This document introduces the field of Science, Technology and Society (STS). STS studies how scientific knowledge and technological systems are produced, distributed and used, and the impact they have on different groups. It draws from various disciplines like history of science and sociology. Science and technology are pervasive in everyday life but also have problematic impacts that need exploration. They are important for military power, economic strength and medical well-being but have also caused failures and ethical issues. In response, STS has emerged as a new academic field of study analyzing the interaction between technical and social phenomena.

1. Science, Technology
and Society
MODULE # 1

2. What is Science, Technology and Society?
Science, Technology and Society (STS) is an interdisciplinary field
that studies the conditions under which the production, distribution
and utilization of scientific knowledge and technological systems
occur; the consequences of these activities upon different groups of
people. STS builds on the history and philosophy of science and
technology, sociology and anthropology, policy studies, and cultural
and literary studies; all of which shape the modes of analysis
deployed in the field.

3. Why Study Science, Technology and Society?
The use of science and technology in our everyday life is so pervasive.
Almost everything that we eat, wear, and use are products of scientific and
technological undertakings. However, there are also problematic impacts of
science and technological innovations on society that need to be identified and
explored. The ways human have responded to these developments and to what
effects also deserve serious consideration in assessing the significance of
science and technology in modern society.

4. The Importance of Science and Technology in
Contemporary Society
• Military Power- The outcome of world war II depended heavily on the
superior scientific and technological capabilitiesof the United States and its
allies. Today those technical resources remain vital to the national security of
many governments. One indication of the continuing perceived military
importance of science nd technology is that in 1988, about three quarters of
the approximately $60 billion U.S federal government research and
development budget went for military related projects.

5. • Economic Strength- Since the conclusion of the Civil War, technology has
played a major roles in increasing productivity. Technological change is
credited for almost half of the increase in productivity. Since World War II, a
contribution far greater that those of capital, education, resource allocation,
or economies of scale.
High Technology goods-specifically, commercial aircraft and products int the
semiconductor, computer and office equipment sector were along with
chemicals and crops, among the few bright spots. Such facts underscore the
central importance of science and technology in contemporary economy.
The Importance of Science and Technology in
Contemporary Society

6. • Medical Well-being- Science and Technology have also played an important
role in greatly increasing the scope and efficacy of medical care in the
century, from advance in diagnosis and surgery to vaccines, therapeutic drugs
prosthetic devices and rehabilitative apparatus.
The Importance of Science and Technology in
Contemporary Society

7. Reflect Yourself!
• You have seen the great impact and influence of science and technology in
our everyday life. Think back to your personal life. Can you remember a
situation where the quality of life improved markedly as a result of military
strenght, economic well-being and medical advances? The subtatial individual
and public health benefits afforded by technical advances achieved in recent
decades are widely recognized and highly valued in contemporary individual
societies. However, the problems brought about these scientific and
technological advances should also be considered.

8. Why is Science and Technology a subject of
Vital Practical as well as Academic Importance?
• Notable examples of human scientific and technological successes include
the landing on the moon, polio vaccines, civilian jets aircraft transportation,
the discovery of the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA), the Green revolution, antibiotics, the personal computer and the
confirmation of the Big Bang Theory as the origin of the universe.
• The failure sides includes the Bhopal, Chernobyl and the Challenger space-
shuttle disaster, the pesticide DDT, the ford pinto, building collapses and
airplane crashes traceable to defective engineering and various forms of
environmental degradation of human disease caused in part by irresponsible
scientific and technological practices.

9. Notable Failures That Have Increased Public
Interest
• Threats to Human Survival- The social significance of science and
technology in the contemporary era rests to no small degree on threats to
human survival posted by the development or use of some pote products.
These include nuclear weapons. producs for chemical or biological warfare,
toxic or lethal by-products of manufacturing or energy-generation processes,
and products that threaten the viability of the ecosystem.

10. • Ethical Dilemmas- The story about the effort of the comatoses patient's
brothers to secure court permission to remove his feeding and hydration
tubes epitomizes yet another reason why the study of science and technology
in contemporary society merits attention. Exploitation of advanced scientific
knowledge and technological devices and systems has on occasion given rise
to situation in which thesadvances seem to have turned upon their
beneficiaries, creating excruciating ethical and legal dilemmas.
Notable Failures That Have Increased Public
Interest

11. • Disparities in Human Well-Being- White some advance countries enjoy
science and technology-based success and hold high esteem in contemporary
society, millions of people in less developed countries have not partaken of
this benefit. The gap between the average levels of material affluence
enjoyed in societies in which idustrialization is well advanced and those
characteristics of less developed societies is historically unprecedented.
Understanding the genesis of this gap and developing effective strategies for
decreasing it are clearly issues of great intellectual and practical importance.
Notable Failures That Have Increased Public
Interest

12. Science, Technology and Society: A new Field
of Study
• In response to the growing importance of science and technology in
contemporary society and the increasing recognition of that importance, the
last twodecades have witnessed the birth and growth of a new academic
field: Science, Technology and Society (STS). STS does not refer to the kinds
of preparatory studies or advanced work in various technical fields pursued
by aspiring or practicing scientists and engineers. Rather, is refers to study
about science and technology. More precisely, STS refers to the study of
Science and Technology in Society-that is, the study of the ways in which
technical and social phenomena interact ang influence each other.

13. • STS also encompasses the “interna” study of science and technology.
Internal refers to studies of phenomena such as the general nature and
interrelationship if science and technology, the social structures and reward
systems of the professions of science and engineering and social aspects of
everyday scientific and technological activity.
• Besides their increasing social importance and the growing recognition of
that importance, the phenomena of science and technology in te society are
studied by scholars because they are interesting and complex sociocultural
phenomena.
Science, Technology and Society: A new Field
of Study