development in science and technology: impact and consequences on human civilisation

DEVELOPMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: IMPACT AND CHALLENGES ON HUMAN CIVILISATION Page 1

CCB 2012-HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT 2014

DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

IMPACTS AND THE CHALLENGES ON HUMAN CIVILISATIONS

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Table of Contents I. TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................................................................................................2

II. ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................................................................3

III. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................................................4

IV. DEFINITION OF TERMS.........................................................5

1.0 PART ONE: HUMAN CIVILISATION...........................................................................................................................7

1.1 PALAEOLITHIC...............................................................................................................................................8

1.2 NEOLITHIC.....................................................................................................................................................10

1.3 THE MAYA CIVILIZATION..16

2.0 PART TWO: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: THE BIRTH OF TECHNOLOGY ....18

2.1 NEW INVENTIONS........................................................................................................................................19

2.2 FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1760- 1840)......................................................................................20

2.3 SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (19TH

CENTURY 1945)............................................................20

2.4 THIRD SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL REVOLUTION.....................................................................................22

3.0 PART THREE: IMPACTS .............................................................................................................................................25

3.1.0 POSTIVE IMPACT......................................................................................................................................25

3.1.1 THE ECOTECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION......................................................................................26

3.1.2 THE GREEN REVOLUTION..30

3.1.3 THE GENE REVOLUTION..............................................................................................................31

3.1.4 THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION................................................33

3.2.0 NEGATIVE IMPACT..................................................................................................................................34

3.2.1 HEALTH IMPACT.............................................................................................................................35

3.2.2 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT...........................................................................................................37

3.2.3 CLIMATE CHANGES........................................................................................................................38

3.2.4 SAFETY IMPACT..............................................................................................................................39

4.0 PART FOUR: CHALLENGES........................................................................................................................................40

4.1 ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY...40

4.2 GLOBAL WARMING .....42

4.3 WARFARE .......44

5.0 PART FIVE: CONCLUSION..........46

6.0 PART SIX: REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................................48


II. ABSTRACT

Credit to scientific technology and the men behind its break through. One would bluntly asset that with

no such thing as science, life would be unimaginable. Human civilization enhanced by science on the

other hand has provides answers to questions as the origin of species by the famous theory called the

Darwinism. Darwin through his rigorous study claims that man did not start out as he looks today, but

has originated from apes hood to a modern man. This piece of evident though its shocking to non-

scientist proves the existence of civilization. Therefore science has paved the way for the human

civilization to what it is today. Live has becomes easier with technology of medical perspectives,

information technology, means of transportation among others. Nevertheless, technological evolution

has caused such worrying moments as global warming, nuclear annihilation, pollution, deforestation,

production of chemical enhanced food etc. How humanity go about these problems is vital, therefore in

this paper, a discussion on human civilization enhanced by science, scientific development, and how the

two creates questions of their sustainability, a balanced harmony will be presented to the reader. It is not

a cause-solution essay hence facts on the relation of civilization, scientific technological evolution with

both positive and adverse effect as well as the challenges to human civilization are discussed. Further

study is available for readers interested to further their knowledge through the references provided at the

end.


III. INTRODUCTION

The beginning of a revolutionary phase that has transformed a Stone Age man to a dominant man among other

animals in the universe has taken several dimensions. Scientific technology has brought about human

understanding of how the first man evolved to how the universe came into existence through rigorous theories

and hypothesis of the likes of BIG BANG theory. The progress has significantly been made and its moving

steadily fast into the most controversial part of the evolution;

the Artificial Intelligence. Philosophy and science are very

much related in that philosophical ideas end up as scientific

theories to be proved, in fact science development started as a

literature or tales of imagination. For example, the quest to

land a man on the surface of moon was a fiction story of how

one man was swept away by a strong wind which ended him

on the surface of the moon. These facts form the modern

scientific technology, therefore in this paper, a brief trace of

science history is given, then we discuss about man

civilisation and how science has impacted on humanity evolution both positive and the percussions of science

inventions. Furthermore, a correlated discussion will also be provided on how some of scientific development

have becomes a challenge to survival on the planet leaving no means to address them. Before moving deep, first

we familiarize ourselves with the main teams involved in our topic of discussion.

ENVIRONMENT

SUSTAINABILITY


IV. DEFINITION OF TERMS:

In this section, we familiarize the reader with terms associated to our topic of discussion in relation to science

and technology by breaking it up into the following main terms:

Development- The growth and improvement in a given arena.

Impacts- Refers to an outcome of an action, situation or an event being positive or negative towards the

victims or beneficiaries.

Human civilization- The transformation of humanity from apes looking according to Darwinism.

Challenges- Our notion of challenges refers to happening (s) which has negative outcomes without

control over the problem being encountered.

Science is the intellectual; and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and

behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment (Oxford dictionary).

Technology justify the application of philosophical knowledge practical practically, example in industry.

These terms making up the most fascinating topic to discussed in our modern technological world where heated

debates revolved around the environment and sustainability given the extraordinary progress of science.

Science and technology are linked closely together. It does usually involve how the political, social and cultural

factors affect the civilization of politics, society and the culture itself. Science is a matter of a human

understanding the natural world (science) and by that, they can use it to manipulate (technology) it to make the

world more civilized and modern.


Fig. 1. showing the famous Maya civilization god of the sun head (top left), human

sacrifices to Maya god of the sun (top right) and the statue of early Islamic Civilization

(bottom). Courtesy of Wikipedia also available on the encyclopaedia of history by

Raddato, 2014.


1.0 HUMAN CIVILISATION

Moya & Font (2004) assets that Civilization is the stage of human social development and organization that is

considered most advanced with several different essentials elements. For instance, the food production and

storage to ascertain adequate food supply line to a certain number of people. This is a significant step to ensure a

given community develop other skills hence leading to work specializations. Furthermore it will develop other

skills possessions in the community thus improved quality of life. To dwell deeper, lets take a look at the

periods involved to achieve the modern humanity first in summary as shown in table 1.3.0 and in the below

discussion.

PERIOD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUB-PERIODS

Stone Age

(2.5 million-20,000) years

ago

Paleolithic

Upper and Lower Paleolithic

Aterian

Howiesons Poort and Stillbay

Populating Australia

Paleolithic

Neanderthals

Denisovans

Hunters & Gatherers

(20,000-12,000) years ago

Populating the America

Hoabinhian

Azilians

Paleoindian

Natufian

Mesolithic American Archaic

First Farming Societies

(12, 000 -5, 000) years ago.

Neolithic Revolution

Agriculture and Ancestral Farming

methods concepts

Pre-dynastic Egypt

Animals and Plants

domestication

Metal uses

Pre-pottery Neolithic

Early Civilisations

(3000-1500 B.C).

Mesopotamia

Indus Valley

Old, Middle and New Kingdom of

Egypt

Kush Kingdom

Culture: Longshan and

Dilmun

Shang dynasty

Ancient Empires

(1500-0 B.C.)

Olmec (1200-400 B.C.)

Zhou Dynasty (1050-256 B.C.),

Dong Son (1000-1 BC)

Greek Civilization (800-169

B.C.)

European Iron Age (800-169

B.C.)

Qin dynasty (221 -206 BC)

African Iron Age (700 BC

AD 1000)

Persian Empire (648 BC AD

637)

Zapotec Civilization (500 B.C.

