CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

1.

WHY THE NEED FOR THIS S&T COURSE?

Well, first of all you need to know that this S&T course
concerns the significance of science and technology in
society, rather than the detailed technical issues. At the
same time it hopes to convince you that everyone
needs to take an interest in technical issues, whether or
not they are scientists or technologists. Otherwise, we
shall all be at the mercy of those who, even
though they have technical knowledge, may
not have the broad view necessary to make
wise, informed judgements about its
significance.

Take a look in any of the business weekly magazines

Economist, Time, Newsweek, Business Week they all
have an S&T section. Why? Perhaps because it is
important for business and civic leaders, who may or
may not be scientists or technologists, to have an
overview of developments in S&T so that their
decisions take these into account.
Just think of the advantages to any business, or
country, had they been aware of the growing
possibilities of the internet, or of genetic
engineering the late 1980s!

If you are a science or engineering student,

the course hopes to help you develop this
broader view. If you are
in other fields of study, you
also need this broader view
because you may well find
yourselves in senior management
positions,
making
important
strategic decisions which have a
substantial
technological
component.

2.

So, this course is about Science & Technology in

Society. Or possibly Science & Technology as
Society. In other words S&T is such a
fundamental part of modern society that to separate it in
any way from society would be misconceived.

For more on this, see Chapter 1 of Science,

Technology and Society by Robert McGinn, taking care
to note that the book is written from a USA perspective.

WHY THE NEED FOR THIS COURSE IN THE CARIBBEAN?

If we were following a S&T course in the USA, or other

industrialised country, our main concern would possibly
be the problems of technology, especially regarding the
environment. To glimpse the extent of these problems,
have a look at the contents page of Technology and
the Future by Albert Teich, or Science, Technology
and Society Papers from Science 1948-88 edited by
Rosemary Chalk for the AAAS (American Association
for the Advancement of Science).

assessment of where we are at with S&T at present,

where we would like to go and how we can get there.
By implication, this means that we can, and must, make
better use of science and technology in our overall
development, aware however of its double-edged
nature.
Most analysts of economic growth (which is not, of
course, the same as development) have stressed the
central role played by technological advance, and by
extension, scientific advance. These include the
economist Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations 1776)
and Karl Marx (Das Kapital 1867). More recently,
since the 1950s, regression analyses have suggested
that technology is the missing factor responsible for
economic growth, once the contribution of the basic
factors of production (land, labour and capital) have
been taken into account.

In a developing country like

Jamaica, or within the Caribbean
region, our main concern may be not
the
problems
of
too
much
technology, but perhaps of too little .
This is not meant to suggest that we
should dismiss the well-founded
concerns over
the environment,
working conditions, job losses, social and cultural
effects, ethical issues etc. It simply means that our
approach needs to be broader.

Now we recognise that technology means more than

mechanisation or automation - it means knowledge and
a receptive social and cultural environment. We need
technological capability as much as the hardware and
software.

The focus of this S&T course is very much the final

essay which is entitled Technology Strategy in Jamaica
(or the Caribbean) and its Implementation. The
intention is action-oriented, to challenge you to come up
with a well-reasoned strategy which includes an

We cannot escape from the effects of the postindustrial age, where sophisticated manufacturing
1

methods have been combined with advanced computer

and communications technologies. And yet in some
ways, developing countries have not yet been through
an industrial age. This poses a problem if we hope to
share the material advantages of industrialised
countries we need not only to keep up with the latest
technology as best we can, but also to make up for lost
time, developing the physical, social and cultural
infrastructure which it took the industrialised countries
at least 100 years to develop!

Similarly, a Scientific Research Council (SRC)

document suggests that the richest countries are those
that have best been able to advance scientific
knowledge and to use technology to generate national
wealth In launching the Western Chapter of the
Schools S&T Societies in 1997, Dr. Conrad Douglas,
Chairman of the SRC, reinforces this point when he
said the main difference between the quality of life in
one society and another is often more visibly and
directly related to the extent of appreciation and
application of science and technology in these
societies Such is the challenge of our times, and for
the students on this S&T course.

In the Foreword to the 1990-95 Jamaica S&T Plan, the

then Minister of Finance, Development and Planning,
P.J. Patterson says that a country without a properly
organised S&T system is destined for backwardness
. At the G15 conference in June 2000, as Prime
Minister, he called for strategies to ensure that
technological progress brings truly global benefits, and
its potential mobilised to free people from poverty.

3.

