Science, Technology and Society

As it becomes evident from historical observations, research was creation of the curiosity which is caused by the human nature. A lot of the discoveries that occurred in the ancient years were achieved by luck. After that they acquired experience and skills to explore more and more for new achievements. The acute interest on discovering new methods and ideas gave answers to questions which faced the society of each period. All this doubts could not be answered on their own. Some people had to make researches on specific subjects, they had to observe them and after a lot of work on it they had to present the result. They got experience on resolving problems of humanity and so science appeared. Nowadays, science is involved in every aspect of our life, even in subjects that we cannot imagine. As the introduction prepared us for this, we can discern three different phases in the history of institutional development of science. If we put them in an order according to chronological interest that each phase has, we could say that the first one is the pre-science phase, the second is the science for gentlemen and the third is the phase of professional science. THE PRE- SCIENCE PHASE: unrolled in the ancient years. In those years science appeared in Egypt, Greece, India, etc. These ancient researchers put the bases for the development of science and gave to the society very important information about astronomy, mathematics, physics and medicine. In this phase we could report that the ideas were not very systematic. The theoretical development was in a very low level and so was the development in mathematics. The importance of this phase was the primitive discoveries that took place. THE SCIENCE FOR GENTLEMEN: This period unrolls from the 15th to the 19th century, mainly in the Western and Northern Europe. The reason that this period was characterized as the science for gentlemen is because only wealthy; male could have a place in the Universities and generally in the scientific society. This phase is characterized by scientific theories and emerging practical orientation and relevance. They were many changes in the universities too. In this period lot of the universities which exist in our days were established then, for example The University of Manchester, The Cambridge University, The Oxford University, etc. THE PROFESSIONAL SCIENCE PHASE: This phase is characterized as professional because of the systematic way that everything functioned. Professional science unrolled from the 19th century until our days. Its main characteristic is the professional education which has a close relationship with the research and supports the creation of new scientists. In current period we can meet very complex institutions which are responsible of the most inventions all over the world. These institutions and all these scientific branches try to contribute to wealth creation and above all to the quality of life. Finally it is obvious that in this phase exists an increased demand for public support of science

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE: If science could be seen from a more general point of view we would be able to realize that science contains two different parts. The first is the theoretical part and the second is the practical part. The theoretical part is concerned with the knowledge and the principles which a scientist uses to understand an issue and give a possible solution to a problem. In order to get this possible solution scientist have to rely on principles which are already accepted in the society as reliable. These scientists work out the solution with the existing materials. The combination of the materials they have used and the knowledge they occupy will give something new. This new theory which scientists have discovered must be re- examined again and again to ensure that it does not have any theoretical fault. After this confirmation and before they give to the public their research it must be peer reviewed by specialists who compose the presidential commission. On the other hand some scientists complain that, in practice, peer review stops critical science being disseminated (Andy Rowell, The Guardian, 2003). There are a lot of different opinions in science and mainly on how science should work because of the chaotic issues it includes. So we could say that there is a justification about the confusion that exists.The second part of science is the practical which deals with the transformation of theory in deed. After we confirm that the theoretical part works successfully we have to step into the practical part. In this part scientists work in laboratories. They have to check out if they can achieve the desired result in reality. They have to make experiments to ensure that what they have done can work without putting anyone in danger. After the scientists get the proof they need, comes the part of demonstrating their product to the presidential commission and get approval of their work. Finally, when they get the approval, their product can be published and used by those interested. Generally in science we can meet people who are interested in the public good and in the development of lifes quality. On the other hand there are others who try to be benefited for their own good. In that case we see people who exploit science for the purpose of their own wealth creation. HOW SCIENCE IS RELATED WITH TECHNOLOGY: Science is the most important part of technology. Everything which is made around us needs scientific support and search to be created. Scientists are trying to do our life easier than it was before, so they make researches on issues which help us on that. Technology is involved everywhere and the development of it will give us the motive to explore the unknown in depth. Science based on technology is developed and on that way technology growths in combination with science and inversely. This relation is ineluctable because without science we could not have technology and without technology we could not have science. But is the science of technology always good? We are challenged to answer a trap question. Science is trying to develop technology and affect it positively. Because of that in society exist different kind of people, we can realize that there are different aspects of technology for them. So some of them in the name of profits they can reach, do not care about good or bad technology but for their own benefits. There are some products which are created by scientific researches for good reasons, now these products the only thing that can do is to harm us, for example

weapons, drugs, etc. We do not have to say that technology is bad because of these few examples but we have to blame ourselves for desire of court. HOW SCIENCE IS RELATED WITH SOCIETY: There is a very close relation between science and society. The society can be affected in large by the sequences of science. If something goes wrong with an invention the society will receive all these negative results and this could have an affect on the public. On the other hand if an invention goes well this could help the humanity to develop. From the ancient years is obvious that science affects the society. If we go back we will realize that there were philosophers who could induce the public with their lectures. On that way we can see that science played a lead role in the society. Of course there are always scientific inventions that have both positive and negative effect depending on how the society will use and absorb them. A remarkable example is the one of the atomic energy which can be very useful and catastrophic at the same time. The history has taught us that well. As it becomes evident science and society have a tight bond. It could not be otherwise as both are consisted of men, responding to men and men are their creators CONCLUSION: To sum up, we come to the conclusion that science is more chaotic than we could realize by the first sight. It consists of many different parts and it can be very confusing for ordinary people to understand every single aspect of it. There are theoretical and practical elements which when combined give us scientific products. Finally, science is in the position to improve the quality of life with technological achievements and can affect the society either in a bad or in a good way.