus decided that he could
achieve his goal only through a heliocentric model. He thereby created a concept of a
universe in which the distances of the planets from the sun bore a direct relationship to the
size of their orbits. At the time Copernicus’s heliocentric idea was very controversial;
nevertheless, it was the start of a change in the way the world was viewed, and
Copernicus came to be seen as the initiator of the Scientific Revolution.
Copernicus worked on a heliocentric for nearly his entire life. Unlike previous
astronomers and mathematicians who had used heliocentric models simply to make their
mathematical calculations of the planet's orbits more accurate, Copernicus firmly
believed the sun to be at the center of the solar system. Likely due to fears of potential
backlash from church authorities, Copernicus waited to publish his theories and
calculations until shortly before his death.
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Regardless of errors and discrepancies in his final theory, Copernicus' greatest

achievement was the removal of the Earth from the center of the universe and solar
system.

Summary
Views of the universe: Ptolemy vs. Copernicus

Copernicus’ model:
"Sun-centered," or "heliocentric"
Copernicus thought that the planets orbited the Sun, and that the Moon orbited
Earth. The Sun, in the center of the universe, did not move, nor did the stars.
Copernicus was correct about some things, but wrong about others. The Sun is not in the
center of the universe, and it does move, as do the stars. Also, both
Copernicus and Ptolemy thought the orbits of the planets were
circular, but we now know they are elliptical.

Ptolemy's model:
"Earth-centered," or "geocentric"

Ptolemy thought that all celestial objects —

including the planets, Sun, Moon, and stars
— orbited Earth. Earth, in the center of the
universe, did not move at all.

NOTE: The outer planets, like Uranus and Neptune, are missing from both charts because
they had not been discovered at the time. The planets are lined up to make the charts
easy to read; they never line up this way in nature.
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DARWINISM
Scientific theories are historical entities. Often you can identify key individuals and
documents that are the sources of new theories—Einstein’s 1905 papers, Copernicus’ 1539
De Revolutionibus, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Sometimes, but not always, the
theory tends in popular parlance to be named after the author of these seminal
documents, as is the case with Darwinism.
But like every historical entity, theories undergo change through time. Indeed a
scientific theory might undergo such significant changes that the only point of continuing
to name it after its source is to identify its lineage and ancestry.
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and
develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the
individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.
The theory of evolution by natural selection, first formulated in Darwin's book "On the
Origin of Species" in 1859, is the process by which organisms change over time as a result
of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits. Changes that allow an organism to
better adapt to its environment will help it survive and have more offspring.
Evolution by natural selection is one of the best substantiated theories in the history
of science, supported by evidence from a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including
paleontology, geology, genetics and developmental biology.
The theory has two main points, said Brian Richmond, curator of human origins at
the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "All life on Earth is connected
and related to each other," and this diversity of life is a product of "modifications of
populations by natural selection, where some traits were favored in and environment over
others," he said.
More simply put, the theory can be described as "descent with modification," said
Briana Pobiner, an anthropologist and educator at the Smithsonian Institution National
Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., who specializes in the study of human
origins.
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The theory is sometimes described as "survival of the fittest," but that can be
misleading, Pobiner said. Here, "fitness" refers not to an organism's strength or athletic
ability, but rather the ability to survive and reproduce.
Ideas aimed at explaining how organisms change, or evolve, over time date back
to Anaximander of Miletus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 500s B.C.E. Noting that
human babies are born helpless, Anaximander speculated that humans must have
descended from some other type of creature whose young could survive without any
help. He concluded that those ancestors must be fish, since fish hatch from eggs and
immediately begin living with no help from their parents. From this reasoning, he proposed
that all life began in the sea.
Anaximander was correct; humans can indeed trace our ancestry back to fish. His
idea, however, was not a theory in the scientific meaning of the word, because it could
not be subjected to testing that might support it or prove it wrong. In science, the word
“theory” indicates a very high level of certainty. Scientists talk about evolution as a theory,
for instance, just as they talk about Einstein’s explanation of gravity as a theory.
A theory is an idea about how something in nature works that has gone through
rigorous testing through observations and experiments designed to prove the idea right or
wrong. When it comes to the evolution of life, various philosophers and scientists, including
an eighteenth-century English doctor named Erasmus Darwin, proposed different aspects
of what later would become evolutionary theory. But evolution did not reach the status of
being a scientific theory until Darwin’s grandson, the more famous Charles Darwin,
published his famous book On the Origin of Species. Darwin and a scientific contemporary
of his, Alfred Russel Wallace, proposed that evolution occurs because of a phenomenon
called natural selection.
In the theory of natural selection, organisms produce more offspring that are able to
survive in their environment. Those that are better physically equipped to survive, grow to
maturity, and reproduce. Those that are lacking in such fitness, on the other hand, either
do not reach an age when they can reproduce or produce fewer offspring than their
counterparts. Natural selection is sometimes summed up as “survival of the fittest”
because the “fittest” organisms—those most suited to their environment—are the ones
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that reproduce most successfully, and are most likely to pass on their traits to the next
generation.
This means that if an environment changes, the traits that enhance survival in that
environment will also gradually change, or evolve. Natural selection was such a powerful
idea in explaining the evolution of life that it became established as a scientific theory.
Biologists have since observed numerous examples of natural selection influencing
evolution. Today, it is known to be just one of several mechanisms by which life evolves. For
example, a phenomenon known as genetic drift can also cause species to evolve. In
genetic drift, some organisms—purely by chance—produce more offspring than would be
expected. Those organisms are not necessarily the fittest of their species, but it is their
genes that get passed on to the next generation (nationalgeogrpahic.org)
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution states that evolution happens by natural
selection. Individuals in a species show variation in physical characteristics. This variation is
because of differences in their genes.
Individuals with characteristics best suited to their environment are more likely to
survive, finding food, avoiding predators and resisting disease. These individuals are more
likely to reproduce and pass their genes on to their children.
Individuals that are poorly adapted to their environment are less likely to survive and
reproduce. Therefore their genes are less likely to be passed on to the next generation.
As a consequence those individuals most suited to their environment survive and, given
enough time, the species will gradually evolve.

Natural selection in action: the Peppered moth

Before the industrial revolution in the mid-1700s, the peppered moth was most
commonly a pale whitish colour with black spots.
This colouring enabled them to hide from potential predators on trees with pale-
coloured bark, such as birch trees.
The rarer dark-coloured peppered moths were easily seen against the pale bark of
trees and therefore more easily seen by predators.
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As the Industrial Revolution reached its peak, the air in industrial areas became full
of soot. This stained trees and buildings black.
As a result, the lighter moths became much easier to spot than the darker ones,
making them vulnerable to being eaten by birds.
The darker moths were now camouflaged against the soot-stained trees and therefore less
likely to be eaten.
Over time this change in the environment led to the darker
moths becoming more common and the pale moths rarer

A pale peppered moth on an oak tree.

Image credit: Shutterstock

A pale peppered moth on a dark tree.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Different types of evolution

Convergent evolution
When the same adaptations evolve independently, under
similar selection pressures.
For example, flying insects, birds and bats have all evolved
the ability to fly, but independently of each other.
Co-evolution
When two species or groups of species have evolved alongside each other where one
adapts to changes in the other.
For example, flowering plants and pollinating insects such as bees.

Adaptive radiation
When a species splits into a number of new forms when a change in the
environment makes new resources available or creates new environmental challenges.
For example, finches on the Galapagos Islands have developed different shaped beaks to
take advantage of the different kinds of food available on different islands.
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Sketches of the heads of finches from the Galapagos

Islands showing the differences in their beak shapes due
to evolution.

Image credit: John Gould (14.Sep.1804 - 3.Feb.1881) - From "Voyage

of the Beagle"; also online through Biodiversity

Evolution of modern humans

The origin of modern humans has probably been the most debated issue in
evolutionary biology over the last few decades.

Where did we come from?

Our evolutionary history is written into our genome?. The human genome looks the
way it does because of all the genetic changes that have affected our ancestors. The
exact origin of modern humans has long been a topic of debate.
Modern humans (Homo sapiens), the species? that we are, means ‘wise man’ in Latin. Our
species is the only surviving species of the genus Homo but where we came from has
been a topic of much debate. Modern humans originated in Africa within the past 200,000
years and evolved from their most likely recent common ancestor, Homo erectus, which
means ‘upright man’ in Latin. Homo erectus is an extinct species of human that lived
between 1.9 million and 135,000 years ago.
Historically, two key models have been put forward to explain the evolution? of
Homo sapiens. These are the ‘out of Africa’ model and the ‘multi-regional’ model. The ‘out
of Africa’ model is currently the most widely accepted model. It proposes that Homo
sapiens evolved in Africa before migrating across the world.
On the other hand, the ‘multi-regional’ model proposes that the evolution of Homo
sapiens took place in a number of places over a long period of time. The intermingling of
the various populations eventually led to the single Homo sapiens species we see today.
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FREUDALISM
Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939) was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method
for treating mental illness and also a theory which explains human behavior.
Freud believed that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult
lives, shaping our personality. For example, anxiety originating from traumatic experiences
in a person's past is hidden from consciousness, and may cause problems during
adulthood (in the form of neuroses).
Thus, when we explain our behavior to ourselves or
others (conscious mental activity), we rarely give a true
account of our motivation. This is not because we are
deliberately lying. While human beings are great deceivers of
others; they are even more adept at self-deception.
Freud's life work was dominated by his attempts to find ways of penetrating this
often subtle and elaborate camouflage that obscures the hidden structure and processes
of personality.
His lexicon has become embedded within the vocabulary of Western society. Words
he introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such as anal
(personality), libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and neurotic.
The Unconscious Mind
Freud (1900, 1905) developed a topographical model of the mind, whereby he
described the features of the mind’s structure and function. Freud used the analogy of an
iceberg to describe the three levels of the mind.
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On the surface is consciousness, which consists of those thoughts that are the focus
of our attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious consists of
all which can be retrieved from memory.
The third and most significant region is the unconscious. Here lie the processes that
are the real cause of most behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind
is the part you cannot see.
The unconscious mind acts as a repository, a ‘cauldron’ of primitive wishes and
impulse kept at bay and mediated by the preconscious area.
For example, Freud (1915) found that some events and desires were often too
frightening or painful for his patients to acknowledge, and believed such information was
locked away in the unconscious mind. This can happen through the process of repression.
Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary
assumption of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater
degree than people suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the
unconscious conscious.
The Psyche
Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind comprising the
entities id, ego, and superego (what Freud called “the psychic apparatus”). These are not
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physical areas within the brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important
mental functions.

The id, ego, and superego have most commonly been conceptualized as three
essential parts of the human personality.
Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure
principle (gratification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of
biological instincts (or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos.
Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities
such as respiration, eating, and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life instincts is
known as libido.
In contrast, Thanatos or death instinct, is viewed as a set of destructive forces
present in all human beings (Freud, 1920). When this energy is directed outward onto
others, it is expressed as aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros is stronger than
Thanatos, thus enabling people to survive rather than self-destruct.
The ego develops from the id during infancy. The ego's
goal is to satisfy the demands of the id in a safe a socially
acceptable way. In contrast to the id, the ego follows the
reality principle as it operates in both the conscious and
unconscious mind.
The superego develops during early childhood (when
the child identifies with the same sex parent) and is
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responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed. The superego operates on the
morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and acceptable
manner.
The basic dilemma of all human existence is that each element of the psychic
apparatus makes demands upon us that are incompatible with the other two. Inner
conflict is inevitable.
For example, the superego can make a person feel guilty if rules are not followed.
When there is a conflict between the goals of the id and superego, the ego must act as a
referee and mediate this conflict. The ego can deploy various defense mechanisms
(Freud, 1894, 1896) to prevent it from becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.
Freud shook the foundations of psychology. He did this by shaping several schools of
thought. Many psychiatrists still practice these schools of thought. In this sense, Freud was a
revolutionary in his way of seeing humans and our minds.
In this article, we’re not going to focus as much on his contributions. Instead, we’re
going to look at why he became a revolutionary. We’ll also see why he’s still a significant
figure today. Freud is still a key figure in the history of psychology. You could even say that
Freud’s effect on psychology is as significant as Copernicus’s effect on how we see the
universe when he discovered the sun was the center of everything and not the Earth. If
you agree with us, let’s take a look at this important historical figure!

Freud and the unconscious

The unconscious was his most revolutionary idea. However, today it’s perhaps one of the
least discussed topics. In the historical moment that Freud lived in, social psychology
hadn’t been developed yet. However, we already knew that we didn’t have complete
control over what happened to us. People already knew that certain external variables,
such as the amount of sunlight a person got every day, could influence their mood. It’s
also true that this same sunlight could blind us or make us stumble. Freud took this concept
one step further.
Freud pointed out that inside each of us, there’s a side we can’t access directly or in
a conscious way. However, this side does manifest itself in our emotions, thoughts, and
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behaviors. It’s a kind of genius that acts behind the scenes. It moves the puppet’s strings
but doesn’t show its face on stage.
The unconscious is ignored by the conscious mind. This unconscious mind can
sometimes take us down some difficult roads. It could make us feel sad without us
consciously knowing why or make us have symbolic dreams. It can even cause certain
errors in our speech.
Today, there a few people who can deny that we have an unconscious part that
influences us. Our conscious mind doesn’t have an easy access to it. The unconscious
mind could hold a childhood memory, but it also could hold deteriorated self-esteem or
attachment or commitment issues. These issues can make all your relationships fail.

Key Points
Sigmund Freud ‘s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior
is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and
superego.
This “structural theory” of personality places great importance on how conflicts
among the parts of the mind shape behavior and personality. These conflicts are mostly
unconscious.
Another look at childhood
Freud believed that childhood is a significant stage in which events that will
influence us throughout our lives take place. In addition, this influence will happen
primarily through the unconscious. We use models we have internalized but haven’t
processed.
Freud also tells us that sexuality also plays an important role in childhood. This idea
was very important to him. We see this, for example, in his Oedipus and Electra complexes.
However, he spoke of child sexuality as something natural and refrained from entering into
any moral debate about it.
For him, this sexuality is very present and can have consequences. In the case of
boys, for example, competition with the father for the love of the mother can stimulate
them to grow. This can make the boy want to imitate the father and try to overcome him.
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On the other hand, this idealization of the mother can make the boy find people similar to
his mother attractive when it comes to relationships.
One thing you can certainly say about Freud is that he wasn’t afraid to fight to put
an end to certain taboos. One of the most important ideas he tackled may have been
childhood idealization.

Conflict and neurosis

Another revolutionary idea that Freud dealt with revolved around neurosis. Freud
suggested that there are internal conflicts between what we desire (it-instinct) and what
we allow ourselves to do (superego-forbidden in terms of culture or society). These things
make us collapse into neurosis. This means that neurotic disorders arise from the
displacement of the id to the unconscious by the superego in an attempt to drown them
out.(exploringyourmind.com)
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior
is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and
superego. This theory, known as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places great
emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping behavior and
personality. Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of the mind are
thought to progress through five distinct psychosexual stages of development. Over the
last century, however, Freud’s ideas have since been met with criticism, in part because of
his singular focus on sexuality as the main driver of human personality development.
Freud’s Structure of the Human Mind
According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he
proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and
superego. Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among
what each of them “desires,” determines how we behave and approach the world. What
balance we strike in any given situation determines how we will resolve the conflict
between two overarching behavioral tendencies: our biological aggressive and pleasure-
seeking drives vs. our socialized internal control over those drives.
Science, Technology and Society

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that
adult personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles
throughout childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy
personality and that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis (what we now think of
as anxiety and depression) and unhealthy behaviors.
Conflict within the mind: According to Freud, the job of the ego is to balance the
aggressive/pleasure-seeking drives of the id with the moral control of the superego.

IMPACT
Freud's most obvious impact was to change the way society thought about and
dealt with mental illness. Before psychoanalysis, which Freud invented, mental illness was
almost universally considered 'organic'; that is, it was thought to come from some kind of
deterioration or disease of the brain. Research on treating mental illness was primarily
concerned–at least theoretically–with discovering exactly which kinds of changes in the
brain led to insanity. Many diseases did not manifest obvious signs of physical difference
between healthy and diseased brains, but it was assumed that this was simply because
the techniques for finding the differences were not yet sufficient.
If this is true–and we have a great deal of evidence that it is–why is Freud still so important?
There are at least two reasons. The first is purely practical: psychoanalysis has enormous
historical significance. Mental illness affects a large proportion of the population, either
directly or indirectly, so any curative scheme as widely accepted as was Freud's is
important to our history in general. The second, more important, reason is that Freud gave
people a new way of thinking about why they acted the way they did. He created a
whole new way of interpreting behaviors: one could now claim that a person had
motives, desires, and beliefs–all buried in the unconscious–which they knew nothing about
but which nonetheless directly controlled and motivated their conscious thought and
behavior. This hypothesis, derived from but independent of Freud's psychiatric work, was
the truly radical part of his system of thought (sparknotes.com).
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Synthesis

COPERNICAN • After Galileo publicly championed the Copernican theory, the

Catholic Church ordered him not to discuss it further and then it condemned the
Copernican theory as false. Galileo was quiet for a while, but he publicly defended his
views in 1632 and was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy,"
forced to recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
Further discovery showed that the sun is only at the center of our solar system, not
the center of the universe as the Copernican theory postulated and is merely one of
millions of stars. Since then scientists have discovered more than one galaxy. All these
discoveries forever changed our understanding of the world we live in. For the first time the
biblical and popular notion thatf the earth is the center of the universe was seriously
confronted by an unwanted reality.
DARWINIAN • This has brought a great impact on how people approach Biology
forever. This revolution provided a different than the "theory of Creation". The Darwinian
revolution started when Charles Darwin published his book "The Origin of Species" that
emphasizes that humans are the result of an evolution.
FREUDIAN • This theory has started to revolutionize Psychiatry with Sigmund Freud.
This includes the "Freudian Theory of Personality" that involves the human development
contributes to his/her personality and also his "psychoanalysis" that is the process for
achieving proper functioning if a human does not complete his/her developmental stage.

Assessment

Task 1: Retrospective
How did the Ptolemaic and Copernican theories challenge religion, politics
and culture of the people during those years? (2 x 30 =60 pts.)
Rubric
Thesis (10)
Organization (10)
Style (10)

Task 2: Experiential
Give an example from your own life of how your unconscious mind had an
impact on your decision. Do you feel it was the right decision? (30 pts.)
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Rubric
Theme (10)
Authenticity (10)
Clarity (10)

Task 3: Creative output

Develop a comic strip depicting id, ego and superego in the exercise of
freedom of expression through social media (50 pts.)

Rubric
Creativity (15)
Theme (20)
Characters and dialogue (15)
Science, Technology and Society

Section 4: Science and Technology in Nation Building

Introduction

The development of science and technology in the Philippines has already

come a long way. Even before the time of Spanish colonization in the Philippines, various
people and communities already practiced science and utilized their knowledge in
creating technological gadgets and weapons for the to survive. The knowledge they had
developed was passed on to succeeding generations, treasured and still being practiced
nowadays by indigenous communities.
The development of the country is attributed to the valuable contributions brought
about by the different colonizers of the country. Education, commerce, engineering,
medicine, and agriculture prospered in the Philippines because of the influence made b
the Spaniards and Americans.
The unfurling of our independence gave chance to Filipinos to improve the quality
of living through various discoveries and inventions through the leadership of the different
presidents who led the country for more than half of the century.

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. discussed how early Filipinos applied scientific principles in their daily living;
2. enumerated critical points in the history of science and technology in the
Philippines and how these developments influenced society and the
environment; and
3. identified the contributions of Filipino scientists in science and technology;
4. discussed the contributions of the different leaders of the nation related to
science and technology
Science, Technology and Society

Lesson Proper

Pre-colonial Period
Scientific and technological developments in the Philippines began in the pre-
colonial period. Even before the Spaniards came to the Philippine islands, early Filipino
settlers were already using plants and herbs as medicines. Systems of farming and animal-
raising were also implemented. Moreover, early Filipinos had already developed different
modes of transportation, whether terrestrial or maritime.
A complicated engineering feat was achieved by the natives of the Cordilleras
where they built rice terraces by hand. Through these terraces, the people were able to
cultivate crops on the mountainsides to cold temperatures. The incorporated an irrigating
system that uses water from the forests and mountain tops to achieve an elaborate
farming system. The rice terraces of the Cordilleras, which are still functional, show the
innovative and ingenious way of the natives to survive in an otherwise unfriendly
environment.
The early Filipinos involved themselves in various endeavors where their creativity
and the will to survive were their motivation to utilize available resources in their
environment.
 Ethno medicine using plants and herbs
 Mode of Transportation: Kalesa, balangay, land bridges
 farming
 pottery
 animal-raising
 rice terraces
 irrigation system
 alphabet (alibata/baybayin)
 trade
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Science, Technology and Society

Colonial Period
Spanish Era
Colonization by the
Spaniards provided the
Philippines with modern
means of construction.
Walls, roads, bridges, and
other large infrastructures
were built using some of the
engineering skills and tools brought by the Spaniards. In addition, the Spanish
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government developed health and education systems that were enjoyed by the
principalia class.

Binondo Church Santa Cruz Bridge

The Spanish Friars Kalye Crisologo in Vigan

The colonization of the Philippines contributed to growth of science and technology
in the archipelago. The Spanish introduced formal education and founded scientific
institution. During the early years of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Parish schools were
established where religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music was taught. Sanitation
and more advanced methods of agriculture was taught to the natives. Later the Spanish
established colleges and universities in the archipelago including the University of Santo
Tomas.
Accounts by Spanish friars in the 1580s showed that astronomy was already known
and practiced. The accounts also give the local names of constellations, such as
Moroporo for the Pleiades and Balatik for Ursa Major among others.
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In 1687, Isaac Newton included an explicit reference to the Philippines in his classic
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by mentioning Leuconia, the ancient
Ptolemaic name for the Philippines.
The study of medicine in the Philippines was given priority in the Spanish era,
especially in the later years. The Spanish also contributed to the field of engineering in the
islands by constructing government buildings, churches, roads, bridges and forts.Biology is
given focus. Contributors to science in the archipelago during the 19th century were
botanists, Fr. Ignacio Mercado., Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Dr. Leon Ma Guerrero,
chemist Anaclento del Rosario, and medicine scholars Dr. Manuel Guerrero, Dr, Jose
Montes and Dr. Elrodario Mercado.
The Galleon Trade have accounted in the Philippine colonial economy. Trade was
given more focus by the Spaniard colonial authorities due to the prospects of big profits.
Agriculture and industrial development on the other hand were relatively neglected.[4]
The opening of the Suez Canal saw the influx of European visitors to the Spanish colony
and some Filipinos were able to study in Europe who were probably influenced by the
rapid development of scientific ideals brought by the Age of Enlightenment.

