Technology
|
By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a level of technological mastery sufficient to leave the surface of their planet for the first time and explore space. |
Technology is a word with
origins in the
Greek word
technologia (τεχνολογία), techne (Ï„Îχνη) "craft" and logia (λογία) "saying." It is a broad term dealing with the use and knowledge of humanity's
tools and
crafts. The use of technology creates broad, important, sometimes subtle, impacts upon human society, see
technology and society.
Technology can be most broadly defined as the material entities created by the application of mental and physical effort to change nature in order to achieve some value. In this use, technology is the current state of our knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products, to solve problems, fulfill needs, or satisfy wants. Technology in this sense includes technical methods, skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw materials (for example, in such uses as computer technology, construction technology, or medical technology). Technology is human's tool to meet such basic needs as hunger, and to fulfill a desire for a "higher order" of life and "better living conditions."
The distinctions between science, engineering and technology are not always clear. Generally,
science is the
reasoned investigation or study of nature, aimed at discovering enduring relationships (principles) among elements of the (
phenomenal) world. It generally employs
formal techniques, i.e., some set of established rules of procedure, such as the
scientific method.
Engineering is the formal use of both scientific and technological principles to achieve a planned result based upon empirical (professional) experience. However, technology broadly involves the use and application of all forms of knowledge (i.e., scientific, engineering, mathematical,
language, and historical), both formally and informally, to achieve some "practical" result .
For example, science might study the flow of
electrons in
electrical conductors. This knowledge may then be used by engineers to create artifacts, such as
semiconductors,
computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists, but scientists generally less so. Another way to distinguish engineering from science, is to understand that an engineer can never (literally) say "I do not know" to answer a question, but a scientist can/must say "I do not know."
By its nature, technology both depends upon human needs for its existence, and meets the needs and wants of humans. Early humans created and used technology to meet the most basic of human needs. And, modern technology meets the very broad needs and desires of humanity, requiring a huge sociological substructure to support it. One great modern example of this phenomenon is the telephone. As the telephone developed, society became aware of the desire for a more portable device. Eventually, that awareness produced a demand for a new product, leading to the invention of the mobile phone. Now basically everyone is accessible to talk no matter where they are. This availability changes how people relate to others: some are now more accountable and relied upon, and there is now little excuse for not keeping in touch. This technological complexity creates a co-dependence between technology and society
With the
ubiquity of technology in use in modern society, a common set of characteristics can be assigned to modern technologies. Many authors, such as McGinn and Winston list the following as key:
Complexity refers to the characteristic that most modern tools are difficult to understand (i.e., require substantial preparatory training to manufacture and/or use). Some are relatively easy to use (and understand the use of), but relatively difficult to comprehend as to their source and means of manufacture, such as a kitchen knife, a baseball, or highly processed food. Others are both difficult to use and difficult to comprehend, such as a tractor, a television, or a computer.
Dependency refers to the fact that most modern tools depend on other modern tools, which (in turn) depend on still other modern tools, for their manufacture and/or proper use. Cars, as an example, have a huge supporting complex of industry for their manufacture and maintenance. And to use them requires a complex of roads, streets, highways, gasoline and service stations, waste collection, etc.
Valence refers to the many, many different types or variations of the same tool. Imagine the many different types of spoons available today, or scissors; even the most complex tools generally come in a variety of shapes and forms, as the construction crane or the automobile.
Scale refers to the sheer magnitude, size, and pervasiveness of modern technology. Simply put, technology seems to be everywhere. It
dominates modern life. (Modern man and his society would quickly succumb without it.) Scale refers also to the scope of many modern technological projects, such as the cellular telephone network, the Internet, air travel, communications satellites, and their impact on most people in the world.
