SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

> Epistemology
MODULE 1 - study of what we can know about reality
Scientific Approach: can generate, unbiased,
generalizable knowledge
REALITY AND KNOWLEDGE Interpretive Approach: knowledge is specific to
a particular time and space?
REALITY
- Is everything that appears to our five senses; *Common Sense is a knowledge if it rests on a
everything we can see, smell touch, feel and body of evidence (induction) or a reliable theory
taste. (deduction).
- According to Philip Dick “reality is that which,
if you stop believing in it, does not go away.” MODULE 2
*theory - the theoretical world where theories,
ideas, concepts etc. exists. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, TECHNOLOGY,
*knowledge - reality is all of the things I AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY
perceived that determine my knowledge of the
world. THEORY
*reality - the real world as I observe and
- the “theoretical world” where theories, ideas,
experience concepts, etc. exists.
REALITY
KNOWLEDGE
- the “real world” as we observe and experience
- Facts, feelings, or experiences that are part of a
MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
person’s reality SCIENCE
- state of knowing (from experience or learning)
- organized information in a persons’ head Miletus/Milesians
- 600 BC
*personal knowledge statement - “What is reality made of?”
- supernatural explanations is unreliable
Publication *Thales of Miletus (624 - 546 BC)
Verification
Acceptance Pythagoras
- 571 - 491BC
- equation of a right triangle: c ² =. a ² + b ²
- “Truth should not be accepted but be proved”
*community/discipline knowledge statement - legend says that he believed that eating beens is
sinful and he drowned a student for revealing
APPROACHES TO VIEWING REALITY the existence of irrational numbers to the world
a. Scientific Approach
b. Interpretive Approach Aristotle
- 384 - 322 BC
*Differentiated on the grounds of: - induction and deduction
> Ontology - promoted systematic observation and thought
- study of nature of reality in biology, physics, law, literature and ethics.
- study of a set of beliefs about what the world
actually is Ptolemy
Scientific Approach: objective and independent - Claudius Ptolemaeus
of our perception or experience of it - AD 127 - 145, Alexandria
Interpretive Approach: constructed by us as we - the earth is the center of the universe
experience it?

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
MODERN PERIOD OF SCIENCE THEORY OR LAW
Francis Bacon Theory - a well substantiated statement that
- 1561 - 1626 explains a natural phenomenon.
- physical causes and laws of nature Law - a well substantiated statement that
- Essence of a thing is deducted through a describes a natural phenomenon.
process of reduction, and the use of inductive
reasoning Similarities
Rene Descartes Both are based on tested hypothesis
- 1596 - 1650
- “cogito, ergo sum” both are supported by a large body of empirical data
- founder of “rationalism”
- observed data is inferior to pure reason Both are widely accepted by the vast majority (if not
all) scientists within a discipline
Karl Popper
- 1902 -1994 Both are falsifiable
- “a true scientist should look to falsify theory
with observation that contradict them” Example 1: In Physics — Gravity
- foundation behind the scientific method If we hold an object above ground, release it at a
certain height, and, observe it fall down, then we
U.S. Judge William Overton say that the object falls down because of gravity.
* for a statement to be specific:
- it must be guided by natural law Law - describes the object falling — its
- it has to be explanatory by reference to natural acceleration as it falls, the time & speed at ground
law impact.
- it is testable against the empirical world *Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation - gives
- its conclusions are tentative us a mathematical formula to calculate how strong
- it is falsifiable the gravitational pull is between the earth and the
object you dropped.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
- is a process to construct a reliable, consistent,
and non-arbitrary representation of the world.

Theory - explains why the object falls.

*Albert Einstein’s General Relativity Theory
- can explain that the object falls (gravity’s
effect) is a consequence of the curvature of four-
dimensional space-time.
Social Science as Science
- the “social world” is part of the “natural world” Is a “law” higher than a “theory” in the level of
- scientific naturalism: a philosophical approach “truthfulness”?
using tools that are akin to those of the natural - a law is neither “better than” nor “worse than”
sciences a theory
- a theory is not a “law in waiting”

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
Society - Raised sea levels, exposed land and inland
- he aggregate of people living together in a lakes
more or less ordered community. - Natufians - hunter-gatherers of Southeast Asia;
forced to congregate in small, semipermanent
* “Technology is as much as for the benefit of villages along rivers and streams; switch from
society as it is for the good of the individual.” hunter gatherers to planting and domestication
- 1st farming settlements appeared in the
Technology Levantine Corridor (present day Israel,
- greek word - ‘tekhne’ — art and craft ‘logia’ Syria and the Euphrates River Valley)
tekhnologia — systematic treatment
technology — early 17th century
- science or knowledge put into practical use 11,000 BCE — Younger Dryas Event - bursting
- the branch of knowledge dealing with fo glacial melt from Canada to Gulf Stream
engineering or applied sciences.
- resulted in the conditions of the Late Ice Age
- Early practices of Agriculture
*Mesopotamia (Greek)
Abridged History of Technology - land between rivers
Stone Age
- tools from wood or shards of rock and the
discovery of fire
Bronze Age
- work with metal
Iron Age
- work with other kinds of metals
Modern Technology
- an advancement of old technology