American Era
The progress of science and technology in the Philippines continued under
American rule. On July 1, 1901 The Philippine Commission established the Bureau of
Government Laboratories which was placed under the Department of Interior. The Bureau
replaced the Laboratorio Municipal, which was established under the Spanish colonial
era. The Bureau dealt with the study of tropical diseases and laboratory projects. On
October 26, 1905, the Bureau of Government Laboratories was replaced by the Bureau of
Science and on December 8, 1933, the National Research Council of the Philippines was
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established. The Bureau of Science became the primary research center of the Philippines
until World War II.
Science during the American period was inclined towards agriculture, food
processing, medicine and pharmacy. Not much focus was given on the development of
industrial technology due to free trade policy with the United States which nurtured an
economy geared towards agriculture and trade.[5]
In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science. In a report
by the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950, there is a lack of basic information
which were necessities to the country's industries, lack of support of experimental work and
minimal budget for scientific research and low salaries of scientists employed by the
government. In 1958, during the regime of President Carlos P. Garcia, the Philippine
Congress passed the Science Act of 1958 which established the National Science
Development Board.

Bureau of Science

A HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

By: Olivia C. Caoili

Introduction

The need to develop a country's science and technology has generally been
recognized as one of the imperatives of socioeconomic progress in the contemporary
Science, Technology and Society

world. This has become a widespread concern of governments especially since the post-
world war II years.
Among Third World countries, an important dimension of this concern is the problem
of dependence in science and technology as this is closely tied up with the integrity of their
political sovereignty and economic self-reliance. There exists a continuing imbalance
between scientific and technological development among contemporary states with 98
per cent of all research and development facilities located in developed countries and
almost wholly concerned with the latter's problems. Dependence or autonomy in science
and technology has been a salient issue in conferences sponsored by the United Nations.
It is within the above context that this paper attempts to examine the history of
science and technology in the Philippines. Rather than focusing simply on a straight
chronology of events, it seeks to interpret and analyze the interdependent effects of
geography, colonial trade, economic and educational policies and socio-cultural factors
in shaping the evolution of present Philippine science and technology.
As used in this paper, science is concerned with the systematic understanding and
explanation of the laws of nature. Scientific activity centers on research, the end result of
which is the discovery or production of new knowledge. This new knowledge may or may
not have any direct or immediate application.
In comparison, technology has often been understood as the "systematic knowledge
of the industrial arts." As this knowledge was implemented by means of techniques,
technology has become commonly taken to mean both the knowledge and the means of
its utilization, that is, “a body, of knowledge about techniques." Modern technology
also involves systematic research but its outcome is more concrete than science, i.e. the
production of "a thing, a chemical, a process, something to be bought and sold."
In the past, science and technology developed separately, with the latter being
largely a product of trial and error in response to a particular human need. In modern times,
however, the progresses of science and technology have become intimately linked
together. Many scientific discoveries have been facilitated by the development of new
technology. New scientific knowledge in turn has often led to further refinement of existing
technology or the invention of entirely new ones.
Science, Technology and Society

Precolonial Science and Technology

There is a very little reliable written information about Philippine society, culture and
technology before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. As such, one has to reconstruct a
picture of this past using contemporary archaeological findings, accounts by early traders
and foreign travelers, and the narratives about conditions in the archipelago which were
written by the first Spanish missionaries and colonial officials. According to these
sources, there were numerous, scattered, thriving, relatively self-sufficient and autonomous
communities long before the Spaniards arrived. The early Filipinos had attained a
generally simple level of technological development, compared with those of the Chinese
and Japanese, but this was sufficient for their needs at that period of time.
Archaeological findings indicate that modern men (homo sapiens) from the Asian
mainland first came over-land and across narrow channels to live in Palawan and
Batangas around 50,000 years ago. For about 40,000 years, they made simple tools or
weapons of stone flakes but eventually developed techniques for sawing, drilling and
polishing hard stones. These Stone Age inhabitants, subsequently formed settlements in
the major Philippine islands such as Sulu, Mindanao (Zamboanga, and Davao), Negros,
Samar, Luzon (Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan and the Cagayan region). By about 3,000
B.C., they were producing adzes ornaments of seashells and pottery of various designs. The
manufacture of pottery subsequently became well developed and flourished for about
2,000 years until it came into competition with imported Chinese porcelain. Thus over time
pottery making declined. What has survived of this ancient technology is the lowest level,
i.e., the present manufacture of the ordinary cooking pot among several local communities.
Gradually, the early Filipinos learned to make metal tools and implements -- copper,
gold, bronze and, later, iron. The Iron Age is considered to have lasted from the second or
third century B.C. to the tenth century A.D. Excavations of Philippine graves and work sites
have yielded iron slags. These suggest that Filipinos during this period engaged in the actual
extraction of iron from ore, smelting and refining. But it appears that the iron industry, like
the manufacture of pottery, did not survive the competition with imported cast iron from
Sarawak and much later, from China.
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By the first century A.D., Filipinos were weaving cotton, smelting iron, making pottery
and glass ornaments and were also engaged in agriculture. Lowland rice was cultivated in
diked fields and in the interior mountain regions as in the Cordillera, in terraced fields which
utilized spring water.
Filipinos had also learned to build boats for the coastal trade. By the tenth century
A.D., this had become a highly developed technology. In fact, the early Spanish
chroniclers took note of the refined plank-built warship called caracoa. These boats were
well suited for inter-island trade raids. The Spaniards later utilized Filipino expertise in boat-
building and seamanship to fight the raiding Dutch, Portuguese, Muslims and the Chinese
pirate Limahong as well as to build and man the galleons that sailed to Mexico.
By the tenth century A.D., the inhabitants of Butuan were trading with Champa
(Vietnam); those of Ma-i (Mindoro) with China. Chinese records which have now been
translated contain a lot of references to the Philippines. These indicate that regular trade
relations between the two countries had been well established during the tenth to the
fifteenth centuries. Archaeological findings (in various parts of the archipelago) of Chinese
porcelains made during this period support this contention. From the Sung (960-1278) and
Yuan (1260-1368) Dynasties, there are descriptions of trade with the Philippines, and from
the Sung and Ming (1360-1644) Dynasties there are notices of Filipino missions to Peking.
The most frequently cited Chinese account in Philippine history textbooks is that of
Chao Ju-Kua in 1225. He described the communities and trading activities in the islands
of Ma-i (Mindoro) and San-hsu (literally three islands which present-day historians think
refer to the group of Palawan and Calamian Islands). The people of Ma-i and San-hsu
traded beeswax, cotton, true pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal betelnuts, yu-ta cloth
(probably jute or ramie?) and coconut heart mats for Chinese porcelain, iron pots, lead
fishnet sinkers, colored glass beads, iron needles and tin. These were practically the same
commodities of trade between the islands and China which the first Spanish colonial
officials recorded when they came to the Philippines more than two centuries later.
The Filipinos in Mindanao and Sulu traded with Borneo, Malacca and parts of the
Malay Peninsula. This trade seems to have antedated those with the Chinese. By the time
the Spaniards reached the archipelago, these trade relations had been firmly established
Science, Technology and Society

such that the alliance between the rulers of Manila and Brunei had become strengthened
by marriage. It was through these contacts that Hindu-Buddhist, Malay-Sanskrit and Arab-
Muslim Cultural and technological influences spread to the Philippines. There have also
been some references (by early travelers during the precolonial period) to trade relations
between Japan and the Philippines. To date however, Philippine historians have not found
any prehispanic references to the Philippines in Japanese literature of the period.
By the time the Spaniards came to colonies the Philippines in 1565; they found many
scattered, autonomous village communities (called barangays) all over the archipelago.
These were kinship groups or social units rather than political units. They were essentially
subsistence economies producing mainly what they needed.
These communities exhibited uneven technological development. Settlements
along the coastal areas which had been exposed to foreign trade and cultural contacts
such as Manila, Mindoro, Cebu, Southern Mindanao and Sulu, seem to have attained a
more sophisticated technology. In 1570, for example, the Spaniards found the town of
Mindoro "fortified by a stone wall over fourteen feet thick," and defended by armed
Moros -- "bowmen, lancers, and some gunners, linstocks in hand." There were a "large
number of culverins" all along the hillside of the town. They found Manila similarly defended
by a palisade along its front with pieces of artillery at its gate. The house of Raja Soliman
(which was burned down by Spaniards) reportedly contained valuable articles of trade --
"money, copper, iron, porcelain, blankets, wax, cotton and wooden vats full of brandy."
Next to his house was a storehouse which contained: much iron and copper; as well as
culverins and cannons which had melted. Some small and large cannon had just begun.
There were the clay and wax moulds, the largest of which was for a cannon seventeen feet
long, resembling a culverin...
These reports indicate that the Filipinos in Manila had learned to make and use
modern artillery. The Spanish colonizers noted that all over the islands, Filipinos were
growing rice, vegetables and cotton; raising swine, goats and fowls; making wine,
vinegar and salt; weaving cloth and producing beeswax and honey. The Filipinos were
also mining gold in such places as Panay, Mindoro and Bicol. They wore colorful clothes,
made their own gold jewelry and even filled their teeth with gold. Their houses were made
Science, Technology and Society

of wood or bamboo and nipa. They had their own system of writing and weights and
measures. Some communities had become renowned for their plank-built boats. They had
no calendar but counted the years by moons and from one harvest to another.
In the interior and mountain settlements, many Filipinos were still living as hunters. They
gathered forest products to trade with the lowland and coastal settlements. But they also
made "Iron lance-points, daggers and certain small tools used in transplanting."
On the whole, the pre-colonial Filipinos were still highly superstitious. The Spaniards
found no temples or places of worship. Although the Filipinos knew how to read and write
in their own system, this was mainly used for messages and letters. They seem not to have
developed a written literary tradition at that time.(20) This would have led to a more
systematic accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, a condition that is necessary for
the development of science and technology. Because of the abundance of natural
resources, a benign environment and generally sparse population, there seemed to have
been little pressure for invention and innovation among the early Filipinos. As governor
Francisco de Sande observed in 1575, the Filipinos do not understand any kind of work,
unless it be to do something actually necessary -- such as to build their houses, which are
made of stakes after their fashion; to fish, according to their method; to row, and perform
the duties of sailors; and to cultivate the land...
Developments in Science and Technology
During the Spanish Regime
The beginnings of modern science and technology in the Philippines can be
traced to the Spanish regime. The Spaniards established schools, hospitals and started
scientific research and these had important consequences for the rise of the country’s
professions. But the direction and pace of development of science and technology were
greatly shaped by the role of the religious orders in the conquest and colonization of the
archipelago and by economic and trade adopted by the colonial government.
The interaction of these forces and the resulting socio-economic and political
changes must, therefore, be analyzed in presenting a history of science and technology in
the Philippines.
Science, Technology and Society

Spanish conquest and the colonization of the archipelago were greatly facilitated by
the adoption of an essentially religious strategy which had earlier been successfully used in
Latin America. Known as reduccion, it required the consolidation of the far-flung, scattered
barangay communities into fewer, larger and more compact settlements within the hearing
distance of the church bells. This was a necessary response to the initial shortage of Spanish
missionaries in the Philippines. This policy was carried out by a combination of religious
conversion and military force.
The net result of reduccion was the creation of towns and the foundation of the
present system of local government. The precolonial ruling class, the datus and their
hereditary successors, were adopted by the Spanish colonial government into this new
system to serve as the heads of the lowest level of local government; i.e. as cabezas de
barangay. The colonial authorities found the new set-up expeditious for establishing
centralized political control over the archipelago -- for the imposition and collection of
the tribute tax, enforcement of compulsory labor services among the native Filipinos, and
implementation of the compulsory sale of local products to the government.
The Filipinos naturally resisted reduccion as it took them away from their rice fields,
the streams and the forests which were their traditional sources of livelihood and also
subjected them to the onerous economic exactions by the colonial government. Thus the
first century of Spanish rule brought about serious socio-economic dislocation and a
decline kin agricultural production and traditional crafts in many places. In the region
surrounding the walled city of Manila, Filipinos migrated from their barangays to the city
in order to serve in the convents and thus avoid the compulsory labor services in the
shipyards and forests. Over the centuries, this population movement would greatly
contribute to the congestion of Manila and its suburbs.
The religious orders likewise played a major role in the establishment of the colonial
educational system in the Philippines. They also influenced the development of technology
and promotion of scientific research. Hence, these roles must next be examined.
Various decrees were issued in Spain calling for the establishment of a school system
in the colony but these were not effectively carried out. Primary instruction during the
Spanish regime was generally taken care of by the missionaries and parish priests in the
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villages and towns. Owing to the dearth of qualified teachers, textbooks and other
instructional materials, primary instruction was mainly religious education. Higher
education was provided by schools set up by the different religious orders in the
urban centers, most of them in Manila. For example, the Jesuits founded in Cebu City the
Colegio de San Ildefonso (1595) and in Manila, the Colegio de San Ignacio (1595), the
Colegio de San Jose (1601) and the Ateneo de Manila (1859). The Dominicans had the
Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1640) in Manila. Access to these schools was, however,
limited to the elite of the colonial society -- the European-born and local Spaniards, the
mestizos and a few native Filipinos. Courses leading to the B.A. degree, Bachiller en Artes,
were given which by the nineteenth century included science subjects such as physics,
chemistry, natural history and mathematics.
On the whole, however, higher education was pursued for the priesthood or for
clerical positions in the colonial administration. It was only during the latter part of the
nineteenth century that technical/vocational schools were established by the
Spaniards.(26)
Throughout the Spanish regime, the royal and pontifical University of Santo Tomas
remained as the highest institution of learning. Run by the Dominicans, it was established as
a college in 1611 by Fray Miguel de Benavides. It initially granted degrees in theology,
philosophy and humanities. During the eighteenth century, the faculty of jurisprudence
and canonical law was established. In 1871, the schools of medicine and pharmacy were
opened. From 1871 to 1886, the University of Santo Tomas granted the degree of
Licenciado en Medicina to 62 graduates. For the doctorate degree in medicine, at least
an additonal year of study was required at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain.
The study of pharmacy consisted of a preparatory course with subjects in natural
history and general chemistry and five years of studies in subjects such as pharmaceutical
operations at the school of pharmacy. At the end of this period of the degree of Bachiller
en Farmacia was granted. The degree of licentiate in pharmacy, which was equivalent
to a master's degree, was granted after two years of practice in a pharmacy, one lof which
could be taken simultaneously with the academic courses after the second year course
of study. In 1876, the university granted the bachelor's degree in pharmacy to its first six
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graduates in the school of pharmacy. Among them was Leon Ma. Guerrero, who is usually
referred to as the "Father of Philippine Pharmacy" becuase of his extensive work on the
medicinal plants of the Philippines and their uses. The total number of graduates in
pharmacy during the Spanish period was 164.
There were no schools offering engineering at that time. The few who studied
engineering had to go to Europe. There was a Nautical School created on 1 January
1820 which offered a four-year course of study (for the profession of pilot of merchant
marine) that included subjects as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics,
hydrography, meteorology, navigation and pilotage. A School of Commercial
Accounting and a School of French and English Languages were established in 1839.
In 1887, the Manila School of Agriculture was created by royal decree but it was
able to open only in July 1889. The School was designed to provide theoretical and
practical education of skilled farmers and overseers and to promote agricultural
development in the Philippines by means of observation, experiment and investigation.
Agricultural stations were also established in Isabela, Ilocos, Albay, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and
parts of Mindanao. The professors in the School were agricultural engineers. The School
was financed by the government but it appears that its direction was also left to the priests.
The certificates of completion of the course were awarded by the University of Santo Tomas
or the Ateneo Municipal. It seems that the School was not successful as Filipinos did not
show much inclination for industrial pursuits.
In 1863, the colonial authorities issued a royal decree designed to reform the existing
educational system in the country. It provided for the establishment of a system of
elementary, secondary and collegiate schools, teacher-training schools, and called for
government supervision of these schools. The full implementation of this decree, however,
was interrupted by the coming of the Americans in 1898.
Higher education during the Spanish regime was generally viewed with suspicion
and feared by the colonial authorities as encouraging conspiracy and rebellion among
the native Filipinos. For this reason, only the more daring and persevering students were
able to undertake advantaged studies. The attitude of the Spanish friars towards the study
of the sciences and medicine was even more discouraging. As one Rector of the University
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of Santo Tomas in the 1960s said: "Medicine and the natural sciences are materialistic and
impious studies." It was not surprising, therefore, that few Filipinos ventured to study these
disciplines. Those who did were poorly trained when compared with those who had gone
to European universities. Science courses at the University of Santo Tomas were taught by
the lecture/recitation method. Laboratory equipment was limited and only displayed for
visitors to see. There was little or no training in scientific research. Sir John Bowring, the
British Governor of Hongkong who made an official visit to the Philippines in the 1850s wrote:
Public instruction is in an unsatisfactory state in the Philippines--the provisions are little
changed from those of the monkish ages.
In the University of Santo Tomas... no attention is given to the natural sciences... nor
have any of the educational reforms which have penetrated most of the colleges of
Europe and America found their way to the Philippines.
In spite of the small number of Filipino graduates from the UST in medicine and the
sciences they still faced the problem of unemployment. This was because the colonial
government preferred to appoint Spanish and other European-trained professionals to
At the start of the American regime, a German physician of Manila submitted a report
to the authorities on the conditions at UST's medical college. The report mentions, among
others, its lack of library facilities, the use of outdated textbooks (some published in 1845),
that no female cadaver had ever been dissected and the anatomy course was a "farce",
that most graduates "never had attended even one case of confinement or seen a
case of laparotomy" and that bacteriology had been introduced only since the
American occupation and "was still taught without microscopes!" Many of these
graduates later joined the revolutionary movement against Spain.
With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the consequent ease in travel and
communications that it brought about, the liberal ideas and scientific knowledge of the
West also reached the Philippines. The prosperity that resulted from increased commerce
between the Philippines and the rest of the world enabled Filipino students to go to Europe
for professional advanced studies. These included Jose Rizal who was able to pursue studies
in Medicine and specialize in ophthalmology in Spain and Germany; Graciano Apacible
who studied medicine in Madrid; Antonio Luna who obtained his Ph.D. in pharmacy in
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Madrid and later worked with renowned scientists in Ghent and Paris; Jose Alejandrino
who took up engineering in Belgium, and others. It was this group of students which set up
the Propaganda Movement in Europe that eventually led to the Philippine revolution
against Spain.
The religious orders provided most of the teaching force and institutions of learning in
the colony. This was similar to the situation that had earlier prevailed in Europe (where they
had come from) during the medieval ages. Inevitably, members of the religious orders also
took the lead in technological innovation and scientific research. This involvement
invariably arose from their need to provide for basic necessities as they went around the
archipelago to perform their missionary work of propagating the Catholic faith and to
finance the colleges, hospitals and orphanages that they had established.
The Spaniards introduced the technology of town planning and building with stones,
brick and tiles. In many places, religious (such as Bishop Salazar in Manila) personally led in
these undertakings. Because of the lack of skilled Filipinos in these occupations, the
Spaniards had to import Chinese master builders, artisans and masons. The native Filipinos
were drafted, through the institution of compulsory labor services, to work on these projects.
In this manner, the construction of the walls of Manila, its churches, convents, hospitals,
schools and public buildings were completed by the seventeenth century.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the religious orders had established several
charity hospitals in the archipelago and in fact provided the bulk of this public service.
These hospitals became the setting for rudimentary scientific work during the Spanish
regime long before the establishment of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) college of
medicine. Research in these institutions were confined to pharmacy and medicine and
concentrated on the problems of infectious diseases, their causes and possible remedies.
Several Spanish missionaries observed, catalogued and wrote about Philippine plants,
particularly those with medicinal properties. The most notable of these was Father
Fernando de Sta. Maria's Manual de Medicinas Caseras published in 1763 which was so in
demand that it had undergone several editions by 1885.
By the second half of the nineteenth century, studies of infectious diseases such as
smallpox, cholera, bubonic plague, dysentery, leprosy and malaria were intensified with
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the participation of graduates of medicine and pharmacy from UST.(45) At this time, native
Filipinos began to participate in scientific research. In 1887, the Laboratorio Municipal de
Ciudad de Manila was created by decree. Its main functions were to conduct biochemical
analyses for public health and to undertake specimen examinations for clinical and
medico-legal cases. It had a publication called Cronica de Ciencias Medicas de Filipinas
showing scientific studies being done during that time.
There was very little development in Philippine agriculture and industry during the first
two centuries of Spanish rule. This was largely due to the dependence of the Spanish
colonizers on the profits from the Galleon or Manila-Acapulco trade, which lasted from 1565
to 1813. It was actually based on the trade with China which antedated Spanish rule. The
galleons brought to Latin America Chinese goods -- silk and other cloths, porcelain and the
like -- and brought back to Manila Mexican silver. When the Spanish and Portuguese
thrones were united from 1581 to 1640, goods brought to Manila by ships from Japan and
Portuguese ships from Siam, India, Malacca, Borneo and Cambodia were also carried by
the galleons to Mexico. During the time, Manila prospered as the entrepot of the Orient.
The Filipinos hardly benefited from the Galleon trade. Direct participation in the trade
was limited to Spanish inhabitants of Manila who were given shares of lading space in the
galleons. Many of them simply speculated on these trading rights and lived off on their
profits. It was the Chinese who profited most from the trade. They acted as the trade's
packers, middlemen, retailers and also provided services and other skills which the Spanish
community in Intramuros needed.
Spanish preoccupation with the Manila Galleon eventually led to the neglect of
agriculture and mining and the decline of native handicrafts and industries in the Philippines.
The deleterious effects of the trade on the archipelago's domestic economy had been
pointed out by some Spanish officials as early as 1592. But this seems to have been largely
ignored by colonial policy-makers. Only the local shipbuilding industry continued to prosper
because of necessity -- to build the galleons and other ships required for internal commerce
and the defense of the archipelago. This had become quite well developed according to
a French visitor in the nineteenth century. He observed:
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In many provinces shipbuilding is entirely in the hands of the natives. The excellence
of their work is proof that they are perfectly capable of undertaking the study of abstruse
sciences and that mathematical equations are by no means beyond their comprehension.
Agricultural development was left to the resident Chinese and the Spanish friars. The
latter saw in the cultivation of their large estates around Manila a steady source of financial
support for their churches, colleges, hospitals and orphanages in Intramuros. The friar estates
profited from the expanding domestic food market as a result of the population growth of
Manila and its suburbs. But the friars contribution in the development of existing agricultural
technology was more of quantitative than qualitative in nature. The profitability of their
estates was largely derived from the intensive exploitation of native technology and their
free compulsory personal services.
Successive shipwrecks of and piratical attacks on the galleons to Mexico led to
declining profits from the trade and triggered an economic depression in Manila during
the latter part of the seventeenth century. This situation was aggravated by increasing
restrictions on the goods carried by the Manila Galleon as a consequence of opposition
coming from Andalusion merchants and mercantilists in Spain.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Bourbon dynasty ascended to the
Spanish throne and brought with it political and economic ideas of the French
Enlightenment. This paved the way for more government attention to the economic
development of the Philippines. Enterprising Spaniards began to exploit the mineral wealth
of the islands, develop its agriculture, and establish industries. These efforts were further
encouraged by the need to promote economic recovery after the British Occupation of
Manila in 1762-1764.
Research in agriculture and industry was encouraged by the founding of the Real
Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais de Filipinas (Royal Economic Society of Friends
of the Philippines) by Governador Jose Basco y Vargas under authority of a royal decree
of 1780. Composed of private individuals and government officials, the Society
functioned somewhat like the European learned societies during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries and a modern National Research Council, It undertook the
promotion of the cultivation of indigo, cotton, cinnamon, and pepper and the
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development of the silk industry. During the nineteenth century, it was endowed with
funds which it used to provide prizes for successful experiments and inventions for the
improvement of agriculture and industry: to finance the publication of scientific and
technical literature, trips of scientists from Spain to the Philippines, professorships; and to
provide scholarships to Filipinos.
In 1789, Manila was opened to Asian shipping. This inaugurated an era of increasing
Philippine exports of rice, hemp, sugar, tobacco, indigo and others and rising imports of
manufactured goods. In 1814, Manila was officially opened to world trade and commerce;
subsequently other Philippine ports were opened.
Foreign capital was allowed to operate on an equal footing with Spanish merchants
in 1829. By this means agricultural production particularly of sugar and hemp, was
accelerated and modernized. Local industries flourished in Manila and its suburbs --
weaving, embroidery, hatmaking, carriage manufacture, rope-making, cigar and
cigarettes-making. Much of the finished products of these industries were exported.
Yet although Philippine exports kept rising during the nineteenth century, imports of
manufactured goods also rose and foreign, particularly English capital dominated external
trade and commerce. This partly because of short-sighted Spanish colonial trade policies
and the relative inexperience and lack of capital of Spanish colonial trade policies and
the relative inexperience and lack of capital of Spanish and Filipino merchants.
The prosperity arising from expanded world trade and commerce in the nineteenth
century led to Manila's rapid development as a cosmopolitan center. Modern amenities -
- a waterworks system, steam tramways, electric lights, newspapers, a banking system --
were introduced into the city by the latter half of the nineteenth century. Undoubtedly,
commercial needs led to the Spanish governments establishment of a Nautical School,
vocational schools and a School of Agriculture during the nineteenth century. Various
offices and commissions were also created by the Spanish government by the Spanish
government to undertake studies and regulations of mines, research on Philippine flora,
agronomic research and teaching, geological research and chemical analysis of mineral
waters throughout the country. However, little is known about the accomplishments of
these scientific bodies.
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Meteorological studies were promoted by Jesuits who founded the Manila