AD 700)

Ptolemaic Egypt (305 30 BC)

Roman Empire (49 BC AD


Silk Road Trade Network (200

B.C. 1500 AD)

476)

Developing States

(AD 0- 1000)

Aksum (AD 0 -700)

Maya Civilisation (250 -900)

Islamic Civilisation (622 -1500s)

Khmer civilisation (Angkor 800

1300)

Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi

200- 1300)

wari/Huari Empire (750 -

1000)

Vikings (Norse 800 1050)

Toltec (900- 1200)

Medieval Period

(AD 1000-1500)

Mississippian Culture (1000-1540)

Great Zimbabwe (1000-1500)

Swahili Culture (11th-15th)

Inca Empire (1250-1532)

Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910)

Aztec Empire (1430-1521)

Table 1: Brief summary of the important periods and sub-periods devised by archaeologists to study the origin of humanity, its

civilisations and the Universe. Note that the periods mention in the table are a sample of the periods, you may refer to the references

for further detailed knowledge.

Source: About website: Archaeology.

From the table, several kingdoms has existed which hint us to where the process of civilization stem out from hence, we

our subsequence discussions, vital periods will be introduced to provide an insight of what characterised todays humanity

and the civilisation.

1.1 PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD (OLD STONE AGE PERIOD)

1. Skills of surviving: During the primitive age,

humans learn to make their own tools and use it to

ease them at work. In his articles published on

About website, Hirst (n.d) pointed out that there are

essentials that effect and facilitate how humans

survived at this age. One of it is the adaptation

towards the environment and changes that happens

around them. Other than that, human upright posture

helps in enhancing their strength in working and

enables them to use even difficult tools. The growing

communication skill allows humans to communicate

well between them and enable them to pass on the

knowledge needed to the next generation. Humans at

this early age are nomads which are groups of people who do not live in one place to have a permanent

home but migrating regularly.

Fig.2. Hunters of Old Stone Age people

(about website)


They consist of hunter and gatherer which are those who use self-made tools, which they carry on their

backs during the migration in order to fulfil their need of living. The purpose of migrating is simply to

seek for items to meet their medical and diet needs.

Steven and Evan (2013) explain that the archeological name of the people at this era is called

Palaeolithics people. Palaeolithic stem out from Greek meaning old stone. Simply referring to them,

these people used stones that they shaped into usable tools, simple but important in their daily live. Later

they learn and develop to get their tools in the right shape and size. They developed to learn how to give

more impact with the use of their axes by adding handles to it. Soon, the spear was invented. These

people managed to adapt to their surroundings. With this ability they had extend throughout the regions

that are possible for living throughout the world.

2. Family and Culture: Both men and women

possess their own roles in living. Men provide food

for the family by hunting for animals, with power

based solely on their endurance and strength. The

hunting process starts by fixing their tools or make a

new one out of the rocks sharpened and put together

by handles that are made of woods. Women on the

other hand gathered plants, insects and eggs as well

as other kind of foods. Hirst explains that the people

are aware of their surrounding by knowing the

source the place could offers them, what might

harm them and what chances will they have living

there and that family is vital for them. They lived in

rarely a group consisting more than 250 people and

most of them lived in group of 20 to 60. As usual,

the men and women of the groups possess their own

roles to keep up with the living. Men hunted in a quite distinctive way and build their campsites in the

place they are conversant with. They are not very welcoming towards the strangers as the wealth gathered

is small in number and knowledge only move from group to group hence forth, though on rare occasions,

inter-marriage with other groups allows expansions of their beliefs and ideas.

The growth rate of humans was slow. Their live was always at stake as any fierce animal could enter the

group and minimize the population. With less understanding of fertility, inadequate food caused women

to be less fertile thus, creating adaptability to their limited resource available in a way that could

maximize the population.

3. Growing plants and animals: While practicing agriculture and pastoralism, work specialization were

taking remarkable steps with seasonal migrations. The population of both humans and animal fluctuate

according to the condition of the weather which proves very harsh on certain period of the year but quite

stable for humanity of that era.

Fig.3. Ancient Egypt pyramids

Taken from Egypt tour guide.


They travelled along the borders of the lands in what they called semi-arid regions. Even though both the

pastoralist and the agriculturalist were seen to live shoulder by shoulder, the growth in population causes

the agriculturist to invade the pastoralist lands. In response the pastoralists retaliate and get wealth and

foods from the earlier. This practice did not last long, hence both came to realized that agricultural

practices were more sustainable and could be practice simultaneously with domestications process.

They stop to look after the herds and they made even more tools to support their agricultural life to this

very point, humanity became more adaptable and starts creating chances for a new which resulted into

their first step of civilization as evidence in what the archeologist call the Neolithic period.

1.2 NEOLITHIC PERIOD (NEW STONE AGE PERIOD)

2. En route for Civilization: Palaeolithic period has undergone several changes which helped to

identify the next important period for the human development (Gascoigne, 2014). Migrations in

search of foods bring humans to the areas which are rich in source. Here they started to grow plants

and even look after the plants that come across their areas. Pastoralist at this time was responsible in

domesticating the animals to become of either food or clothing for the group. The tools used in their

daily live have got many types and changes as their ways of living were developing around their

source of foods.

Fig. 4 a new stone age man using his tools to adapt to the environment (left), an art sculpture of

the new stone Age time (top right) and the residence of the New Stone Age man (bottom left).

Courtesy of Aztec book of human history.


Gascoigne further elaborates that during the early times, farming cultures were established along the

rivers and that it was of no significance travelling all times hence most ancient man made settlement

and practice hunting while they take care of the plants that grew along the river. At first it was a trial

an error method in that they start to select the food of which they will control then later the type of

foods that could grow around the area of living becomes the better choice. Consequently, they select

the land along the river valley suitable to grow the plants which finally due to the acts of growing

plants the need them to stay close the plantation arise forcing them to stay at that area.

3. Civilization Development: There are seven

characteristics of civilization based on the

development of Neolithics people which are cities,

religion, job specialization, government, society of

class, trade and economics and writing.

4. Cities: Inhibiting a city gives the meaning of

civilization a term derive from Latin word which is

civitas that means city. The farming activities of the

Neolithic people open their eyes to see that they

need support from others. The tasks that were

needed to plant and harvest crops were seen easier

when is done in intensive ways. Settlements

happened to have more need of attention as they

grew further than the farming tasks. Variety of

cultures around the globe is the result of how the

people at that moment come out with the way to

handle new tasks. Here, civilization development starts making its moves (Mills, 2004 and

Gascoigne, 2001).

5. Religion: The natural evidence presented by the nature of the crop development become the force of

life in that the cycles of crops and the onset of different seasons give birth to religious beliefs. As a

result to give immediate answered to such uncontrollable natural events that had happened to the

humans, myths and legend relate to them were developed. The process consolidates under strong

foundation of myths believers there for the religion debuted and grown to become complex

phenomena built around gods.

Fig.5. showing Egyptian god of the

sun, many other gods exist in many

others early kingdoms.

(Rashad, 2012)


6. Job Specialization: with such development as the religious believes, agricultural practices etc., the

advancement of humanity civilization took another dimension of job assignment. Steven and Evan

believe that the culture of these people has developed to its prime at this era to become even more

complex. There are even more tasks that keep emerging in order to keep pace with the settlement.

One person cannot manage every task, as a result stem out job specialization. Individual choose to

focus on the task that they can do best compare to the other to developed their level of skills on.

On the perspective of the job itself, it developed through other existing jobs since there was increase

in complexity of administrative jobs, minister and government leaders among others.