Ancient history
|
Flint spear, circa 100,000BC |
The history of technology is at least as old as
humanity. Some primitive forms of tools have been discovered with almost every find of ancient human remains dating from the time of
homo habilis). Nevertheless, other animals have been found to use tools—and to learn to use and refine tools—so it is incorrect to distinguish humans as the only tool-using or tool-making animal. The history of technology follows a progression from simple
tools and simple (mostly human) energy sources to complex
high-technology tools and energy sources.
The earliest technologies converted readily occurring natural resources (such as rock, wood and other vegetation, bone and other animal byproducts) into simple tools.
Processes such as carving, chipping, scraping, rolling (the wheel), and sun-baking are simple means for the conversion of raw materials into usable products. Anthropologists have uncovered many early human habitations and tools made from natural resources. Birds and other animals often build elaborate nests and some simple tools out of various materials. We normally don't consider them to be performing a technological feat, primarily because such behavior is largely instinctive. There is some evidence of occasional cultural transference, especially among the other, nonhuman primates. Nevertheless, there is now considerable evidence of such simple technology among animals other than humans.
The use, and then mastery, of
fire (circa 1,000,000 - 500,000 BC [
1]) was a turning point in the
technological evolution of humankind, affording a simple
energy source with many profound uses. Perhaps the first use of fire beyond providing heat was the preparation of food. This enabled a significant increase in the vegetable and animal sources of food, while greatly reducing perishability.
The use of fire extended the capability for the treatment of natural resources and allowed the use of natural resources that require
heat to be useful. (The oldest projectile found is a wooden spear with fire hardened point, circa 250,000 BC.)
Wood and
charcoal were among the first materials used as a fuel. Wood,
clay, and rock (such as
limestone), were among the earliest materials shaped or treated by fire, for making artifacts such as
weapons,
pottery,
bricks, and
cement. Continuing improvements led to the
furnace and
bellows and provided the ability to
smelt and
forge native
metals (naturally occurring in relatively pure form).
Gold,
copper,
silver, and
lead, were such early metals. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone, and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of
Neolithic times (about 8000 BCE). Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires.
|
The wheel was invented circa 4000 BCE. |
Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of
alloys such as
bronze and
brass (about 4000 BCE). The first uses of iron alloys such as
steel dates to around 1400 BCE.
Meanwhile, humans were learning to harness other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power is the sailboat. The earliest record of a ship under sail is shown on an Egyptian pot dating back to 3200 BCE. From prehistoric times, Egyptians probably used "the power of the Nile" annual floods to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely built irrigation channels and 'catch' basins. Similarly, the early peoples of Mesopotamia, the Sumerians, learned to use the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for much the same purposes. But more extensive use of wind and water (and even human) power required another invention.
Pre-modern technological developments
Tools include both
simple machines (such as the
lever, the
screw, and the
pulley), and more complex machines (such as the
clock, the
engine, the
electric generator and the
electric motor, the
computer,
radio, and the
Space Station, among many others).
Important advances in communication were the invention of
paper and the
printing press.
Cai Lun is conventionally regarded as the
inventor of
paper, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper, in contrast to
Egyptian
papyrus, which was woven from
papyrus plants. He described the modern method of papermaking in AD 105. Most early materials were rare and costly. Paper remained a luxury item through the centuries, until the advent of steam-driven paper making machines in the 19th century, which could make paper with
fibres from
wood pulp.
Softwoods such as
spruce are commonly used.
The
printing press is a mechanical
printing device for making copies of identical
text on multiple sheets of
paper. Movable type, which allowed individual characters to be arranged to form words, was invented in
China by
Bi Sheng between
1041 to
1048. The use of movable type to mass produce printed works was popularized by a
German goldsmith and eventual
printer,
Johannes Gutenberg, in the 1440s.
The
Industrial Revolution was the major
technological,
socioeconomic and
cultural change in late
18th and early
19th century that began in
Britain and spread throughout the world. During that time, an
economy based on
manual labour was replaced by one dominated by industry and the
manufacture of
machinery. It began with the mechanisation of the
textile industries and the development of
iron-making techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of
canals, improved
roads and then
railways. The introduction of
steam power (fuelled primarily by
coal) and powered machinery (mainly in
textile manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity.
