PRE-PUBLICA TION EDITION - Nelson Education

Science, Technology, Society,and the Environment (STSE)Science and technology are very different activities,but we often hear about them together. This isbecause they are closely related and often go handin hand. Scientists rely on technologies to furthertheir research, and technologists rely on scientiststo understand the scientific basis of technologicaldevelopments.A Partnership: Science andTechnologyScientific research produces knowledge, orunderstanding of natural phenomena. Technologistsand engineers look for ways to apply this knowledgein the development of practical products andprocesses. For example, scientists want to know howdifferent materials affect the transmission of X-rays(Figure 3). Technologists and engineers focus onusing that knowledge to explore inside solid objects,including the human body. Scientists use technologiesin their research. Engineers and technologists may usescientific knowledge and principles when designingand developing new technologies.Figure 3 Knowing that X-rays do not pass through dense materialsuch as bones, technologists designed machines that use X-rays andfilm or a computer to provide an internal view of the human body.In some cases, technological inventions andinnovations occur before the scientific principles areknown. For example, practitioners of early traditionalmedicine used specific plants to treat specific conditionslong before modern medical professionals understoodhow the chemicals in these plants affected human bodyfunctions. In other cases, scientific discoveries are madebecause of technological inventions. For example, theinvention of glass lenses led to the development of earlymicroscopes (Figure 4), which allowed scientists to seemicro-organisms that cause diseases.DID YOU KNOW?Discovery of BacteriaAnton van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), a Dutch scientist with noformal education, designed many simple microscopes, which enabledhim to discover bacteria. He described them as “incredibly small, nayso small, in my sight, that I judged that even if 100 of these very weeanimals lay stretched out one against another, they could not reach tothe length of a grain of coarse sand.”go to nelson scienceFigure 4 The development ofthe light microscope followedthe understanding of thestructure and behaviour ofglass lenses.The invention of glass lenses also led tothe development of telescopes, which allowedastronomers to observe our solar system and theuniverse. The telescope, in turn, led to more accurateastronomical observations and measurements, whichcontributed to the change from an Earth-centredscientific model of the universe to a Sun-centredmodel. Many other technologies, including thethermometer and the computer, have greatly helpedthe advancement of science. You can see how scienceand technology often support each other.Sometimes, technological inventions followscientific discoveries (Table 1 on page 655). Forexample, the television was invented after scientistshad created theories to explain the structure of theatom and understood electrons, current electricity,and electromagnetism. The relationship betweenscience and technology is mutually beneficial;scientific discoveries lead to technological advances,which lead to further scientific discoveries, and so on.654 What Is Science? NEL