Chapter 1 Introduction to Science Technology and Society
Tutorial 1 A Brief History of Technology
Overview of Main Points
 The history of human evolution is closely linked to the
development of technology.
 Since the neolithic revolution, humans have continued to shape
and control their environment to suit their needs.
 For much of the history of technology, “engineers” practiced
within a craft tradition.
 The industrial revolution (and the more general process of
industrialization) represents widespread social, economic, and
technological change.
1.1 Introduction
Being an engineer, or working constantly with high technology products does not
immediately endow a person with a sense of history. That is, just because a person
practices engineering, doesn’t mean that she knows anything about the history of that
profession. In fact, historians often find that professions create for themselves their
own histories -- often allegorical and many times mythological. Myths aren’t bad,
and sometimes we depend on them to provide very important social and pedagogical
functions.
Nevertheless, it is important that we spend a brief amount of time examining the
history of science and technology. History does matter. It is the story of who we are
and how we got here. It helps us explain much about why we act the way we do.
We begin with the history of technology -- humans (and even human ancestors) were
creating technologies long before they were doing science.
1.2
The Early History of Technology
We have anthropological evidence that Homo habilis, living 1.8 million years ago
used tools. This evidence comes from Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania.
About 1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus (possibly the first recognizably human
ancestor) developed more sophisticated tools. These tools were made from hard rock,
such as flint, which could be broken into very sharp pieces.
The next development was with Homo sapians (what we are) by the Neanderthal and
Cro-Magnon variety. These humans created tool kits of stone tools with which they
could create more tools. This is an extremely advanced idea and involved
considerable skill. It allowed them to shape wood and bone materials into a large
variety of implements, including not only knives but things like needles.
Now all of the developments took place in what we call the Paleolithic, or old stone
age. We have to realize just how long it took to go from simple stone tools to more
advanced tool kits – over 1.7 million years. In fact the earliest use of tools was
probably much earlier, since we see today that animals like chimpanzees will use
tools to gather food. They will take a branch, strip it of its leaves, and use it to
remove ants from holes in the ground.
Another thing to realize is that these early humans were hunters and gatherers. They
used these tools for the most basic of needs. The more recent development of tool
kits allowed humans to fabricate clothing, an essential item in during the Ice Age
when the climate of the Earth cooled and when ice advanced across much of the
planet.
The neolithic, or new stone age, represents a dramatic change in both the use of
technology and the relationship between humans and the earth. The neolithic is the
name applied to the beginning of a settled (non-nomadic) way of life. Settlements
were made possible by the advent of agriculture and the domestication of animals.
The profound aspect of this is that humans were beginning to shape the world around
them to meet their needs. Ever since the neolithic we have been modifying our
environment. Hong Kong itself is one of the best examples of how far we have gone
in proceeding along this line of development.
The emergence of civilizations began between 3,500 to 3,000 BC or (5,500 to 5,000
years ago). Many of these civilizations were located around the major rivers of the
world, including the Nile, Tigris-Eurphrates, Indus, and Yellow Rivers. In fact there
is a strong connection between the rise of these civilizations and the level of
technology. That is, the political units that controlled these peoples were often
strongly linked to systems of irrigation and water transportation. We call these
“irrigation civilizations.” In areas like China and Egypt, the irrigation of fields
required large amounts of cooperation and leadership, achievable only through strong
political control. In China, as we will see later in this lecture, the uniting of distant
provinces was achieved in part through the network of man-made waterways.
It is in this period of time that we see the rise of an artisan or craft class of people.
Through much of the neolithic period we assume that much of the technological
knowledge (about farming, food preparation, and tools) was shared by most members
of society. With the rise of cities and civilizations, there is an economic possibility
for a class of people that are able to make a living by specializing in certain
technologies. People specialized in certain materials, such as glass, metal, stone,
wood, leather, or certain types of food.
The increased production achieved through irrigation and through specialized crafts
meant that trade became increasingly important.
1.3
Ancient and Medieval Technology
One of the characteristics of ancient and medieval technology was the rise of early
engineers. They were sometimes part of the artisan class, sometimes they were
slaves, sometimes they were nobility. Now you might be surprised to know that there
were engineers back when there wasn’t too much science. The fact is that you don’t
need science to build many things. In fact, for most of human history, things have
been built without a “scientific knowledge” of the world. That does not mean that
they weren’t using formulas, or that they didn’t have a conception of how things
worked. Very often they did, but that conception was very different from the one we
have today.