*What we gained from technology:

- ease of access to information/communication
- ease of traveling; shelter; entertainment a. Asia: Chinese Civilization
- ease of access to natural resources China - is considered to be the most isolated of all
- improved health and lifestyle the ancient civilizations. It was isolated from
outside influences which resulted in agriculture
*What we sacrificed from technology use: and metalworking.
- social isolation - the entire civilization became rested on
- job loss agrarian foundations.
- increased dependency on technology/decreased - Around 7000-6000 BCE, they started to settle
competency along the Yellow River. They elevated their
- data security/privacy villages above the floodplain by earth
- increased potential of destructive conflicts platforms and surrounding them with earthen
- environmental degradation walls.
- They developed terracing and irrigation
techniques.
MODULE 3 - The Yellow River is named for the color it
assumes because of the losses being
windblown and deposited in it.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: - The river causes floods that were damaging
HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS and had to be controlled.
- Yangtze River - proved significant in shaping
ANCIENT PERIOD Chinese history; runs far to the south through a
warmer and wetter landscape.
I. ASIA AND AFRICA
- Between 10,000-7,000 BCE, settled farm life
15,000 BCE (before current era) — warmer established the wet rice culture of China.
climates, melting or glaciers in the north

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
- The north conquered the south and the rice of provided agricultural surplus that the elite
the Yangtze became even more important than depended on.
millet. - They developed a system of writing. They
- The claim to fame of Chinese Civilization: used clay, paper, and stone as a medium. This
bronze ware, ceramics, silk, historical system of writing started our as pictography
literature, poetry, metallurgy, gunpowder, but later evolved into the phonetically written
and the Great Wall. language.
- About 3500 BCE, a basic format of written
* Key Characteristics of Chinese Civilization: language was developed, The Cuneiform, and
- reverence of ancestors written on clay tablets.
- big significance of family - Uruk City, The Great Ziggurat of Ur,
- prestige of being educated Irrigation (powered by gravity) and Dikes,
- importance of the written word Sailboats, Wheel, Plow, and Among the 1st to
use bronze metal, developed a calendar based
b. Africa: Mesopotamia and Egypt on the cyclic nature of seasonal changes, and
- Around 15,00 BCE, a warmer global climate the Ziggurats stepped pyramids were priests
began melting glaciers in the northern and dependents ritually prayed and made
hemisphere. offerings
- Natufians - a group of hunter-gatherers,
flourished in the Near and Middle East. d. Babylonian Civilization
- Around 11,000 BCE, the Younger Dryas - Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Event caused accumulated glacial meltwater in - Great Builders
Northern Canada to suddenly burst into the - Hanging Garden of Babylon
Atlantic Gulf Stream. These events caused
small groups of Western Asians to switch from e. Egyptian Civilization
hunter-gatherers to planting and - Egypt forms the valley of the Nile River, which
domestication. flows for 6400km (longest in the world; flows
- The first farming settlements appeared in a in a northward direction)
section called the Levantine Corridor - Considered a benevolent one compared to the
(present-day Israel, Syria, and the Euphrates unpredictable Tigris and Euphrates.
River Valley) - Swells gently in the late summer.
- Mesopotamia - “land between the rivers” - Egypt is geographically isolated, protecting it
(corresponds to southeastern Iraq today) from invasion.
- On the East and West desert. The northerly
c. Sumerian Civilization flowing Nile forms rapids known as cataracts
- one of those that sprung along the banks of the which prevent easy passage into Egypt. On the
Tigris and Euphrates. north, the sea gave the Nile Delta some
- The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers originate from protection from intruders while still allowing
turkey, flowing parallel to each other for about some maritime operations.
644km to join together and flow into the - The population is composed mostly of
Persian Gulf. peasants.
- The Sumerians established the first human - The Egyptians are known to have an intimate
civilization and did extensive irrigation relationship with their natural environment,
farming in the lower Mesopotamia around making it productive and passing it on to their
5,000 BCE. descendants.
- The environment is arid with an unpredictable - The pharaohs that ruled them are known as
annual flood caused by the 2 rivers. god-kings; they are considered as gods that
lived among men, not merely being like gods.
* The following are the key characteristics and
contributions of civilization: * Comparing Egypt from Mesopotamia:
- Created the first large cities with more than - Egyptian life is different from
100,000 people in each city. Each city is Mesopotamian. The Egyptians enjoyed
encircled but farmers who built canals and stability, punctuated by occasional decades-
long floods. This brought about by the