Observatory in 1865. The Observatory collected and made available typhoon and
climatological observations. These observations grew in number and importance so that
by 1879, it became possible for Fr. Federico Faura to issue the first public typhoon warning.
The service was so highly appreciated by the business and scientific communities that in
April 1884, a royal decree made the Observatory an official institution run by the Jesuits,
and also established a network of meteorological stations under it. In 1901, the Observatory
was made a central station of the Philippine Weather Bureau which was set up by the
American colonial authorities. It remained under the Jesuit scientists and provided not only
meteorological but also seismological and astronomical studies.
The benefits of economic development during the nineteenth century were unevenly
distributed in the archipelago. While Manila prospered and rapidly modernized, much of
the countryside remained underdeveloped and poor. The expansion of agricultural
production for export exacerbated existing socio-economic inequality that had been
cumulative consequence of the introduction of land as private property at the beginning
of Spanish rule. There was increasing concentration of wealth among the large landowners
-- the Spaniards, especially the religious orders, the Spanish and Chinese mestizos, the native
Principalia -- and poverty and landlessness among the masses. This inequality, coupled with
abuses and injustices committed by the Spanish friars and officials gave rise to Philippine
nationalism and eventually the Revolution of 1896.
At the end of the Spanish regime, the Philippines had evolved into a primary agricultural
exporting economy. Progress in agriculture had been made possible by some government
support for research and education in this field. But it was largely the entry of foreign capital
and technology which brought about the modernization of some sectors, notably sugar
and hemp production. The lack of interest and support for research and development of
native industries like weaving, for example, eventually led to their failure to survive the
competition with foreign imports. Because of necessity and the social prestige attached to
university education, medicine and pharmacy remained the most developed science-
based professions during the Spanish regime.
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Science and Technology during the First Republic

There was very little development in science and technology during the short-lived
Philippine Republic (1898-1900). The government took steps to establish a secular
educational system by a decree of 19 October 1898; it created the Universidad Literaria de
Filipinas as a secular, state-supported institution of higher learning. It offered courses in law,
medicine, surgery, pharmacy and notary public. During its short life, the University was able
to hold graduation exercises in Tarlac on 29 September 1899 when degrees in medicine and
law were awarded.

Developments in Science and Technology

During the American Regime
Science and technology in the Philippines advanced rapidly during the American
regime. This was made possible by the simultaneous government encouragement and
support for an extensive public education system; the granting of scholarships for higher
education in science and engineering; the organization of science research agencies and
establishment of science-based public services.
The Americans introduced a system of secularized public school education as
soon as civil government was set up in the islands. On 21 January 1901, the Philippine
Commision, which acted as the executive and legislative body for the Philippines until 1907,
promulgated Act No. 74 creating a Department of Public Instruction in the Philippines. It
provided for the establishment of schools that would give free primary education, with
English as the medium of instruction. This was followed by the setting up of a Philippine
Normal School to train Filipino teachers. Secondary schools were opened after a further
enactment of the Philippine in Commission in 1902. The Philippine Medical School was
established in 1905 and was followed by other professional and technical schools. These
were later absorbed into the University of the Philippines.
The colonial authorities initially adopted a coordinated policy for the promotion of
higher education in the sciences and government research institutions and agencies
performing technical functions. The University of the Philippines was created on 18 June
1908 by Act of the Philippine Legislature. Among the first colleges to be opened were the
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College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna in 1909, the Colleges of Liberal Arts,
Engineering and Veterinary Medicine in 1910 and the College of Law in 1911. By 1911, the
University had an enrollment of 1,400 students, Four Years later, its enrollment had almost
doubled (to 2,398) and the University included two new units, a School of Pharmacy and a
Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. In 1916, the School of Forestry
and Conservatory of Music were established; and in 1918, the College of Education was
opened.
Except in the College of Medicine, where there were already a number of Filipino
physicians who were qualified to become its faculty members when it was opened in
1907, most of the early instructors and professor in the sciences and engineering at the
University of the Philippines were Americans and other foreigners. Qualified Filipinos were
sent abroad for advanced training and by this means foreign faculty were gradually
replaced by Filipinos. For example, in 1920, Filipino Ph.D. graduates of U.S. universities took
over the Department of Agriculture Chemistry in the College of Agriculture. By December
1926, the university's enrollment in all colleges had reached 6,464 and out of a total
teaching staff of 463, only 44 were Americans and other foreigners.
Before 1910, the American colonial government encouraged young men and women
to get higher professional education as much as possible in American colleges. In 1903, the
Philippine commission passed an Act to finance the sending of 135 boys and girls of high
school age to the United States to be educated as teachers, engineers, physicians and
lawyers. One third of these were chosen by the governor-general on a nation-wide basis
and the rest by the provincial authorities. In exchange for this privilege, the pensionados,
as they came to be called, were to serve in the public service for five years after their return
from their studies. Between 1903 and 1912, 209 men and women were educated under this
program in American schools. After the establishment of the University of the Philippines,
scholarships for advanced studies of a scientific or technical nature in American
Universities were given only in preparation for assignment to jobs in the public service.
The Philippine Commission introduced science subjects and industrial and
vocational education into the Philippine school system but they found that industrial and
vocation courses were very unpopular with the Filipinos. When the Manila Trade School
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was opened in 1901, the school authorities found it difficult to get students to enroll in these
courses. Because of their almost 400 years of colonial experience under the Spaniards,
middle class Filipinos had developed a general disdain for manual work and a preference
for the prestigious professions of the time, namely, the priesthood, law and medicine.
Education in these professions came to be regarded as the means of making the best of
the limited opportunities in the Spanish colonial bureaucracy and thus of rising from one's
social class. Hence, even at the newly-opened University of the Philippines, it was difficult
to get students to enroll in courses which required field work such as, for example,
agriculture, veterinary medicine, engineering and other applied science. Scholarships
were thus offered by the government to attract a sufficient number of students to enroll in
courses that were needed to fill up the technical positions in the government service.
In the field of medicine, the Philippine Commission provided for as many scholarships
as there were regularly organized provinces in the Islands. These were awarded by
the school departments after competitive examinations in the provinces. A recipient
of these scholarships was required to return to the province from whence he came and
to serve as a physician for as many years as his medical education was paid for by
the government. This policy was adopted not only to assure the medical school
a continuing supply of carefully selected students but also to ensure a balanced
geographical distribution of physicians in the different provinces and to counteract
their tendency to settle in the large urban areas.
Selected graduates of the schools of medicine and nursing were also sent on
government scholarship to universities in the United States for postgraduate courses and
training in special fields. In 1921, the Rockefeller foundation provided for six fellowships
for qualified Filipinos in universities in the United States and Europe, two each in he fields
of public health (preventive medicine), public health laboratory work and teacher
training in nursing education. Over several years, the Foundation provided more than
thirty of these fellowships and also financed shorter observation trips of many other health
officials.
It also greatly aided in the establishment and development of the Graduate School
of Public Health and Hygiene in the University of the Philippines.
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When the Bureau of Public Works was created in 1901, the Americans found that there
were no competent Filipino engineers, and American engineers had to be imported. As a
consequence, a special effort was made to attract Filipinos to pursue advanced studies
leading to careers as engineers. In many cases government financial assistance was
provided to enable them to complete their professional studies in the United States. Upon
achieving their professional qualifications they were employed as junior engineers in the
Bureau of Public Works. Many of them rapidly advanced in their positions. Their career
progress can be seen from the fact that whereas in 1913 there were only 18 Filipino
engineers out of a total of 145 engineers in the Bureau of Public Works, the rest being
American; by the end of 1925, out of 190 engineers in the Bureau, only 16 were Americans
and 174 were Filipinos.
The establishment of the University of the Philippines satisfied the short-run needs for
professionally trained Filipinos in the colonial government's organization and programs.
What the authorities did not recognize was that by providing for an extensive public school
system at the elementary and secondary levels they had increased tremendously the social
demand for professional education. The University of the Philippines remained the only
publicly-supported institutions for higher education, and, since it could not meet the
increasing social demand for universities was left to the initiative of enterprising Filipinos.
For many Filipinos, private education became the alternative for professional education.

Many of the existing private nonsectarian universities were organized during the early
period of the American regime to help meet the increasing demand for professional
education and the country's need for trained manpower. At the same time, these schools
remained distinctively Filipino in orientation as they were conceived by their founders as
a means to conserve the national heritage and prevent the complete Americanization of
the Filipinos.
At the outset of the American regime, there was no definite government policy on
private schools. Because of the widespread disorganization that followed a more of these
schools were set up, government regulation and control was found necessary. The first
attempt to regulate private schools was through the Corporation Law (Act No. 1459)
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enacted by the Philippine Commission in 1906. In effect, it treated the schools like
commercial firms or business enterprises except that they would be under the supervision of
the Department of Public Instruction rather than the Department of Trade and Industry.
In 1917, Act No. 2076 (Private School Act) was enacted by the Philippine Legislature.
The Act recognized private schools as educational institutions and not commercial ventures.
It required the Secretary of Public Instruction to "maintain a general standard of
efficiency in all private schools and colleges so that...(they shall) furnish adequate
instruction to the public..." and authorized him to "inspect and watch" these school and
colleges. The supervision of these schools was entrusted to a staff of four within the
Department of Public Instruction -- a superintendent, an assistant superintendent and
two supervisors.
The number of private colleges increased rapidly. In 1925 a survey of the educational
system of the Island was authorized Survey which was headed by Paul Monroe made a
comprehensive investigation of all public and private institutions of learning in the country.
The Monroe Survey found most private schools substandard. It reported that most of these
were physically ill equipped and with more part-time than full-time faculty members.
Among the private colleges and universities, it found out that: "The equipment of all these
institutions is owefully inadequate, the laboratory for the teaching of science being but a
caricature of the real thing".
As a consequence of the findings of the Monroe Survey, the Government took steps
to improve the machinery for the supervision of private schools. The Philippine
Legislature created the Office of Private Education to look into such matters as physical
plant, school facilities, libraries, laboratory equipment and student load, and
administrative work such as enforcement of relevant government regulations,
evaluating credits taken by students, managing admission of foreign students and the
like. As a result of the increased outlay for supervision of private schools, their standards
were improved.
During the American regime, the development of science gained more government
support along with efforts to establish an old extensive public school system and public
health programs. The old Laboratorio Municipal was absorbed by the Bureau of
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Government Laboratories created by the Philippine Commission in 1901. In 1905, the latter
was reorganized and renamed Bureau of Science. It remained the principal government
research establishment until the end of the Second World War. It had a biological
laboratory, a chemical laboratory, a serum laboratory for the production of vaccine virus,
serums and prophylactics, a library. Most of the senior scientists in the Bureau were initially
Americans but as Filipinos acquired the necessary training, they gradually took over their
positions.
The Bureau of Science served as a valuable training ground for Filipino scientists. It
performed the needed chemical and biological examinations for the Philippine General
Hospital and Bureau of Health and manufactured the serums and prophylactics needed
by the latter. Pioneering research was done at the Bureau of Science on such diseases
as leprosy, tuberculosis, cholera, dengue fever, malaria and beri-beri. Results of these
studies were readily available to the Bureau of Health for use in its various programs. Studies
on the commercial value of tropical products, tests of Philippine minerals and
roadbuilding materials, the nutritional value of foods, and other were similarly done at the
Bureau of Science. From 1906, it published the Philippine Journal of Science which
reported not only work done in local laboratories but also scientific developments
abroad which had relevance to Philippine problems.
The American colonial authorities organized other offices which, by the nature of their
operations, contributed further to the growth of scientific research. These were the Weather
Bureau (1901), the Board (later Bureau) of Health (1898), Bureau of Mines (1900), Bureau
of Forestry (1900), Bureau of Agriculture (1901), Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey
(1905), Bureau of Plant Industry (1929) and Bureau of Animal Industry (1929) (82) From 1927,
there were proposals from professional societies for the creation of a National Medical
Research Council and a National Research Council similar to those in the United States,
Canada, and Australia. The Philippine Legislature passed an extensively emulated abroad."
Act in 1933 creating the National Research Council of the Philippine Islands (NRCP).
Aside from working for the promotion of scientific research, the NRCP actively
participated in the deliberations and drafting of provisions affecting science and industry
in the 1934 Constitutional Convention.
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Educational and science policy during the American regime was not coordinated with
colonial economic policy. While Filipinos were provided opportunities for higher education
in the sciences and engineering, the economy remained basically agricultural. To a great
extent, Philippine economic development was determined by free trade relations
established in 1909 between the Philippines and the United States, and these
continued long after independence was achieved in 1946. As a result of this policy, the
Philippine economy became tied to that of the United States, remaining primarily an
exporter of agricultural crops and raw materials and an importer of American
manufactured goods. Undoubtedly this delayed Philippine industrialization. The relative
underdevelopment of the physical sciences vis-a-vis the medical and agricultural sciences
may be traced to this policy. Basic and applied research in the medical, agricultural and
related sciences received much greater government support during the American regime
than did industrial research.
Science and Technology
During the Commonwealth Period
In 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth was inaugurated and ushered in a period of
transition to political independence. The Constitution acknowledged the importance of
promoting scientific development for the economic development of the country by
incorporating a provision (Article XIII, Section 4) declaring that "The State shall promote
scientific research and invention, Arts and Letters shall be under its patronage..."
The government, which was by this time completely under Filipino management,
continued to expand its public school system to accommodate the increasing number of
schoolchildren. The Government abolished Grade VII as the terminal grade in the
elementary curriculum and also instituted the "double-single session" plan thus reducing
the time allotment or dropping certain subjects in the elementary school. The
government also enacted Commonwealth Act No. 180 (13 November 1936)
reestablishing the Office of Private Education which had been abolished in 1932.
On the whole, higher education was provided mainly by the private sector. By 1936,
there were 425 private schools recognized by the government, 64 of which we institutions
at the College level and 7 were universities. These were Centro Escolar University, Far
Science, Technology and Society

Easter University, National University, Philippine Women's University, Silliman University,

University of Manila and the University of Santo Tomas. Together with the University of the
Philippines these had a total of 19,575 college students in all universities in the country. The
combined significant increase in trained scientists and engineers in the Philippines before
the Second World War.
The Commonwealth government worked towards the development of economic self-
reliance which would be necessary to sustain genuine political independence. It created
the National Economic Council to prepare an economic program and advise the
government on economic and financial questions. Several government corporations
were reorganized and new ones were created to perform such varied functions as the
exploitation and development of natural resources (e.g., the National Power Corporation);
the development and promotion of local industries (such as the National Development
Company (NDC) and its subsidiaries, the National Abaca and Other Fibers Corporation);
promotion of agricultural production and marketing; and the like. The NDC was especially
mandated to undertake the development of successful researches of government science
agencies (such as the Bureaus of Science, Animal Industry and Plant Industry) for
commercial production.
The Commonwealth government likewise adopted measures to encourage and
provide assistance to private Filipino businessmen in the establishment of industries and
manufacturing enterprises. For example, it created new agencies, such as the Bureau
of Mines, to provide assistance to businessmen undertaking mining exploration and
development. It also increased appropriations for the Bureaus of Science, Plant and
Animal Industry, and thereby encouraged more scientific research for industrial
purposes.
In spite of all these efforts, the Commonwealth government was unable to achieve its
goal of economic self-reliance. This was primarily because foreign trade and tariff policies
remained under the control of the American government. Free trade relations also
continued and thus perpetuated the preferential treatment of exports of agricultural
raw materials. Moreover, the Pacific War broke out in 1941 and the Philippines was
occupied by Japanese troops.
Science, Technology and Society

The occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese during the War brought
educational and scientific activities practically to a halt as able bodied citizens joined the
resistance movement. Worse still, much of the country was reduced to ruins during the
battles ought for the liberation in 1944-45. Manila, which was the center of all educational
and scientific activities, was razed to the ground, destroying everything that had been built
up before. It was in this condition that the Philippines became an independent state. The
government had to contend with economic reconstruction, normalization of operations as
well as the task of planning the direction of economic development.
Science and Technology since Independence
The underlying pattern of education and training of scientists, engineers and
physicians established during the America regime, as well as the direction of government
support for scientific research and development, has basically remained unchanged
since independence in 1946. State support for education continues to be concentrated
at the elementary school level; private colleges and universities provide education for the
majority of the collegiate population.
The number of state universities and colleges has been increasing since 1946.
However, their growth has not been based on a rational plan. Partisan political
considerations often determined the creation, location and staffing of these institutions.
Hence, many of them were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to provide quality higher
education particularly in the sciences and engineering. State universities and colleges vary
in standards arising largely from the uneven distribution of faculty development programs.
The University of the Philippines System remains the most developed with extensive graduate
and undergraduate degree programs in the sciences and engineering. It receives over
half of the national budget for state universities and colleges.
Private universities and colleges have similarly increased in numbers since 1946.
However, these vary in standards. Most non-sectarian universities and colleges are
organized and managed like business enterprises and are heavily dependent on tuition
fees. To operate profitably, they tend to concentrate on low-cost courses like business
administration, liberal arts and education, and encourage large enrollments in these.
Sectarian universities and college tend to be financially better endowed. Hence, they have
Science, Technology and Society

been able to impose selective admissions, lower faculty-student ratios and provide
laboratory and library facilities requires for science and engineering program. The large
number of private colleges and universities to be supervised and the limited Department
of Education and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports) staff to do it
has hampered effective government supervision and control of their standards.
The number of college students and graduates from public and private universities and
colleges has shown tremendous increases since 1946. Nevertheless, the proportion of
those in agriculture, medical and natural sciences, and engineering has remained relatively
low. There are very few graduates in the physical sciences. Most students (and graduates)
in agriculture come from state institutions while most of those in engineering and medical
sciences come from private institutions. In both, the majority of college students and
graduates continue to be in teacher training/education and commerce/business
administration courses. This situation results from the fact that students tend to enroll in
courses where there are perceived employment opportunities and which their families can
afford. Engineering and science courses entail longer periods of study and have generally
been more expensive to pursue.
The rise of professional organizations of scientists and engineers followed closely the
growth of higher education in the Philippines. The earliest organizations were in medicine
and pharmacy, professions which were the first to be introduced during the colonial era. As
the number of graduates in a particular discipline increased, associations were formed to
promote professional interests and regulate standards of practice and these were modelled
after their counterparts in the United States. Self-regulation by professional associations
was eventually institutionalized in government laws which established professional
examining boards and licensing procedures.
In certain cases, professional organizations initiated changes in the collegiate
curriculum for their specialization and worked for improvements in educational standards.
The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) actively worked to improve standards of medical
education by limiting enrollment in medical colleges and adding courses required for the
medical degree. Academic members of the profession have led in questioning the
relevance of Western-oriented medical curriculum to Philippine conditions. This has
Science, Technology and Society

resulted in recent innovations in medical training such as more exposure of students to

community medicine and the experimental curriculum to produce doctors for rural
areas. In the field of engineering, the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers initiated
a series of conference to discuss curriculum revisions for its profession. Results of these
conferences were then endorsed to the Department of Education and Culture (DEC) for
official adoption. In other branches of engineering, the government through DEC
convened meetings of educators, members of professional examining boards,
representatives of professional organizations and the private sector to update and adopt
uniform core curricula for all universities and colleges to follow. These developments
took place in 1973-1974.
On the whole, there has been little innovation in the education and training of
scientists and engineers since independence in 1946. This is in part due to the conservative
nature of self-regulation by the professional associations. Because of specialized training,
vertical organization by disciplines and lack of liaison between professions, professional
associations have been unable to perceive the dynamic relationship between science,
technology and society and the relevance of their training to Philippine conditions.
Paralleling the increasing number of state colleges and universities has been a rise
in government science agencies since 1946. In 1947, the Bureau of Science was
reorganized into an Institute of Science.(95) In the same year, an Instituter of Nutrition,
and in 1952, the Science Foundation of the Philippines (SFP) were created and placed
(along with the Institute of Science) under the Office of the President.(96) The Institute
of Nutrition was to perform research, advisory and extension functions while the
Science Foundation was to stimulate research in the sciences and engineering and
promote science consciousness among the people. In 1952, the Commission on
Volcanology was also created and placed under the National Research Council of the
Philippines (NRCP). Its function was primarily basic research on volcanology.
Scientific work in government suffered from a lack of support, planning and
coordination during the early postwar years. The U.S. Economic Survey Mission to the
Philippines in 1950, noted in its Report the dearth of basic information needed by industries
of the country, the neglect of experimental work and the meager appropriation in the
Science, Technology and Society

national budget for scientific research, including the low salaries of government
scientists. The Bell Mission recommended, among other things, the systematic
exploration of the country's natural resources to determine their potentialities for economic
development.
Following the Bell Mission's Report, the Institute of Science was reorganized in
1951. Renamed Institute of Science and Technology, it acquired the status of a
government-owned corporation and was placed under the office of Economic
Coordination. Added to its former functions of resources survey, testing and
standardization, were the responsibility for improving industrial processes and stimulating
technological development.
In 1957, a report was submitted to the President pointing out the deterioration of
Philippine science since the early years of the American regime. The report analyzed the
causes of this decline -- the lack of government support; dearth of scientists of high
training and ability; low morale of scientists and a lack of public awareness of Science. It
made several recommendations towards a long-range development of science in the
country. Consequently, Congress enacted the Science Act of 1958.
The Science Act created the National Science Development Board (NSDB) to
formulate policies for the development of science and coordinate the work of science
agencies. The Act also created the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and
the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) and placed these, along with the
NRCP, under the NSDB.
In the 1960s additional science agencies were created by law which thereby
expanded NSDB's organization and functions. These were the Philippine Inventors
Commission (1964), Philippine Coconut Research Institute (1964), Philippine Textile
Research Institute (1967), and Forest Products Research and Industries Development
Commission (1969).(102) Several existing agencies were also attached to NSDB for policy
coordination -- the NRCP, Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), the
SFP, Philippine Science High School (PSHS) and Philippine Council for Agriculture and
Resources Research (PCARR).
Science, Technology and Society

The creation of these science agencies undoubtedly shows increasing government

concern and support for the development of Philippine science and technology. In 1974,
a national science
In 1982, NSDB was further reorganized into a National Science and Technology
Authority (NSTA) composed of four research and Development Councils; Philippine Council
for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development; Philippine Council for
Industry and Energy Research Development; Philippine Council for Health Research and
Development and the NRCP. NSTA has also eight research and development institutes
and support agencies under it. These are actually the former organic and attached
agencies of NSDB which have themselves been reorganized.
The expanding number of science agencies has given rise to a demand for high
calibre scientists and engineers to undertake research and staff universities and colleges.
Hence, measures have also been taken towards the improvement of the country;s
science and manpower. In March 1983, Executive Order No. 889 was issued by the President
which provided for the establishment of a national network of centers of excellence in basic
sciences. As a consequence, six new institutes were created: The National Institutes of
Physics, Geological Sciences, Natural Sciences Research, Chemistry, Biology and
Mathematical Sciences. Related to this efforts was the establishment of a Scientific
Career System in the Civil Service by Presidential Decree No. 901 on 19 July 1983. This is
designed to attract more qualified scientists to work in government and encourage young
people to pursue science degrees and careers.
Summary and Conclusion
This paper has shown that the development of science and technology in the
Philippines has been greatly influenced by its historical experience as a colony of Spain and
the United States. Colonial policies, particularly those on economic development and
external trade, have over the centuries fostered a primarily agricultural, export-oriented
economy dependent on the outside world as market for its products and a source of
manufactured goods. This has led to a neglect and lack of support for
industrialization.
Science, Technology and Society

This problem of colonial development has effected the historical development of

Philippine science and technology. The agricultural science generally tended to receive
more funding and support compared to the physical sciences. This pattern of support
persisted despite the introduction of the other sciences into the country's educational
system during the American regime.
The continuing dependence of the Philippine economy on the United States even
after independence in 1946, as a result of the free trade relations and the virtual imposition
of the "parity" amendment to the Philippine Constitution by the US Congress has
perpetuated the predominantly agricultural and rural character of Philippine
economy and society. This dependent development of Philippine society and economy
has had serious repercussions for the advancement of Philippine science and
technology. Increasing social demand for higher education has led to the growth of
highly-trained professional manpower, particularly scientists, engineers and physicians.
However, because of the underdeveloped state of the economy, many of these science-
based professionals have either been unemployed or underemployed.
Consequently, many of them have been forced to migrate to developed countries, thus
creating a "brain drain" or loss of valuable human resources for the Philippines.(108) Worse
still, this "brain drain" helps to perpetuate Philippine dependent development as
many of those who leave are highly educated and better trained professionals who are
needed in the country's development efforts. There is thus a need for the government
to critically reexamine the interrelations between past and present education and science
policies with those of its economic development policies in order to be able to redirect
these towards the goal of attaining a strong, self-reliant economy and society. A
well developed national science and technology is a critical factor in the achievement
of this goal.
Post-colonial
After achieving independence from the colonizers, the Philippines under different
administrations, continued to promote programs in science and technology. Each
leadership had its own science and technology agenda.
Science, Technology and Society

One of the presidents who ushered in advancements in science and technology

was former President Ferdinand Marcos. Under his term, many agencies were established
and strengthened to promote science and technology in the country.

Marcos Era
During Ferdinand Marcos' presidency, the importance given to science grew. In the
amended 1973 Philippine Constitution, Article XV, Section 9 , he declared that the
"advancement of science and technology shall have priority in the national
development." In his two terms of presidency and during Martial Law, he enacted many
laws promoting science and technology.

In his Second State of the Nation Address on January 23, 1967, he declared that
science was necessary for the development programs, and thus, directed the Department
of Education to revitalize the science courses in public high schools. The Department of
Education, with the National Science Development Board (NSDB), is organizing a project
to provide selected high schools with science teaching equipment over a four-year
period.
In his Third State of the Nation Address on January 22, 1968, he recognized that
technology was the leading factor in economic development, and channeled additional
funds to support projects in applied sciences and science education.
In his Fourth State of the Nation Address on January 27, 1969, he gave a big part of
the war damage fund to private universities to encourage them to create courses in
science and technology and to research. He stated that he planned a project to have
medical interns do a tour of duty in provincial hospitals to arouse their social conscious
and reduce the "brain drain." On April 6, 1968, he proclaimed 35 hectares in Bicutan,
Science, Technology and Society

Taguig, Rizal as the site of the Philippine Science Community. The government also
conducted seminars for public and private high school and college science teachers,
training programs and scholarships for graduate and undergraduate science scholars,
and workshops on fisheries and oceanography.
In his Fifth State of the Nation Address on January 26, 1970, he emphasized that the
upgrading of science curricula and teaching equipment is crucial to the science
development program. He added the Philippine Coconut Research Institute to the NSDB
to modernize the coconut industry. The NSDB also established the Philippine Textile
Research Institute. The Philippine Atomic Energy Commission of the NSDB explored the uses
of atomic energy for economic development. Marcos assisted 107 institutions in
undertaking nuclear energy work by sending scientists to study nuclear science and
technology abroad, and providing basic training to 482 scientists, doctors, engineers, and
technicians.
In his Seventh State of the Nation Address on January 24, 1972, he spoke about his
major development projects in reforming sectors of education. Such projects included
research and development schools, technical institutes, science education centers, and
agricultural colleges and vocational high schools.
In 1972, he created the National Grains Authority to provide for the development of
the rice and corn industry to fully harness it for the economy of the country. (Presidential
Decree No. 4, s. 1972).He established the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research to
support the progressive development of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries for the nation. It
was attached to the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources for administrative
purposes. He provided further support for the promotion of scientific research and
invention with Presidential Decree No. 49, s. 1972. This decree contains details on the
protection of intellectual property for the creator or publisher of the work. He established
the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
(PAGASA) under the Department of National Defense to provide environmental
protection and to utilize scientific knowledge to ensure the safety of the people.
(Presidential Decree No. 78, s. 1972).
Science, Technology and Society

In 1973, he created the Philippine National Oil Company to promote industrial and
economic development through effective and efficient use of energy sources.
(Presidential Decree No. 334, s. 1973).
In 1976, he enacted a law under Presidential Decree No. 1003-A, s. 1976 to establish
the National Academy of Science and Technology, which is composed of scientists with
"innovative achievement in the basic and applied sciences," to serve as a reservoir of
scientific and technological expertise for the country.
In 1978, he created a Task Force on the formulation of a national action program on
science and technology to assess policies and programs of science and technology.
(Executive Order No. 512, s. 1978). In his Fourteenth State of the Nation Address on July 23,
1979, he said that the government invested funds and time in organizations for scientific
research, such as the NSDB, the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research and
Resources, the Plant Breeding Institute, the International Rice Research Institute, the
Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Bureau of Forest Products. While these projects have had
breakthroughs, the market machinery did not adapt and invest in this technology due to
the high-risk front-end costs.
In 1979, he constituted the Health Sciences Center created by R.A. No. 5163 as an
autonomous member within the University of the Philippines System to improve the internal
organization and unity of leadership within its units. (Executive Order No. 519, s. 1979).
In 1980, he created the National Committee on Geological Sciences to advise
government and private entities on matters concerning development in geological
sciences. (Executive Order No. 625, s. 1980).
In 1982, he reorganized the National Science Development Board and its agencies
into a National Science and Technology Authority to provide central direction and
coordination of scientific and technological research and development. (Executive Order
No. 784, s. 1982). He granted salary increases to the people with teaching positions in the
Philippine Science High School due to their necessity in the advancement of national
science. (Executive Order No. 810, s. 1982). He enacted a law on the completion of the
National Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Complex at the University of the
Philippines at Los Baños. (Executive Order No. 840, s. 1982).
Science, Technology and Society

In 1986, he established the Mindanao and Visayas campuses of the Philippine

Science High School to encourage careers in science and technology and to be more
accessible to the talented students in the Mindanao and Visayas areas. (Executive Order
No. 1090, s. 1986).
Presidential Decree No. 78 (December 8, 1972) reorganized the Weather Bureau into
the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
(PAGASA) and transferred it from the Department of Commerce and Industry to the
Department of National Defense.
The National Academy of Science and Technology is the
highest recognition and scientific advisory body of the Philippines
under the Department of Science and Technology
It was created through Presidential Decree 1003-A issued by
President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1976 to honor and recognize
Filipino scientists who made worthy contributions in the
upload.wikimedia.org advancement of science and technology in the country.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (Filipino: Sentrong

Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government owned and
controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and
promote arts and culture in the Philippines.[1][2] The CCP was
established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966
A popular venue for international exhibits and performances,
the CCP was built in 1966 in Pasay City under Marcos'
Executive Order 30. The 62-hectare complex opened on Sept.
8, 1969.

The Lung Center of the Philippines was established through Presidential Decree No.
1823 on January 16, 1981 to provide the Filipino people state-of-the-art specialized care
for lung and other chest diseases
Science, Technology and Society

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant, completed but never fueled,
on Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Manila in the Philippines. It is located
on a 3.57 square kilometre government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan. It
was the Philippines' only attempt at building a nuclear power plant.
The Balik Scientist program under the DOST was first established in 1975 through
Presidential Decree No. 819 under the administration of former president Ferdinand
Marcos.

Originally a part of the CCP complex, the PICC was touted as Asia's first international
convention center that has been hosting local and foreign meetings and conventions.
It was inaugurated on Sept. 5, 1976 under Marcos' Presidential Decree No. 520.
At the southwest end of the CCP was the Manila Film Center, originally built as a
national film archive spearheaded by Imelda Marcos.
Commissioned by Imelda Marcos in 1974 for the Miss Universe competition in Manila,
the Folk Arts Theater was designed to seat 10,000. Today, it is still being used as a theater
although it should have been torn down a long time ago since it was done in a record
time of only 77 days.
Science, Technology and Society

Completed in 1973, the San Juanico Bridge is the country's longest. It spans from
Samar to Imelda's home province, Leyte, as it was the late dictator's birthday gift to her.
"The 'Love Bridge,' the press would call it. The public hated it," Conrado de Quiros
writes in "Dead Aim," in 1997.

Originally known as Philippine Heart Center of Asia, this hospital in Quezon City was
built under Presidential Decree No. 673 by Marcos. Since it was inaugurated in 1975, it has
been the site of thousands of surgeries, including what was claimed to be the first
successful renal transplant in the country.
Formerly the "National Kidney Foundation of the Philippines," the hospital was
erected in 1981 and claimed to have hosted many firsts in the Philippines, but already
after the Marcos regime. These included the first double kidney and pancreas transplant in
Asia in 1988; the first kidney and liver transplant in Asia in 1990; and the first bone marrow
transplant in the Philippines in 1990.
Science, Technology and Society

Established in 1981 to address health care for lung and pulmonary disease, this
hospital in Quezon City was built under Marcos'
Presidential Decree No. 1823. A fire destroyed much of
the center in 1988. In 1999, it reopened and is still under
construction.
The Mariano Marcos State University is a
multidisciplinary, state-funded institution of higher
learning that serves the Ilocos Region and its surrounding
regions in the Philippines. Established on January 6, 1976 by virtue of PD 1279

Special Topic
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs) are local knowledge
developed over centuries of experimentation and are passed orally from generations to
generation. It was found to be an important catalyst to sustainable development due to
their direct connection to resource management and conservation
With over 7,600 islands in the Philippines and three major island groups, it’s no
wonder that different cultural practices, traditions, and groups are present in the country.
Among the archipelago’s existing communities, there are indigenous tribes who have
managed to keep their cultural identity, despite the non-recognition and marginalization
they’re facing.
Although there are quite a number of indigenous tribes or ethnic groups in the
country, they remain some of the most poor, least privileged, and impeded members of
society. They mostly reside in the mountains, and hence were not affected by Spanish or
American colonization, which is the primary reason they were able to retain their customs
and traditions.
There are two main ethnic groups comprising several upland and lowland
indigenous tribes living within the Philippines – from the northern and southern parts of the
Philippines. The indigenous people living in the northern part of the country are called the
Science, Technology and Society

Igorots, whereas those non-Muslim indigenous tribes living in the south are referred to as
Lumad.
Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have been responsible for the development
of many technologies and have substantially contributed to science.
Science is the pursuit of the knowledge. Approaches to gathering that knowledge
are culturally relative. Indigenous science incorporates traditional knowledge and
Indigenous perspectives, while non-Indigenous scientific approaches are commonly
recognized as Western science. Together, they contribute substantially to modern science.
Although the value of integrating Indigenous science with Western science has
been recognized, we have only begun to scratch the surface of its benefits.
Indigenous perspectives are holistic and founded upon interconnectedness,
reciprocity and the utmost respect for nature. Both Western and Indigenous science
approaches and perspectives have their strengths and can greatly complement one
another.
Indigenous knowledge can be broadly defined as the knowledge that an
indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular
environment (Rÿser 2011). Indigenous forestry knowledge systems largely encompass local
technologies, innovations, know-how, skills, practices and beliefs uniting local people to
conserve forest resources and their cultural values. These have developed over thousands
of years of direct human contact with the environment (Armstrong et al. 2006). Traditional
knowledge often refers to a more generalized expression of knowledge associating a
people or peoples with ‘time-honored’ ideas and practices associated with an individual
or family (Rÿser 2011). This knowledge is not limited to know-how, skills, innovations,
practices, processes, learning and teaching, but also includes knowledge that is
associated with biodiversity, traditional lifestyles and natural resources (WIPO 2012). While
distinctions exist between the meanings of the terms, there is also sufficient overlap;
hence, indigenous knowledge is often equated or used interchangeably with the term
traditional knowledge, local knowledge, traditional forestry practices, indigenous
practices and indigenous knowledge systems.
Science, Technology and Society

In the Philippines, about 14–17 million of the total population are indigenous peoples
belonging to 110 ethno-linguistic groups mainly concentrated in Northern Luzon (33%) and
Mindanao (61%), with few groups in the Visayas area (UNDP, 2010). Molintas (2004)
underlined that many of these indigenous peoples can be found in remote forested and
hilly uplands. Some have also stood their ground successfully and maintained a close link
with their ancestral past.
Many indigenous peoples in the Philippines such as the Ifugaos in Cordillera
Mountains continued to thrive in their relatively remote and yet self-sufficient communities.
They were able to uphold their traditions as reflected in their music, dances, rituals, folklore,
wood carving, agriculture and forestry practices. For instance, they believe that many
endemic trees such as Ficus spp. are associated with spirits (anito), so they conserved
them (Lim et al. 2012). The indigenous peoples also observe customary laws that lay the
foundation for justice, unity and peace within their tribes.
Special Feature: The Ifugaos
The Ifugao province is well-known for its rice terraces that are inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Both
the muyongs and rice terraces are the ancestral domains2 of the Ifugaos under the provisions of Indigenous
Peoples Rights Act (Republic Act 8371 1997). There are two ethnolinguistic groups: Ayangan and Tuwali (DENR
2014).
The Ayangans are common in the northeast and southwestern portion of the province while the Tuwalis live at the
northwestern part. About 72% of the people are mainly engaged in farming for livelihood and employment. Ifugao
province has 11 municipalities.
According to Butic and Ngidlo (2003), the Ifugao mountain ranges called pugu or duntug are predominantly
covered by privately or clan-owned forests that are collectively termed as muyong (Figure 2). These watersheds
provide ample water supply and nourishment to rice paddies and help minimize soil erosion.
A typical view of Ifugao Rice Terraces showing muyong (woodlot) and payoh (rice terraces).
Uyongs were generally described by the key informants as a traditional land-use zoning system that is usually
placed along mountain peaks down to mid-slopes. These woodlots are also sources of their fuel wood, wood for
house construction and various edible fruits such as the areca nut (Areca catechu). The Bagong Pagasa
Foundation Inc. (as cited by Serrano & Cadaweng 2005) noted the sizes of muyongs often range from half to three
hectares and have emerged as a land-use system because of the following possible reasons:
Ifugaos are aware of the relationship between forest and water table and hence retaining verdant cover at the
hilltop will create a stable water source.
Muyongs are deemed major source of fuel wood for the local people.
Size of woodlots indicates economic status; hence the larger the muyongs, the greater the respect and
recognition a clan or family will get from others.
Science, Technology and Society

Some elderly Ifugaos, Banaue, Philippines | © rweisswald / Shutterstock

Muyong was also described by the key informants as a buffer that delineates boundaries. Other land uses that
are linked with muyongs are settlement or numboblayan/boble, natural forest or bilid, grasslands called buludna,
swidden farms or uma and, most importantly, rice terraces or payoh. Peripheral vegetation cover of muyongs is
often cleared to indicate boundary delineations among farm owners. This helps avoid land property disputes. In
some cases, uma and abandoned swiddens have converted to muyongs to enhance forest protection and
production benefits.

Customary forest laws

Customary laws are reflections of rich traditions and beliefs that guide forest conservation. Key informants have
identified some of these laws that are relevant to promoting the sustainable management of muyongs. These
include the following:
Ficus trees are not being harvested for timber and fuel wood since they help maintain sufficient groundwater
supply for muyongs and payoh.
Local people refrain from cutting century-old endemic trees such as dipterocarps because they believe that these
trees harbour the spirits of their ancestors;
Before cutting old trees, they conduct rituals to seek the permission of their ancestors. A shaman locally known as
mumbaki directs the rituals.
In the olden times, selection cutting was being practiced since there is a specific tree species that can be used
for crafting rice god and constructing native houses, namely narra (Pterocarpus indicus).
When a child is baptized, the parents plant four seedlings in their muyong, which indicates the giving of their
blessings to their child.
Maid biyang umedi, which means no trespassing in muyong areas, is being observed to avert illegal hunting of
wild animals.
In the work of Serrano and Cadaweng (2005), remarkable customary laws are also identified. These are:
One may gather dead branches as fuel wood from other muyongs even without permission from the owner. Such
privilege is reciprocated by cleaning and tending the muyong as a form of payment for the fuel wood collected.
Science, Technology and Society

If a tree is harvested, the person who gathered should replace it with two seedlings. The owner determines what
tree he wants to give.