7. Government: It became a necessity to installed social duties with the rising food supplies and the

population rising on the other hand in big number. With that came the need of more complex social

functions to exist. For their permanent stay at one place, the discovering of materials was made to

support their shelter and clothing.

A single person in the community gives impact to the community by the choice of decisions they

would make. This resulted into governments being formed as the higher levels of organization for the

community to regulate on matters that affect the community.

8. Society of Classes: In a city there existed some jobs that were required at the exact time in order to

provide comfort to the community. Such occupations were monitored by important people in the

community as an integral part of the complex government. It was also realized that there were tasks

that were classified as vital and serious compared to the other. The gratitude causes the development

of classes meaning that if the person is having a job of high priority in the community, s/he was

placed in higher status of the community thus a ladder form of society came into existence.

9. Trading and Economics: Trading originate from job specialization where by specialized worker will

trade with people of his likes who have their product of needs or wants with that, trading gain

grounds and happened between groups or individual in the society. Fundamental of economics was

created when there was exchange in goods that they have produced. Trading activities grew even

more since the people no longer migrate and could be possibly hit by shortage of resources at their

area which can be available from other groups around them.


10. Writing: Basically writing at this age developed through those people activities such as they use it

for keeping track or records of harvest or even animals and tools. But most probably writing existed

at first when temple priest keep record of the grains or animals that the people gave to god. It later

evolved to record many other complicated and important purposes such as cycle of the seasons,

weather and animals. Besides that, the tasks that were required by the community as well as the

trading activities were recorded. In order to achieve civilization, writing is seen to be the final steps

taken for a culture to practice. With writing, there were even more knowledge as they are enable to

record about their cultures.

11. Mesopotamia and Egypt: In the area where southwest Asia links Northeast Africa, they happened to

be the two earliest civilizations which happened about 3200 years before century. The vital part of the

story shall be the great rivers there. Between the Euphrates and the Tigris is where the Sumerians

settle. The place is now known as Southern of Iraq. As for Egypt, they developed at the valley of

Nile. Rivers are important to a developing civilization as it offers two distinctive benefits which are

water and ease of transportation. Water in such that that it will help water the plants and

transportation is to move easier without the smooth road. The two other early civilizations will also

paint the picture on how rivers were important at that time; the Indus and China.

12. The Indus: It is either the relationship made with Mesopotamia that stimulates India very first

civilization or it is an impulsive development of the locals there. But during the Neolithic time the

villages there along the river of Indus were on the edge of merging into a combine and urbane culture.

With both Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, still the Indus civilization with the cities of Harappa

and Mohenjo-Daro has expanded a larger region. The estimation was 1000 years that it survived in an

unusually reliable form.

13. The Aegean: At the Aegean Sea is where the next area to develop a unique civilization hubs. This

place was a perfect region for trading to those people whom their levels were high. The beginning of

the tradition of the Mediterranean culture is where this civilization made its start.

Crete is the place where it all begins. Which is a huge island that was ideally positioned to protect the

entry to the Aegean?

14. China: China was the extensive reliable civilization of human. As the massive eastern empire, China

follows their own way and tradition neglecting other effects of others. It all begins in a typically

independent way. Somehow there were no recognizable examples of Shang dynastys civilization.


The outstanding bronze vessels appear to gain immediate technological excellence. The writing that

was proposed highly influences the Chinese writing in the todays world. This civilization completely

begins with confidence.

15. America: With the Chavin in the Andes

and the Olmecs in Central America, the

earliest American civilization began.

Centered on temples is where both of

these cultures have developed their

cultures which they are also famous now

for their sculptures. They were both was

at the beginning of chain of civilization

which brings them directly to the two

which were found and demolished in the

16th

century by the Spanish.

16. The Mediterranean: Aegean which was the initial characteristically civilization reached an

unexpected and still unsolved end in around 1200 years before century. The Phoenicians which are

the active seafaring people turned widespread traders after in about 200 years. They make Lebanon as

their base and from there they create groups of their own sideways of the coast of Africa and into

Atlantic. This instance showed by them as the imperialist of the Mediterranean will then be copied by

the Greeks then the Romans. Mediterranean then becomes most original place for the clash and

mixture of civilizations, which was something to be proud of and they happened not to ever lose it.

17. Regional Civilizations: With the Greece and Rome dominating the west, China in the east, and

individual cultures in both central and south of America, they tend to give impact on the traditions of

the locals. But there are existences of confusions which come out with new culture in the already

civilized area of the world.

18. Global Civilization: The new idea of world-wide civilizations was the result of the initial continued

contact among Europe and America, developing over colonies and empires. The civilization of

Spanish spread to Latin America. The extents of the English culture in an empire involves India,

Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many more area of Africa.

Fig. 6.The mummification of the dead practice

in Egypt taken from Egpyt Tour website for

tourist.


Europe civilization was being transmitted around the world by the majestic instinct beginning from the 16th

to

the 19th

century, frequently as somehow over older and very healthy local cultures considered a thin finish. But

different forces at work emerge by the 20th

century. For the two exact dissimilar ideas of civilization of

American capitalism and Russian communism, the 20th

century thought motivated the force in spread of those.

Mass communication makes it probable to spread an areas much known culture to the world. For example like

America through radio and television. Therefore with such gradual shift, man has sealed its transformation

process from stone age, bronze age and finally to golden age. In order to have more insight on this development,

let us consider the perspectives of science, technology and how it has champions much of mans civilisation in

the consequents subtopics.

Fig.7. a) showing Sharjah-Museum-of-Islamic-Civilization, a present day source of information to

continuous learning and transmission of Islamic knowledge (Irhal, n.d).


1.3 MAYAN CIVILIZATION

Maya is one of the earliest civilizations in Central America before the fall of Spanish with exceptional great

skills that saw them engineering glorious cities of temples and pyramids made of massive stone out of

mechanization. They have precise calendar with the help of their much novel system of writing, mathematics and

astronomy hence has huge impact in todays arts, science and religion.

Religion

Fig. 7 b) Sacrifice to god (picture by the national geographic)

Mayan cosmos is much compound in comparison with that of the west. Their religion is believed to encompasses

thirteen heavens and nine underworlds hence they were ruled by the nine unknown lords of the nights. However,

it was believed that there existed conflict between the god of the sky and underworld and complexity causes new

god to exist there by the old one enhance the functions of the new gods. The dynamism in their gods is not only

seen in their appearance but behaviour of good and evil. The frequency of appearance signifies the importance of

the god of sky as their arts reveals. Mayan Religion is very important as it is connected to the calendar

interrelated to each other with the ceremonies that had been done.


MAYAN AND SCIENCE

As the known radical group, Mayan made progressions in mathematics and astronomy thus producing a more

precise calendar. Their first calendar shows 260 days in a year with specific name and symbol to represent them.

The days are number from 1 to 13 and it will start with day 1 again when it ends with using 20 different day

names. Their next calendar bears 365 days of 18 months with name and symbols with each month consisting of

20 days. Some examples of the names used in such calendars are: Wayet is a month that was special as it

consists of 5 days but considered unlucky. Day were pronounce as Kin, 1 month as Winals, 1 year as Tun, 20

years of 360 days each as Katun and Baktuns was for 400 year periods.