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 predictability of the Nile and the protection the Tiber River flows through fertile plains
from invasion provided by its geography. before opening to the sea.
- Here are some of the claims of Fame of - They are also descendants of the Indo-
Egyptian civilization: paper or papyrus, Europeans who settled in Central and
mastery of stone, pyramids, Hieroglyphics, and Southern Italy around 1500 BCE.
cosmetics. - Developed farming villages but were not as
advanced as their East Mediterranean
II. EUROPE: GREECE AND ROME counterparts.
a. Greek Civilization - About 800 BCR, 3 groups of people from the
- Descendant of the nomadic Indo-European East entered the colonized Italy:
group of people. 1. Etruscans
* 3 Epochs: - very high civilized
1. Minoan - Mycenean Age — 2000 BCE - - Established a series of small city - states and
1100 BCE ruled with their superior weaponry and
2. Hellenic Age - Time of Homer to mid 300 organization
BCE “classical period” ; includes the - Left very little written records but left behind
Classical Period which is the golden age of underground tombs.
Greek Philosophy and Art 2. Greeks
3. Hellenistic Age - Final blossoming from 300 - impressed the early Romans with their
BCE to 1st Century CE (99 to 0 BCE) advanced culture; they moved to Rome because
- The geography of Greece is characterized by of overcrowding in Corinth, Thebes, and other
the small island of Aegean, the western end of Greek cities.
Asian Minor, and the mountainous southern - They transformed south Italy into a prosperous
tip of the European mainland. and commercially advanced civilization. But in
- Has little land for large scale farming. the process, they had to constantly fight off the
- Composed of dozens of protected harbors and Etruscans and Phoenicians.
bays along its coast. 3. Phoenicians
- Greeks were known as expert sailors from the - came to Rome via Carthage — a powerful
beginning, with ships and shipping being a force that sent ships to as far away places like
major part of their livelihood. Britain, The North Sea, up the Nile, Spain, and
- Mountain was difficult to traverse so it was France.
easy to travel by the sea. - Builders of powerful ships
- They established a seaborne commercial
network that spanned most of the eastern * Romans are known for applying scientific
Mediterranean. This made them very wealthy knowledge to everyday problems in society.
and resulted in the establishment of small but * Innovation in Warfare: The Corvus - Rome
powerful states ruled by the palace-dwelling waged war with Carthage for more than 20
kings; Led to the development of Greek years to control Sicily.
architecture, with the palaces being a symbol
power and wealth. III. THE AMERICANS
- The Americans exhibit a tremendous range of
* Best known for: cultures and physical environments.
• Classical Period - art, literature, science, - First Native Americans arrived in the New
philosophy World much later than humans (Homo sapiens
• Systems of Government - Monarchy, sapiens) had evolved and spread elsewhere in
Aristocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy) the world. They most likely arrived in 3 waves,
• Engagement in wars. (Eg. Persian & between 20,000 and 10,000 BCE. These three
Peloponnesian) waves are:
1. Amerindias
b. Roman Civilization - First to arrive Northeast Asia and are believed
- Considered to be a successor to Hellenistic to be the ancestor of numerous Native
Greece even if the two overlapped in time. Americans.
Rome is situated about halfway down the
western coast of the Italian Peninsula, where

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
2. Central Asia that separated later on. Out of this separation
- Descendants who are now located in Western resulted cultural and language diversification.
Canada and from Northeast Asia.
3. Northeast Asia 3. Agricultural Revolution
- modern descendants are the Inuit Eskimo of - 5500 BCE - Mexico where Chile & pumpkin.
Northern Canada and Alaska. - 4000 and 2500 BCE - Maize was gradually
grown and domesticated.
*Reaching the Americans: Beringia - 1500 - farming practices spread through.
- The most widely accepted theory as to how they Mexico, Central America, the coastal plain of
reached the New World is through a land bridge Peru and South America.
that once connects Northeast Asia and Alaska.
This bridge is called Beringia and is believed to MIDDLE / MEDIEVAL
once stretch through what is now known as the * The Purpose of Inventions
Bering Strait. Although covered with glaciers, - problem = solution
most of these migrants traveled by foot and some - original
by small boats along the Pacific Coast into what is - evolution
now North and Central America. Between 11,000
and 8900 BCE, they lived as hunter-gathered in a THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD
period known as the Paleoindian Period. - Massive invasions and migrations
- Wars
*3 Periods - Greater technology for development
- Paleoindian Period - Population decline and rise
- Archaic Period - Trade and commerce = transportation
- Agricultural Revolution technology
- Most innovative minds
1. Paleoindian Period
- During this period, the earliest Native MEDIEVAL INVENTIONS
American cultures hunted both large and small a. Printing Press
game. - used for automated printing of publications
*Hunting for Survival: Colder Climate such as in literature, news, etc. and for
- They used large, deeply notched leaf-shaped publishing books to reach people at a faster
spearheads called “Clovis Points” to hunt rate.
megafauna. As the climate became drier and *problem addressed - reliability and efficiency
water however, the large fauna started to die *solution provided - a more reliable and efficient
out so they switched to hunting smaller game. printing press.
The smaller Folsom points eventually replaced
the Clovis spearheads. b. Microscope
- However, climate change brought warmer and - for examination of infinitesimal figures,
drier climates. With it, the demise of the Clovis objects, or organisms that are invisible to the
and Folsom culture. Once fertile grasslands naked eye.
were turned into desserts in American *problem addressed - close magnification for
Southwest and Northern Mexico. medical doctors
*solution provided - the first compound
2. Archaic Period microscope
- Continuous shipping of climate to warmer and
drier conditions. c. Telescope
- Instead of hunting large game, people relied - for observation of far and wide sites.
more on gathering wild plants. Their tools were *problem addressed - distant magnification for
mostly for collecting and processing plant navigators
foods like rice grass and cactus. They *solution provided - close magnification at a
continued to hunt animals but mostly small distance provided by powerful lenses
ones using snares and small traps. The small
and temporary campsites they left behind
suggest that they lived in small mobile groups