If a person is caught stealing from muyong, he or she is brought to the tribal elders and will be severely
reprimanded.

To settle boundary conflicts, an ordeal called haddaccan – involving the two conflicting parties – is performed.
Such an ordeal can be carried out through butlong or a wrestling match between the representatives of each
party. It can also be resolved through uggub or long-throwing of reeds.

Stand management
The Ifugaos observe traditional stand management practices that help sustain healthy forest cover in muyong
areas. These practices were described as vital in ensuring healthy forest stands:

Hikwatan (Cleaning). An owner makes a habit to do some weeding to be able to help naturally regenerating
trees to grow.

Tanoman (Planting). Hardwood species are preferred by the owners since a big part of the Ifugao cultural identity
is wood carving and house construction. Two of the most common reforestation species being planted nowadays
are fast-growing species such as Swietenia macrophylla and Gmelina arborea. The local community also
preferred planting local species such as narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and rain tree (Samanea saman), which are
perhaps the most popular traditional construction and wood carving species. However, planting materials (e.g.
Samanea saman, Pterocparpus indicus, Lithocarpus spp. and dipterocarps) are difficult to find; hence, there is a
proliferation of exotic and fast-growing species (Swietenia macrophylla and Gmelina arborea) considering their
short rotation period and widespread availability. No negative ecological impacts have been identified thus far
regarding the use of exotic species.

Selective cutting. Only the mature trees are cut for lumber and firewood based only on the need of the farmer.
Crooked and diseased trees are preferred for fuel wood use while straight-bole is used for posts and wood carving.
Tree species such as alimit and tuwol (both Ficus spp.) are spared since they were described as important water-
conservers of muyong. Likewise, balete trees (Ficus elastica and Ficus subcordata) are also protected, as the local
people believe that these trees shelter the spirits of the forest.

Hapi (Felling direction). The woodfeller observes a felling direction or hapi to avoid damage to residual trees and
nearby farms.

Bibiyo (Warning signal). When cutting a tree, one shouts out the name of the tree so that the bad spirits leave and
the people will not get hurt.
Science, Technology and Society

Upland cultivation
Swidden farming was described as the oldest form of agroforestry practice in Ifugao. Key informants described
that swidden farms or uma are confined to areas that are not being used for muyong and rice terraces. Swidden
farming practice involves clearing a patch of sloping grasslands and secondary forests. They plant sweet potato
or corn for about two to five years, followed by a fallow period (tahgwunon) for another five years. The fallow
system contributes to forest cover. Several indigenous swidden farming practices that help promote land stability
and productivity were described:

Apuyan (Burning). This practice is carried out in the late afternoon to avoid unwanted burning damages to
adjacent areas since relative humidity is high and winds are usually slight. Burning may start from the side or from
the top to the bottom of kaingin so that the fire movement will be slow.

Lotang (Fencing). Fences are established along the peripheries of swidden farms. Materials can be branches
obtained from vegetation clearing activities to avoid further cutting of trees.

Mungabut (Weeding). Removal of unwanted grasses and shrubs is usually performed by women. During weeding,
seedlings of indigenous trees such as udyo (Pterocarpus indicus), amug-awon (Vitex parviflora) and dipterocarps
are retained.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Camacho et al. (2012) noted that muyongs are storehouses of biodiversity. There are about 264 species, mainly
indigenous, belonging to 71 plant families that thrive in these conserved zones (Ngidlo 1998; Rondolo 2001).
Among these, the family of Euphorbiaceae is the most abundant, followed by Moraceae, Meliaceae,
Leguminosae, Poaceae, Anacardiaceae and Rubiaceae.

Furthermore, wood carving, primarily the crafting of religious relics such as bulul (rice god), was identified as one
of the primary benefits of practicing muyong. Ifugaos prefer Samanea saman for woodcrafts because it is fast
growing, durable and has good resistance to fungus and termites.

In order to regulate timber harvesting, a muyong resources permit3 is also being required by the government
(through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR) before a farmer can cut and transport
timber and timber products such as handicrafts. The guidelines governing the issuance of the muyong resources
permit in the Province of Ifugao are contained under the DENR Memorandum Circular No. 96–02 issued in 1996,
which include submission of the requirements (i.e. location and size of the muyong and the number of tree species
planted, certificate of residency in the area and raw material requirement). There is also restriction on the
allowable volume/number of species to be harvested as raw materials for livelihood projects. Likewise,
maintenance of muyong is required according to the accepted practices and rules of the DENR. Moreover, clear
cutting of tree species within the area is prohibited. This permit serves as a policy instrument to regulate timber
exPerceived problems in the Ifugao forests
Science, Technology and Society

Major threats to the integrity of muyongs and payoh

One is the transition from the traditional organic to inorganic farming methods, which has generated negative
impacts on soil and water. The use of synthetic fertilizers was perceived to have degraded soil drainage and
fertility. Furthermore, the use of inorganic technology was believed to have incited infestation of earthworms and
snails in payoh. Second, the abandonment of muyongs and terraces was underscored as a pressing concern.
Participants have attributed this to declining interest in farming, as many prefer exploring other livelihood
opportunities elsewhere for better income. Furthermore, children were also perceived to have a low interest in
continuing their farming traditions as they desire to pursue other jobs after completing their studies.

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Indigenous knowledge is embedded in the daily life experiences of young Filipinos

as they grow up. They live and grow in a society where the members of the community
prominently practice indigenous knowledge. Their parents and other older folks served as
their first teachers and their methods of teaching are very effective in transmitting cultural
knowledge in their minds. The lessons the learned are intimately interwoven with their
culture and environment. These lessons comprised of good values and life stories of
people on their daily life struggles. Their views about future and their reflections on their
experiences in daily life are evident in their stories, poems and songs.
Some examples of indigenous knowledge that are taught and practiced by the
indigenous people are:
 Predicting weather conditions and seasons using knowledge in
observing animals’ behaviour and celestial bodies
 Using herbal medicines
 Preserving foods
 Classifying plants and animals into families and groups based on
cultural properties
 Preserving and selecting viable seeds for planting
 Using indigenous technology
 Building local irrigation systems
 Classifying different types of soil for planting based on cultural
properties
 Producing wines and juices from tropical fruits; and
Science, Technology and Society

 Keeping the customs of growing plants and vegetables in the yard

Indigenous Science
Indigenous science is part of the indigenous knowledge system practiced by
different groups of people and early civilization. It includes complete array of knowledge,
expertise, practices, and representations that guide human societies in their enumerable
interactions with the natural milieu, agriculture, medicine, naming and exploring natural
phenomena, and strategies for coping with changing environment.

Philippines’ Indigenous Communities Practicing IKSP

The Igorots, which comprises numerous

tribes in the northern part of the country, are
mostly residing in the mountain ranges of the
Cordillera Region. They are popularly known
for being rice cultivators. An assortment of the
group called the Ifugaos built the Banaue Rice
Terraces – frequently called the ‘eighth
wonder of the world’. The ancestors of this
indigenous tribe carved a system of irrigated
rice terraces in the mountains of Ifugao more than 2,000 years ago.

Lumad Tribes from the Southern Philippines

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the country, indigenous tribes are mostly found in
Mindanao and Western Visayas. In Mindanao, these existing non-Muslim indigenous
groups are collectively known as the Lumad – a Cebuano term which means ‘native’ or
‘indigenous’. There Lumad tribes comprise about 13 ethnic groups which are the Blaan,
Bukidnon, Higaonon, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Manobo, Mansaka, Sangir, Subanen,
Tagabawa, Tagakaulo, Tasaday, and T’boli. Their tribe is generally known for tribal music
produced by musical instruments they’ve created.
Science, Technology and Society

Davao City © Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ / Flickr Cagayan de Oro city pier © RaksyBH / Shutterstock

Among those mentioned above, the Manobo tribe includes further big ethnic
groups such as the Ata-Manobo, Agusan-Manobo, and Dulangan-Manobo to name a
few. The total population of the Manobo group is unknown as they occupy core areas in
main provinces of the Mindanao Region.
Badjaos

Originally from the islands of Sulu in Mindanao, they’re known as the sea tribes living
on houseboats. They try to make ends meet by depending on the sea as divers, fishermen,
and navigators. Because of conflicts in the region, the majority of them has migrated to
neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, whereas those who stayed in the
Philippines moved to some areas in Luzon.

Mangyan Tribe children © Dylan Walters / Flickr Aetas or Negritos © ARTYOORAN / Shutterstock

The Mangyans of Mindoro are well-known clans in the Philippines because they
have the biggest populace. Comprising eight different Mangyan groups, they have a
peaceful reputation, unlike the headhunting tribes of the North and warrior tribes from the
Science, Technology and Society

South. While some has already converted into Christianity, there’s still a large percentage
of those who practice animistic religious beliefs.
The Aetas (or Agta or Ayta) are one of the earliest known inhabitnats of the
Philippines who are now living in scattered mountainous areas of the country. They were
called by the Spanish colonizers as the ‘Negritos’ because of their dark to dark-brown skin.
They are nomadic but are very skilled in weaving and plaiting, and Aeta women are
considered experts in herbal medicine.

Synthesis

Building a nation requires various facets of development and discoveries and

people who embody genuine talent and resourcefulness in maximizing the potential of
their capacity to enrich their lives through science and technology and their bounty
environment.
The early Filipino settlers demosntrated creativity throught the building of the
Banaue rice terraces, hailed as one of the great wonders of the world. The also exhibited
skills in ethomedicine, farming, transportation and communication and commerce.
The colonizers of the country, the Spaniards and Americans enriched science and
technology through building and infrastructures, education and governance.
The exemplary leadership of the different presidents of the country has even led the
country to a more advanced display of science and technology in various facets of our
lives.

Assessment

Task 1: Construct a timetable showing the significant events or milestones in the field
of science and technology that took place in the Philippines (Reference: History of STS in
the Philippines). Present your output and discuss the highlights of the events that
happened during the course of the history. (100 pts.)
Science, Technology and Society

Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Completeness (50) Sufficiency of information
presented
Organization (25) Sequential presentation of events
Structure (25) Quality appearance and
presentation of the output

Task 2: Case Study

From the different indigenous communities presented in the discussion,
choose one community and develop a comprehensive study or report as to how they
utilize and practice science and technology in various facets of their lives such as farming,
health management, culinary and others. (100 pts.)
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Writing spectrum (40) Sufficient analysis of the data and
issues presented
Authenticity (35) Truthfulness of concepts presented
through various literatures utilized in
the presentation
Synthesis (25) Integration of various themes and
concepts presented

Task 3: Choose one President who led the country after Marcos and present 5
achievements or contributions related to science and technology during their
administration. Discuss how did those programs/laws made an impact to the society and
the environment. (50 pts.)
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Writing spectrum (25) Sufficient analysis of the data and
issues presented
Authenticity (15) Truthfulness of concepts presented
through various literatures utilized in
the presentation
Synthesis (15) Integration of various themes and
concepts presented
Science, Technology and Society

Task 4: Research on the major contributions of the following Filipino scientists using
pictures and descriptions of the their inventions or discoveries (20 pts.)
1. Anacleto Del Rosario 6. Ignacio Mercado
2. Francisco Quisumbing 7. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
3. Gregorio Zara 8. Ramon Barba
4. Julian Banzon 9. Agapito Flores
5. Manuel Guerrero 10. Juan Salcedo Jr.
Science, Technology and Society

References

A. BOOKS

Quinto, E. J., Nieva, A. (2019). Science, Technology, and Society Outcomes-based Module. C & E Publishing
Inc., Quezon City, Philippines ISBN: 978-971-98-1139-8

McNamara, D., Valverde, VM, Beleno R. III (2018). Science, Technology. C & E Publishing Inc., Quezon City,
Philippines. ISBN: 978-971-98-0935-7

Serafica J., Pawilen, G., Caslib, B., Alata, E. (2017). Science, Technology, and Society. REX Book Store Inc.
Quezon City,Philippines, ISBN: 978-971-23-8671-8

B. ONLINE RESOURCES

Alexander, D. (2019). Interesting Engineering. Retrieved from

https://interestingengineering.com/9-inventions-from-the-21st-century-that-are-still-shaping-our-world-
today
Camacho, L., Gevana, D., Carandang, A., Camacho, s, (2016). Indigenous knowledge and practices for the
sustainable management of Ifugao forests in Cordillera, Philippines. International Journal of
Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management .Volume 12, 2016 - Issue 1-2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21513732.2015.1124453?src=recsys
http://www.chinawhisper.com/top-20-ancient-chinese-inventions/
http://philippine-made.blogspot.com/2010/11/rolando-de-la-cruz-inventions.html
http://danielromanportfolio.weebly.com/inventions-in-the-middle-ages.html
https://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/03/03/1302821_004.pdf
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-scientific-revolution-definition-history-causes-leaders.html
https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/theory-evolution/
https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-evolution
https://exploringyourmind.com/why-freud-revolutionary/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/psychodynamic-perspectives-on-
personality/
https://www.sparknotes.com/biography/freud/context/
McLeod, S. A. (2019, September 25). Id, ego and superego. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
Midland Daily News
Science, Technology and Society

https://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/editorials/article/Heliocentrism-evolution-changed-our-
6985973.php#:~:text=His%20studies%20caused%20a%20pivotal,we%20know%20about%20our%20earth.&text=
Copernicus%20formulated%20the%20scientific%20theory,and%20revolved%20around%20the%20sun.
https://www.baguioheraldexpressonline.com
https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/how-indigenous-knowledge-advances-modern-science-and-
technology
31 Years of Amnesia
https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/building-spree
Valdeavilla, R. (2018). A Guide to the Indigenous Tribes of the Philippines.
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/a-guide-to-the-indigenous-tribes-of-the-philippines/
Wikipedia

D. OTHERS

Performance Assessment (2015). Learning Sciences International. Retrieved on May 22,

2020 from www.learningsciences.com/bookresource

Encyclopedia Britannica
Science, Technology and Society

Learning Engagement 2

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY vis-à-vis THE HUMAN

ENVIRONMENT

H
Introduction

This module explores the ways technology have altered how man views the body,
time, space, and the environment. The advancement of man’s civilization in history shows
the development of science and technology. The human person, as both the bearer and
beneficiary of science and technology, flourishes and finds meaning in the world that
he/she builds. In the person’s pursuit of the good life, he/she may unconsciously acquire,
consume, or destroy what the world has to offer. It is thus necessary to reflect on the things
that truly matter. Science and technology must be taken as part of human life that merits
reflective and -as the German philosopher Martin Heidegger says-meditative thinking.
Science and technology, despite its methodical and technical nature, gives meaning to
the life of a person making his/her way in the world.
To be able to appreciate the fruits of science and technology. They must be
examined not only for their function and instrumentality but also for their greater impact
on humanity as a whole. The various gadgets, machines, appliances and vehicles are all
tools that make human lives easier because they serve as a means to an end. Their utility
lies on providing people with a certain good, convenience, or knowledge. Meanwhile,
medical research employs the best scientific and technological principles to come up
with cures for diseases and ways to prevent illnesses to ensure a good quality of life.
Science, Technology and Society

Section 1: Technology as a way of revealing

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. discussed what technology reveals;
2. examine modern technology and its role in human flourishing; and
3. explain the role of art in a technological world.

Lesson Proper
In his seminal work, The Question of Technology, Martin Heidegger urges us to
question technology and see beyond people’s common understanding of it.

According to ancient doctrine, the essence of a thing is

considered to be what the thing is . We ask the question concerning
technology when we ask what it is. Everyone knows the statements
that answer our question.
One says: Technology is a means to an end.
The other says: Technology is a human activity.
The two definitions of technology belong together. For to
posit ends and procure and utilize the means to them is a human
activity. The manufacture and utilization of equipment, tools and
machines, the manufactures and used things themselves, and the
needs and ends that they serve, all belong to what technology is.
The whole complex of these contrivances is technology.
Technology itself is a contrivance-in Latin , an instrumentum. The
current conception of technology according to which it is a means
and a human activity, can therefore be called the instrumental and
anthropological definition of technology (Heidegger, 1997, p.5)
Science, Technology and Society

This definition is correct but not necessarily true. The “true” entails so much more
meaning and significance. Heidegger, however, asserted that the true can be pursued
through the correct. In other words, the experience and understanding of what is correct
lead us to what is true. Heidegger urged people to envision technology as a mode of
revealing as it shows so much more about the human person and the world. Technology is
a way of bringing forth, a making something, By considering technology as a mode of
revealing, then truth is brought forth. For instance , the truth that the Earth is weeping could
be revealed by the information and data taken by modern devices. Whatever truth is
uncovered, it will be something more meaningful and significant than the superficial or
practical use of technology.
Heidegger also put forward the ancient Greek concepts of aletheia, poiesis, and
techne. Aletheia means unhiddenness or disclosure. Poiesis is defined as bringing forth. For
Aristotle, it means making or producing something for a purpose. It is sometimes used to
frefer to poetry and composition. Finally, techne ( the root word of technology) means skill,
art, or craft. It is a means of bringing forth something. Thus, in Heidegger’s work, technology
is a poiesis that discloses or reveals the truth.
On the other hand, to think of technology as poetry takes a different mindset, amore
reflective and sensitive way of looking at the world. This perspective is not easy to take
especially in this era when instant knowledge is demanded and split-second updates are
the norm, and when the pursuit of fame and fortune is unceasingly bannered on social
media. There is so much noise in the world that it would take a disciplined stepping back to
see what Heidegger meant and to appreciate how technology could actually be poetry
that brings forth truth.

TECHNOLOGY AS POIESIS: APPLICABLE TO MODERN TECHNOLOGY?

Does the idea that technology is poiesis apply to modern technology? Heiddeger
characterizes modern technology as a challenging forth since it is very aggressive in its
activity. Modern technology may also be a mode of revealing but not as the harmonious
bringing forth that is described in his thesis of technology as poiesis. Modern technology
challenges nature and demands of its resources that are, most of the time, forcibly
Science, Technology and Society

extracted for human consumption and storage. It brings about a “setting upon” of the land.
Mining (Figure 1) is an example of modern technology that challenges for the and brings
about the setting upon of land. It extracts minerals from the earth and forcefully assigns the
land as a means to fulfill the never-ending demands of the people.

Figure 1. Mining (Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/GFNeV6pLXY5ttHbs6)

With modern technology, revealing never comes to an end. The revealing always
happens on our own terms as everything is on demand. Information at our fingertips, food
harvested even out of season, gravity defied to fly off to space- such is the capacity of the
human person. We no longer need to work with the rhythms of nature because we have
learned to control it. We order nature, and extract, process, make ready for consumption,
and store what we have forced it to reveal. Heidegger described modern technology as
the age of switches, standing reserve, and stockpiling for its own sake. This observation s
manifest in the mechanization and digitization of many aspects of our life- from agriculture
to communications and transportation, among many others.

What kind of unconcealment is it, then, that is peculiar to that which results from this
setting upon that challenges? Everywhere everything is ordered to stand by, to be
immediately on hand, indeed to stand there just so that it may be on call for a
further ordering. Whatever is ordered about in this way has its own standing. We call
it the standing-reserve (Heidegger, 1977, p.5).
Science, Technology and Society

QUESTIONING AS THE PIETY OF THOUGHT

In this stepping back and taking stock of things, we begin to wonder and question.
One may admire the intricacy of mechanisms and the sophistication of mobile applications.
Another may marvel at the people and circumstances that allowed for such technology.
There is so much wealth of insights that can be gathered when people stop, think, and
question. “Questioning is the piety of thought,” stated Heidegger in The Question
Concerning Technology . Normally, piety is associated with being religious. For Heidegger,
however, piety means obedience and submission. In addressing what technology has
brought forth, one cannot help but the submissive to what his/her thoughts and reflections
has not yet fully understood or developed. There are times when one’s thinking brings forth
eureka moments. Whatever understanding is found becomes significant because it is
evoked by questioning who or what we essentially are in the world. For example, it is a
known truth that we, human beings and everything around us, are made of the same
substances that constitute the stars. Therefore, we actually are stardust. Do we just take this
matter-of- factly or do we wonder at the significance? It is when we start questioning that
we submit ourselves to our thoughts. This kind of questioning that we submit ourselves to our
thoughts. This kind of questioning leads one to search for his /her place in the universe and
in the grand scale of things. It is through this process that one builds a way towards knowing
the truth of who he/she is a being in this world.

ENFRAMING: WAY OF REVEALING IN MODERN TECHNOLOGY

The way of revealing in modern technology (Figure 2) is an enframing. This enframing
that challenges forth and sets upon nature is a way of looking at reality. In simple terms, it is
as if nature is put in a box or in a frame so that it can be better understood and controlled
according to people’s desires. Poiesis is concealed in enframing as nature is viewed as an
orderable and calculable system of information.
Science, Technology and Society

Figure 2. Revealing in Modern technology

(Source: https://blogs.ubc.ca/philosophyofetec/files/2010/10/Heidegger-Graphic.jpg)

In looking at the world, Heidegger distinguished between calculative thinking and

meditative thinking. In calculative thinking, as mentioned earlier, one orders and puts a
system to nature so it can be understood batter and controlled. In meditative thinking, one
lets nature reveal itself to him/her without forcing it. One kind of thinking is not in itself better
than the other. The human person has the faculty for both and would do well to use them
in synergy. However, people also want control and are afraid of unpredictability, so
calculative thinking is more often used. Enframing is done because people want security,
even if the ordering that happens in enframing is violent and even if the Earth is made as a
big gasoline station from which we extract, stockpile, and put in standing-reserve, ready to
be used as we see fit.