[Business and Economics. Leading Issues in Economic Development, Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0195115899 Read it] The development of all-metal
machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries.
As tools increase in complexity, so does the type of knowledge needed to support them. Complex modern machines require libraries of written technical manuals of collected information that has continually increased and improved -â€" their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require the mastery of decades of sophisticated general and specific training. Moreover, these tools have become so complex that a comprehensive infrastructure of technical knowledge-based lesser tools, processes and practices (complex tools in themselves) exist to support them, including
engineering,
medicine, and
computer science. Complex
manufacturing and
construction techniques and organizations are needed to construct and maintain them. Entire
industries have arisen to support and develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools.
One possible classification of technology uses the major fields of technological studies commonly found in academic institutions of higher learning:
*
Agriculture and
Animal husbandry, including
Veterinary medicine;
*
The Arts and
Language, including
Architecture;
*
Athletics and
Recreation;
*
Business, including the
Information Sciences;
*
Engineering, including
Transportation;
*
Law, e.g.,
Commercial Law*
Medicine and
Health, including
Bioengineering;
*
Military;
*
Science, especially
Applied science, and including
Domestic Science.
Electricity and electronics
Electricity is a property of
matter that results from the presence or movement of
electric charge. Together with
magnetism, it constitutes the
fundamental interaction known as
electromagnetism.
The field of
electronics refers to the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of
electrons (or other
charge carriers) in devices such as
thermionic valves and
semiconductors.
|
Commercial digital voltmeter checking a prototype |
Electronic systems are used to perform a wide variety of tasks. The main uses of electronic circuits are controlling and processing of information and the conversion and distribution of
electric power.
Both these applications involve the creation, detection, or both, of
electromagnetic fields and
electric currents. The harnessment of
electricity enabled
industrial applications such as
electronics and
electric power. While
electrical energy had been used for some time before the late
19th century to transmit data over
telegraph and
telephone lines, development in electronics grew exponentially after the advent of
radio.
Today, telecommunication is widespread and devices that assist the process such as the
television,
radio and
telephone are common in many parts of the world. There is also a vast array of networks that connect these devices, including
computer networks,
public telephone networks,
radio networks and
television networks. Computer communication across the
Internet, such as
e-mail and
instant messaging, is just one of many examples of telecommunication. Later developments use
semiconductors instead of
vacuum tubes.
Fuel
Solid fuels include
coal,
wood and
peat. All these types of fuel are combustible (they create fire and heat). Coal was burnt by
steam trains to heat water into steam to move parts and provide power. Peat and wood are mainly used for domestic and industrial heating, though peat has been used for
power generation, and wood-burning steam
locomotives were common in times past. Steam power is becoming more and more desirable as oil and gas supplies begin to run out, given the wide number of possible things that can
burn to heat water.
Non-solid fuels include
alkanes such as
petroleum and
gas (both fuel types have myriad varieties including
petrol (gasoline) and
natural gas). The former is widely used in the
internal combustion engine while both are used in power generation.
Home and farm
;Agriculture
In the
Western world, the use of
gene manipulation, better management of soil nutrients, and improved
weed control have greatly increased yields per unit area. At the same time, the use of mechanization has decreased labour requirements. The developing world generally produces lower yields, having less access to the latest technology.
Modern agriculture depends heavily on engineering and technology and on the biological and physical sciences.
Irrigation,
drainage,
conservation and sanitary engineering, each of which is important in successful farming, are some of the fields requiring the specialized knowledge of agricultural engineers.
;Domestic technology
Domestic technology is the incorporation of applied science into the home. On one level, there are domestic appliances and other devices commonly used in the home, such as
clothes dryers and
washing machines, and
climate control. On another level, domestic technology recognizes the use of applied science to construct homes to achieve a particular goal, such as energy efficiency or self sufficiency.