MAYAN AND LITERATURE

Mayans writings cannot be fully translated due to the fact that they were the only people in America who

established form of writing and also the number of text. Popol Vuh is the text that survived which consists of

legends and rituals written from words that were said by them. The book explains the Mayans faith of making in

a sequential way. They believe it is the key for the questions about conception and earth. Popol Vuh has many

names such as The Light That Came from Across the Sea but Popol Vuh is the last name meaning the Council

Book. The one who wrote the book was one of the heredities who once lead Quiche. Francisco Ximenez made a

Spanish translation of the Popol Vuh. It describes in the details of the making of the sky, land and water which it

happens in the way that gods want it to be. It describe in detail where after god create all animals and areas, god

wants to have protector of those. God tries to produce humans from mud but it dissolve. Later gods made human

out of woods. This manikins grow but eventually they have no heart as mentioned in the Popol Vuh which is the

prove of the Mayan civilization.


2.0 THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-THE BIRTH OF TECHNOLOGY

In the preceding discussions, we have traced out how human emerged from their Stone Age hood to a dominant

man in the universe manipulating the environment around him. What has so far facilitated such magnificent

development is the question answered in the study presented in our next discussion. According to the arguments

presented by Raddato, (2014), Collins, (2012), Hirst, (2014), Cartwright, (2014) and Gascoigne, (2001) as well

as from Wikipedia, the following facts were documented with respect to how man enhance his living standards

to the most glittering world we see today.

Tools: The birth of technology is traced back in 2

million years BC. It is when a sharp cutting edges made

from stone was discovered. It was made by Homo

habilis coming from the Hominini tribe.

They are mostly known as the extinct species of most

ancient human species. Another species that is known in

using the tools and weapon made from stone are the

Homo Neanderthalis or cave men. They are often

considered and recognize as the ancestors of Homo

sapiens, which refer to the species of the population of

human today.

Metals: Between 6500BC 7000BC, metals like Lead

(Pb) and copper (Cu) were discovered. It is later developed to a period known as the Iron Age where iron

(Fe), a hard and strong metal was built.

The wheel: Around 4500 BC, human invent the wheel. The wheel and axel is combined together and the

invention has become the most popular invention of all time in history. The use of carts has really made

human life easier. Around 2000 BC, the wheel has been developed into windmills and waterwheels.

Thus, the invention of wheels is not only for transportation purpose, but as well as provide power and

energy.

Fig.8.Ancient Egypt

hieroglyphics (forms of writing)


2.1 NEW INVENTIONS

During 7th

18th century, many inventions that are related to science and technology are being made drastically

changing the way society evolved. Human become more brilliant in inventing elements that they feel useful and

beneficial to them.

Alchemy: Born in Egypt, the Egyptian believes in the life after death. Because of that, they developed

the mummification process, which preserve the dead body and they will not decompose.

The mummification process has led to the discoveries of rudimentary chemical. By 7th

century, Egypt

was occupied by the Arabs. It has been suggested that the word alchemy comes from the word Kemia.

The Arabs then add al-to the word and become al-Khemia. The Arabs believe that mercury and sulfur

can be turn into precious metals such as gold. It can be done by using a substance named Philosophers

Stone. It proved to be a dead end around 9th

century. Regardless of that, the Arabs people have made

many discoveries of the chemicals that we use until today.

Gunpowder: is a substance use to make the bullet move forward. Its formula was first described by an

English philosopher named Roger Bacon with a recipe published in Europe in 1242 hence guns were

invented.

Printing: The first book to be printed is the Bible in 1456. It was running of 150 copies at that time. They

were made by hand before the printing technique is discovered and took approximately 3 years to

complete. The first printing machine was developed by Johannes Gutenberg (1398 1468). The

invention of typography has made the knowledge and information spread much faster.

Telescope: The Earth was proved to revolve around sun by Galileo Galilee (1564-1642). In 1610, he has

improved the telescope that was invented by Dutchman Hans Lippershey (1570 1619) to make this

discovery. The device has given human new perspective by making far things look near. Lippershey is an

eyeglass maker. He made the first telescope a concave design aligned with a convex objective lens.

The microscope: In 1590, Hans Janssen and his son made a primitive microscope by stacking glass

lenses. Janssen is a spectacles maker and his invention has enabled small things to be possibly observed

by naked eye. In 1676, Anton van Leeuwenhoek has made an improvement with a magnification of 270

times. He first discovered single-celled creatures in pond water by using his device thus the

understanding of microorganisms.

The Lightning Conductor: In 1752, Benjamin Franklin (1769 1790) an American statesman, scientist

and philosopher proved that lightning was a form of electricity.


He proved this theory by flying a kite through a thunderstorm. After that, he used an iron rod to attract

electricity which he put it on top of his house. Later in 1754, Franklin together with Prokop Davis, a

Czech scientist invented a lighting conductor that can protect and prevent building from being damage by

lightning. Interestingly here are the revolutions by stages.

2.2 FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1760- 1840)

1. Steam power: By this era, the steam engines to power machine started to power the factory machinery

during this. The water is heat in a boiler to produce the steam that can power vehicle. In 1765, first steam

engine is invented by James Watt (1736 1819). Industrial processes become faster and easier by using

steam that comes from water pumped out from mines. The invention was closely followed by George

Stephenson (1781 1848) inventing the first locomotive (rocket) set to pulled heavy loads for long

distances hence paving the way to the designation of bridges, tunnels, and ships.

2. Photography: Joseph Nicephore firs used bitumen spread on a pewter plate for photography there by

years later in 1826 lead to first permanent picture produced by exposing the plate to sunlight for 8 hours.

Later on the enhancement was championed by Louis Daguerre (1787 1851) who uses silver compound,

the very basis of modern world snapping.

2.3 SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (19TH

CENTURY 1945)

The electric light: Thomas Edison (1847 1931) is the man behind todays electric light bulb. In 1879,

Edison made a long-lasting source of light that uses lower current electricity and highly reliable in other

word, it can last for hundreds of hour. At first, he used a small carbonized filament, but then he enhanced

the invention using a filament of carbonized sewing thread hence electric lighting system became safe,

practical, and economical.

The telephone: Telephone was invented in 1876 spearheaded by Alexander graham bell (1847 1922)

when he was 29 leading to formation of Bell Telephone Company by 1877.

The motor car: German inventor, Nicolas Otto (1832 1891) invented an internal combustion engine in

the year 1876. Motor cars were steam driven before he invented the combustion engine still in used

today. The first car ever produced is the Benz Patent Motorwagen developed by Karl Benz (1844 1929)

in the year 1885.


The movies: The first movie was shown by Auguste and Louis Lumiere brothers (1862- 1954 and 1864-

1848). The film titled was The Arrival of Train at Ciotat Station (1895). Lumiere brothers created a

portable motion-picture camera with a film processing unit and a projector call Cinematography.

X-rays: The first x-ray image was developed by Wilhelm Rontgen (1845 1923). He recorded the image

of his wife's hand which clearly shows her bones and wedding ring on a photographic paper. In 1895, he

discovered that the electrical discharges in a glass tube that he was working with gave a subtle glow on

nearby surface. He found that the rays can pass almost through any material and was invisible.

Communications: Radio waves were discovered by a German physicist named Heinrich Hertz in 1886. He proved that the radio waves existed with travel rate of 30 000km per second. Not long after the

discovery of the radio waves, the first radio station was set up by Guglielmo Marconi (1874 -1937) that

can transmits and receive Morse code. In 1899, he sent the first message in the form of wireless signal

from England to Newfoundland. The message was receive 2 years later and until today, it is known as the

first successful radiotelegraph message.

Flight: In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright (1867 1912 and 1871 1948) built the first airplane known

to human being. The Wright brothers were just bicycle repairmen at that time. They flew their first

airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The invention of the Wright brothers then progress very fast as

the military realized the advantages of the flight to them for WWI.