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
d. War Weapons the conquistadors; Spaniards have regarded it
- made for the purpose of the prevalence of as a work to admire or condemn, according to
combat in the middle ages. their views and the context of their times; some
*problem addressed - better weaponry other Europeans, such as Stanley, found it full
technology of lessons and examples.
*solution provided - cross/long bows for open-
area battles and iron-body armors for close- Boxer Codex
combat - 307 pages, Spanish
- Life in Luzon and Visayas
e. Mechanical Clock - Charles R. Boxer
- a large, typically publicly displayed device for - 75 pages of colored drawings of inhabitants of
time-telling/keeping. Philippines, Chine, Java, and others.
*problem addressed - inaccuracy and poor - Booksale 1947 (Llord Ilchester’s library at
design Holland House)
*solution provided - accuracy and better design - It dates from late 16th century was possibly
written by a Filipino clerk
f. Medieval Glasses
- supplementary aid for seeing things better - Earliest Evidences of Agriculture
clearer and closer - Andarayan, Solana, Cagayan Valley
*problem addressed - problematic eyesight; near - 34± y.a.
and farsightedness; impracticalness or magnifying - rice planting
glass - Banaue Rice Terraces
* solution provided - portability, practicality, and - 2000 y.a.
efficiency provided by the eyeglasses
Money Matters
- Piloncitos
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE - Laguna Copper Plate Inscription
PHILIPPINES : PRE - COLONIAL PREIOD - 900 AD
- Ancient Javanese
References on Life Before the Spanish
Colonization Evidences of Pre-Historic Life in Pampanga :
- Rizal’s Annotated edition of “Sucesos de las Candaba Swamps
Islas Filipinas” by Antonio de Morga - Also known as Pinac; the Candaba Swamp is
- The Boxer Codex one of the oldest settlements in Central Luzon.
- Archeological evidences At present, the swamp is used all year round.
From January to May, it is mostly used for
Rizal’s Annotated Edition of Sucesos de las rice and watermelon planting. From June to
Islas Filipinas by Antonio de Marga December, when rainy season would flood the
- A first-hand account of the early Spanish area, fishing becomes a major activity. The
colonial venture into Asia. swamps is also one of the most famous wetland
- Published in Mexico in 1609 for migratory birds and a well-known bird
- It attracted the attention of the Hakluyt Society watching area.
in 1851, although the edition prepared for the
Society by H. E. J. Stanley was not published Candaba Neolithic Adze
until 1868. - The Candaba Swamp emerged during the end
- The Sucesos is the work of an honest observer, of the Pilocene Epoch (5.3 to 2.6 MYA)
himself a major actor in the drama of his time, through the accumulation of sediments from
a versatile bureaucrat, who knew the workings Angat and Pampanga Rivers.
of the administration from the inside. - It is believed to have been formed as a part of
- It is also the first history of the Spanish the latter; plantation of Pampanga River with
Philippines to be written by a layman, as the help of Angat River.
opposed to the religious chroniclers. - Candaba is considered as one of the oldest
- Filipinos have found it a useful account of the settlements in Luzon. In the 1930s, the noted
state of their native culture upon the coming of

