Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Technology
Technology is the making, usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or serve some purpose. The word technology comes from Greek (technologa); from (tchn), meaning "art, skill, craft", and - (-loga), meaning "study of-".[1] The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to By the mid 20th century, humans had achieved a control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of mastery of technology sufficient to leave the the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their atmosphere of the Earth for the first time and environment. Recent technological developments, including the explore space. printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.
Technology
Technology tools such as guns. As a cultural activity, technology predates both science and engineering, each of which formalize some aspects of technological endeavor.
History
Paleolithic (2.5 million 10,000 BC)
The use of tools by early humans was partly a process of discovery, partly of evolution. Early humans evolved from a species of foraging hominids which were already bipedal,[17] with a brain mass approximately one third that of modern humans.[18] Tool use remained relatively unchanged for most of early human history, but approximately 50,000 years ago, a complex set of behaviors and tool use emerged, believed by many archaeologists to be connected to the emergence of fully modern language.[19]
A primitive chopper
Technology Stone tools Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago.[20] The earliest methods of stone tool making, known as the Oldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago,[21] with the earliest direct evidence of tool usage found in Ethiopia within the Great Rift Valley, dating back to 2.5 million years ago.[22] This era of stone tool use is called the Paleolithic, or "Old stone age", and spans all of human history up to the development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago. To make a stone tool, a "core" of hard stone with specific flaking properties (such as flint) was struck with a hammerstone. This flaking produced a sharp edge on the core stone as well as on the flakes, either of which could be used as tools, primarily in the form of choppers or scrapers.[23] These tools greatly aided the early humans in their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at the marrow); chopping wood; cracking open nuts; skinning an animal for its hide; and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood.[24] The earliest stone tools were crude, being little more than a fractured rock. In the Acheulian era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stone into specific shapes, such as hand axes emerged. The Middle Paleolithic, approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of the prepared-core technique, where multiple blades could be rapidly formed from a single core stone.[23] The Upper Paleolithic, beginning approximately 40,000 years ago, saw the introduction of pressure flaking, where a wood, bone, or antler punch could be used to shape a stone very finely.[25]
A Clovis point, made via pressure flaking
Fire
The discovery and utilization of fire, a simple energy source with many profound uses, was a turning point in the technological evolution of humankind.[26] The exact date of its discovery is not known; evidence of burnt animal bones at the Cradle of Humankind suggests that the domestication of fire occurred before 1,000,000BC;[27] scholarly consensus indicates that Homo erectus had controlled fire by between 500,000BC and 400,000BC.[28] [29] Fire, fueled with wood and charcoal, allowed early humans to cook their food to increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient value and broadening the number of foods that could be eaten.[30] Clothing and shelter Other technological advances made during the Paleolithic era were clothing and shelter; the adoption of both technologies cannot be dated exactly, but they were a key to humanity's progress. As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 380,000BC, humans were constructing temporary wood huts.[31] [32] Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to migrate out of Africa by 200,000BC and into other continents, such as Eurasia.[33]
Technology
An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.
With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in labor specialization.[36] What triggered the progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as Uruk, and the first civilizations, such as Sumer, is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly hierarchical social structures, the specialization of labor, trade and war amongst adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges, such as the building of dikes and reservoirs, are all thought to have played a role.[37] Metal tools Continuing improvements led to the furnace and bellows and provided the ability to smelt and forge native metals (naturally occurring in relatively pure form).[38] Gold, copper, silver, and lead, were such early metals. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone, and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of Neolithic times (about 8000 BC).[39] Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of alloys such as bronze and brass (about 4000 BC). The first uses of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1400 BC. Energy and Transport Meanwhile, humans were learning to harness other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power is the sailboat.[40] The earliest record of a ship under sail is shown on an Egyptian pot dating back to 3200 BC.[41] From prehistoric times, Egyptians probably used the power of the Nile annual floods to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely built irrigation channels and 'catch' basins. 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 (and even human) power required another invention. According to archaeologists, the wheel was invented around 4000 B.C. probably independently and nearly-simultaneously in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq), the Northern Caucasus (Maykop culture) and Central Europe. Estimates on when this may have occurred range from 5500 to 3000 B.C., with most experts putting it closer to 4000 B.C. The oldest artifacts with drawings that depict wheeled carts date from about 3000 B.C.; however, the wheel may have been in use for millennia before these drawings were made. There is also evidence from the same period of time that wheels were used for the production of pottery. (Note that the original potter's wheel was probably not a wheel, but rather an irregularly shaped slab of flat wood with a small hollowed or pierced area near the center and mounted on a peg
The wheel was invented circa 4000 BC.