HUMAN PERSON SWALLOWED BY TECHNOLOGY

Though it is true that the individual takes part in the revealing of nature, limits must still
be recognized. Humans do not really call the shots on this Earth, If we allow ourselves to get
swallowed by modern technology , we lose the essence of who we are as beings in this
Science, Technology and Society

world. If we are constantly plugged online and no longer have the capacity for authentic
personal encounters, then we are truly swallowed by technology. If we cannot let go of the
conveniences and profits brought about by processes and industries that pollute the
environment and cause climate change, then technology has consumed our humanity.
Nevertheless, as expressed by the poet Holderlin, “But where danger is, grows the
saving power also”. The saving power lies in the essence of technology as technology.
Essence is the way in which things are, as that which endures. Heidegger further asserted
that the “essence of technology is not found in the instrumentality and function of machines
constructed, but in the significance such technology unfolds.
He also expressed that the various problems brought about by human’s dependence
on technology cannot be simply resolved by refusing technology altogether. He stated:

Thus we shall never experience our relationship to the essence of technology

so long as we merely conceive and push forward the technological, put up
with it, or evade it. Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to
technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it. But we are delivered
over to it in the worst possible way when we regard it as something neutral;
for this conception of it, to which today we particularly like to pay homage,
makes us utterly blind to the essence of technology (1977, p.1

ART AS A WAY OUT OF ENFRAMING

Enframing, as the mode of revealing in modern technology, tends to block poiesis.
The poetry that is found in nature can no longer be easily appreciated when nature is
enframed. If the earth has just become a gas station for us, then we have become
enframed as well. In modern technology, the way of revealing is no longer poetic; it is
challenging. When instruments are observed linearly, its poetry can no longer be found. For
example, the watermill is a primitive structure compared to the hydropower plant; or the
first iPhone model is just an obsolete piece of machine. People no longer realize how the
watermill is more in tune with the rhythms of nature or how much genius went into the
building of the first iPhone.
Heidegger proposes are as a way out of this enframing. With art, we are better able
to see the poetic in nature in reality. It leads us away from calculative thinking and towards
Science, Technology and Society

meditative thinking. Through meditative thinking, we will recognize that nature is art par
excellence. Hence, nature is the most poetic.

There was a time when it was not technology alone that bore the name
techne. Once the revealing that brings forth truth into the splendor of radiant
appearance was also called techne.

Once there was a time when the bringing-forth of the true into the beautiful
was called techne. The poiesis of the fine arts was also called techne.
At the outset of the destining of the West, in Greece, the arts soared to the
supreme height of the revealing granted them. They illuminated the presence
(Gegenwart) of the gods and the dialogue of divine and human destinings. And art
was called simple techne. It was a single, manifold revealing. It was pious, promos,
i.e., yielding to the holding sway and the safekeeping of truth.
The arts were not derived from the artistic. Artworks were not enjoyed
aesthetically. Art was not a sector of cultural acytivity.

What was art- perhaps only for that brief but magnificent age? Why did art
bear the modest name techne? Because it was a revealing that brought forth and
made present, and therefore belonged within poiesis. It was finally that revealing
which holds complete sway in all the fine arts, in poetry, and in everything poetical
that obtained poiesis as its proper name (Heidegger, 1977, p.13)

When meditatively looking at technology, one will begin to question its significance
in his/her life more than in its instrumental use. Technology is normally thought of as that
which solves the problem, but Heidegger asserted that it is something that must be
questioned. Again, it is in questioning that we build a way to understand. In the nuclear age,
we view nature as a problem to be solved. The calculative thinking in which we perceive
nature in a technical and scientific manner is becoming more important in the modern
world. On the other hand, it is meditative thinking that provides a way for us to remain rooted
in the essence of who we are. It grounds us so as not to let our technological devices affect
our real core and wrap our nature.
Science, Technology and Society

Aristotle’s conception of the four causes was mechanical. As explained by

Heidegger:

For centuries philosophy has taught that there are four causes: (1) the causa
materialis, the material, the matter out of which, for example, a silver chalice is
made; (2) the causa formalis, the form, the shape into which the material enters; (3)
the causa finalis, the end, for example, the sacrificial rite in relation to which the
chalice required is determined as to its form and matter; (4) the causa efficiens,
which brings about the effect that is the finished, actual chalice, in this instance, the
silversmith. What technology is, when represented as a means, discloses itself when
we trace instrumentality back to fourfold causality. (1977,p.2)

Through correct in the four causes, Aristotle remained in the mechanical sense and
did not allow for a larger truth to disclose itself. The poetic character may be hidden but it
is there. For example, the ancient Greek experience of cause is aition or indebtedness, not
cause and effect. Thus, the Greeks revere the sun because they are indebted to it, and not
because the sun is the cause of energy on Earth. Aition is responsible for bringing forth.
Though enframing happens, it cannot completely snuff out the poetic character of
technology. We ponder technology and question it. In doing so, we also become aware of
the crisis we have plinged the Earth into. The danger is made present and more palpable
thorough our art and poetry. Amid this realization, we remain hopeful because, as the poet
Holderline put it, “…poetically man dwells upon this Earth” (Heidegger, 1977, p.13)

Synthesis
Points to Remember:
The Question Concerning Technology consists of three main ‘claims’:
(1) technology is “not an instrument”, it is a way of understanding the world;
(2) technology is “not a human activity”, but develops beyond human control; and
(3) technology is “the highest danger”, risking us to only see the world through
technological thinking.
Science, Technology and Society

Modern technology is a means to an end. That is why the instrumental conception

of technology conditions every attempt to bring man into the right relation to technology.
Everything depends on man’s manipulating technology in the proper manner as a means.
The will to mastery becomes all the more urgent the more technology threatens to slip
from human control.
The four causes:
(1) the causa materialis, the material, the matter out of which
(2) the causa formalis, the form, the shape into which the material enters
(3) the causa finalis, the end
(4) the causa efficiens, which brings about the effect that is the finished,
For additional materials you may go to the following links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsnqyckSzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0V7qtjmUU

Assessment

QUIZ (15 points):

 This will be answered in a word format in a letter-sized bond with margins 1 inch on
all sides. It will be submitted to the google classroom assigned to the class.
 Answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences.
 Answers should be using own words
 Each question is allotted 5 points
QUESTIONS :
1. How is technology a mode of revealing?
2. How is questioning the piety of thought?
3. How does art provide a way of enframing?
Science, Technology and Society

Rubric for grading:

ACTIVITY (12 points):

- The activity will be placed in a short coupon bond.
- Draw or cut an example of a technology that are not merely instrumental but that
have a strong influence on how people see the world. Give a brief (3-5 sentences)
explanation of your choice below the drawing or the picture

Rubric for grading:

Science, Technology and Society

Section 2: Human Flourishing as Reflected in Progress and De-Development

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. critiqued human flourishing vis-à-vis the progress of science and technology;
2. explained Hickel’s paradigm of “de-development; and
3. differentiatde it from the traditional notions of growth and consumption.

Lesson Proper
How do we know that we are progressing? What are the indicators of
development? More often than not, development is equated with growth and greater
consumption. The more that a population is able to consume, the wealthier it is. Likewise,
the more that a person is able to buy stuff, the higher he/she is on the development scale.
The planet, however, is already overburdened with human activities. It is about time that
we rethink our standards of development if we truly want to live the good life. Jason
Hickel, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, challenges us to rethink and
reflect on a different paradigm of “de-development”. (Figure 1)
Science, Technology and Society
Science, Technology and Society
Science, Technology and Society

Figure 1. Forget ‘developing’ poor countries, it’s time to ‘de-develop’ rich countries
(Source: https://www.ecologise.in/2017/04/21/forget-developing-poor-countries-time-de-develop-rich-countries/)

Synthesis/Reading Exercise
After reading the article, answer the following questions on a coupon bond and send in
word format to the assigned google classroom/email. Copy the questions before
answering. ( 50 points)
1. What is the main objective of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United
Nations?
2. What is the standardized unit that measures resource use and waste?
3. What is the standard response to eradicating poverty?
4. What is the threshold of the Earth for adequately sustaining life?
5. According to the majority of people in middle- and high- income countries, what puts
the planet and society at risk?
6. How many hectares should each of us consume annually based on the resources
available in the planet?
7. What are two indicators of the quality of life given in the article?
8. What crisis in the planet would force us to slow down if we do not do so voluntarily?
9. According to Hickel, what must be done instead of urging poor countries to “catch-up”
with rich ones?
10. How would the different areas of the world react to the idea of “de-development”?
Science, Technology and Society

Rubric for grading:

Assessment
QUIZ (15 points):
 This will be answered in a word format in a letter-size bond paper with margins 1 inch
on all sides. It will be submitted to the google classroom assigned to the class.
 Answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences.
 Answers should be using own words
 Each question is allotted 5 points
QUESTIONS :
4. How have we been enframed by the notion of growth?
5. How do we improve our lives and yet reduce consumption?
6. Why must we change our paradigm of growth and consumption to that of “de-
development”?
Rubric for grading:
Science, Technology and Society

ACTIVITY (15 points):

- The activity will be placed in a short coupon bond.
- In a table format (see table below), present the similarities and differences between
Heidegger’s The question Concerning Technology and Hickel’s article
POINTS OF Heidegger’s The question Hickel’s article
DIFFERENTIATION Concerning Technology

POINTS OF SIMILARITIES Heidegger’s The question Hickel’s article

Concerning Technology
Science, Technology and Society

Section 3: The Good Life

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. explainee the concept of the good life as posited by Aristotle;
2. defined the good life in their own word ; and
3. examined shared concerns that make up the good life to come up with
innovative and creative solutions to contemporary issues guided by ethical
standards.

Lesson Proper

Everyone is in pursuit of a good life. We do certain things because we want to achieve

a life which will make us happy and content. By studying and working hard, we try to attain
this goal not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones and the rest of humanity. People’s
definition of the good life may vary and differ in the particulars. In general, however, we
recognize universal truths that cut across our differences.
NICOMACHEAN ETHICS AND MODERN CONCEPTS
Aristotle, an important ancient Greek Philosopher
whose work spans from natural philosophy to logic and
political theory, attempted to explain what the good is. His
definition may be useful in our pursuit of the truth. In
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated:

All human activities aim at some good. Every

art and human inquiry, and similarly every
action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some
good; and for this reason the good has been
rightly declared as that at(384-322
Figure 1. Aristotle which allBC)
things aim Figure 2. Aristotle (384-322 BC)
(Nicomachean Ethics 2:2)
Science, Technology and Society

Everyone is moving towards the good. Thus, completing one’s studies, training for a
sport, or taking a rest is a good. The good is expressed and manifested in many various ways
for different persons and circumstances. The good life, however, is more than these
countless expressions of what is good. It is characterized by happiness that springs from living
and doing well.

… both the many and the cultivated call it happiness, and suppose that living
well and doing well are the same as being happy (Nichomachean Ethics 1:4)

The ancient Greeks called this concept of “living well and doing well” as eudaimonia.
The word came from the Greek word eu meaning “good” and daimon meaning “spirit”.
Taken together, it generally refers to the good life, which is marked by happiness and
excellence. It is a flourishing life filled with meaningful endeavors that empower the human
person to be the best version of himself/herself. If one is a student, then he/she acts to be
the best version of a student by studying well and fulfilling the demands of school. If one is
an athlete, then he/she strives to be the best version of an athlete by training hard as well
as joining and winning in sports competitions.
Furthermore, according to Aristotle, happiness is the ultimate end of human action. It
is that which people pursue for its own sake. Financial stability for one’s family, the power
achieved from winning the elections, or the harmony and peace as a reward for taking
care of the environment- all these and more are pursued for the sake of happiness.

Now such a thing as happiness above all else, is held to be; for this we choose
always for itself and never for the sake of something else, but honor, pleasure, reason,
and every virtue we choose indeed for themselves, but we choose them also for the
sake of happiness, judging that by means of them we shall be happy. Happiness, on
the other hand, no one chooses for anything other than itself (Nicomachean Ethics
2:7)

Happiness defines a good life. This happiness, however, is not the kind that comes
from sensate pleasures. It is that which comes from living of virtue, a life of excellence
manifested from the personal to the global scale.
Science, Technology and Society

It is the activities that express virtue that control happiness, and the
contrary activities that control its contrary (Nichomacean Ethics 1:10)

For example, making sure that one avoids sugary and processed foods to keep
healthy is an activity that expresses virtue. The resulting health adds to one’s well being and
happiness. Another example is taking care of the environment through proper waste
management which results in a clean environment and adds to people’s well- being and
happiness.

Source:https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsteptohealth.com%2Fwp-
content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F04%2F10-tips-to-take-care-of-the-environment-at-home.jpg)

Figure 2. Taking care of the environment

These virtuous actions require discipline and practice. On the other hand, activities
contrary to virtue are those which do not result in happiness. The lack of discipline in eating
healthful food eventually makes one sick. The lack of concern for the environment destroys
the Earth we live in. Thus, disregard for virtuous actions, especially for the sake of
convenience and gratification, does not contribute to happiness. The good life is marked
by happiness brought about by virtuous human actions and decisions that affect the
individual self and the greater community. It is characterized by a life of flourishing of oneself
and of others. The good life does not happen in a bubble where only one person is
flourishing; others have to be in it, too.
Virtue plays a significant role in the living and attainment of the good life. It is the
constant practice of the good no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. Virtue is
the excellence of character that empowers one to do and be good. Such virtue is
Science, Technology and Society

cultivated with habit and discipline as it is not a one-time deed, but a constant and
consistent series of action. Everyone has the capacity within himself/herself to be good, but
he/she also has to be disciplined to make a habit of exercising the good.

Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual

virtue in the main owes its birth and growth to teaching (for which reason
it requires experience and time), while moral virtue comes about as a
result of habit (Nichomachean Ethics 2:1)

The onward progress of science and technology is also the movement towards the
good life. Science and Technology are one of the highest expressions of human faculties.
They allow us to thrive and flourish in life if we desire it. Science and technology may also
corrupt a person, but grounding oneself in virtue will help him/her steer clear of danger.

Synthesis

 The good is expressed and manifested in many various ways for different persons
and circumstances.
 Eudaimonia: concept of “living well and doing well”
 Happiness defines a good life. This happiness, however, is not the kind that comes
from sensate pleasures. It is that which comes from living of virtue, a life of excellence
manifested from the personal to the global scale.
 Virtue plays a significant role in the living and attainment of the good life.
 Everyone has the capacity within himself/herself to be good, but he/she also has to
be disciplined to make a habit of exercising the good.
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment

QUIZ (10 points):

 This will be answered in a ¼ sheet of pad paper (answers only). It will be submitted
to the google classroom assigned to the class.

Answer the following questions:

_______________________1. It is that which all things aim
_______________________ 2. It is ancient Greek word which means living and doing well
_______________________ 3. It is said to be the ultimate end of human actions. It is pursued
for its own sake.
_______________________ 4. He is the ancient Greek philosopher known for Nicomachean
Ethics.
_______________________ 5. The good life means that I make sure I improve without
necessarily taking the others into consideration. True or False?
_______________________ 6. One does not need to eat healthfully to live the good life. True
or False
_______________________ 7. Excellence of character is innate. It does not have to be
practiced . True or False?
_______________________ 8. It is the constant practice of the good.
_______________________ 9. For items 9 and 10, give Aristotle’s two kinds of virtue.
_______________________ 10.

ACTIVITY (15 points):

- View the short documentary film titled That Sugar Film
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Trpu7e0iiE)
- Report on how production and consumption of sugar affect your journey towards
the good life. How does unreflective consumption of goods-in this case, sugar-
affect human life.
Science, Technology and Society

- Put your reflection in a 1 whole coupon bond, encode your answer and send to
google classroom.

Rubric for grading

Science, Technology and Society

Section 4: When Technology and Humanity Cross

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. discussed the importance of human rights in the face of changing social
conditions and technological development;
2. explained how Human differs from Robots;

3. identified laws or policies in the country that protect the well-being of the person
in technological advancement and ethical dilemmas.

Lesson Proper

The good life entails living in a just and progressive society whose citizen have
the freedom to flourish. The human person has the autonomy to make choices which may
enable the flourishing of his self and society. The United Nations General Assembly
proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)on December 10,1948 as the
global standard of fundamental human rights for universal recognition and protection.

The UDHR begins “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace in the world”(UDHR Preamble). As implied, everyone has absolute moral worth
by virtue of human being. Human dignity is an ultimate core value of existence. When we
fully recognize and appreciate this truth in ourselves and in all the person around us,
regardless of their status in life, then we pave the way for a just and progressive society. It is
in this kind of society that we are able to become fully-human-more free, more rational,
and more loving. Human being becomes more free when we are empowered to make
choices for our flourishing. We become more rational when we are able to value and
apply the principles of logic and science in our lives. We become more loving when we
ensure that human dignity lies at the foundation of our endeavors, whether scientific or
Science, Technology and Society

not. It entails knowing one’s fundamental human rights that must always be protected in
the face of changing conditions.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The UDHR explicates the fundamental human rights in 30 articles. It outlines

inalienable human rights that are vital and necessary in the pursuit of the good life. These
are the freedoms everyone is entitled to and guaranteed by virtue of being human. The
first article states the essential principle of being human in a just, free, and rational society.
Everyone is born free and equal in dignity and rights, The common experience, however,
does not always manifest such truth. More often than not, those who have more to offer
are given special treatment. The good life, nevertheless, as a life of justice, demands not
just equal treatment of human beings but also preferential treatment to those who have
less or are disadvantaged. The first seven articles of the UDHR encapsulate the spirit of the
so-called milestone document in the history of the human rights.
https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Robotics and Humanity

The rise of the machines accompanying the progress in science and technology
may render humans useless. Manual labor is gradually being replaced by machinery.
Computers become more and more sophisticated. Robots, usually designed like human
beings, are created to perform complex, repetitive, or dangerous tasks.

With the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), robots may also eventually act
and decide like humans. In the possibility that machine adopt the nature of humans, there
is a need to reflect on the ethical problems posed by such development.

Though the Philippines has not yet reached the point of producing robots on a
commercial scale for household use, it is still behooves us to ponder the ramifications of
replacing persons with machinery. Much as the BBC News has reported that experts in
South Korea are crafting ethical guidelines to prevent human from exploiting robots and
vice versa(Evans,2007), and that roboticists in Europe are lobbying for government
Science, Technology and Society

legislation, such reality is generally unheard of in the Philippines. To Filipinos, artificial

intelligence seems like the stuff of science fiction movies. Be that as it may, its use in the
country is surely gaining ground, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry. Technology enables the growth of the BPO industry but it seems that it is also
technology that will kill the industry as we know it. Investors and business people find as a
sure return of investment the use of business analytics is a means by which consumer and
industry data are used to come up with better decision-making. With the help of AI,
decisions now arise from sophisticated statistical analyses made from massive data. As of
August 2017, it is estimated that a million Filipino BPO workers may be effected and lose
their jobs with the adoption of artificial intelligence (Santos, 2017).

Unemployment is only one of the many ethical considerations in the widespread use
of AI. What does this mean for human beings who can be replaced by machines? Is that
value of the person inversely proportional to that of a machine exhibiting artificial
intelligence? How do we guard against mistakes committed by machines? These points
are but a sample of the questions that should be resolved when faced with technology
that may become a threat to human dignity and security. In the future, when machines
and robots become more human-like, with all the attendant feelings and thoughts,
people may also have to consider the ethical treatment for AI.

Dreamstime.com ID162178773©ImLuckbuy
Science, Technology and Society

It is also interesting to note that as machines and robots approach having a human-
like nature, humans may also have the tendency to become machine-like. Since many of
the things people need, from conveniences to information, are available with just the
touch and swipe of the fingertips, humans begin to function more like automatons. The
internet has become an instant go to tool for answers to questions. More often than not,
people accept what the search engine, like Google, spews out in byte sizes and forget
how to process, read, think further, or put things in context. As the internet gets more
intelligent, we are in danger of becoming less so. In the article, Is Google making us
stupid? ”Nicolas Carr (2008)asserted that as we come to rely on computers to mediate our
understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial
intelligence.”( https://www.edge.org/discourse/carr_google.html)

The development of society along with science along with science and technology
gives rise to more and more complex issues. What is vital is that amid these developments,
human beings become more free, more rational, and more loving in our practice of
science and technology.

As we examine contemporary issues in science and technology-information,

genetically modified organisms, nanotechnology, and climate change-we keep in mind
that constant practice of the good. It may be exhibited in the exceptional scientific
methodologies, personal virtue, social responsibility, and global concern.

Synthesis
Points to Remember:

 The good life entails living in a just and progressive society whose citizen have the
freedom to flourish.
 There are still some problems faced by the different technological advancements.
 Ethics should still be enforced in the field of technology so as to ensure the safety
and morality of these devices to people.
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment

QUIZ (15 points):

 This will be answered in a word format in a short coupon bond with margins 1 inch
on all sides. It will be submitted to the google classroom assigned to the class.
 Answer the following questions in 3-5 sentences.
 Answers should be using own words
Each question is allotted 5 points

How do we protect our human rights in the face of technological advancement

and ethical dilemmas?

1. How does science and technology affect contemporary life and vice versa?
2. Do you believe that Google makes people stupid? Cite at least three examples
to support your assertion.

Rubrics
Science, Technology and Society

Section 5: Why The Future Does Not Need Us

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. determined the human nature;

2. discussed the reason why the future does not need us.
3. explained the role of new technology to our lives.

Lesson Proper

Chief scientist and corporate executive officer of Sun Microsystems, Bill Joy, wrote in
2000 a controversial essay, “Why the future does not need us,” In his work, he contended
that our most powerful 21st century technologies- genetics, nanotech, and robotics (GNR)-
are threatening to make humans and endangered species. This possible extinction of the
species may largely come about due to the unreflective and unquestioning acceptance
of new technologies by humans. Joy also asserted that:

Accustomed to living with almost routine scientific breakthroughs, we have yet to

come to terms with the fact that the most compelling 21st-century technologies—robotics,
genetic engineering, and nanotechnology—pose a different threat than the technologies
that have come before. Specifically, robots, engineered organisms, and nanobots share a
dangerous amplifying factor: They can self-replicate. A bomb is blown up only once—but
one bot can become many, and quickly get out of control.