;Water and plumbing
Water supply is vital to everyday life, and throughout history people have devised systems to make getting and using it more convenient. Early
Rome had indoor plumbing, meaning a system of
aqueducts and pipes that terminated in homes and at public wells and fountains for people to use.
The intake from these water sources usually is through a large cage-like box designed to screen out large particulate matter before it enters the system. After it is sucked in by a pumping station or allowed in by a gravity-feed system, it is usually filtered further,
chlorinated,
fluoridated, and then pumped either to holding locations like
water towers or
reservoirs, or fed directly into the user's spigot. Typically wastewater is piped away in a
sewer system.
Plumbing originated during the ancient civilizations such as Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations as they developed public baths and needed to provide fresh water and drainage.
Weaponry
Firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they store energy in a combustible
propellant such as
gunpowder, rather than in a weight or spring. This energy is released quite rapidly, and can be restored without much effort by the user, so that even early firearms such as the
arquebus were much more
powerful than human-powered weapons. They became increasingly important and effective during the 16th century to 19th century, with progressive improvements in
ignition mechanisms followed by revolutionary changes in
ammunition handling and propellant. During the
U.S. Civil War various technologies including the
machine gun and
ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in lower-technology conflicts.
 |
The Maxim gun and its derivative the Vickers (shown here) remained in British military service for 79 consecutive years. |
The age of edged weapons ended abruptly just before
World War I with rifled
artillery, such as
howitzers which are able to destroy any masonry fortress.
The most notable development in weaponry since World War II has been the combination and further development of two weapons first used in it—
nuclear weapons and the
ballistic missile, leading to its ultimate configuration: the
ICBM. The indiscriminate nature of nuclear weapons has made nuclear-tipped missiles essentially useless for the smaller wars fought since. However computer-guided weaponry of all kinds, from
precision-guided munitions (or "smart bombs") to computer-aimed tank rounds, has greatly increased weaponry's accuracy.
See also:
Weapon.
Transportation
;AutosAutomobiles typically use an
internal combustion engine, a
heat engine in which the
burning of a fuel occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. This
exothermic reaction of a
fuel with an
oxidizer creates gases of high
temperature and
pressure, which are permitted to expand. The defining feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is performed by the expanding hot gases acting directly to cause movement, for example by acting on pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire
engine itself.
Internal combustion engine automobiles were first produced in Germany by
Karl Benz in 1885-1886.
Henry Ford brought automobiles to the masses, as the founder of the
Ford Motor Company and father of the modern
assembly line.
;Aviation and space travel
Aviation or
air transport refers to the activities surrounding human
flight and the
aircraft industry. Aircraft include
fixed-wing aircraft, rotary wing (
helicopter/
autogyro) types, and
ornithopters, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as
balloons and
airships (also known as dirigibles).
Fixed-wing aircraft generally use an
internal-combustion engine in the form of a
piston engine (with a
propeller) or a
turbine engine (
jet or
turboprop), to provide
thrust that moves the craft forward through the air. The movement of air over the airfoil produces
lift that causes the aircraft to fly. The
Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, are generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight on
December 17,
1903.
Space exploration began to be seriously developed after the development of large liquid-fueled
rocket engines during the early 20th century. The first major milestone of this endeavour was the launch of the USSR's
Sputnik 1 on
October 5,
1957, the first man-made object to
orbit the
Earth. After the first 20 years of exploration, focus began shifting from one-off flights to renewable hardware, such as the
Space Shuttle program, and from competition to cooperation as on the
International Space Station.
;RailA typical railway (or
railroad) track consists of two parallel
rails. The vehicles traveling on the rails are arranged in a
train. These vehicles move with much less friction than do rubber tires on a paved road, and the
locomotive that pulls the train tends to use energy far more efficiently as a result.
The first railways in
Great Britain (also known as wagonways) were built in the early
17th century, mainly for transporting
coal from the mine to the water side where it could be loaded on to a boat.