Rockets: In 1926, American scientist Robert Gaddart (1882 1845) invented a liquid fueled rockets. The first man that travelled to space by rocket is Yuri Gagarin (1934 1968) from Russia. His journey to the outer space is to orbit the earth in 1961. In the year 1969, NASA sent Neil Armstrong to land on the

moon. He was the first NASA astronaut.

The atomic bomb: There are good and bad in everything including science and technology. In 1932, two

physicists, Earnest Walton and John Cockcroft proved Albeit Einstein's theory of relativity (E=mc).

They have found the secrets of atomic nucleus. Using this theory, they managed to develop a way to split

the atoms which lead to the development of atomic bomb. The most known used of atomic bomb is the

used of atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the year 1945.


2.4 THE THIRD SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL REVOLUTION

After WWII, the discoveries of science and technology have tremendously moved in a really fast rate. Many

more invention is made. The modern world of human is really taking its shape.

1950s-In 1950, the first electronic programmed electronic computer was developed. This device is use to

solve mathematical problems. First optical laser was made in 1958 by Charles Townes and Arthur

Schawlow. They created the maser or also known as the microwave laser. In the 1950s, many discoveries

such as the invention of renewable energy such as solar cells and rechargeable batteries were made. In

1954, fiber optics was produced by Narinder Kapany. First commercial nuclear power is produced in the

year 1956. 1957 was the year where Soviet Union launch the Sputnik which is a space satellite and the

first fiber-optic gastrosope was also produced in this year. 1958 is the year where jack Kilby and Robert

Noyce developed an integrated circuit.

The development of Design Augmented by Computers-1 (DAC-1), the first computer-aided design

(CAD) system has taken place in the year 1959. It was develop by IBM and General Motor.

1960s-Ruby laser was invented in the year 1960 by Theodore Maiman. In 1963, the first computer-aided

design programs named Sketchpad was develop by Ivan Sutherland. Between the years 1960 to 1969,

many more invention was made such as the computer mouse, compact discs, and solar power station,

plastic and also electronic books. One of the most important inventions to human being was the CCD.

CCD stands for charge-coupled device, invented by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith. This is a type

of light-sensitive chip that is used in digital cameras, webcams, and also other optical equipment.

1970s-In 1971, first electronic ink was developed by Xerox and Ted Hoffs created the first

microprocessor. First cell phone was developed by Martin Cooper in the year 1973. Ethernet was

developed in the same year as the cell phone by Robert Metcalfe. The usage of barcode on groceries good

starts in the year 1974. Between the years 1975 1979, many inventions on technology has been made

such as the home automation system, first personal home computer, and also vacuum cleaner. The most

famous invention during that period is when scientist sketches out on how the quantum computers work.

1980s- The first Walkman was created by Akio Morita, a Japanese electrical pioneer. The Sony Walkman

was the first portable player that are used to record music. 1981 is the year where IBM releases their first

personal computer (PC), laser eye surgery to remove cataracts was developed, and quantum dots were

discovered.


In 1983, compact disc (CDs) is introduced by Sony and Philips corporations.

It has become the new means to store music. Between the year 1987-1989, projections TV system was

created. Besides that, the most important invention during this period of time is the invention of World

Wide Web by Tom Berners-Lee.

1990s-In the year 1991, the first version of Linux operating system is created by Linus Torvalds. John

Daugman developed a way to make iris scanning systems possible by using mathematics in the year

1994. In the same year, VoIP was developed. It purposes is to make telephone calls over the internet. In

1995, first broadcast.com has become the first online radio station. In the year 1996, the first high-

definition (HDTV) signal was broadcast by WRAL-HD in the US.

2000s-In the year 2001, Apple produced a revolutionized way to listen to the music by introducing iPod

MP3 player. The same year witnessed the creation of Wikipedia, an online Encyclopedia created by

Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales. The first vacuum cleaning robot was introduced in the year 2002. In the

year 2004, US presidential Election uses electronic voting that created some controversial during that

term of election. Many other inventions were made in the millennium era such as the discovery of

grapheme, touch screen cell phone, touch screen tablet computer and also 3D TV.

Fig .9 World classical continents (1581): Europe, Africa and Asia with Jerusalem the center. Source: Wikipedia


No doubt, such overwhelming development in science and technology has been witnessed by the generation of

the 21 century thereby one would have breakfast in Delhi, lunch in New York and dinner in Johannesburg.

Predictions can easily be made about future disasters and defensive means would be put in place e.g. U.S

volcano eruption of 1986 thus saving thousands lives. But what has all these luxury brought about? Science

related an accident has done in creditable damage of property and loss of lives henceforth in the next few pages,

the reader is walked through some of the positive and the adverse effect that science and technology has imposed

on man and the environment.


3.0 IMPACTS

Imagine life without computers, no communication using mobile phones, no textile industry to produce clothing,

no airplanes to cross huge natural water bodies like the pacific, the Indian and Atlantic Ocean and the worst case

no electricity, how modern life would look like. Then again we ask a simple question what if you bring a typical

man of 2 billion years ago to present, how would he comment on the sophistication in technology of today? The

question goes on and on as scientific revolution is concerned. All these questions enables us to appreciate the

development in science in which with the help of the technology, man would still have not known himself better,

how the universe came to existence as in Big Bang theory and it would still have been believed that the planet

Earth is the centre of the solar system, thanks to Galileo who proved the centre of the solar system is the Sun.

We cherish the good work bestowed on the technology by scientific thoughts, but they have proved to have

adverse effect on natural ecosystem, habitat and human being owns health.

Every day, the environment is losing its normal functionality, temperatures increasing extremely and atomic

radiation at its peak. All of these problems comes from science and technology which has invented factories both

chemical and nuclear, handling of hazardous materials in order improve man life and many problems rising day

after day, minutes by minutes. Therefore human civilization would have not been awesome like today without

science and also it would have not been filled with issues of global warming and nuclear annihilation threaten

the whole world without science and technology. In this section, we will walk you through the positive and

negative aspects that have resulted from science and technology since the invention started.

3.1.0 POSITIVE IMPACTS

Wu and Butz (2004) explain that scientific knowledge has been accumulating over the past three centuries, and

their application in form of technology has changed our lives outwardly. The change in human living style is was

less in the past thousands of years compares to the last one hundred years or so. Science has witnessed

significant progress in agriculture, medicine and health care, telecommunications, transportation,

computerization etc. Scientific advances have sharpened man perception of future thus ability to venture deep in

seas not to mention existence of such inventions as aero planes, trains, cars, busses, Television, radio, air-

conditioners, oven, and room-heater for luxury.

Three significant improvements resulting from science and technology revolutionalizing the new century are:

i) EcotechnologyBlending the best traditional knowledge and technology with frontier technologies

for example; biotechnology, space/information technologies, renewable energy, new materials etc.


ii) GeneticA molecular understanding of basis of genes in living organisms and the ability to use the

understanding to develop new processes and products for agriculture, industry, the environment,

human and animal health.

iii) Information & Communication Revolution A very rapid timed systematic assimilation and

dissemination of information, hence a dramatic improved ability to access the global knowledge at

low-cost electronic networks communicate.

When coupled with improvements in management and governance, it not only increases the scientific approach

to genetic improvement, natural resources management and ecosystems, but also the management of local and

regional development strategies. Scientific revolutions are at ever-increasing pace, with industrialized nations

taking the lion share. For the requirement of this thesis, lets dwell deeper on these 3 scientific revolutions to pin

point how they became such a cant be without factors to humanity.

