Ideas About Technology

Technicians, as we know from the arguments of Steven Shapin, were written out of visibility. Generally, technicism is the belief in the utility of technology for improving human societies. Some, such as Stephen V. Monsma, connect these ideas to the abdication of religion as a higher moral authority. It did not take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads. The ancient Sumerians used the potter's wheel and may have invented it.

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‘Technology’ only became a common word in the second half of the twentieth century. By then the damage was done, and conceptual confusion meant that the term could be used in either broad or narrow senses, sometimes embracing cultural or social components, sometimes reduced to mere tools or to means-to-ends rationality. No wonder when we talk about, say, the ‘science–technology relationship’ or technological change as a driver of history the results are so unedifying and intellectually impoverished. The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often using results and techniques from science.

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The invention of integrated circuits and the microprocessor led to the modern computer revolution. This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. The revolution in the automobile industry from the early years to now with greener, electric, high-technology cars. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning. Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.

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State and federal lawmakers, meanwhile, have wrestled in recent years with the reality that new technologies also present new challenges. The rise of “big data,” for example, has led to new concerns about how schools can keep sensitive student information private and secure. According to archaeologists, the wheel was invented around 4000 B.C.E. The wheel was likely independently invented in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq) as well. There is also evidence from the same period of time that wheels were used for the production of pottery. Similarly, the early peoples of Mesopotamia, the Sumerians, learned to use the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for much the same purposes. But more extensive use of wind and water power required another invention.

Online Safety Bill: Will Uks New Law Protect People From Harm Online?

Create a free account to save your favorite articles, follow important topics, sign up for email newsletters, and more. To support schools in building and paying for these networks, the FCC in 1996 established a program known as the E-rate. Fees on consumers’ phone bills fund the program, which has paid out more than $30 billion since its inception. Describes a new CIO trying to manage a denial of service attack against his e-retailing business.