How could someone define what Science and Technology is?
Science is the search for deep knowledge. Scientists investigate the world around us. They observe how things work and develop ideas for ways to make things work better. Sometimes they try to prove an idea to explain how something works. Scientists perform experiments to find out how things work. The knowledge they discover is useful for many things. You can help build new machines. It can help scientists develop new drugs or cure a disease. Technology is the use of scientific knowledge to create new things.
So what is an inventor?
An inventor is a person who creates a new idea or device to accomplish a task. An invention is new technology created. An inventor with a new idea or design for an invention may decide to have the idea protected. The idea is protected by law in a document called a patent. A patent prevents other people from making, using, or selling the new idea without the permission of the inventor. Some inventions are simply a better way to do or build something. They can improve an existing technology. Other inventions are much more complicated.
Today’s technology has been in the process of development for thousands of years. New inventions are constantly changing the way people work and play. They change the way people think and live. The future constantly brings us even more changes. This will happen as we continue to learn about the world.
Do we depend on science and technology?
What did you do today? Did you talk on the phone? Did you travel in a car or on a bus? Did you use a computer or turn on a light? If you did any of these things, you used technology.
Almost everyone uses some form of technology at work, home, or school. Computer programmers use computer technology to write a computer program. People can write letters using a computer program called a word processor. Many people work in the entertainment industry. Cameramen use television and film cameras. They use them to make TV shows and movies. Disc jockeys, or DJs, play records and CDs on the radio.
Scientists use all kinds of technology to study the Earth and the Universe. Businesses often have telephones, fax machines, and computers. Graphic designers use desktop publishing programs to create books and magazines. Doctors frequently use medical technology. They use it to treat injuries, illnesses, and diseases such as cancer. Pilots fly planes and helicopters. Who knows what jobs new technologies will create in the future!