3.1.1 THE ECOTECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION

Wikipedia, (n.d) defined Ecotechnology as an applied science that seeks to fulfil human needs while causing

minimal ecological disruption, by harnessing and manipulating natural forces to leverage their beneficial

effects. Ecotechnology demand an understanding of the structures and processes of ecosystems and societies by

integration of two fields of study, the 'ecology of technics' and the 'technics of ecology. The aim is to allow

improvement in economic performance with less harm to environment through the following means:

i) increasing the efficiency in the selection and use of materials and energy sources,

ii) control of impacts on ecosystems,

iii) development and permanent improvement of cleaner processes and products, eco-marketing,

iv) introducing environmental management systems in the production and services sectors, and

v) Development of activities for increasing awareness of the need for environmental protection and promotion

of sustainable development by the general public.

Given below are the two typical examples of Ecotechnological revolution which are water treatment and the

renewable energy.

1) Water Treatment

Water is an essential element for almost every living thing on this planet that has no comparable analogies.

Its availability, reliability and quality are not only key factors to the environment as well as ecology but also

are similarly fundamental to human health and economic life.


Our use of water and need range from the basic need of water to secondary needs, among them include the

following few to mention; agriculture, drinking, cooking and washing. This utilization of water is not only

limited to such aforementioned factors only by also the recreational purposes such as the beauty of lakes,

streams and waterfalls. Scientific knowledge has taught the humanity even far to mold out of water resource

they have such uses like harnessing electrical energy from it, sail ships on it and use it to transport waste

products, etc. Furthermore, the dependency is obviously extended to animals, plants, fishes and birds as an

essential requirement for their daily functioning.

In recent years there has been growing awareness that the amount of good-quality water resources is

deteriorating. The scale of human consumption and uses of water have been growing steadily fast, the quality

and quantity of the resources that remain are limited. Competition for access to, and control of, the remaining

resources has emerged in some places. Although water is enormously abundant; but about 98% of it is not

suitable for the most vital human uses because it contaminates itself by dissolving salts, predicted

statistically, not deterministically.

As for the present day, global per capita water supplies are declining and are now 30% lower than they were

25 years ago (Myers et al, 1995). By 2050, it is predicted that as much as 42% of the worlds population will

live in countries with insufficient freshwater stocks to meet the combined needs of agriculture, industry and

domestic use. In addition, water is needed for the maintenance of ecosystems.

Fortunately with the evolution of science and technology, the freshwater stock limitation could be reduced to

tolerable level in most countries. Science provided the technologies to water treatment with both rapidly

changing, and cost-effective, energy-saving solutions. Water treatment can be organized into three general

areas: physical methods, chemical methods, and energy intensive methods. Appropriate technology options

in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) designs. Such

designs may employ solar water disinfection methods, using solar irradiation to inactivate harmful

waterborne microorganisms directly, mainly by the UV-A component of the solar spectrum, or indirectly

through the presence of an oxide photo catalyst, military surplus water treatment units like the ERD labor are

still frequently used in developing countries. Recent military styles for example the Reverse Osmosis Water

Purification Units (ROWPU), self-contained water treatment plants are becoming more portable and

available for public use.

The advance of science had made it possible to perform water treatment customized to the severity of water

contamination. Figure 10 show the statistical evidence of declining mortality due to infectious disease

through water treatment technology and the uses of vaccines.


In the graph the following statistics could be evidence on the case study: from 797 deaths per 100 000 in

1900 to 36 deaths per 100 000 in 1980. From 1981 to 1995, the mortality rate increased to a peak of 63

deaths per 100 000 in 1995 and declined to 59 deaths per 100 000 in 1996. The decline was interrupted by a

sharp spike in mortality caused by the 1918 influenza epidemic. Crude death become rampant in the 1980s

and early 1990s as a result of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a newly emerging and

deadly virus that has already claims thousands lives worldwide.

2) Renewable Energy

Energy plays a fundamental role in shaping the human well being. People's need for energy is essential for

survival, so it is not surprising that energy production and consumption are some of the most important

activities of human life. The widespread belief that energy and civilization are inextricably linked certainly

has historical foundation. Throughout history, humans have focused on controlling the energy stores and

flows that are part of nature. For tens of thousands of years, people relied solely on the chemical (caloric)

energy gained from food that produced the mechanical (kinetic) energy of working muscles. However, due to

the evolution of science and technology with human intellect, human were able to unlock and overcome

physical limits imposed on their own muscle power "by using tools and harnessing the energies outside their

own bodies." Energy is classified based on the resources used to produce them, either from non-renewable or

renewable resources which are known as;

Fig .10 Infectious disease mortality declined during the first

8 decades of the 20th

century taken from Armstrong, et al

(1973).


i) Renewable energy- energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human

timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat

ii) Non-renewable energy- energy that comes from resources that does not renew itself at a sufficient rate for

sustainable economic extraction in meaningful human time-frames. Fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas

and oil are the non-renewable resources.

Fig. 11 Is a chart for the annual energy demand by region and worldwide for the past 2 decades taken

from International Energy Statistics. Generally all the regions are showing an increasing trend for energy

demand with an exception for middle east where the energy demand dropped significantly in year 1990 for

5 years until the increase in energy demand back in 1998. North America being the largest energy

consumer for the past 2 decades until Asia and Oceania region had a sudden increase in energy demand

since year 2002. This encounters for the overall increasing trend of annual demand for energy worldwide

even though there are several times when the demand for energy went down.

However with the ever-increasing demands for energy at the present world, depending on fossil fuel energy

alone such as coal, gas and oil may not be able to fulfil the energy demand. Thus with energy demand

awareness, intellectual thinking had brought science into play to look for and harness for major renewable

energy such as the generation of energy using wind, biomass, solar and the geothermal.

Below is a graph showing the increasing energy production through the renewable resources from year 2004 up

to year 2011. This electrical energy is produced by transforming the wind energy, burning biomass, solar

energy and geothermal energy. Energy production from wind contributes the most of the total renewable

energy production form year 2005 till 2011.

Fig.11 the average energy use per

person vs. world population,

adapted from IEA data from 1990

to 2008


3.1.2 THE GREEN REVOLUTION

The Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring

between the 1940s and the late 1960s, which increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the

developing world. The Green Revolution, had its most significant development in the decades later, was based

on the introduction of varieties of high productivity and high technology inputs.

The Green Revolution credited with saving over a billion people from starvation, involved the development of

high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management

techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers which led to a rapid

increase in yields and total crop production.

This scientific revolution ensured the food production remained ahead of population growth for the last 30 years.

In the period 1970-2000, output per capita grew 15 % in developed countries and 50% in countries development.

A worldwide food production has doubled and in the same period in the countries developing tripled in that

period. This growth was particularly evident in the products of greatest importance to the human diet for their

contribution in calories such as wheat, corn, rice and sorghum. This represented benefits direct to the producers

saw their increased income but also benefited consumers poor, both rural and urban, by reducing the prices of

basic foodstuffs. This is supported with the declining malnourished population as shown in Fig 13, where there

are declining trend in East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Latin America.

However this was the situation for the past 3 decades, in the present world it is estimated that the population

continues to grow at 1.5% a year and it is projected to reach 8 billion by 2020 and 11 billion by 2050 (Alvarez,

2011). Almost all this growth will occur in the already overpopulated, underdeveloped and poorer regions of

Africa, Asia and Latin America, which will shelter nearly 90% of the human population. According to Sassoon,

1990 demands for food in the most populated parts of the world will double by the year 2025.