Technology driven into the earth. It would have been rotated by repeated tugs by the potter or his assistant.) More recently, the oldest-known wooden wheel in the world was found in the Ljubljana marshes of Slovenia.[42] The invention of the wheel revolutionized activities as disparate as transportation, war, and the production of pottery (for which it may have been first used). It didn't take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads and fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery. But it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources.
Technology
Optimism
Optimistic assumptions are made by proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and singularitarianism, which view technological development as generally having beneficial effects for the society and the human condition. In these ideologies, technological development is morally good. Some critics see these ideologies as examples of scientism and techno-utopianism and fear the notion of human enhancement and technological singularity which they support. Some have described Karl Marx as a techno-optimist.[44]
Technology Nikolas Kompridis has also written [50] about the dangers of new technology, such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology, synthetic biology and robotics. He warns that these technologies introduce unprecedented new challenges to human beings, including the possibility of the permanent alteration of our biological nature. These concerns are shared by other philosophers, scientists and public intellectuals who have written about similar issues (e.g. Francis Fukuyama, Jrgen Habermas, William Joy, and Michael Sandel).[51] Another prominent critic of technology is Hubert Dreyfus, who has published books On the Internet and What Computers Still Can't Do. Another, more infamous anti-technological treatise is Industrial Society and Its Future, written by Theodore Kaczynski (aka The Unabomber) and printed in several major newspapers (and later books) as part of an effort to end his bombing campaign of the techno-industrial infrastructure.
Appropriate technology
The notion of appropriate technology, however, was developed in the 20th century (e.g., see the work of Jacques Ellul) to describe situations where it was not desirable to use very new technologies or those that required access to some centralized infrastructure or parts or skills imported from elsewhere. The eco-village movement emerged in part due to this concern.
Technology
Future technology
Theories of technology often attempt to predict the future of technology based on the high technology and science of the time.
References
[1] "Definition of technology" (http:/ / mw1. merriam-webster. com/ dictionary/ technology). Merriam-Webster. . Retrieved 2007-02-16. [2] For ex., George Crabb, Universal Technological Dictionary, or Familiar Explanation of the Terms Used in All Arts and Sciences, Containing Definitions Drawn From the Original Writers (http:/ / www. archive. org/ stream/ universaltechno01crabgoog#page/ n525), (London: Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1823), s.v. "technology." [3] Julius Adams Stratton and Loretta H. Mannix, Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005), 190-92. ISBN 0262195240. [4] Eric Schatzberg, "Technik Comes to America: Changing Meanings of Technology Before 1930," (http:/ / muse. jhu. edu/ journals/ technology_and_culture/ v047/ 47. 3schatzberg. html) Technology and Culture 47 (July 2006): 486-512. [5] Read Bain, "Technology and State Government," (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ stable/ 2084365) American Sociological Review 2 (December 1937): 860. [6] Donald A. MacKenzie and Judy Wajcman, "Introductory Essay" in The Social Shaping of Technology, 2nd ed. (Buckingham, England : Open University Press, 1999) ISBN 0-335-19913-5. [7] Franklin, Ursula. "Real World of Technology" (http:/ / www. anansi. ca/ titles. cfm?series_id=4& pub_id=58). House of Anansi Press. . Retrieved 2007-02-13. [8] "Technology news" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ technology/ default. stm). BBC News. . Retrieved 2006-02-17. [9] Stiegler, Bernard (1998). Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus. Stanford University Press. pp.17, 82. ISBN0-8047-3041-3. Stiegler has more recently stated that biotechnology can no longer be defined as "organized inorganic matter," given that it is, rather, "the reorganization of the organic." Stiegler, Bernard (2008). L'avenir du pass: Modernit de l'archologie. La Dcouverte. p.23. ISBN2-7071-5495-4. [10] "Industry, Technology and the Global Marketplace: International Patenting Trends in Two New Technology Areas" (http:/ / www. nsf. gov/ statistics/ seind02/ c6/ c6s5. htm). Science and Engineering Indicators 2002. National Science Foundation. . Retrieved 2007-05-07. [11] Borgmann, Albert (2006). "Technology as a Cultural Force: For Alena and Griffin" (http:/ / muse. jhu. edu/ login?uri=/ journals/ canadian_journal_of_sociology/ v031/ 31. 3borgmann. html) (fee required). The Canadian Journal of Sociology 31 (3): 351360. doi:10.1353/cjs.2006.0050. . Retrieved 2007-02-16. [12] Macek, Jakub. "Defining Cyberculture" (http:/ / macek. czechian. net/ defining_cyberculture. htm). . Retrieved 2007-05-25. [13] "Science" (http:/ / dictionary. reference. com/ browse/ science). Dictionary.com. . Retrieved 2007-02-17. [14] "Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology" (http:/ / www. intute. ac. uk/ sciences/ ). Intute. . Retrieved 2007-02-17. [15] Wise, George (1985). "Science and Technology". Osiris (2nd Series) 1: 229246. [16] Guston, David H. (2000). Between politics and science: Assuring the integrity and productivity of research. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521653185.
Technology
[17] "Mother of man 3.2 million years ago" (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ sn/ prehistoric_life/ human/ human_evolution/ mother_of_man1. shtml). BBC. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [18] "Human Evolution" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080423204038/ http:/ / www. history. com/ encyclopedia. do?articleId=212317). History channel. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. history. com/ encyclopedia. do?articleId=212317) on 2008-04-23. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [19] Wade, Nicholas (2003-07-15). "Early Voices: The Leap to Language" (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage. html?res=9503E0DF173CF936A25754C0A9659C8B63& sec=health& spon=& pagewanted=1). The New York Times. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [20] "Human Ancestors Hall: Homo sapiens" (http:/ / anthropology. si. edu/ humanorigins/ ha/ sap. htm). Smithsonian Institution. . Retrieved 2007-12-08. [21] "Ancient 'tool factory' uncovered" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ sci/ tech/ 336555. stm). BBC News. 1999-05-06. . Retrieved 2007-02-18. [22] Heinzelin, Jean de; Clark, JD; White, T; Hart, W; Renne, P; Woldegabriel, G; Beyene, Y; Vrba, E (April 1999). "Environment and Behavior of 2.5-Million-Year-Old Bouri Hominids". Science 284 (5414): 625629. doi:10.1126/science.284.5414.625. PMID10213682. [23] Burke, Ariane. "Archaeology" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080513213506/ http:/ / ea. grolier. com/ cgi-bin/ article?assetid=0019880-04). Encyclopedia Americana. Archived from the original (http:/ / ea. grolier. com/ cgi-bin/ article?assetid=0019880-04) on 2008-05-13. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [24] Plummer, Thomas (2004). Flaked Stones and Old Bones: Biological and Cultural Evolution at the Dawn of Technology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. [25] Haviland, William A. (2004). Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. The Thomson Corporation. p.77. ISBN0534624871. [26] Crump, Thomas (2001). A Brief History of Science. Constable & Robinson. p.9. ISBN1-84119-235-X. [27] "Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and Environs" (http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ pg. cfm?cid=31& id_site=915). UNESCO. . Retrieved 2007-03-10. [28] "History of Stone Age Man" (http:/ / www. historyworld. net/ wrldhis/ PlainTextHistories. asp?historyid=ab10). History World. . Retrieved 2007-02-13. [29] James, Steven R. (February 1989). "Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene" (fee required). Current Anthropology 30 (1): 126. doi:10.1086/203705. JSTOR2743299. [30] Stahl, Ann B. (1984). "Hominid dietary selection before fire" (fee required). Current Anthropology 25 (2): 151168. doi:10.1086/203106. JSTOR2742818. [31] O'Neil, Dennis. "Evolution of Modern Humans: Archaic Homo sapiens Culture" (http:/ / anthro. palomar. edu/ homo2/ mod_homo_3. htm). Palomar College. . Retrieved 2007-03-31. [32] Villa, Paola (1983). Terra Amata and the Middle Pleistocene archaeological record of southern France. Berkeley: University of California Press. p.303. ISBN0-520-09662-2. [33] Cordaux, Richard; Stoneking, Mark (2003). "South Asia, the Andamanese and the genetic evidence for an "early" human dispersal out of Africa" (http:/ / site. voila. fr/ rcordaux/ pdfs/ 04. pdf) (PDF). American Journal of Human Genetics 72 (6): 1586. doi:10.1086/375407. PMC1180321. PMID12817589. . [34] "The First Baby Boom: Skeletal Evidence Shows Abrupt Worldwide Increase In Birth Rate During Neolithic Period" (http:/ / www. sciencedaily. com/ releases/ 2006/ 01/ 060103114116. htm). Science Daily. 2006-01-04. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [35] Sussman, Robert W.; Hall, Roberta L. (April 1972). "Child Transport, Family Size, and Increase in Human Population During the Neolithic". Current Anthropology (University of Chicago Press) 13 (2): 258267. doi:10.1086/201274. JSTOR2740977. [36] Ferraro, Gary P. (2006). Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=isGyuX9motEC& pg=PA163& lpg=PA163& dq=labor+ neolithic+ population). The Thomson Corporation. ISBN0495030392. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [37] Patterson, Gordon M. (1992). The ESSENTIALS of Ancient History (http:/ / books. google. com/ ?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC& pg=PA7& lpg=PA7& dq=labor+ surplus+ neolithic+ population). Research & Education Association. ISBN9780878917044. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [38] Cramb, Alan W. "A Short History of Metals" (http:/ / neon. mems. cmu. edu/ cramb/ Processing/ history. html). Carnegie Mellon University. . Retrieved 2007-01-08. [39] Chisholm, Hugh (1910). Encyclopdia Britannica. p.708. http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=VANVAEjBG-QC& pg=PA708& lr=& as_brr=1& ei=fl2NR6ODGYbWiwGW8Zi_BA. Retrieved 2008-05-17. [40] Dodge, Darrell. "Part 1 - Early History Through 1875" (http:/ / www. telosnet. com/ wind/ early. html). Illustrated History of Wind Power Development. . Retrieved 23 June 2010. [41] Dollinger, Andr. "Ships and Boats" (http:/ / www. reshafim. org. il/ ad/ egypt/ timelines/ topics/ navigation. htm). Pharaonic Egypt. . Retrieved 23 June 2010. [42] "Slovenian Marsh Yields World's Oldest Wheel" (http:/ / www. angelfire. com/ country/ veneti/ AmerDomoOldestWheel. html). Amerika Domovina. 2003-03-27. . Retrieved 2007-02-13. [43] Monsma, Stephen V. (1986). Responsible Technology. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ISBN0802801757. [44] Hughes, James (2002). Democratic Transhumanism 2.0 (http:/ / www. changesurfer. com/ Acad/ DemocraticTranshumanism. htm). . Retrieved 2007-01-26. [45] Lovitt, William (1977). "The Question Concerning Technology" (http:/ / www. culturaleconomics. atfreeweb. com/ Anno/ Heidegger The Question 1954. htm). The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Harper Torchbooks. pp.335. ISBN0613913140. . Retrieved 2007-11-21.