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 H. Otley Beyer recovered an adze made of surviving in the swamps, for hunting and even
basalt. He called it Candaba Neolithic Adze for warfare. They also found evidences of
and is now considered a National Cultural animal domestic by finding bones of pigs,
Treasure. Dated around 3000 BC, he theorized deers, rice-field rats, goats, ducks, dogs
that this was used to cut down trees ad shape chickens, and other birds.
and carve boats. If they are already making
boats around this period, this must mean that MODERN INVENTIONS
they are also doing some fishing in the deeper - Pasteurization
parts of the swamp.
- Telephone
Candaba Swamp - Mechanical Calculator
- Based on early Spanish Writings, the famous - Petroleum Refinery
ruler in Candaba was Dionisio Kapolong, a - Salamander Amphibious Tricycle
son of Rajah Lacandula of Tondo. He is
- Salt Lamp
believed to have travelled regularly to the
north via the Pampanga River to trade. He - Medical Incubator
traded goods from Pampanga and Manila with - OL Trap
Chinese and Southern Asian ceramics. - E-Jeepney
Ceramics and beads are important as status
symbol, for dowry and heirloom pieces.
- Our ancestors in Candaba used ceramics as part Maria Orosa
of burial practice of giving grave gifts. - A graduate of pharmaceutical and food
These along with animal bones suggest that our chemistry from the University of Seattle,
ancestors bury their dead with material things Orosa returned to the Philippines in 1922
as gifts to the gods in the afterlife and to ward
to focus on addressing the problem of
off evil spirits that might devour the remains of
an individual. malnutrition, according to Doodle.
- In 2002, a group conducting birdwatching - Food Scientist, Banana Ketchup inventor
discovered an archaeological site in a place and War hero
called Donya Simang. Th area yielded various - Was honored by Google
artifacts especially earthenware, trade
ceramics, metals and other eco facts that can be
dated and analyzed. Homo luzonensis
- Filipino archaeologist Armand Mijares has
Candaba Swamp Archaeological Site brought the discovery of a new human species
- Most of the artifacts found are indigenous in the Philippines to the international stage.
undecorated earthenware. Dr. Willhelm - Homo luzonensis was described using
Solheim however, identified some with incised fossilized teeth, hand and foot bones
and combed carved designs as examples of recovered during excavations in Callao Cave
Beyer’s Iron Age Pottery dating between 1000 in Cagayan in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
to 1500 AD. The designs suggest that there - Earlier, Mijares said the bones that they
were used for special ritual; performances. recovered suggest that the species is smaller
- The site also contains numerous Orient; trade than modern humans, although the limited
ceramics from China dating back to 1300-1600 fossils prevented them from coming up with a
AD. Stonewares from Central Vietnam and full reconstruction.
Thailand were also recovered. This suggests - He said the fossilized remains also suggest that
that when China banned the export of its Homo luzonensis stood erect and could have
ceramics in the early Ming Dynasty, Vietnam been capable of climbing, although their
and Thailand filled the void. locomotor and manipulative abilities have yet
- Recovery of iron slags and the richness of the to be described.
native vocabulary of various types of metals - Mijares said the discovery underscores the
suggest that metal craft technology was already significance of the Philippines in human
present even before the Spaniards came. Metal evolutionary research.
implements were most probably important in

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 universe. This theory of an Earth-centered
MODULE 4 universe is called the Geocentric Theory.

INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS Aristarchus of Samos (310 - 230 BC)

- Occurred that changed the way we see things. - First to propose a theory to the contrary.
- Points in our history when long-standing - Proposed a heliocentric theory based on the
beliefs were questioned and challenged. large size of the Sun. He had sound method but
- Since the ancient times, humans have always inadequate data so his theory was not
been curious about the world around them. But welcomed by those who could not imagine the
due to limitations in available tools, Earth not being at the center.
explanations to natural phenomena were
limited to what their naked eyes could see. Hipparchus of Nicea (165 - 127 BC)
- Often, what their senses could not explain they - Was considered as the greatest astronomer of
tried to explain through religion and magic. the Classical Period.
Some of those beliefs and explanations were - He was known for producing star maps and
taken as true and absolute for some time. That catalogues of 850 stars.
is until a curious mind comes along and - He introduced the idea of the Precession of the
questions such belief. Equinoxes.
- In compelling his famous star catalogues, he
noticed that the positions of the stars were
I. COPERNICAN REVOLUTION shifted in a systematic way. This indicated that
it was not the stars that were moving but rather
Ancient Greeks the observing platform - the - Earth.
- Known for their curiosity about natural - In the Precession of the Equinoxes, he
phenomena. discussed the eccentricity of the sun’s apparent
- They looked up to the skies and sought to come orbit and certain inequalities of the motions of
up with explanations with what they see. the moon. He determined the lengths of the
seasons and accurately measured the year
Plato and Aristotle (4th Century BCE) - He is also known for his systematic use of
- Said that the Earth was a sphere and the trigonometry in astronomy.
stationary center of the universe.
- They further postulated the stars and planets Ptolemy (150 AD)
that were carried around the Earth on spheres - Was an astronomer and geographer of the
or circles arranged in order of distance from the Classical Age at Alexandria.
center. - He furthered the work of Hipparchus.
- According to him, planets move in epicycles or
Anaximander (6th Century BCE) small circular paths. The center of the epicycles
- Also stated that the Earth was a sphere and the are along the deferent of big circles. This was
stationary center of the universe. his explanation for the behavior of some
planets like Mrs where it occasionally appeared
Eudoxus of Cnidus to move backward with respect to the stars
- Proposed that uniform circular motion for all before moving forward again.
heavenly bodies around the Earth which was at
the center. * Because European Scholars Relied on Greek
- Said that heavenly bodies are in concentric, sources for their education, for centuries most
crystalline or transparent spheres around the people followed the teachings of Aristotle and
earth. The spheres wet made of incorruptible Ptolemy. By the 15th and 16th Century
substance called “aether” and moved at however, astronomers were facing problems.
different speeds to create the rotation of the The astronomical calendars of the past were
bodies around our planet. becoming inaccurate. Plotting religious holidays
- He and his contemporaries also believed in the became problematic.
Prime Mover that initiates all motions in the