Fig.12 Renewable energy trend by

year, as cited in Wikipedia, (n.d).


The food problem Application of biotechnology in response to basic human needs regarding food in developing

countries is real at present. There are different approaches such as the development of plant biotechnology,

biotechnology applied to livestock production and biotechnology applied to food processing. Plant

biotechnology can offer an important solution either through the application of conventional methods or with

modern methods, or mainly with the proper combination of both (Sassoon and Costarini, 1997). The main genes

integrated into crop species to produce transgenic plants provide resistance to many pests, pathogens and

herbicides as well as resistance to stress such as temperature, drought and salinity.

Among these, the following can be mentioned: genes for improving crop productivity, genes for production of

health products and genes for manipulating starch, proteins and oil.

3.1.3 THE GENE REVOLUTION

In the last one decade, there has been a tremendous increase of our understanding on how biological organisms

function at the molecular level, as well as our ability to analyse, understand and manipulate DNA molecules, the

biological material from which the genes in all organisms are made. Human Genome Project is the catalyst for

accelerating the entire process. Human Genome Project has poured substantial resources into the development of

new technologies for working with human genes. The same technologies are directly applicable to all other

organisms, including plants. Thus, this is how a new scientific discipline of genomics has arisen. This discipline

has contributed to powerful new approaches in agriculture and medicine and has helped to promote the

biotechnology industry.

Fig .13 Trend rend in East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Latin America:

Source: Gordon Conway, (1998) as cited in Wu, F.S & Burtz, W.P, (2004)


1) Organ transplant

Organ transplantation is an established and accepted form of treatment for many severe and end stage diseases,

when there is usually no other form of treatment. The number of transplants all over the world has been steadily

increasing since the first successful live-related kidney transplant of 1954 by Dr Joseph Murray and Dr David

Hume from Boston. The success rate of these organ transplants has shown improvement over the years, with

improved techniques and newer anti-rejection drugs. Patients are able to prolong their living with a better quality

of life. Those who are in need of transplantation have increased enormously worldwide.

History of Organ Transplantation in Malaysia: taken from Ministry of Health Malaysia.

1. Blood and Marrow Transplantation - There were a total of 1,174 haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

reported to the National Transplant Registry between 1987 and 2006; 797 were functioning at the end of 2006.

There were 124 new transplantation done in Malaysia in 2006 with 11 centres of follow up for transplant

recipients (Malaysia Ministry of Health, n.d).

2. Corneal Transplantation - One hundred and seventy four new cornea transplantation was reported in

Malaysia in 2006. In 2006, 55% of donated corneas were from the USA, 24% from Sri Lanka and 20% from

local sources.

3. Heart and Lung Transplantation - There were a total of 17 heart transplantation reported to the Registry

between 1997 and 2006; 7 grafts were functioning at the end of 2006 and all were followed up in Institute

Jantung Negara.

4. Liver Transplantation - There were a total of 88 liver transplantation reported to the Registry between 1993

and 2006; 50 grafts were functioning at the end of 2006. There were 8 new liver transplantation done in

Malaysia in 2006.

5. Renal Transplantation - There were 132 new renal transplants in 2006. The number of functioning renal

transplants has increased steadily from 1,083 in 1997 to 1,728. The transplant prevalence rate was 65 per

million population in 2006.

6. Heart Valve Transplantation - There were a total of 167 heart valve homografts reported to the Registry

between 1996 and 2006; 148 grafts were functioning at the end of 2006.

7. Bone and Tissue Transplantation - in 2006, 127 bone allograft and 379 amniotic membranes were supplied by

National Tissue Bank, USM.


8. Cadaveric Organ and Tissue Donation - There were 25 donors in 2006 of which 14 were brain dead multi

organ and tissue organs and 11 were post cardiac death tissue donors. The donation rate was 1.01 donations

per million population, a twofold rise from 0.53 donations pump in 2005

3.1.4 THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION REVOLUTION.

With the invention of Information and Communication Technology, online libraries now use various types of

technologies such as computers, telecommunications equipment encompasses and other information distribution

technologies to aid the services rendered. In present day, every new technological advance affects the way

information is handled in libraries and information centres.

Every aspect of libraries feels the impact of new technologies. Computing technology, communication

technology and mass storage technology are some of the areas of continuous development that reshape the way

that libraries access, retrieve, store, manipulate and disseminate information to users. The academic library has

been from its inception an integral part of institutions of higher learning, rather than an appendix or adjunct.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has brought outstanding changes and transformation to

academic library and information services, conventional LIS such as OPAC, current awareness services, Audio

visual services, bibliographic services, users services, document delivery, interlibrary loan, reference services

and customer relations can be provided more efficiently and effectively using ICT. The ICT offers convenient

time, place, cost effectiveness, faster and most-up-to-date dissemination as well as end users involvement in the

library and information services process.

The impact of ICT characterized on information services by changes in format, contents and method of

production and contents and method of production and delivery of information products.

Fig.14. an image taken to illustrate the

global networking in the present

world Wikipedia, (n.d).


Emergence of internet as the largest repository of information and knowledge, changed role of library and

information science professionals from intermediary to facilitator, new tools for dissemination of information

and shift from physical to virtual services environment and extinction of some conventional information services

and emergence of new and innovation web based.

Fig.15.Modern electric train (left), satellite orbiting the earth

(middle) and water clock (right). (Wikipedia).

3.2.0 NEGATIVE IMPACTS

Up until 21st century, there are a lot of developments in

science and technology. There is always new invention or

creation. Human need both science and technology to make

lives simpler. Every work can be done effectively and

efficiently through high-tech machines and equipments. As

we all know, technology has give a lot of benefit to human

civilization, however, it has been harmful to Environment and humanity. Everything in the world has it pros and

cons. same goes to science and technology, it does not have the positive side only. Furthermore, if we look at the

surroundings around us, it is so crowded, polluted and damaged which is caused mainly by the existence of

invented technologies throughout the world. Its existence totally affects our earth and our natural environment is

replaced by new huge buildings and factories that are managed by technology-based owners.

The rapid rise of modern science has created major social problems (Collins, 2012). Kids are growing up

learning to communicate through technology rather than on a personal level. The disadvantages of science and

technology on to human civilization can be discussed into three divisions which are health, safety, and

environment.

Fig.16. impact of science-obesity

due to improper health

measures.


3.2.1 HEALTH IMPACT

The greatest wealth in this world is health. A millionaire diagnosed to have cancer, can do nothing with his

riches but perish meaning money can buy everything except your life. This shows that a good health very related

to have a good live. Nowadays, we can see and hear the increase in type of diseases. However, there is certain

ailment that based on what we have created or invented. Some of them may be fatal.

One of the negative impacts that grip our attention is the misuse of drugs in our life. Drug discovery is the

process by which new candidate medications are discovered in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and

pharmacology. Scientist or researchers discover drugs or improve the use of drugs for medicine purpose only.

However, there are certain irresponsible people that change the ingredient for personal purpose. There are a few

reason of drug overdose which can be divided into two subdivisions:

Accidental- a person takes the wrong drug or combination of drugs which is in the wrong amount or

wrong time

Intentional- a person takes an overdose for high or to self-inflict harm

For example in accidental case, we can relate it to use of steroids. As if we can see, bodybuilding become a trend

nowadays, hence, some of the athletes or bodybuilders take a steroid to boost their testosterone hormone level.

