SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
Science and technology is as old as mankind. Since when the man exists
science is developing and people always wanted somehow to improve their
lives. The first inventions and discoveries were very simple. As the first
important discovery in the development of mankind we consider a discovery of
fire. On the other hand the first important invention was the invention of wheel.
Many years ago people lived only in caves but in about 3000 BC people started
to live in towns, where science began to grow.Then there were many important
inventions like writing, reading, counting, and astronomy, medicine and
chemistry began to develop. For sailors there was a great progress in
navigation.
But unfortunately the growth of astronomy and other natural sciences was
stopped by Catholic church – a lot of excellent scientists and philosophers were
tortured and executed /G.Galilei, Copernikus, G.Bruno, J.Kepler/. They
denied the theory that the Earth is the centre of the universe. The inventions and
discoveries of T. de Brahe and L. da Vinci are still the basis which the modern
science draws on. 17th, 18th and 19th centuries improved the fast
development in physics, mathematics and astronomy. The most significant
scientist of this period was I.Newton – an Englishman who is famous for
formulating the law of gravitation. Charles Darwin´s theory of evolution was
explained in his book The Original Species in which he put forward the idea of
natural selection – he argued that an intense struggle for existence was always
going among plants and animals and it´s the fittest who survive the struggle. He
proved that many species of living creatures are not the result of creation but
development. 19th century is called the century of steam. In 1825 G.
Stevenson made the first steam train. On the other hand the 20th century is
called the century of electricity and it has to be the time of the greatest
scientific and technological growth in the history of mankind.
As the first important discovery in the development of mankind we
consider a discovery of fire.
On the other hand the first important invention was the invention of
wheel.
Many years ago people lived only in caves but in about 3000 BC
people started to live in towns.
Then there were many important inventions like:
writing
reading
counting
astronomy
medicine
navigation
But unfortunately the growth of astronomy and other natural
sciences was stopped by Catholic church – a lot of excellent
scientists and philosophers were tortured and executed /G.Galilei,
Copernikus, G.Bruno, J.Kepler/.
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
There are many problems in the world and science must help to solve them. One
of the biggest problems today is the problem of environment. The steep
development of industry in the last 50 years is a great danger for life on the
Earth. There are two pressing problems with the atmosphere of our planet which
are caused by emitting polluting materials into the air. The most pressing
problem is caused by the impairment of the ozone layer in the stratosphere of
the Earth. Ozone absorbs the UV radiation from the sun which is dangerous for
all organisms on the Earth. Ozone is decomposed by freons above all. It is
necessary to stop using this gas and try to replace it by another one or avoid
using if it is possible.
The second great problem is the green-house effect which is caused by a lot of
CO2 in the air above all. In spite of the fact that the increasing of temperature is
very slow it can cause the thawing of polar icebergs maybe in the period of 50
years. At the same time it will not be possible for the temperature to rise too
high in the future. It would have negative consequences for vegetation on the
Earth.
Another problem, connected with the environment, is the problem of energy.
We need energy to keep development of industry. There have been invented
three types of power stations so far. Thermal power stations pollute the air,
release smog, oxides of sulphur, oxides of carbon. Water power stations
destroy the landscape, fish cannot get through and there are not many rivers
suitable for water power stations. Nuclear power stations are very expensive
but they don´t pollute the air. Many people think that nuclear power stations are
not safe, however, the waste materials make the biggest problem of these power
stations.
We must find new sources of energy. The first alternative is solar energy which
could be obtained from the sun using orbital stations. But scientists must find
a way how to transport this energy to the Earth. The second one is the energy
exploitation under the surface of our planet.
For the development of industry we must find not only energy, but also raw
materials, of course. The supplies of raw materials on the Earth will be
exhausted and that´s why we must replace some materials with plastics. But
there is a big problem with plastics because they are indestructible and stay in
the ground for many years. Scientists must find a technology enabling their
utilization.
One of the greatest problems in the world is the food insufficiency. There are
many people suffering from hunger in the world, especially in Africa. The
population on the Earth is growing and that´s why the food problem can be
world-wide in the future.