10
Technology
[46] Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, in The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays, trans. W. Lovitt, New York, Harper Torchbooks, 1977, pp. 256. [47] Hubert Dreyfus and Charles Spinosa, "Further Reflections on Heidegger, Technology, and the Everyday," in Nikolas Kompridis, ed. Philosophical Romanticism, New York: Routledge, 2006, 265-281. [48] Neil Postman, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, New York: Vintage, 1993. [49] Darin Barney, One Nation Under Google, Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2007. [50] http:/ / www. parrhesiajournal. org/ parrhesia08/ parrhesia08_kompridis. pdf [51] Nikolas Kompridis, "Technology's Challenge to Democracy," Parrhesia 8 (2009) (http:/ / www. parrhesiajournal. org/ parrhesia08/ parrhesia08_kompridis. pdf), 20-33. [52] Koprowski, Gene (1991-03-07). "Tech Intelligence Revival? Commerce May Model on DIA's Project Socrates". Washington Technology. [53] Smith, Esther (1988-05-05). "DoD Unveils Competitive Tool: Project Socrates Offers Valuable Analysis". Washington Technology. [54] Holmes, Stanley (1991-01-19). "Technology boosts U.S. on battlefield, Stuart expert says". The Stuart News. [55] Sagan, Carl; Druyan, Ann; Leakey, Richard. "Chimpanzee Tool Use" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20060921062716/ http:/ / www. mc. maricopa. edu/ dept/ d10/ asb/ anthro2003/ origins/ hominid_journey/ optional3. html). Archived from the original (http:/ / www. mc. maricopa. edu/ dept/ d10/ asb/ / anthro2003/ origins/ hominid_journey/ optional3. html) on 2006-09-21. . Retrieved 2007-02-13. [56] Rincon, Paul (2005-06-07). "Sponging dolphins learn from mum." (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ science/ nature/ 4613709. stm). BBC News. . Retrieved 2007-02-13. [57] Schmid, Randolph E. (2007-10-04). "Crows use tools to find food" (http:/ / www. msnbc. msn. com/ id/ 21135366/ ). MSNBC. . Retrieved 2008-05-17. [58] Rutz, C.; Bluff, L.A.; Weir, A.A.S.; Kacelnik, A. (2007-10-04). "Video cameras on wild birds". Science. [59] Oakley, K. P. (1976). Man the Tool-Maker. University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0226612706. [60] McGrew, W. C (1992). Chimpanzee Material Culture. Cambridge u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN978-0521423717. [61] Boesch, Christophe; Boesch, Hedwige (1984). "Mental map in wild chimpanzees: An analysis of hammer transports for nut cracking" (http:/ / www. springerlink. com/ content/ e7x6620732717288/ ) (fee required). Primates 25 (25): 160170. doi:10.1007/BF02382388. . [62] Nut-cracking monkeys find the right tool for the job (http:/ / www. newscientist. com/ article/ dn16426-nutcracking-monkeys-find-the-right-tool-for-the-job. html), New Scientist, 15 January 2009
11
Further reading
Kremer, Michael (1993). "Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990" (http:// jstor.org/stable/2118405). Quarterly Journal of Economics (The MIT Press) 108 (3): 681716. doi:10.2307/2118405. Frank Popper (2007) From Technological to Virtual Art, Leonardo Books, MIT Press Charlie Gere (2005) Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body, Berg Ambrose, Stanley H. (2001-03-02) (PDF). Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution (http://www3.isrl. uiuc.edu/~junwang4/langev/localcopy/pdf/ambrose01science.pdf). Science. Retrieved 2007-03-10. Kevin Kelly. What Technology Wants. New York, Viking Press, October 14, 2010, hardcover, 416 pages. ISBN 9780670022151
External links
W5H of Technology (http://www.scribd.com/doc/5170618/Technology-for-kids) Technology for Kids Science and Technology in the Southern world (http://www.argentina.ar/sw_seccion.php?id=124& idioma_sel=en) RedHerring.com ~ The Business of Technology (http://www.redherring.com/) WiTEC - The European Association for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) (http://www. witec-eu.net/)
12
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/