Steroid will increase your strength and make your muscle to recover faster.

It give faster result but the side effect can be a tragedy for example take the case of the Malaysian bodybuilder

Afiq Muhammad who loses the battle of building the muscle due to heart attack caused by taking steroids.

We look to obesity issues. People nowadays are very lazy because they have machine or technology that can do

their jobs. The more time people are spending engrossed in video games, talking to friends online and watching

funny cat videos on YouTube, they are spending less time being active or exercising. For example, if we want to

order pizza from our house, we just make a call for the delivery.

The other consequence of health impact is related to the use of chemical in our foods and drinks. One cannot

think well, love well, and sleep well, if one has not dined well a quote by Virginia Wolf. This shows how

important what we eat that can affect our daily life. Food contains nutrients essential for our health, but it may

also comprise chemicals that can increase your risk of disease. The advancement of science and technology has

affected food industry too. Modern food-production methods have opened major avenues of exposure to

environmental carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Nowadays people just want to taste good in

their foods rather than thinking what are the ingredients used. In some ways, our ancestors had it easy as they


didn't have chemically treated food and chemically enhanced kitchenware, their diets and cooking practices

exposed them to fewer toxic hazards.

These chemicals known also as food additive can include pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, preservatives,

artificial colours and flavours, and industrially produced fats and sweeteners, process and junk food. Today, it's

not just the food itself that you have to be aware of, but also the containers they are stored in, which can leach to

toxic chemicals such as Bisphenol A (BPA), polystyrene, and vinyl chloride. All this chemicals will give certain

side effects to human body. We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-

gun (George Orwell).

Type of chemicals Function (Used in) Side effect(s)

Pesticide and

Herbicide

-agricultural works(fruits and

vegetables)

-breast cancer

-Parkinsons disease

Preservative -preserve food from spoiling

(meat and peeled fruits)

-margarine and carbonated drinks

-death

-nausea

-asthma attacks

-vomiting

Artificial colour -alter skin of foods

-butter

-carbonated drinks

-cancer

-allergies and asthma

-thyroid

-leukaemia

-hyperactivity in children

Artificial flavour -monosodium glutamate (MSG) -chest pain

-allergies

-headache

Fats and sweeteners -processed food (bread, cookies,

margarine)

-ice-cream

-obesity and diabetes

-hyperactivity

-allergic reaction

Table 2. clinical information, Source: taken from Wikipedia


3.2.2 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Sometimes we get so lost in the excitement of developing and using new technologies that we don't thoroughly

examine their effect on the world around us. For example, ozone layer playing an important role to our global

system and climate change act as shield that limits the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun to

levels necessary for life on Earth especially human and animal. Today, there is widespread concern that the

ozone layer is deteriorating due to the release of pollution containing the chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbon

(CFC), methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and hydro fluorocarbon (HFC). All these substances are

referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). All the details below show the type of ODS that commonly

used in human invention and its lifetime in atmosphere

Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-Used as coolants in refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners in buildings

and cars

Methyl chloroform-Used widely in industry purpose ( vapor degreasing, cold cleaning, adhesive and

chemical processing)

Carbon tetrachloride-Used in solvents and some fire extinguishers

Table 3. Source: Auditor General of Canada, Accessed 14, 1999

Ozone depletion

potential1

Canada's phase-out

date

Lifetime in

atmosphere

Halons 3.0 to 10.0 Jan. 1, 1994 up to 65 years

Carbon tetrachloride 1.1 Jan. 1, 1995 up to 42 years

CFCs 0.6 to 1.0 Jan. 1, 1996 from 50 to 1,700 years

Methyl chloroform 0.1 Jan. 1, 1996 6 years

Methyl bromide 0.6 Jan. 1, 2005 up to 2 years

HCFCs 0.001 to 0.52 Jan. 1, 2020 up to 19 years


3.2.3 CLIMATE CHANGES

According to American Heritage Dictionary of Sciences, global warming is defined as an increase in the average

temperature of Earth's atmosphere. In the first point of view, global warming commonly the climatic change

occurs due to emission of carbon dioxide activity to atmosphere. The emission of carbon dioxide mainly caused

by human intervention such as the high amount of smoke is released from factories and vehicles, deforestation

and others.

This makes greenhouse effect to occur. Greenhouse gases keep heat close to the earths surface making it

liveable for humans and animals. Urbanization also contributes to greenhouse effect when human in modern era

cut all trees to make more buildings thereby the carbon dioxide cycle is disturbed.

a)

b) c)

Fig.17. a) The Green house effect. b) Road accidents report-Namibia. c) Global warming. Source U.S

Department of State (1992).


3.2.4 SAFETY IMPACT

Safety play important role in our daily life but due to advancement in science and technology, all the machines

and equipments that we invented or created may cause harm hence increasing risk exposure level.

As we look to invention or development of weapons, from bows and arrow used by the Sumerian until nuclear

bomb. During ancient time, weapons were used for hunting or border security. Today, weapon is used to kill one

another including innocent people. Atomic bomb is the greatest weapon ever because it can kill more than

thousand people.

For example World War II is famous of its nuclear annihilation of two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki discussed later as one of the greatest challenge of invention. In addition, the invention of car also gives

negative impact on human civilization. Every year, there is increment of accident involving vehicle.

Surprisingly, the consequences technological advancement has reached today does not only stop at the passive

effect of TVs, machines accidents and other electron devices such as mobiles phones, it has recently involved

claims that technology modernization has even made humanity more stupid than their ancestors. Recent

scientific theory claims that humanity might have peak their emotional and intellectuality as early as 4, 000 B.C.

Collins, (2012) argued that the intelligence evolved from our ancestors in Africa about 50, 000 and 500, 000

years ago who hunt preys and builds shelters on their wits compare to present man whose genes is possibly

altered hence passing on a less intelligent genes to the new generation.


4.0 CHALLENGES

IS SCIENTIFIC TECHNOLOGY DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

As exhausted earlier on with a detailed impact of science both how it has transform man into exploitative being

on the planet and as well its adverse effects that proves to be challenging to lives and the environment, this

section will try to highlighted some few extreme challenges that scientific thinking of some great scientists has

remains a threat to our universe if no cautious majors taken.

We must appreciate science and Technology for the effort to shape our planet but the forces its create are putting

not just lives into danger but eliminating habitats through factors such as pollution, global warming,

sophisticated warfare, imbalance in the ecosystem and daily health risks that are faced by both the developed

countries and the developing one.

Scientific renaissance was initiated and took a great deal of interest from smart mind that include the likes of

Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Galileo, Einstein to mention a few. These individuals in one way or another have

managed to answered questions of how our universe came to existence contrary to the religious explanation.

Since the start of scientific evolution till the early 19 century, genius mind had been busy inventing but there was

no question to whether the invention is safe. Botkin & Keller (2003) assets that before 1960s, the word

environment was a political or social and that no one had ever heard the word ecology. Which means the quest to

fly was achieved with no regard to the adverse effect of flying to both human on the planet and the ecological

setting hence there was tremendous achievements in science and technology with no regard to health safety and

environment or the inventors themselves. By now you should be aware of such destruction science and

technology advancement is inflicting on the future mankind, but does this mean stopping scientific development?

To answer such questions, let first put sp

development in science and technology: impact and consequences on human civilisation

Documents

industrial revolution

communication revolution

gene revolution

ecotechnology revolution

green revolution

development science

development of science

human civilisation page