Medical science is very important for human life. The main task of this science
today is the treatment of fatal diseases. Very dangerous are also social diseases,
e.g. AIDS, which is caused by the HIV virus. Scientists must explain the causes
of this illness and find an efficacious medicament as quickly as possible.
Medical science must look for new ways of treatment. Transplantations of
some organs have their place in surgery. In the world the transplantation of
livers, kidneys or hearts have been executed already. Some people must have
artificial organs, which replace original ones, e.g. joints or bones. Another task
of medical science is to extend the average human age.
One of the main tasks of science today is also space research. It is connected
with space flights or astronomical observations.Automatic probes explore
planets of our solar system. The first spaceship was launched in 1961. The first
man on the Moon was Neil Armstrong. Americans use space shuttles for space
flights. A space shuttle can be used many times but its repairs are very
expensive. There is vacuum and no gravity in space and that´s why some alloys,
which cannot be prepared on the Earth, can be made there.
People have always dreamt of travelling in space, reaching other planets, stars,...
But the real space age began on the 4th October 1957 when the Soviet Union
launched the first satellite called Sputnik. It was carrying scientific instruments
but no crew. The satellite circled the Earth more than 1,400 times and its
workings were transmitted back by radio. A month later the second Sputnik
carried the first space traveller – a dog named Laika.
After that first step both the S.U. and the U.S.A. began sending more satellites
into orbit, later so-called „probes“ to the Moon. The world´s first astronaut was
Yuri Gagarin /12th April 1961/. He made only one orbit of the Earth, it took
about one and half hour, and landed again safely. The first American astronaut
Alan Shepard was sent into space on 5th May 1961.
Another big step in space travel was the first landing of a man on the Moon on
the 21st July 1969. The American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin
Aldrin were the first people on the Moon. Michael Collins was orbiting the
Moon in the cabin of Apollo 11 itself. „Here men from the planet Earth first set
foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.“ – This
was the text of the message which was left on the Moon.
Then other space flights, both manned and unmanned, followed, scientists
prepared long space voyages, many space stations have been built, thousands of
satellites are orbiting our planet for communication purposes, weather forecast,..
Artificial satellites are of many different shapes and sizes and are sent into orbit
for several different reasons. They usually have solar cells to use the energy
from the Sun for their instruments and to keep them on the correct course.
A common use for satellites is to improve international communications.
SOME MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF INVENTIONS AND IDEAS
Beg. of 11th century - China – first printing system
End of 13th cent. – Spinning wheel from China demonstrated in Germany
End of 15th cent. – Leonardo da Vinci draws a flying machine
Beg. of 16th cent. – Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus claims that the
Earth revolves around the Sun
2nd half of 17th c. – Isaac Newton discovers three laws of motion and law of
gravitation
Beg. of 18th cent. - Umbrellas become popular in London
Half of the 18th c. - First known elevator installed at Versailles
Americans discover the lightning rod
Belgian creates roller skates
Benjamin Franklin developes bifocal lenses for glasses
Beg. of 19th cent. - Italian Alessandro Volta invents the electric battery
John Herschel proposes contact lenses
Charles Darwin starts to develop his theory of evolution
2nd half of 19th c. - France – margarine invented as a butter substitute
Colour photographs are devised
Alexander Graham Bell invents the first workable
telephone and microphone
Thomas Edison patents the electric light bulb
K.F.Benz invents a car with internal combustion engine
Armand Peugeot of France makes world´s first car sale
Thomas Edison completes motion-picture studio
SCIENTIFIC METHODS
Scientists are trying to acquire knowledge of the physical world. The word
„science“ comes from the Latin word for knowing. They study physical world
because they can learn about it using their five senses. They also use scientific
instruments /telescope – for astronomers, stethoscope – for doctors/. Scientists
always ask the question that can be tested and then they design experiments to
test the answer. The experiments have to be repeatable. Science always follows
the scientific method that leads to the development of a scientific theory. The
steps of scientific method are:
1/ Asking question – what exactly you want to know;
2/ Gather information about the question – what is already known;
3/ Form a hypothesis – your guess about the answer;
4/ Determine the variables – things that change from one experiment to the
next;
5/ Design an experiment – test your hypothesis with different variables;
6/ Analyze your results – if data agree or disagree with the hypothesis;
7/ Tell others what you have found – communication among scientists;
Outstanding representatives:
1901 – 1910 – Marconi receives radio signal over Atlantic.