Each of these technologies also offers untold promise: The vision of near immortality
that Kurzweil sees in his robot dreams drives us forward; genetic engineering may soon
provide treatments, if not outright cures, for most diseases; and nanotechnology and
nanomedicine can address yet more ills. Together they could significantly extend our
average life span and improve the quality of our lives. Yet, with each of these
technologies, a sequence of small, individually sensible advances leads to an
Science, Technology and Society

accumulation of great power and, concomitantly, great danger.

(https://www.wired.com/2000/04/joy-2/)

Humans should have learned the lesson in the atomic bombings of the Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 that killed over a hundred thousand people.
Brilliant physicists, led by Robert Oppenheimer, brought into existence a deadly nuclear
weapon. A definite testaments to the success of science and technology, the atomic
bomb was also a fatal reminder of its destructive power. Now with GNR, we are called to
be circumspect and questioning of technology. Again, as Heidegger(1977) propounded,
it is in questioning that we build a way. GNR today is accessible to small groups and
individuals and does not require funding and abuses. It is scary to imagine that such
accidents and abuses may self-replicate and spin out of control, especially when placed
in the hands of extremist groups and individual.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hiroshima+and+nagasaki&sxsrf=ALeKk03vonPBOAuHGCZQX
Po75kYj3dDexw:1590228571843&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3n4uJ38npAhXc7
nMBHWuVAEcQ_AUoAXoECAwQAw&biw=1440&bih=789

Science and technology may be the highest expression of human rationality.

People are able to shape or destroy the world with it. Theoretical physicist and
mathematician Freeman Dyson, in the documentary The Day After Trinity(1981), shared his
thoughts and sentiments as a scientist taking part in the development of nuclear power.
Science, Technology and Society

I have felt it myself. The glitter of nuclear weapons. It is irresistible if you come to
them as a scientist. To feel it’s there in your hands, to release this energy that fuels the stars,
to let it do your bidding. To perform these miracles, to lift a million tons of rocks into sky. It is
something that gives people an illusion of illimitable power, and it is, in some ways,
responsible for all our troubles-this, what you might call technical arrogance, that
overcomes people when they see what they can do with their minds.

Human nature may be corrupted when the powers of our mind, our rationality, and
our science and technology become manifest. If we are not able to rein in the vanity and
arrogance that such powers unleash, then we are on the way to destroying the world.

The wasteland grows; woe unto him who harbors the wasteland within

- Friedrich Nietzche

Synthesis

 Science and technology may be the highest expression of human rationality.

 Human nature may be corrupted when the powers of our mind, our rationality, and
our science and technology become manifest.
 Most powerful 21st century technologies- genetics, nanotech, and robotics (GNR)-
are threatening to make humans and endangered species.

For additional materials you may go to the following links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN2shXeJNz8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5fCxXnK7Y
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment
Performance Task

Read the entirety of Joy’s articles. Then answer the question:

“Why doesn’t the future need us?”- in three (3) paragraphs.

Rubrics for rating

Science, Technology and Society

REFERENCES

A. BOOKS
McNamara, D., Valverde, V., Beleno, R. (2018). Science, Technology, and Society. C & E
Publications

B. ONLINE RESOURCES
Future Learn. (n.d). Reading Heidegger: The Question Concerning Technology. University
of Twente. Retrieved from https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/philosophy-of-
technology/0/steps/26315 on May 23, 2020
Ortlieb, T. (2017). Heidegger on question concerning technology. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YsnqyckSzs on May 23, 2020
Then & Now. (2018). The Question Concerning Technology (& Social Media) – Heidegger.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0V7qtjmUU on May 23, 2020
Hickel, J. (2017). Forget ‘developing’ poor countries, it’s time to ‘de-develop’ rich
countries. Retrieved from https://www.ecologise.in/2017/04/21/forget-developing-
poor-countries-time-de-develop-rich-countries/
The Truth About sugar (2015). Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=3Trpu7e0iiE on May 23, 2
Science, Technology and Society

Learning Engagement 3

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

H
Introduction

Humans are surrounded on all sides by technology claiming to supply information:

television, smart phones, and internet devices, among others. However, do they all
provide information or just noise? More voices are trying to get our attention but how can
we be sure that they share knowledge and the truth?
To answer this basis question, a short historical backgrounder might prove useful.
Before the printed word was prevalent. Yet, the intent to carry information has always
been present.

Section 1: INFORMATION AGE

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

1. discussed the history of Information Age;
2. explained how science and technology made its impact to the technological
advances of the Information age;
3. presented discoveries and inventions related to S & T that influenced the society
in the different facets of their lives.
Science, Technology and Society

Lesson Proper

Information
A word is a combination of sounds that represents something. It is this significance
which makes words distinct from just any kind of vocal utterance. Words are made up of
sounds and yet they transmit something more significant. They transmit a message. The
words are “informed” because they carry “information”( Chaisson, 2006; Ben-Naim, 2015).
Words are informed with meaning given by the speaker and intended for listener. Simply
put, they communicate meaning.
The Information Age
Period starting in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became effortlessly
accessible through publications and through the management of information by
computers and computer networks. Also called the Digital Age and the New Media Age
because it was associated with the development of computers.
History Timeline of the Information Age
Science, Technology and Society

Science, Technology and Society (GEC Series). FIRST EDITION by Janice Patria Javier Serafica, Greg Tabios Pawilen,
Bernardo Nicolas

Technological World
The ability to think and conceptually comprehend nature and the principle it follows
eventually leads to science. Even in ancient time, Western thinkers harnessed the forces of
nature after understanding them better. Lost in antiquity is the first sailing vessel that
worked through the power of the wind. Similarly, it was never recorded when the early
people realized that fire has its own power and energy. Not all early inventions are lost in
Science, Technology and Society

time, however. Hero of Alexandria, for instance, would invent a primitive steam engine in
the first century (Davies, 1990).
The Printing Press and Beyond
The power of the eidos, or idea, would be witnessed in the succeeding centuries of
development in the West. The ancient fascination with language gave rise to the
preservation of the words of earlier people at the same time when the West weakened
itself due to internecine warfare and conflicts. Throughout this dark period, the importance
of the word-the power to be informed as a human being-led to the transmission of ideas
through hand-copying. From this manual action would arise the technology that would
transform cultures-the printing press.

Source :https://www.intergraf.eu/about-print/history-of-print

Figure 1: Printing Press

The development of the printing press, which may be regarded as the beginning of
A true revolution, could be dated to the 15th century. Through this technology, the ancient
Greek idea that knowledge should be shared and communicated among humans would
actually be press, people on different sides of the world could share their thoughts and
ideas with each other, forming communities of thinkers across space and time
(Connell,1958).
This world has never looked back. This technological invention allowed words and
scientific ideas to establish a view of nature anchored in scholarly works and studies. For
Science, Technology and Society

instance, new discoveries about the phenomenon of electricity were eagerly absorbed by
fellow scientists who then utilized the science to create other technological products. The
radio was built upon the wave nature of electricity and magnetism, and from there,
television followed.
In the age of information, the transmission of ideas has undergone changes. Meaning and
depth are no longer conveyed strictly by rhetoric but rather by its electronic replacement,
the digital signal or digit. Such a digital world is a direct offspring of the progressing world
of technology built upon the many advances in science (Toffler, 1984)

The World Wide Web (Internet)

Internet is a worldwide system of interconnected networks that facilitate data transmission

among innumerable computers. Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate
with other scientists; it remained under government control until 1984. One early problem
faced by Internet users was speed. The development of fiber-optic cables allowed for
billions of bits of information to be received every minute.
Electronic mail, or email, was a suitable way to send a message.

https://magora-systems.com/world-wide-web-by-the-numbers-top-websites-and-technologies/

Figure 2: World Web

Science, Technology and Society

Synthesis

• Nowadays, information could be shared or transferred quickly.

• Various aspects of our society are also being influenced by the Information Age
especially communication, economics, industry, health, and the environment.
• The rapid upgrade of information poses both positive and negative impacts to our
society.

Assessment

Performance Task: TIMELINE MAKING

Individual work: Based on the discussion above, make a timeline.

Your work will be graded according to the following criteria;
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Completeness (50) Sufficiency of information
presented
Organization (25) Sequential presentation of events
Structure (25) Quality appearance and
presentation of the output

Section 2: BIODIVERSITY and HEALTH SOCIETY

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:

4. determined the interrelatedness of society, environment, and health;
5. created a diagram that would show the relatedness of species in forming up
a diverse and healthy society without compromising one another; and
6. identified everyday tasks and evaluate whether they contribute to the
wellness and health of biodiversity and society or not.
Science, Technology and Society

Lesson Proper

Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Biodiversity is defined as the vast variety of life forms in the entire Earth. Its definition is
in the structural and functional perspective and not as individual species. It is the source of
the essential goods and ecological services.
Significant decline in biodiversity has direct human impact when ecosystem in its
insufficiency can no longer provide the physical as well as social needs of human beings.
While cities only occupy two per cent of the Earth's land surface, they draw on their
hinterlands for goods and services. Waste and emissions produced by urban dwellers,
moreover have an impact on ecosystems elsewhere, even at the global level. For this
reasons, cities depend on so called ecosystem services - benefits that nature provides us for
free.
Those ecosystem services have provisioning (such as food and water), regulating (as
flood control), cultural (such as for recreation) and supportive characters (like nutrient
cycles). Healthy ecosystems and a rich biodiversity, i.e. the multiplicity of living organisms
and ecosystems, are vital for cities to function properly. Not only do ecosystem services
provide urban residents with food and clean water, they also play an important role for the
quality of life in a city: ecosystem services regulate a city's climate, filter emissions and can
protect a city against flooding. Despite the importance of a healthy ecosystem, little is done
to mitigate the negative impact that by factors including over-exploitation, climate
change, land use change, urban sprawl, traffic, air pollution and invasive species have on
it.
Science, Technology and Society

Figure 1: Ecosystem Hierarchy

(classroom.google.com)
Threats to Biodiversity
1. Habitat loss and destruction
The process by which natural habitat is damaged or destroyed to such an extent that it no
longer is capable of supporting the species and ecological communities that naturally
occur there. It often results in the extinction of species and, as a result, the loss

of biodiversity.

2. Alterations in ecosystem composition

Alteration of ecosystem structure can occur whenever an action changes the species
composition of an area. Because of the interwoven relationships between structure and
function, the ecological functions will also be affected by changes in composition and
structure.
3. Over-exploitation
Overhunting, overfishing and over-harvesting contribute greatly to the loss of
biodiversity, killing off numerous species over the past several hundred years. Poaching
and other forms of hunting for profit increase the risk of extinction.

What can we do? Conservation and continued awareness surrounding overexploitation, especially
poaching and overfishing, are key. Governments need to actively enforce rules against such
practices, and individuals can be more conscious of what they eat and purchase.
Science, Technology and Society

4. Pollution and contamination

From the burning of fossil fuels (releasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere and, in
some cases, depleting ozone levels) to dumping 19 billion pounds of plastic into the ocean
every year, pollution completely disrupts the Earth's ecosystems. While it may not
necessarily cause extinction, pollutants do have the potential to influents species' habits.

For example, acid rain, which is typically caused by the burning of fossil fuels, can
acidify smaller bodies of water and soil, negatively affecting the species that live there by
changing breeding and feeding habits.

What can we do? The average person can do a number of things to fight atmospheric
and hydrologic pollution, such as recycling, conserving energy at home and using public
transportation.

5. Global climate change

Changes in climate throughout our planet's history have, of course, altered life on Earth
in the long run — ecosystems have come and gone and species routinely go extinct.

But rapid, manmade climate change speeds up the process, without affording
ecosystems and species the time to adapt. For example, rising ocean temperatures and
diminishing Arctic sea ice affects marine biodiversity and can shift vegetation zones,
having global implications.

Overall, climate is a major factor in the distribution of species across the globe; climate
change forces them to adjust. But many are not able to cope, causing them to die out.

What can we do? Individuals can take various steps to fight climate change, such as
reducing their carbon footprints (like practicing reduce, reuse and recycle), promoting
education and contacting elected officials. International governments and cities can
Science, Technology and Society

lead the charge, however, and the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Paris will hopefully be a turning point.

Health, Biology, and Biodiversity

- Basic needs of living organisms such as air, water, food, and habitat are provided by
its environment.
- Lack of basic necessities is a significant cause of human mortality.
- Environmental hazards increase the risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and many
other illnesses.
- The interrelation between human health and biological diversity is considerable and
complex.
Environment-Related Illnesses
Some human illnesses that are found to be related with its environment include
Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
asthma, diabetes, obesity, occupational injuries, dysentery, arthritis, malaria, and
depression.
Many of the issues at the intersection of health and the environment have to do with
managing benefits and risks:
Pesticides play an important role in increasing crop yields, but they can also pose
hazards to human health and the environment.
Energy production and use helps sustain human life, but it can also pose hazards to
human health and the environment.
Increasing taxes on fossil fuels would encourage greater fuel efficiency and lower
carbon dioxide emissions, but it would also increase the price of transportation.
Managing benefits and risks also raises social justice concerns:
People with lower socio-economic status have greater exposure to certain harmful
environmental conditions.
Science, Technology and Society

Synthesis

• We have to consider the entire Earth as a single unit, a loss of single-celled species
or a family of wild grass can have adverse effects in the entire biosphere.
• Biodiversity loss will have a great negative effect especially to us humans.
• We must recognize the value of the organisms with which we share the planet.
• A mitigating plan and a workable plan of action should be studied in order to not
compromise biodiversity, while at the same time, promote good health among the
society.
For additional materials you may go to the following links below:
• https://populationmatters.org/the-
facts/biodiversity?gclid=CjwKCAjwk6P2BRAIEiwAfVJ0rP6td98gcMhr3qTrAQbUkbEIMT
Jy6fHUsrytvMrxbSSxdjdGRY9k_RoCETEQAvD_BwE
• https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-
do/cities/biodiversity-and-ecosystems
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment
Concept mapping. List down several concepts that prove that the society or
human beings benefit from biodiversity. On the other circle, enumerate the different
challenges and disadvantages that biodiversity suffers from as we work our way to acquire
its benefits. On the space where the two circles meet, list down possible ways and
strategies on how we could acquire these benefits and needs without compromising the
growth process of biodiversity. Discuss each concepts.

Challenges
Benefits from
Strategies that
biodiversity
biodiversity
suffers

Rubrics in rating:
Assessment of 10 9 8 7 6
Outcomes
Presence of All information All information Information Information Information
required and/or questions and/or answers and/or answers and/or answers and/answers
information or are present and are present are complete but are incomplete are missing
answers demonstrates a brief
detailed concept
Quality of Honest, Evidence of some Responses Responses Vague and
work perceptive and thought acceptable but acceptable but confusing
clever observation reveals little no evidence
from personal
experience
Evidence of Comments are Significant are Comments are Comments are Comments do
Effort insightful and made with made with made with not connect to
probe a greater understanding emerging minimal the task given
understanding understanding understanding
Science, Technology and Society

Section 3: Genetically Modified (GMOs) and Gene Therapy

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. determined the interrelatedness of society, environment, and health;
2. discussed the implications and future impacts of GMOs and gene therapy;
3. assessed issues concerning GMOs and Gene Therapy.

Lesson Proper

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs)

o Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) can be defined as organisms in which the
genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that it does not occur naturally by
mating or natural recombination (www.hannover-re.com, 2020).
o Genes carry the information or the “recipe”, in the sequences and structures of DNA,
which gives the organism its specific characteristics. Genes can be added, removed
or changed, using modern biotechnology methods (SAASTA).
o In 1953, the discovery of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick opened the gates
for the countless possibilities of genetic engineering.
o In 1973, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen were the first scientists to genetically modify
an organism by combining genes from two different E.coli.
o In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first GMO-Humulin, a
type of insulin produced using genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to be available
in the market.
Science, Technology and Society

o The genetically modified tomato went to U.S. market on May 21, 1994 known as the
Flavr Savr. This transgenic tomato was no longer able to produce polygalacturonase
(PG), which is an enzyme involved in fruit softening, due to an deactivated gene.
Tomatoes are normally picked before ripening when they are still green and ripened
artificially by ethylene treatment. The Flavr Savr tomatoes, however, are left to ripen
on the vine and still have a long shelf life, which was thought to allow them to develop
their full flavor (FABIO, 2015).

Source: http://www.tomatocasuual.com/2008/02/28/what-ever-
happened-to-the-flavr-savr-genetically-engineered-tomato/
Figure 1

o In 1995, Bt Potatoes and Corn, and Roundup Ready Soybeans were approved safe
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

o In 2000, golden rice was developed in the Philippines to address vitamin A deficiency,
which is a public health issue in Asian countries where rice is a staple food crop.
Golden rice is a variety genetically modified to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a
precursor of vitamin A, in the edible parts of rice (Quinto, 2019).
Science, Technology and Society

Source: https://theconversation.com/the-philippines-has-rated-
golden-rice-safe-but-farmers-might-not-plant-it-129956
Figure 2

o Figure 2 shows the “Golden Rice” which is probably the world’s most hotly debated
genetically modified organism (GMO). It was intended to be a beta carotene-
enriched crop to reduce Vitamin A deficiency, a health problem in very poor areas.
But it has never been offered to farmers for planting (STONE, 2020)

How are GMOs useful to us?

o Food: Crops can be modified to have valuable characteristics such as tolerance to
drought and herbicides, resistance to disease and insects, as well as improved
nutritional content.
o Medicine. Insulin as a treatment for diabetes was the first commercial healthcare
product produced by GMOs.
o GMOs can produce other medicines such as growth hormone.
o GMOs are used in current vaccines such as Hepatitis B (produced by yeast), and new
vaccines are being developed using GMO technology. In the future, plants may even
be engineered to contain the vaccines so that we may be able to eat our
vaccinations rather go for an injection.
o Textiles: GM cotton has been created to be resistant to insect attack to improve the
yield of the crop.
Science, Technology and Society

Benefits
1. Farmers can use less pesticide on insect-resistant GM plants.
2. GM crops are better protected by, and are not so susceptible to diseases, insects and
herbicides, allowing a more consistent yield.
3. Higher yields of crops.
4. Costs are potentially saved through a reduced need for pesticides and/or herbicides.
Risks/Limitations
1. The toxic effects of insect resistant plants could potentially also kill beneficial insects
such as bees.
2. Insect resistant or herbicide tolerant crops can potentially cause the development of
harmful pest resistance plants, or so-called “superweeds”.
3. Farmers using GM seeds have to pay a technology fee to the supplier.
4. GM crops are patented, and farmers may not retain seed for breeding purposes.

Although the safety of GM products is tested in intense, short term studies, the long term
effects on health of GM food consumption is not established (SAASTA).
To date, the production and consumption of GMOs are being argued upon due to their
safety alongside the right of humans to modify naturally occurring organisms. New
organisms created using genetic engineering can pose ecological issues because the long-
term effects of genetic engineering to the environment is uncertain. GMOs may cause
imbalance in the ecology of a region just as what exotic species do (Quinto, 2019).

GENE THERAPY
o Gene therapy is a technique that uses genetic material (a piece of DNA) for the long-
term treatment of genetic disorders (uniQure, 2016).
o Method of inserting genes or nucleic acid into cells as a drug to treat genetic
diseases. In 1972, Theodore Friedman and Richard Roblin proposed that people with
genetic disorders can be treated by replacing defective DNA with good DNA
(Quinto, 2019).
Science, Technology and Society

o In 1985, Dr. W. French Anderson and Dr. Michael Blasse worked together to show that
cells of patients with Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency can be corrected in
tissue.
o In 1990, the first approved gene therapy clinical research took place at the National
Institutes of Health under the team of Dr. Anderson.
o In 1993, the first somatic treatment that produced a permanent genetic change was
performed.
o The first commercial gene therapy product Gendicine was approved in China in 2003
for the treatment of certain cancers. Due to some clinical succeses since 2006, gene
therapy gained greater attention from researchers but was still considered as san
experimental technique.
o In 2016, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) endorsed the gene therapy treatment called
Strimvelis that was approved by the European Commission in June 2018.

How does Gene Therapy work?

A healthy gene is inserted into a carrier,
called vector, and transferred to the
affected cells, either inside or outside the
body.
Figure 3 shows the transfer of therapeutic
genes to the targeted cells is described
on the reverse side (uniQure, 2016).

Source: http://www.uniqure.com/pipeline/clinical-programs/
The Basic Process Figure 3
There are several approaches to a
gene therapy. These are these following (Pawilen, 2018):
1. Replacement of mutated gene that causes disease with a healthy copy of the gene.
2. Inactivation of a mutated gene that is functioning improperly.
3. Introducing a new gene into the body to help fight disease.
Science, Technology and Society

In general, a gene therapy cannot be directly inserted into a human gene or cell, a gene
is inserted into another gene using a carrier or vector. At present, the most common type of
vectors are viruses that have been genetically changed to carry normal human DNA.
Viruses have evolved a way of encapsulating and transporting their genes to human cells
in a pathogenic manner (Pawilen, 2018).
Potential advantages of gene therapy
o Gene therapy can potentially be used to treat genetic disorders with single or few
administrations rather than frequent dosing, improving quality of life and reducing the
need for physician visits.
o Gene therapy also offers the potential to specifically target the affected tissues within
the body.
IS GENE THERAPY SAFE?
o Gene therapy is primarily an experimental technology and, as such, is highly
regulated and carefully monitored to maximize patient safety.
o Depending on the type of gene therapy used, potential risks can include unwanted
immune reactions and the formation of tumors. The effects of current gene therapy
approaches are limited to the treated patient’s cells. Modified genes are not passed
on from one generation to the next.