For more on this, see the Appendix for:

P.J.Pattersons comments (1991, 2000)
Role of the SRC (Scientific Research Council)
A Jamaican Perspective: Dr.Douglas (1997)
Preface to Discovering the Future (2000)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE

To be in a position to suggest a meaningful S&T

strategy for Jamaica/ the Caribbean, we need to be
aware of a range of background issues. If you examine
the S&T Course Outline or the contents pages of this
Reader, you will see how the structure of the course
attempts to address this.

Science, Technology and Society Papers from

Science 1948-88 edited by Rosemary Chalk) are
invaluable here. One of the most burning issues is the
effect of technology on both the quantity and quality of
jobs available.
Because we eventually want to suggest ways of
implementing an effective S&T strategy, the work on
determinants or sources of change is vital. There is
less to be found in the literature on this, most of which
is descriptive, concentrating on the impact. So the
challenge here is more considerable. What drives
technology, what holds it back? There are a myriad of
factors including its own momentum, chance discovery,
the push from scientific / technological innovation, the
pull of particular economic/ social/ political/ military/
commercial forces etc?

It starts with an outline history of

S&T, both ancient and modern,
including the development of what
is called the scientific method.
Without knowing how we have
reached our present level of
science and technology, where it all
began and when, we cannot
sensibly begin to suggest where we
need to go. Remember Garveys aphorism that a
people without a knowledge of their history is like a tree
without roots? And dont be deceived, Jamaica has a
scientific tradition and Black people have made much
more of a contribution than is commonly known. Have a
look at Chapter 1 of the local book Discovering the
Future the emergence, development and future of
science & technology in Jamaica as well as Blacks in
Science: ancient and modern by Ivan van Sertima
which examines the science of Africa and its diaspora.

Moving nearer to home, we then cover a range of ideas

which relate to technology in developing countries,
before finally focussing on
Jamaica and the Caribbean, in
terms of appropriate strategy
and its implementation. We
shall examine the 1990-95
Jamaica S&T Plan and draw on
the recent contributions from
those who have expertise and
influence locally.

Then to the meanings of science and technology and

the relationship between them. Not only is there no
agreed definition of either science or technology, but
their relationship is far from clear. Does technology
need science, or is it that science needs technology?
How connected are they in any case? What is certain is
that technology is by no means just applied science as
many would believe.

PLEASE NOTE: The course revolves around

discussion sessions. To make these useful, you will
need to read between classes and attend both
regularly, and actively!
In
addition
to
this
S&T
reader,
you will need to be active in the library and on
the internet. The references at the end of the
Course Outline are there to be used, with
most of the material being in the UTECH
library at Q121-Q179, or in the reserved, reference or

We then examine the broad social / cultural impacts of

S&T, which have been both positive and negative.
There is a vast range of this material available both in
print and on the internet. The sources mentioned above
(Technology and the Future by Albert Teich, or
2

periodical sections. The local book

Discovering the Future is available
to UTECH students at a 40%
discount from Pelican Publishers at
39 Lady Musgave Road. Towards
the end of the course, you may also
want to obtain a copy of the 1990-95
Jamaica S&T Plan.

4.

There is no final examination and thus

a high standard will be looked for in both
class and written contributions, based on
your reading and research . However,
because of the importance of the subject
matter to our national and regional
development, this is how it should be.

EXAMPLES OF S&T ISSUES

Computer and communication technologies seem to

offer a whole new world of large markets, instant
information and seamless communication. We must run
with this, as is happening with the promotion of the
computer industry by Minister Philip Paulwell. But do
we need to be careful about the effects of indiscriminate
use on our childrens cognitive development, on brain
damage (cell-phones), on our cultural development
(cable TV / mass tourism) and on the development of a
digital divide within Jamaica?

S&T is all around us. It has endless potential but also

seen and unseen dangers.
In production, why is the sugar
industry struggling for survival?
Is the bauxite industry as
beneficial as it could be? What
on earth happened to our
manufacturing sector? And if we
do update our technologies,
does it have to mean lost jobs?
Is our education system, do we promote and fund
S&T sufficiently in schools, at UTECH, at UWI? Where
should the focus be at the primary, secondary, tertiary
or vocational levels? Will the inclusion of science in
GSAT help? What about the revised fee structure at
UWI, reducing the cost for science students? Is our
research agenda appropriate to our local needs, or is it
too narrow, searching for international recognition
rather than meeting local needs?

Transport is another current

issue. Where are we going,
after a decade of relying on
cars and robot taxis? Are we
finally applying sustainable
technologies in terms of new
buses and a promised railway service? What part will
our new super-highways play in these developments?
We did well in phasing out leaded gasoline ahead of
many other countries.