Wright brothers fly first motorized plane.
Einstein publishes the special theory of relativity.
1911 - 1920 - Ford installs first moving assembly line.
Rutherford and Bohr describe atomic structure.
Einstein announces the general theory of relativity.
1921 - 1930 Banting and Best isolate insuline.
Hubble identifies a new galaxy.
Television is developed.
Big bang theory is introduced.
The beginning of Fleming´s discovery of penicillin.
Hubble finds proof that the universe is expanding.
1931 - 1940 Chadwick discovers the neutron.
Nylon is invented.
Electroshock therapy introduced.
1941 – 1950 – Fermi creates controlled nuclear reaction.
The first atomic bomb is detonated.
Transistor is invented.
1951 – 1960 - Drugs developed for leukemia.
Drug for treating schizophrenia identified.
Salk produces polio vaccine.
Watson and Crick describe structure of DNA.
First successful kidney transplant performed.
1961 – 1970 - Apollo atsronauts land on the Moon.
1971 - 1980 - First commercial microprocessor is introduced.
Personal computer industry is launched.
1981 - 1990 - World Health Organization /WHO/ declares smallpox eradicated.
AIDS is officially recognized.
1991 – 2000 - The Internet gives rise to the World Wide Web.
Search for behavioural genes.
Meteorite from Mars points to possibility of life on other planets.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL was born in Edinburgh in 1847 and was
educated at Edinburgh University and the University of London.He came to the
US as a teacher of the deaf. The nineteen-year-old bell started thinking about
transmitting tones, and perhaps words by the telegraph.That was the very
beginning of his experiments, the result of which was the telephone. In 1876 he
demonstrated his device enabling people to talk to each other over long
distances. The basis principle of this apparatus was the transmission of sound by
electricity. Within a few years there were telephones all over the world.
In 1915 the first transcontinental telephone line was opened. Graham Bell sat in
New York at a desk with a telephone before him while his friend Watson was
listening more than three thousand miloes away in San Francisco. Bell used
most of the money th Government gave him for his invention to help people
who were deaf.
DMITRI IVANOVICH MENDELEYEV was one of the greatest Russian
scientists, whose discoveries in chemistry established his reputation
internationally. He arranged the chemical elements in the periodic table
according to their atomic weights and predicted the existence of the elements
gallium, scandium and germanium before their discovery.
He was born at Tobolsk, Siberia in 1834. He studied science at Petersburg where
he graduated in chemistry.He became a professor of chemistry in the
teachnological institute, later he became a director of the bureau of weights and
measures.
His name is best known for his work on the periodic law. He devoted much
study to the nature of solutions, investigated the thermal expansion of liquids
and devised a formula for its expression. His best known book is „The Principles
of Chemistry“ which went through many subsquent editions in various
languages. Mendeleyev was awarded the Davy medal of the Royal Society,1882
THOMAS ALVA EDISON , an American, in 1877 made a recording on a little
machine which he had invented, and played it back to himself. He gave
a demonstration of his talking machine in the office of magazine and news of it
spread very quickly. The first phonograph was a tinfoil one, which was put
around a metal cylinder. By turning a handle, the cylinder was made to rotate
while a needle cut a groove into the tinfoil. It was a great step forward, a step
that was to lead to the modern science of sound-recording.
Next Edison became interested in the invention of an electric-light bulb for
lighting streets and buildings by electricity instead of by gas. He learned that
platinum wire would burn a little longer in an all-glass bulb. This vacuum bulb
was Edison´s first real step towards his success.
He was born in 1847 in Ohio, USA. As his teacher thought he was a dull boy, he
left school and his mother was his teacher. Later he worked as a telegraphist. He
spent all his free time experimenting. He attributed his success not so much to
genius as to hard work. Edison´s inventions include the phonograph, or
gramophone, the megaphone, the cinematograph, the electric light bulb and
numerous other inventions.