Synthesis
Various concerns in genetic engineering arise, making gene therapy and GMOs
very controversial innovations in science and technology. Other support that it is unethical
for humans to havee in genetically altering and engineering organisms.
Genetic engineering also poses problems in agriculture. Hence, there is a need to
study the ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems.Futher researches
as well as the clinical experiments to outline functional mechanisms, predictive approaches,
patient-related studies, and upcoming challenges should be done to address existing
problems in the development of and to acquire future perspectives in gene therapy.
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment
Instructions: 1. Read the article ‘Bubble kid’ success puts gene therapy back on track. Then,
answer the questions below and limit your responses in
3-4 sentences only.
‘Bubble kid' success puts gene therapy back on track
HEALTH 30 October 2013
By Linda Geddes
Five children with a genetic disease that wipes out their immune system have successfully been treated with
gene therapy
Nina: born with a bad gene
(Image: courtesy of the Warnell Family)
Editorial: “Gene therapy needs a hero to live up to the hype“
MOST parents dream of a 5-week-old baby who sleeps
through the night, but Aga Warnell knew something was
wrong. Her baby, Nina, just wasn’t hungry in the way her other
daughters had been.
Within weeks, Nina became very ill, says her father, Graeme.
She was admitted to hospital with a rotavirus infection. Then
she picked up pneumonia.
It turned out Nina had a condition called severe combined
immunodeficiency (SCID). She had been born without an
immune system due to a genetic defect. It is also known as
“bubble boy” disease, since people affected have to live in
a sterile environment. “The doctors said ‘you need to prepare yourself for the fact that Nina probably isn’t
going to survive’,” says Graeme.
A year-and-a-half later, Nina is a happy little girl with a functioning immune system. She has gene therapy –
and its latest improvements – to thank for it.
SCID was the first condition to be treated with gene therapy more than 20 years ago. A virus was used to
replace a faulty gene with a healthy one. But in subsequent trials, four young patients were diagnosed with
leukemia two years after receiving a similar treatment. An 18-year-old also died following a reaction to a virus
used in gene therapy for a liver condition. It was the start of a rocky road.
Gene therapy has come a long way since, and Nina’s case, along with others, mark a turning point:
researchers seem to have found a safer way of manipulating our genes.
Preliminary results for the first two children to receive the improved SCID gene therapy – 18 months ago – were
presented at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference in Madrid, Spain, last week. The
children’s immune systems have continued to improve since receiving the treatment, says Bobby Gaspar of
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, who led the trial.
Three further children – including Nina – have been treated since then, and they too are showing signs of a full
recovery.
All five had a form of the disorder called ADA-SCID, caused by a faulty gene for adenosine deaminase. This
enzyme usually dispatches a toxic molecule from white blood cells. In its absence the toxin builds up, killing
the cells that fight infections.
Stem cells were harvested from Nina’s bone marrow and given a working version of the ADA gene, before
being injected back in. That was in April, and she wasn’t expected to show much of an improvement before
December. But by August her white blood cell count had nearly doubled, and today she has the immune
system of a healthy newborn baby.
“Her white blood cell count has doubled and today she has the immune system of a normal newborn baby”
Science, Technology and Society

“At last, the successes are beginning to be more than the failures,” says Inder Verma at the Salk Institute in La
Jolla, California. “All of the hard work has come to a point where gene therapy could become a more routine
modality of medicine.”

“All of the hard work has come to a point where gene therapy could become routine medicine”

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029413-200-bubble-kid-success-puts-gene-therapy-

back-on-track/#ixzz6NlVdk59v

a. What are the relevant facts of this case?

b. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? Who are affected by decisions made?
c. What values influence the decision of group of stakeholders?
d. What are some possible actions and their consequences?
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating

Content (20) In-depth explanation to the

questions given
Organization(20) Coherent flow of ideas and concepts
Mechanics (10) Impressive us of language and
grammar

2. Conceptualize a GMO
Instructions: On the box provided, draw a possible GMO. In conceptualizing a GMO, think
of the features or characteristics that you imagine it possesses and its potential impacts on
society. Answer the questions that follow (50 pts.)

(Draw a possible GMO)

1. What is your GMO, its modified characteristics and features?

2. In what ways do you think this GMO can positively impact to society?
3. What ethical issues or concerns may arise as a result of this GMO?
Science, Technology and Society

Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Appearance (15) Artistic presentation of the image
Content (25) In-depth explanation to the questions
given
Mechanics (10) Impressive us of language and
grammar

Section 4: Nanotechnology

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. discussed the major impacts (both potential and realized} of nanotechnology on
society;
2. analyzed the issue through the conceptual STS lenses;
3. critiqued the issue on its costs and benefits to society.

Lesson Proper
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is technology to manipulate and control a substance at the
nanometer (nm) level (1nm=one billionth of a meter). The nanometer level is the level of
atoms and molecules that create a new materials and devices with fascinating functions
making the best use of the special properties of nano sized substances. For example, today
people need devices, able to store information at a high densities and high speeds, using
little energy. One way of realizing this is to make each component very small.
Science, Technology and Society

Figure 1 shows that

nanotechnology works on the
nanoscale, which is the range of
1 nanometer to 100 nanometers.
A Nanometer is a metric prefix
and indicates a billionth of a part
(10^-9). There are one billion
nanometers in a meter. Source: https://introtonanotechnology.weebly.com/the-nanoscale.html

Figure 1
However, as there are
limits to miniaturizing components with existing technology, we need technology that uses
a different approach to process components and systems with nanometer-level precision.
Therefore, the downsizing to the nanometer level can provide us not only the miniatures but
also completely new devices operated by such special properties (Kazuo).
Applications of Nanotechnology
There are many applications of nanotechnology in different fields (Rakesh, 2015):
A. Medicines.
The scientific analysis areas have utilized the exclusive qualities of nanomaterials for various
programs (e.g., comparison providers for mobile picture and therapeutics for the treatment
cancer). Conditions such as biomedical nanotechnology, bionanotechnology, and
nanomedicine are used to explain this multiple area. Features can be included to
nanomaterials by interfacing them with scientific elements or components.
B. Diagnostics
Nanotechnology-on-a-chip is one more sizing of lab-on-a-chip technological innovation.
Attractive nanoparticles, limited to an appropriate antibody, are used to brand specific
elements, components or harmful bacteria. Silver nanoparticles marked with short sections
of DNA can be used for recognition of inherited series in an example.
C. Tissue Engineering
Nanotechnology can help to reproduce or to fix broken tissues. “Tissue engineering”
makes use of artificially activated mobile growth by using appropriate nanomaterial-based
Science, Technology and Society

scaffolds and growth aspects. Tissue technology might alternative today’s traditional
treatments like whole body transplants or artificial improvements.
D. Environmental-Friendly Energy Systems
Nanotechnology can add to the further diminishment of burning motor poisons by
nanoporous channels, which can clean the fumes mechanically, by exhaust systems in view
of nanoscale honorable metal particles or by reactant coatings on barrel dividers and
synergist nanoparticles as added substance for energizes.
E. Construction
Nanotechnology can possibly make development quicker, less expensive, more secure,
and more changed. Computerization of nanotechnology development can take into
account the formation of structures from cutting edge homes to enormous high rises
substantially more rapidly and at much lower expense.
F. Vehicle manufacturers
Much like aviation, lighter and stronger materials will be valuable for making vehicles that
are both quicker and more secure. Burning motors will likewise profit from parts that are all
the more hardwearing and more high temperature safe.
G. Household
The most unmistakable utilization of nanotechnology in the family unit is cleaning toward
oneself or "simple to-clean" surfaces on pottery or glasses. Nanoceramic particles have
enhanced the smoothness and hotness safety of normal family supplies, for example, the
level iron.
H. Textiles
The utilization of engineered nanofibers as of now makes garments water- and stain-
repellent or wrinkle-free. Materials with a nanotechnological completion can be washed
less much of the time and at lower temperatures. Nanotechnology has been utilized to
incorporate small carbon particles film and ensure full-surface assurance from electrostatic
charges for the wearer.
Science, Technology and Society

I. Cosmetics
One field of use is in sunscreens. The customary substance UV security methodology
experiences its poor long haul steadiness. A sunscreen in view of mineral nanoparticles, for
example, titanium dioxide offers a few focal points.
J. Agriculture
Uses of nanotechnology can possibly change the whole agriculture part and
nourishment industry anchor from generation to preservation, handling, bundling,
transportation, and even waste treatment. NanoScience ideas and Nanotechnology
applications can possibly update the generation cycle, rebuild the preparing and
protection forms and rethink the nourishment propensities for the individuals.

Positive Effects on Environment

Nanotechnology offers potential economic, societal and environment benefits.
Nanotechnology also has the potential to help reduce the human footprint on the
environment by providing solutions for energy consumption, pollution, and green gas
emissions. Nanotechnology offers the potential for significant environmental benefits,
including:
Cleaner, more efficient industrial processes

emoval of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from the atmosphere

The nanoscale products that utilize graphene in an industrial use or research can benefit
the environment in several ways:

traditional metals and composites, and the consequence of the weight saving results in a
reduction of a thousand tons of gasoline
Science, Technology and Society

ene buckypapers can be substituted in place of metal

meshes around the fuselage of airplane used to prevent the direct and indirect effects of
lightning strikes

energy processes, such as reducing the weight of a wind turbine blades and increasing the
energy converse efficiency.
Negative Effects on Environment
Understanding of the environmental effects and risks associated with
nanotechnology is very limited and inconsistent. The potential environmental harm through
nanotechnology can be summarized as follows:

Educational Issues
o Industry and education, including public schools, community colleges, and
universities, will have to respond to the change in dynamics/composition of the
workforce. This is to change curriculum to match changes in society with emphasis on
science, technology, and engineering fields.
o Advances in miniature electronics could result in changes in the classroom. Having
organized education or training systems to college students and researchers in
laboratories is a key factor of reducing the negative impacts of nanotechnology.
o Educational progress follows nanotechnology research progress. Researchers or
college students do not fully realize and understand how nanoparticles affect a
system. One of the important causes is the lack of toxicity information from
manufacture and could easily be handled safely with appropriate protection
equipment.
Science, Technology and Society

Synthesis

o Nanotechnology is an advanced interdisciplinary field encompassess science and

technology that manufactures materials of great help to the improvement of various
areas of society especially health care, environment, enenrgy, food, water, and
agriculture.
o It is a field that needs to be explored, not only by known experts but also neophytes,
in order to advance our knowledge od science and technology, and more
importantly, to help improve our quality of life. But, before we engage in
nanotechnology, we need to take into account the social, ethical, and
environmental concerns of using such nanomaterials (Pawilen, 2018).
o Choosing the right nanoscale materials is one of the key parameters for the future
direction of nanotechnology. Engineering ethics need to be defined before the
commercial use of nanotechnology.
o Risk assessment on new nanomaterial based application is important to evaluate
potential risk to our environment when the products are in use. Full life cycle
evaluation and analysis for all difference applications should be conducted with
constant attention (Zhang, 2011).

Assessment
Our Share of Nano Safe World

Instructions: Based on the lesson that you learned, propose a policy that addresses
the potential hazards you identified. Use the template below for your policy proposal.
(75 pts.)

I. Title/Name of the Policy Proposal:

II. Proponents
a. Names:
b. Email:
c. Telephone:
d. Organization:
III. Date:
IV. Problem Statement (100- 150 words)
Science, Technology and Society

V. Policy statement (150-200 words)

VI. Additional information
a. Timetable for implementation
b. Target population

Rubrics for Scoring

Criteria 21-25 16-20 11-15 5-10
Structure  Paper is logically  Paper has a clear • There is some level There is no
• Organization organized organizational of organization apparent
• Flow of thought • Easily followed structure with some though digressions, organization to the
• Transitions • Effective, smooth, and digressions, ambiguities, paper.
• Format logical transitions ambiguities or irrelevances are too • Difficult to follow
• References • Format followed irrelevances many • No or poor
• All borrowed documents • Easily followed • Difficult to follow transitions
have a source citations. • Basic transitions • Ineffective • No format
• Structured format transitions • None of the
• Most borrowed • Rambling format borrowed
documents have a • Few borrowed documents do not
source citations. documents have a have a source
source citations. citations.
Mechanics • Manipulates complex • Uses complex • Uses compound • Uses simple
• Sentence structure sentences for effect/impact sentences sentences sentences
•punctuation/mechanics • No punctuation or • Few punctuation or • Too many
mechanical errors mechanical errors punctuation and/or
mechanical errors
Content  Main idea is well  Main idea and clarity  The main idea is •The main idea
 Clarity of purpose developed and clarity of of purpose are expressed though and clarity of
 Critical and purpose. generally evident. it may be vague or purpose is absent
original thought  Abundance of evidence  Evidence of critical, too broad. or incompletely
 Use of examples of critical, careful thought careful thought and  Some evidence expressed.
and insight. insight. of critic careful •Little or no
 Evidence and examples is  There are good thought and evidence of critic
specific. relevant supporting analysis and/or careful thought.
examples and insight •There are too few
evidence.  There are some evidence, though
examples and general
evidence, though
general.

Section 5: Climate Change and Environmental Awareness

Desired learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. identified the causes and effects of climate change;
2. assessed the various impacts of climate change including economic, geopolitical,
biological, meteorological, etc.;
3. illustrated how community helps in mitigating the hazards caused by climate
change and,
4. discussed ways on how to conserve and preserve the environment to address
impacts of climate change on society.
Science, Technology and Society

Lesson Proper
Climate Change
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is now more certain than
ever, based on many lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth’s climate. The
atmosphere and oceans have warmed, accompanied by sea-level rise, a strong decline in
Arctic sea ice, and other climate-related changes. Greenhouse gases such as carbon
dioxide (CO2) absorb heat (infrared radiation) emitted from Earth’s surface. Increases in the
atmospheric concentrations of these gases cause Earth to warm by trapping more of this
heat. Human activities—especially the burning of fossil fuels since the start of the Industrial
Revolution—have increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations by about 40%, with more
than half the increase occurring since 1970 (Fung).

Causes of Climate Change

The causes of climate change could be natural or by human activities (Pawilen,
2018).
Natural Causes
Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic eruptions are one of the natural causes of climate change. When volcanoes
erupt, it emits different natural aerosols like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, salt crystals,
volcanic ashes or dust, and even microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. The volcanic
eruption can cause a cooling effect to the lithosphere because its emitted aerosol can
block a certain percentage of solar radiation. This cooling effect can last for one to two
years.
What happens in violent volcanic eruptions is the release of ash particles in the
stratosphere. The volcanic ashes which have sulfur dioxide combine with water vapor. It
then forms to sulfuric acid and sulfurous aerosols. The sulfurous aerosols then are transported
by easterly or westerly winds. Volcanoes located near the equator are more likely to cause
global cooling because of the wind pattern. Volcanoes located near to north or south poles
Science, Technology and Society

are less likely to cause cooling because of pole wind pattern, the sulfurous aerosols are
confined in pole area.
Orbital Changes
Earth’s orbit can also cause climate change. This was proposed by the Milankovitch
theory. The Milankovitch theory states “that as the Earth travels through space around the
Sun, cyclical variation in three elements of Earth-Sun geometry combine to produce
variations in the amount of solar energy that reaches Earth (Academic Emporia, 2017).
The Carbon Dioxide Theory
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is added when power and heat are produced by burning coal,
oil, and other fossil fuels. Carbon Dioxide is transparent to sunshine but not invisible to infrared
(heat) radiation leaving the ground. Carbon dioxide absorbs part of the infrared radiation
in the air and returns it to the ground keeping the air near the surface warmer than it would
be if the carbon dioxide did not act like a blanket. Doubling the carbon dioxide raises the
temperature to 2 ̊C to 3 ̊C.
Environmental Awareness
One of the main culprits of climate change is increasing CO2 presence in the
atmosphere, coming from industrial and mobile sources. Shifting from fossil fuels as sources
of energy to renewable energy resources is one way to decrease the generation of CO2.
When buying appliances, it is recommended to buy those that are tagged as energy
efficient. Water consumption should also be lessened since pumping and heating water
also uses up energy. Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are ideal to use because they lessen
up to 80% of energy consumption compared with incandescent bulbs. Using fuel-efficient
vehicles with higher fuel economy performance is another way to lessen fossil fuel
consumption (Denchak, 2017).
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that aimed to reduce carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions and the presence of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere.
The essential tenet of the Kyoto Protocol was that industrialized nations needed to lessen
the amount of their CO2 emissions. The Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, when
greenhouse gases were rapidly threatening our climate, life on the earth, and the planet,
Science, Technology and Society

itself. Today, the Kyoto Protocol lives on in other forms and its issues are still being discussed
(Tardi, 2019).

Enrichment : Video Clip: The Case of Optimism for Change (Al Gore)
https://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_the_case_for_optimism_on_climate_change?la
nguage=en

Task 4: After watching the video, share your insight on the three (3) questions raised by Al
Gore from the perspective of Filipino culture and values (30 pts.)
"Must we change?
"Can we change?"
"Will we change?"
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Content (25) Meaningful expression of idea and
concepts
Relevance (10) Connection of idea to the reality of
events
Mechanics (10) Impressive use of language and
grammar
Science, Technology and Society

Task 5.
Instructions: Construct comprehensive explanations for the following (30pts.)
1. Aside from the rise in the mean temperature and CO2 levels, what are some other
pieces of evidence for climate change?
2. Why does the average temperature of the atmosphere rise? What might have
caused the unprecedented increase in its level?
3. If climate change denial persist, what could possibly happen to the Earth and
humanity after 20, 50, and 100 years considering the current trend?
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Content (10) Presentation of factual information
related to the phenomenon
Analysis (10) In-depth analysis of facts and
information presentation
Mechanics (10) Impressive use of language and
grammar

Synthesis
Climate change is a worldwide issue that we have to face. Climate change is referred
as statiscally significant climate variation persisting for an extended period of time. The
continuous climate change could bring drastic effects to living thing and nonliving forms on
Earth.
Climate change is brought by several factors like natural processes and persistent
human activities. Global warming is one of the major effects of climate change. Global
warming threathens all life forms on Earth. It has drastic effects on water availability, food
source, health issues, land use and ecosystem.
Science, Technology and Society

Assessment

Instructions: Construct a Venn diagram. List down several causes of climate change.
On the other circle, enumerate the different impacts of climate change including
geopolitical, biological, meteorological and economic. On the space where the two circles
meet, list down possible ways on how to conserve and preserve the environment to address
impacts of climate change on society (30 pts.).
Rubric
Indicator Description Rating
Similarities(10) Provides highlights of relevant
concepts or characteristics
Differences(10) Provides highlights of concepts or
characteristics
Organization(10) Appearance and comprehensibility
of the diagram presented
Science, Technology and Society

REFERENCES

A. BOOKS
DAYRIT, F. (2005). "Nanotechnology: Business and Practical Applications: Where the
Philippines Is and Where It Should be.". Ateneo de Manila University.
DENCHAK, M. (2017). How can you stop global warming NDRC.
PAWILEN, G. (2018). Science, Technology and Society. Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Stoore,
Inc.
McNamara, D., Valverde, V., Beleno, R. (2018). Science, Technology, and Society. C & E
Publications
QUINTO, E. (2019). Science, Technology and Society. Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc.,
2019.
Rakesh, M. (2015). Applications of Nanotechnology. Journal of Nanomedicine &
Biotherapeutic Discovery.
Serafica, P.,Pawilen, G.,Nicolas, B.,(2018).Science, Technology, and Society. REX
Publications

B. MAGAZINES/JOURNALS
FABIO, M. (2015). Whatever Happened to the Flavr Savr Genetically Engineered Tomato?
Fung, I. (n.d.). Climate Change Evidences and Causes. The Royal Society.
Kazuo, G. (n.d.). Nanotechnology for New Insdutry Creation and Life-Style Innovation.
National Institute of Advanced Insdustrial Science and Technology AIST, 4.
Rakesh, M. (2015). Applications of Nanotechnology. Journal of Nanomedicine &
Biotherapeutic Discovery.
SAASTA. (n.d.). GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs). www.pub.ac.za.
Science, Technology and Society

C.ONLINE RESOURCES
Tardi, C. (2019). The Kyoto Protocol.
uniQure. (2016). What is gene therapy? http://www.uniqure.com/pipeline/clinical-
programs/.
www.hannover-re.com. (2020). Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s).
http://www.tomatocasuual.com/2008/02/28/what-ever-happened-to-the-flavr-savr-
genetically-engineered-tomato/
https://theconversation.com/the-philippines-has-rated-golden-rice-safe-but-farmers-
might-not-plant-it-129956
http://www.uniqure.com/pipeline/clinical-programs/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029413-200-bubble-kid-sccess-puts-gene-
therapy-back-on-track
https://introtonanotechnology.weebly.com/the-nanoscale.html
Science, Technology and Society

Module Evaluation Questionnaire

The learner’s feedback is vital to us. Taking into account your assessment and
impression will help us enrich the content enhance the quality your learning engagement
with us.
From this view, we would appreciate if you could spend some time completing this
evaluation by checking the column you think is appropriate and then providing a
qualitative response to the questions raised in this form.

The questionnaire is anonymous and though your participation is voluntary, your utmost
cooperation is encouraged.

Once completed the results of these questionnaires will be analysed and an

overview compiled which will be reported to the next cohort of students in the module
handbook. The overview will also be used to inform discussion at programme team
conference.

INDICATORS Strongly Moderately Slightly Disagree Strongly

Agree Agree Agree Disagree
I. The Module
a. was effectively designed
b. had clear learning outcomes
c. was well organized
d. contained relevant information
e. had clear images
f. had sufficient parts
g. had lessons that are related to
life
experiences
II. The Assessment
a. rubrics were clear
b. instructions were comprehensive
c. was sufficiently challenging
d. was aligned to the lessons
e. was done within the prescribed
time
f. had enriched my knowledge
about the lessons
g. were of different types
h. contained critical thinking
questions
Science, Technology and Society

What do you like most about the module?

What could have been improved on the

module?

What other things you suggest to improve the module?

How satisfied are you with the module?

Thank you.