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
Nicolaus Copernicus air” from the decomposition of organic matter.
- Proposed an explanation in favor of the It is believed that inhaling this air will cause
Heliocentric View of the Universe. disease.
- He also suggested that it was the Earth’s Girolamo Fracastoro
movement that explains the rising and setting - Proposed that diseases that start an epidemic
of the Sun, the cycle of the seasons and the are caused by minute entities called spores.
movement of the stars. - He used the term “fomites” for objects like
- He said that the Earth rotates on its axis and it clothes and linen that may harbor these spores
takes years for it to complete its revolution and therefore, help spread the disease. While
around the Sun. this was visionary for his time, it did not gain
- He was also able to correctly explain much traction because people found it hard to
retrograde motion of the planets. believe that invisible particles can account for
- His book was “De Revolutions Orbium catastrophic events such as pandemics.
Coelesteum” - (On the Revolutions of the
Heavenly Spheres) was completed in 1532; he Louis Pasteur (1864)
discussed his model of the solar system and - Introduced pasteurization to prevent spoilage
how the planets moved around the Sun. of milk caused by microorganisms. He did this
- The model opposed the geocentric model do successfully after demonstrating that
favored by many, including the Church, it was microorganisms called yeasts are responsible
not published until 1543. He died soon after for fermenting sugar to alcohol in the absence
this. The book was banned by the Church in of air.
1616. - A few years later, his help was once again
sought, this time to help fight the silkworm
Galileo Galilei & Johannes Kepler disease that were ravaging the silk industry in
(early years of 17th century) Europe.
- Provided the much-needed scientific support of - Years before this, Agostino Bassi moved that
Copernicus’ theory. This resulted in Galileo’s trial another silkworm disease was caused by a
and imprisonment for heresy. fungus.
- He discovered that the causative agent for the
Isaac Newton outbreak during his time of investigation was
(latter part of the 17th Century) caused by a different microorganism, a
- He worked on the Universal Laws of protozoan.
Gravitation provided the rest of the missing Joseph Lister
pieces of Copernicus’ model of a Heliocentric - Recalled that in 1840, the physician Ignaz
Universe. This led to it eventually becoming Semmelweis observed that physicians who do
accepted in Europe and eventually to the rest of not routinely wash their hands in between
the world. patients or procedures are more likely to spread
infections like puerperal or childbirth fever.
- He started to disinfect his surgical instruments
II. GERM THEORY OF DISEASE with carbolic acid. It resulted in significantly
- Because of this theory, various explanations less infections and death after surgery that
were given to why people get sick. The ancient soon, more and more physicians adopted the
Greeks for example believed in the 4 humors of practice.
the body. As long as these 4 humors are in
balance, a person stays healthy. Imbalance Robert Koch
results in disease. Other explanations were - Germ Theory was proven by his experiment in
rooted in astronomy, religion, magic, and 1876.
supernatural phenomena. But even before the - First, he saw rod-shaped bacterium in the blood
discovery of cells and microorganisms, there of cattle that died of a disease called anthrax.
were already those who suspected their This bacterium is called Bacillus Antracis. He
existence. cultivated the bacterium and then injected them
- The Germ Theory was finally accepted was the in healthy animals. The animals became sick
Miasma Theory. This theory purported that and died. He collected blood samples from
disease was because of “bad air” or “noxious them and saw the rod-shaped bacterium before.