We can take a single example from late Medieval Europe, the cathedral builders of
France. The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of cathedral building, and great
strides were made in a very short period of time. Now we don’t know how these
builders came to have an understanding of stress and loading, but they somehow
learned enough that they could design very large structures that tested the limits of
their materials. We do know that they had methods of experimentation that depended
on learning about the structure as they built it. We do not have records of the
formulas they used, or the reasoning behind these “building codes.”
It is also worth noting how the technology of the cathedral was both a powerful force
and a product of culture. The cathedral illustrates the dual nature of technology as
something shaped by society, and something that shapes society. Cathedrals, like
many pieces of monumental architecture, were cultural expressions. The desire to
build higher and higher churches was related to the idea of reaching up to the heavens.
The arch work which allowed large windows permitted heavenly light to fill the
inside. These structures had a powerful effect on the people who used them. They
were ornately decorated and became tools for teaching religion. They helped found
cities as major centers, and reinforced the position of the Church.
Many of these engineers, or master builders, were members of guilds. Guilds
performed two activities that we are interested in. First, they controlled access to
technical information. This meant that technology was no longer for everyone, it was
restricted so that certain people could earn a living off of it. Second, the guilds were
the basis for educating new artisans and engineers and for maintaining quality. They
accomplished this through a system of apprenticeship in which young persons would
slowly be exposed to the trade and given more and more challenging tasks. There
were no schools. You learned on the job. As the person learned more, he (usually a
man) would graduate from level to level, often having to pass a rigorous examination.
Building was not the only activity of engineers, though monumental architecture like
the pyramids of Egypt or the water systems of Roman systems survived more easily
than other things. In addition to architecture, there were developments in military
technology, transportation, agriculture, metallurgy, and instruments.
1.4
Industrial Revolution
One of the biggest changes in the history of technology was the industrial revolution,
which occurred between 1750 and 1850 in England. The industrial revolution is
actually difficult to define since it was not a single event, or focused on any single
technology. In fact we can find precedents to the industrial revolution in Holland and
Italy, and China, at times, certainly had the makings for an industrial revolution.
Recognizing that we are simplifying the story, we’ll say that the British industrial
revolution was the first. And it certainly was dramatic as industrialization goes. It
involved large increases in production (both agricultural and industrial), a significant
rise in population, urbanization, and the use of the factory system.
The factory system gradually replaced older forms of production, especially the
“putting out” system. In putting out, materials were taken by a merchant to the
individual homes of skilled workers. There the raw materials would be turned into a
finished product, which was collected after a week or two. The workers were skilled,
largely unsupervised, and worked at their own pace. It would be customary for the
workers to keep some of the raw material so that they could make things for
themselves. The factory system changed this by putting the workers into one
building. They were regulated and the materials were highly controlled. The work
was divided into small jobs which were mechanized if possible. The workers did not
require much skill, which meant that the factory owners could pay less. The
mechanized work processes were often connected to a central power source, perhaps a
waterwheel or a steam engine.
The factory system was itself a technology. And as such you should start to see it as
both a powerful social force, and as an expression of social forces. In this case we see
that it created profound change in the way people lived and worked. In most cases we
could say that there was a deterioration in the quality of life. Additionally, we see that
the factory system was the expression of a capitalistic economic system. The means
of production was in the control of a small elite group of factory owners. Their
interest was making money, not building a better quality of life for the workers.
The industrial revolution is associated with a number of other technologies, including
iron production, railroads, textile, and chemical manufacture. Many of these
technologies contributed significantly to the increase in water and air pollution, as
well as changes in the landscape (such as deforestation).
What role did science play in the industrial revolution? Very little. Most of the
technologies arose without any scientific understanding, though a few of the
technologies benefited from a close association with scientists (or natural
philosophers) and scientific methodologies.
This was also the period when civil engineering began. Military engineering, per se,
had existed since at least the 16th century (we could go back to ancient times if we
stretch the definition). Civil engineering was just that – civil, or non-military.
1.5
Further Study
Gimpel, Jean. The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages (New York:
Penguin, 1976).
Kranzberg, Melvin and Carroll W. Pursell, Jr. eds. Technology in Western Civilization (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1967).
Mokyr, Joel. The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Process. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1990.