On the environment, our air

is much cleaner than that in
many countries, especially
industrialised ones. Can we
keep it that way? How
concerned do we need to be
about
deforestation
(we
apparently have one of the
greatest rates of deforestation in the world)? What
about the death of most of our coral reefs, due to
agricultural run-off, sewage effluents etc? What about
coastal erosion in Negril? How many of these problems
are of our own making? How much worse might they
become if we become more developed? How much of
the damage is of a global nature - CFCs/ ozone layer,
global warming etc.

On crime, the police have bought in

new vehicles, and guns. But what
other technology could help them in
the detection and suppress-ion of
crime? In any case, the use of crimefighting
technology
must
be
supplemented
with
social
reconstruction. Preventing bogus voting
using sophisticated voting machines is a particular,
clear example of using technology to reduce one type
of crime but will it work? Is the technology
appropriate? Does it tackle the root of the problem,
or only the symptoms?
Finally, in the medical field, what type of
medicine can we afford? Medicare in the
USA is virtually bankrupt, despite the
countrys
wealth.
What
is
an
appropriate balance between cheaper
prevention and expensive, technologybased cure? In face of AIDS, do we need to
find affordable treatments, or use condoms
more, or change our behaviours? What is the
role of technology here? In terms of basic research,
genetic engineering and human cloning may seem to
offer almost unimaginable possibilities (organ banks
etc) but what of the ethical dangers, including
eugenics?

Although technology has created many of these

environmental problems, it also helps
to find at least partial cures. The
bauxite companies in Jamaica have
used technology to reduce dust,
noise and ground water pollutants.
There is always the possibility of
using
leaner
energy
sources,
especially in Jamaica, with access to sun, wind and
wave power.

5.

SOME USEFUL QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT TECHNOLOGY

6. Technology and culture. How does the culture of

everyday life - the beliefs and ideals that we as a
society and as groups in the society hold - interact with
technology? How is technology used, and what does it
mean, in a cultural sense?

1. Social shaping of technology. Technology is

contested terrain. How does it reflect the society and
culture in which it is made and used? In particular, how
does it reflect the power and interests of the people and
groups who make and use it, and others with the power
to shape its creation and use?

7. The culture of technology. Technology has its

internal culture, its experts, its makers. How do the
beliefs and interactions of these people shape
technology?

2. Invention and innovation. What is the process of

invention? Who does it, what, why, and who pays for it?
Is there a need or a demand that creates invention?
Does invention create demand? How do new
technologies get put to use?

8. Technology and politics. What are the political

implications of technology? How do ideologies shape
politics? Technologies are sometimes ways of solving
political debates; how and why does that happen?

3. The users of technology. How do they affect

technology, how does technology affect their lives?
How does new technology change people's lives - their
families, their beliefs, their daily activities?

9. Technology and race, class and gender. How has

technology been shaped by and shaped our ideas
about race, class and gender? How has technology
served as a tool to enforce and reinforce those ideas?

4. Technology and work. How does new technology

shape the work people do? How do the systems of
work shape new technology? What is the relationship
between new technologies and unemployment?

10. Better for whom? New technologies are not

adopted because they are better in some pure sense.
For whom is new technology better? Technologies do
not evolve; they are changed for some purpose, by
someone. Why, and for whom?

5. Technological systems. The internal structure of

technology. How do systems of machines and people fit
together? How do the interactions of these machines
bring about innovation? Basic idea: you can't look at
individual machines, have to look at complete systems
of machines, and the people who invent, produce, and
use them.

11. Do machines make history? New machines can

shape and suggest, but they rarely demand. Social and
cultural change is more complicated than is suggested
by technological determinism, the idea that machines
make history.

Is technology making life better?

What do you think?
Does the cell-phone, the fact that
many of us have cell-phones, make
our lives better? Well, sure they do in
some ways. We can keep in touch with
family and friends, we can do our
business away from the office, we can
even send text messages.
But have they made our manners
worse in class, in meetings, in public?
And do they distract us from what are
sometimes more important tasks?
What of the radiation from the cellphones that may be damaging our
brains, even giving us brain cancer?
Perhaps like every technology, they
have their good and bad points, but
which wins out?
The writer of this piece goes on to ask
whether technology makes our lives
more manageable, faster, efficient
and easy. Or does it bring oppression
to the majority, making the poor poorer
and the rich richer?
Medical technology saves countless
lives, but it is very expensive, and not
everyone has access to good medical
care - some cant afford it. Where
should our priorities be? We have to
die sometime, dont we?
We can now do what was impossible a
few years ago, and what was not even
thought of twenty years ago. But is
the world now more dangerous on
account of technology? Is it less
happy, as the UNICEF 2000 report
suggests?
(Article from the Gleaners Youth
Links, 13 August 2002)