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 The steps involved in this experiment is now This information may include chronicles of
known as Koch’s Postulate. important events, natural and cyclic events
- His experiment helped establish that some such as the coming of the season and and
diseases, such as those that result in outbreaks flooding of bodies of water. Later on, these
and epidemics, are caused by microorganisms. established records that became useful for
This paved the way for other significant leaps weather prediction that guided agriculture.
in health and medicine, such as the - The introduction of newspapers soon followed.
development of preventive procedure such as - In 1454, Johannes Gutenberg invented the
vaccination. Printing Press, causing print media to take a
huge leap forward. From books that were
copied by hand, limiting their supply and
III. INFROMATION REVOLUTION increasing the chances of errors being inserted,
- Communication is one of our needs as citizens manuscript can be edited before mass printing.
of this world. Since the dawn of time, humans - The Industrial Revolution later on produced the
used various ways to communicate with one Telegraph and Typewriters. The telegraph
another. The early man used smoke in making made it possible to send messages long
signals and beating drums. They also attempted distances.
to record their observations of their - In, 1936, Alan Turing a brilliant
surroundings through drawings. mathematician, described a computing machine
- The oldest cave painting in the world are found that could carry out any possible computation
in Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave, Ardeche, France. on its own. This computing machine is called
These cave paintings are estimated to have the Turing machine, later on became one of the
been done between 33,000 to 30,000 BCE and foundations for the development of the
presented animals like bisons. computer. His machine caused us to attribute
- In the Philippines, petroglyphs were thinking and decision making to machines;
discovered in the walls of caves in Agono, capabilities we only attribute to living
Rizal. These were discovered by the National organisms like humans before.
Artist: Carlos “Botong” Francisco in 1965 - Today, computers have completely
and are known as Cultural Treasures. They are revolutionized almost every aspect of human
composed of characters etched on the rocky life. We are now living at a time when
walls of caves and are estimated to be around machines can be programmed to perform tasks.
2,000 years old. - We have come a long way from the time our
- Sumerians who loves along the Mesopotamia ancestors were using smoke signals or
sometime between 3100 and 3000; developed attributing disease to the position of the stars
the world’s oldest alphabet which is the and planets. We have established this long-
cuneiform. Their contemporaries in Egypt and standing relationship with science and
other parts of the world also developed their technology.
own system of writing, the cuneiform was
considered to be the most efficient. Each
symbol stands for a syllable, several syllables
put together from the words. The Sumerians
MODULE 5
etched their writings on clay tablets.
- In the Philippines, they already exists a system ISSUES AND CONSEQUENCES OF
of writing called baybayin, long before the TECHNOLOGY
Spaniards came. In Pampanga specifically, our
ancestors used and alphabet called kulitan. A. Martin Heidegger and the Question
- Even the medium on which the alphabets or Concerning Technology
drawings were written changed through time.
The cave walls eventually were replaced by - Martin Heidegger was born on September 26,
clay tablets. Later on, with the development of 1889 in Messkirch, Germany.
paper and ink, we now started to see the - His academic life started with him studying
alphabets forming written words. theology at the University of Freiburg. In 1911,
- Alphabets and the medium on which they are he shifted his focus to philosophy.
written on made it easy to record information.

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
- He is known for his works on phenomenology discoveries that lead us to realize our place in
and existentialism. the world.
- His Being and Time (1927) is considered as
one of the most important works of the 20th Modern Technology and its Impact on our
century. Relations with one another
- Heidegger argues that technology should be a
mode of revealing something that brings forth - Technology is usually thought of as that which
truth; We bring forth this truth by using our solves problems. But Heidegger asserts it is
modern devices to measure. something we must question. If our
- Technology, in Heidegger’s work, is a poesies dependence on technology is causing us to
that reveals the truth; We use technology to overconsumption and be aggressive in
understand our immediate environment and the extracting resources from the environment, if it
universe. leads us to be wasteful, if it causes us to pollute
our planet, then technology has indeed
Modern Technology and our Relationship with consumed our humanity.
Nature - However, Heidegger is not telling us to reject
technology all together. He is just telling us
- In contrast, Heidegger describes modern that it should be something that we
technology as challenging forth since it is continuously question; Technology should
overly aggressive in its activity. It expedites or build bridges between us, open means for
speeds up the un-concealment of nature. healthy discussion and exchange of ideas. It
- Modern Technology gave us the ability to should not keep us form effectively
extract minerals from the earth, turn forested communicating with each other. It should be
lands into agricultural and later commercial something that would help us realize our role in
lands, we developed plastics and found life and in the world.
different uses for it. - Heidegger proposes art as a way of this
- Through technology, we have become overly enframing. Art enables us to see the poetry in
aggressive in extracting resources from nature nature. It causes us to meditate on the role of
and changing the landscape. technology in our life.
- Kreutzer puts it this way: “Modern
Technology views Earth as a huge gas station B. The Way Forward: Some Selected
representative of the extraction, drilling and Philosophical thoughts to guide our Way
rape of Mother Nature.”
- Modern Technology as it seems, also has 1. Confucianism
influenced our attitude towards nature. - Started in the 6th Century BCE in China by
- Nature rewarded the efforts of our ancestors Confucius (K’ung-fu-Tze or Master Kong)
and it led to the rise of the major civilizations. - He is considered as one of the greatest
But now, we see how we use modern philosophers of the Hundred Schools of
technology to alter and change nature to make Thought.
way for our needs: deforesting our forest to - Core belief is that all human bings are
timber and to make way fo plantations and essentially good. Being good means knowing
human habitation. The invention of plastics has the difference between right and wrong. This
caused our aquatic resources to be choked with causes us to have moral standards and the lack
plastics waste, causing pollution and thereof, causes us to do immoral things.
endangering animal life as well. - The way out of this is to live a life which
- Heidegger also stated that questioning is the adheres to an ethical code also includes the
piety of thought. observance of rituals. Being good also means
- As modern technology brings forth the truth, it having the tendency to do what is right most
can cause us to engage in deep thinking and especially under difficult situations.
reflection. As science and technology helps us - Confucianism also does not involve believing
understand nature, the design of living things, in one all-powerful being deity because this
we cannot help but be at awe at the new things may not be enough to cause someone to choose
we learn. This can cause us to think and ask what is right. He instead advocated a strict
more questions. This leads us to self-

