How Does Science
Affect Society?
Unit 1 – Challenges to Society
Think – how different would your
life be like with out:
Electricity
 Exploitation of non-renewable energy resources
 Food production on an industrial scale
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However, some people (still!) don’t have access
to this but are affected by the CO2 emitting
activites of the rest of us
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Scientific discoveries and their technologies have
a profound effect on the way we live!
Society has a considerable
influence on the kinds of science
and its activities
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Moral values
– E.g. How people feel about:
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Animal experiments or cloning
Experimenting on humans
Development and use of weapons
Stem cell research
Historically – church influenced
 Earth centre of the universe!
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Government
 Evolution v creationism
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Over last 600 years many scientific discoveries that
have challenged the religious beliefs or ideas of the
time!
The Solar System
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The Solar System
– Definitions
 Cosmology - Scientific study of the origin of the universe, galaxies, stars and
planets
 Astronomy -The scientific study of planets, stars, galaxies and the universe
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Classical Astronomy based on Greek and Middle Eastern
developments from 1000’s of years ago
– Common beliefs
 The Earth is the centre of the universe
 The Earthly universe has a boundary, and heaven lies beyond it
– These suited various mythologies and religions of the time
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16th Century education based on learning and regurgitating ideas of
Aristotle, Plato, Archimedes, Euclid etc
Arguments and debates were on finer points of interpretation of the
works rather than seeking different and better explanations.
The way things ‘seem’ is not always
as they ‘are’.
Sun rises in the East and sets in the West
 Appears sun travels from East to West
 Illusion produced by rotation of Earth
relative to the sun
 We don’t notice rotation and Earth so
large
 Idea of relative motion was a big step in
manakind’s understanding of the universe.
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Copernican revolution and its
aftermath
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Sun not Earth centre of universe
– Idea put forward by few writers and thinkers before
but ideas not supported by evidence that could be
accepted and flew in face of authority
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Geocentric Theory easy to accept if only Sun,
Moon and Earth but not with other things in the
sky
– Important religious concept
– Problem – other planets etc do not go round us in
neat circular way – they ‘wandered around’.
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Solution (of sorts) – Ptolemy (last lead lesson)
– System of epicycles
Copernican revolution continued…
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Early 16th Century – Copernicus - heliocentric theory
Refined by Kepler – paths of planets around Sun were
elliptical not circular
Galileo – observed moons of Jupiter, experimented on
falling bodies
Newton – Gravitational attraction to explain planetary
movement
Important to realise these ideas had and have practical
applications
– Navigate, explore, site and orientation of buildings, agriculture
and adaptation to seasonal change in weather all influenced by
understanding of natural world
– Weaponry – understand laws of motion – prediction of flight
projectiles
Charles Darwin and evolution
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Evolution and natural selection were developed much
later than modern forms of astronomy and cosmology
Challenges
 people’s ideas of own existence
 Some fundamental religious beliefs (creationism)
 Hence why created such a furore in 19th Century (and now!!)
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Evidence for evolution and natural selection
– Robust
– Yet – religious fundamentalists go to incredible lengths to cast
doubt on it
– No reason why any scientific theory cannot be challenged,
progress in science depends on it, so far though evolution has
won the day!
New Science Creates New
Challenges
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Major Scientific discoveries have big knock
on effects.
– Their uses usually create profound and
difficult problems in ethics or have unforeseen
long-term consequences
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Look at two ideas:
– Atomic Structure
– Gene Therapy
Atomic
Structure
Discovery of the structure of
the atom and radioactivity
Use of radioactive elements
and knowledge of nuclear
chain reactions to create
weapons
Relationships between nations
Change, depending on their acquisition
Of the technologies required
Resulting in a nuclear arms race
Post WWII US and western
Nations oppose Eastern Bloc,
Cold War and Berlin
Study of radioactivity and chain
Reactions leads to the possibility
Of massive sources of energy
Issues over the safety of nuclear
Power production (e.g. Chernobyl,
Three Mile Island)
Issues over the disposal of
Nuclear waste
Tense relationships between
Neighbours e.g. India and
Pakistan
Rogue state behaviour
e.g. North Korea
Use of nuclear Power generation
To avoid CO2 emissions and
Global warming
Genes and
Inheritance
The gene therapy of inheritance,
The structure of DNA and the
Genetic code
Understanding the basis of some
Kinds of inherited disease
Possibility of GM – the direct
Manipulation of genes (although
This has essentially the same effect
As selective breeding, which has
Been practised by humans for
Thousands of years)
Useful modifications of crop plants
To increase yields, use poorer soils
And defeat pests
Ethical issues about information
To be given to parents; genetic
counselling
Possibility of new treatments
Of genetic disorders such as
Cystic fibrosis – gene therapy
Concerns about
Changes to the
Environment, and the
Effects of GM crops
On the ‘natural’
ecosystems
Concerns about the
Long-term effects of GM
Produced foods on
humans
Problems
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Working out the complete human genome
– Implications for health of individuals
– Can indicate increased ‘risk’ of condition
– Knowledge at very early stage
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Analysing genome from small tissue sample for
a price
– Useful but could be abused
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However, developing area with lots of research
– Therefore enormous potential benefits