Module 1 Unit 2
Module 1 Unit 2
Historical
Antecedents of Science and
Technology
Intended Learning Outcomes
1. List down scientific and technological inventions across time.
2. Discuss the historical antecedents, e.g., social, cultural, economic,
and political contexts, which shaped and was shaped by the
development of S&T across time.
3. Discuss Philippine scientific and technological inventions and how
these, too, shaped and were shaped by various social contexts.
Watch an 18-minute Tedx Talk by Hannu
Rajaniemi.
Historical Antecedents of S&T
✓ One of the key interests of Science, Technology, and Society as an
academic field
✓ focuses on how S&T changed across time and the impacts of
scientific and technological innovation on prevailing social, cultural,
political, and economic contexts across time
✓ pays attention to the contextual circumstances that shaped S&T
✓ interests lie in historical antecedents of scientific and technological
innovation
What’s in a historical antecedent?
✓ can be understood as a precursor of a thing
✓ an antecedent of a something unfolded or existed before it
✓ historical antecedents in S&T can be understood as the previous
state of science and technology or previous scientific or
technological tools that paved the way for more advanced and
sophisticated S&T to arise
Ancient Period
• The rise of ancient civilizations paved the way for advances in
S&T. The advances in S&T during the ancient period allowed
civilizations to flourish by finding better ways of living,
communication, transportation, and self-organization.
Ancient Period: Ancient Wheel
Figure 4. Shadoof
Ancient Period: Antikythera Mechanism
Figure 9. The Chinese are credited for the invention of paper money
Middle Ages: Mechanical Clock
Figure 15. The flight of the Flying Machine of Orville and Wilbur Wright
Modern Age: Television