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 code of ethics to live a life of peace and - It holds that there is only one supreme being
prosperity. named Ahura Mazda who created and sustains
- He called this code the Five Constants and everything.
Four Virtues: - It is based on the principle that goodness is
* Ren- benevolence expressed as Good Thoughts, Good Words, and
* Yi- righteousness Good Deeds.
* Li- ritual - As long as one follows the precepts of Ahura
* Zhi- knowledge Mazda, one lives a happy fulfilling life. Not
* Xin- integrity doing so will cause suffering and confusion.
* Xiao- filial love and piety This is done by:
* Zhong- loyalty
* Jie- contingency * Telling the truth always
* Yi- justice/righteousness * Being charitable
* Showing one for others
- These are all equal in their importance, but * Moderation in all things (in way of life, food,
everything begins with filial love and piety, etc.)
meaning everything begins in the family.
- It is in the family that we learn how to be - One interesting expression of this is how
humble and kind. Eventually, what we learn in Zoroasters bury their dead. Their funerals are
the family, we also practice in the community. quiet and moderate. The corpse is cared for at
We begin to act with benevolence and kindness home. There is also the rite called sagdid or
towards the world around us - the environment “glance of the dog.” A dog is brought into the
and the other people. When this happens, room to scare away evil spirits.
harmony exists in society.
3. Catholicism and Laudato Si’
2. Taoism - Laudato Si’ is the encyclical letter of Pope
- Taoism or Daoism is often associated with the Francis on the care of our common home.
Daode-jin (Tao Te Ching), a text often - Laudato Si’, mi Signore means “praise be to
attributed to Laozi (Lao Tzu) through now we you, my Lord”
know that he was not along in writing this - This is derived form the canticle of Saint
sometime in the 3rd or 4th Century BCE. The Francis of Assisi which reminds us that our
“dao” is a way of path that is the appropriate common home is like a sister with whom we
way to behave and lead others. share our life and a beautiful mother who opens
- One basic belief is on the universal energy of her arms to embrace us. (Francis I, 2015)
chi. The chi is the life-giving force from the - Here, he expressed his intention to enter a
dynamic balance between the yin and yang. dialogue with all people about our common
The yin is said to be dark, feminine and home and how we should all be united by a
passive. The yang is light, masculine and common concern: that of the state of our
active. Heaven is yang and Earth is yin. The planet.
balance between these two forces that allows - He appealed for a new inclusive dialogue on
the chi to flow is believed to be needed to how we are affecting our planet. He mentioned
achieve god health, fortune and prosperity. about attitudes that obstruct our vision and
- Taoism also believes that man must place his prevent us from solving the problem.
will in harmony with the natural universe. - The encyclical also includes a discourse on
- The Tao is a principle which embraces nature. pressing environmental problems plaguing our
Again, the yin-yang diagram encourages us to planets such as pollution, climate change, water
work with natural forces, to always deal with problem, water crisis, loss of biodiversity and
life in a natural manner. how all of these have led to the decline in our
quality of life and also lead to inequalities in
3. Zoroastrianism our society.
- Zoroastrianismis a monotheistic (one-God) - Environmental problems tend to expose the
faith established by Zoroaster in Persia injustices present in our society, how some
between 1500-1000 BCE. vulnerable sectors and communities are
deprived of their rights to access basic needs

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺
 such as food, shelter, and health care. These are
the very communities that are often hardest and
first to be hit by environmental disasters.
- He appealed that everyone acknowledges the
great contribution of humanity to the
deterioration of our environment.
- In 2016, Pope Francis declared acts of care for
our common home as a corporal and spiritual
work of mercy. This means that acts of
kindness towards the environment is one way
to follow Jesus.

A.L. — BSMT - 1B 🩺