A
rapid transit system is a
railway system, usually in an
urban area, with a high capacity and frequency of service, and
grade separation from other traffic.
;WaterIn the
1800s the first
steam ships were developed, using a
steam engine to drive a
paddle wheel or
propeller to move the ship. The
steam was produced using wood or
coal. Now most ships have an
engine using a slightly refined type of
petroleum called
bunker fuel. Some specialized ships, such as
submarines, use
nuclear power to produce the steam.
Technicism
Generally,
technicism is an over reliance or overconfidence in technology as a benefactor of society.
Taken to extreme, some argue that technicism is the belief that humanity will ultimately be able to control the entirety of existence using technology. In other words, human beings will eventually be able to master all problems, supply all wants and needs, and possibly even control the future. (For a more complete treatment of the topic, see the work of Egbert Schuurman, for example at [
2].) Some, such as Monsma, et al.., connect these ideas to the abdication of God as a higher moral authority.
More commonly, technicism is a criticism of the commonly held belief that newer, more recently-developed technology is "better." For example, more recently-developed computers are faster than older computers, and more recently-developed cars have greater gas efficiency and more features than older cars. Because current technologies are generally accepted as good, future technological developments are not considered circumspectly, resulting in what seems to be a blind acceptance of technological developments.
Optimism, pessimism and appropriate technology
Pessimism
On the somewhat pessimistic side are certain philosophers like
Herbert Marcuse,
Jacques Ellul, and
John Zerzan, who believe that technological societies are inherently flawed
a priori. They suggest that the result of such a society is to become evermore technological at the cost of freedom and psychological health (and probably physical health in general, as pollution from technological products is dispersed).
Perhaps the most poignant criticisms of technology are found in what are now considered to be dystopian literary classics, for example
Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World and other writings,
Anthony Burgess's
A Clockwork Orange, and
George Orwell's
Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Optimism
On the other hand, the optimistic assumptions are made by proponents of views or ideologies such as
transhumanism and
singularitarianism, that view
technological development as generally having beneficial effects for the society and the human condition. In these ideologies, technological development is morally good. Some critics see these ideologies as examples of
scientism or
techno-utopianism and fear the idea of
technological singularity which they support. Some technological optimists are
Karl Marx and
James Hughes.
Appropriate technology
The notion of
appropriate technology, however, was developed in the
20th century to describe situations where it was not desirable to use very new technologies or those that required access to some centralized
infrastructure or parts or skills imported from elsewhere. The
eco-village movement emerged in part due to this concern.
Theories and concepts in technology
There are many theories and concepts that seek to explain technology:
*
Diffusion of innovations*
Jacques Ellul (technological society)
*
Posthumanism*
Precautionary principle*
Strategy of technology*
Techno-progressivism*
Technocriticism*
Technological evolution (Radovan Richta)
*
Technological determinism*
Technological singularity*
Technorealism*
Transhumanism*
Appropriate Technology*
Golden hammer*
History of science and technology*
Technological evolution*
High technology*
Innovation*
Internet*
Megaprojects*
Knowledge economy*
Lewis Mumford*
Technertia*
Technique*
Technology assessment*
Technology and society*
Timeline of invention*
Technological convergence *
Technology Tree*
List of technologies*
List of "ologies"*
Technological superpowers*
* Cited at
Technology Chronology (accessed
September 11,
2005).
*Introduction to Social Macrodynamics: Compact Macromodels of the World System Growth by
Andrey Korotayev, Artemy Malkov, and Daria Khaltourina. ISBN 5484004144 [
3]
*
A site about computer technology*
Engines of Our Ingenuity, site for a radio program that tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity.
*
Examples for Innovation and New Technologies*
Law, technology and other musings*
technology New Technologies*
Campus Center for Appropriate Technology*
Appropriate Technology Projects Wiki*
National Center for Appropriate Technology*
Student Projects Appropriate Technology