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, WILBUR and ORVILLE were born in Ohio
in 1867 and in 1871.They experimented with different airborne objects and
kites, they watched birds, later they started their experiments with motorless
gliders. They made important improvements in flight control. Orville designed
an engine, which they mounted on the glider to produce flying power. In 1903
their flying machine, made of pieces of wood and cloth, moved down a track,
was catapulted into the air and flew for twelve seconds. It was the first contolled
flight of an airplane. In 1906 they were granted a patent for their invention. They
formed the Wright Company to manufacture aircraft.
ALBERT EINSTEIN was born in Ulm , Germany in 1879. When he was two
his parents moved to Munich. As a child he was slow to learn to talk and in early
childhood was considered backward. But by the time he was fourteen he had
recovered from a slow start. He wanted to be a physicist and devote himself to
abstract research. Because of the decline of the Einsteins´ business, they were
forced to live in Italy. Albert worked as a teacher, then as a patent office
examiner in Switzerland. He continued his schooling at the University of Zurich
and received a doctor´s degree. Here he began the research and studies which
resulted in the creation of his famous Theory of Relativity. This theory shook
the whole scientific and intellectual world. Because of it, scientists never again
regarded the world as they had before. Basically, the theory proposed, among
other things, that the maximum speed possible in the universe is that of light;
that the mass appears to increase with speed;that energy and mass are equal and
interchangeable.
When Adolf Hitler came to power, there was no respect for Einstein – he was
expelled from the Academy of Sciences, he lost his job, all his property was
seized and his German citizenship was taken away. He became a man without
a country. He went to France, Belgium, England, and then he was offered
a lifetime professorship from the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New
Jersey, USA. He accepted it and in 1940 he became an American citizen.
SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING was born in 1881 in Lochfield, Scotland. He
came from a farmer´s family and was the youngest of eight children. He had
a splendid memora and was very intelligent. His uncle left him some money, so
he decided to become a doctor. By chance he came into contact with a famous
bacteriologist Sir Almroth Wright and joined his research team. Wright´s idea
was to discover some means of killing the microbes but without killing the
corpuscles. This was the basis of all Fleming´s work. Fleming was offered to
assist Wright in a research laboratory in France. Fleming became interested in
bacterial action and antibacterial drugs. Fleming´s discovery in 1928 of the
antibacterial powers of the mould from which penicillin is derived, was a rgeat
truimph. He found that that a liquid mould culture, which he named penicillin,
prevented growth of staphylococci. Meanwhile, at Oxford two great research
workers had found a new method for extracting pure penicillin.
In 1945 Fleming was given the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He died in London
and was buried in St.Paul´s Cathedral. Only two letters „A.F.“ on a flagstone
show where he lies.
ALFRED BERNHARD NOBEL was born in 1833 in Stockholm in Sweden,
but they moved to St. Petersburg. He was educated by private teachers. He was
a chemist, also was interested in engineering, literature and natural sciences. He
could speak German, English, French, Swedish and Russian. He studied
chemistry in Paris and USA. He began experiments with nitroglycerine and from
it he invented a new explosive, the dynamite. Later the dynamite became
essential in the construction of highways, tunnels and in mining. Nobel died in
Italy and left the major part of his large estate in trust to establish five
prizes.They are awarded annually to those who during the preceeding years had
conferred the greatest benefit on mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry,
psychology, medicine, literature and peace regardless of the nationality of the
candidates. The distribution of these prizes began in 1901, five years after
Nobel´s death. The prize for Economics in memory of Nobel was established in
1968. The Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, the other prizes in Stockholm. These
prizes are given either entire to one person, or shared by two or three people.
The Nobel Prize winners: Albert Einstein, James D. Watson, Jaroslav
Heyrovský /for discovery and development of polarography/, Ernest
Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw,
Michail Šolochov, Jaroslav Seifert / for his outstanding contribution to poetry/,
etc.