Technology and Society

Technology is a broad concept. One of the concepts is the development and application of tools, machines, materials and processes that help to solve human problems. As a human activity, technology predates both science and engineering. It embodies the human knowledge of solving real problems in the design of standard tools, machines, materials or the process.

The concept adopted in the international symposium in Paris in 1985 defines technology as “the science of knowing what to do and the creative process where you can use tools and resources to solve problems and improve the human condition”.

In the first concept, technology and science go together. We can say that technology is applied science. However the second concept tells us that technological developments existed long before the scientific Knowledge, this concept clarifies that technology is not necessarily applied science.

Classic societies:

For many centuries the Lower Paleolithic humans were mostly nomads, they fed themselves by hunting, fishing… and their instruments were simple objects: Ex.: Stones, barely modified wood. Then, in the upper Paleolithic these instruments were developed and improved, and they also learned how to control the fire. During the Neolithic period they invented an instrument that it could be said that it is the starting point in the evolution of technology, this instrument is “the plough” this invention generated a real revolution, the transformation of the nomadic life into sedentary.

All this has resulted in the formation of large empires such as the Babylonian Empire, the Assyrian Empire and Egypt. These societies began with the division of social classes.

In this context there is also a very important and momentous fact: the emergence of writing, measurement and calculation.

Advances in science and technology

The science was in hand of the priests and nobles, while the manual tasks were carried out by the rest of the people.

In consequence there were a few technical inputs, except for the manufacture of glass in Egypt in 1600 A.C and the development of the Metallurgical (an important activity at the time).

Greece

In its early years, the economy was based on agriculture and fisheries. The population was divided into independent states ruled by kings.

Science and technology at the dawn of the Greek Civilization

Unlike the empires of the Middle East, on the eve of the Greek states, there was a close relationship between the concerns of the scientific knowledge and the technical activity at work. For example the Homeric Poems relate the story of a nobility doing practical work. Ulysses the king of Ithaca is also a skilled carpenter.

The legacy of Rome

The greatest technological achievements of the Romans were the road works. The built ports, aqueducts, baths, theaters and roads to facilitate the movement of the soldiers and merchants

The middle Ages

It is said that the middle Ages started in the year 476 AD. with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, in the hands of the Barbarians. Two centuries later the is a social system in Europe known as Feudalism, strong until the eleventh century, beginning to break in the twelfth century and enters to crisis in XIV and XV.

At this time there is a decrease in the cultural scientific activity, caused by the lack of interest when it came to intellectual by the invaders (Barbarians), which destroyed everything that was placed in front of them.

Urban life, especially in Western Europe lost importance, Feudalism constituted