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Technology and Science

Science has always been defined as a vast collection of facts and a body of knowledge. This collection of facts or body of knowledge might encompass the study of human behavior or natural phenomena, but just the same, science may be defined as anything learned through a systematic process which we call the scientific method.

The word science has its roots back to antiquity. It is derived from the Latin word scientia, which means knowledge. It was the Greeks, however, that has tied science to the use of our logic. To them, the use of reasoning in trying to explain any natural phenomena is uppermost in learning the truth. We can also attribute the process of using the scientific method to these people.

The scientific method basically employs the use of systematic steps in trying to prove or disprove a hypothesis. A hypothesis, on the other hand, is the central idea that is being studied. Using the scientific method, scientists seek to explain certain processes in nature or try to predict certain outcomes using a well-controlled experiment. Here, scientists try their best to explain and predict certain things in the real world using representative models, formulas and mathematical interpretations. The truth, however, does not represent whatever the result of a scientific method is. In fact, hypotheses that are proved or disproved are then labeled as theories, which could be supplanted by another one that better explains the phenomena or human behavior. One example of this is the theory of gravity of Isaac Newton, which was supplanted with Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Science, for some part, is just theoretical work which only those people in cutting edge research understands. However, the application of these theories to the real world has resulted in inventions indispensable to our everyday lives. Gadgets like the radio, TV or internet would have not been possible if not for the groundbreaking works of scientists a long time ago. In this sense, science can be defined as a body of knowledge that is constantly redefined, rewritten and improved. Today, we see these manifestations of science in almost everywhere we go. Whether in the genetically-engineered foods that we eat today, advanced medical practices in surgery and medical research, cutting edge communications technologies like our cell phones and the internet, multimedia electronics like the cable and satellite TV, plasma televisions, surround sound systems and many more, science has paved the way for these things to be possible.

The advancement of science has, however, been an age-old subject of debate, the basic questions being the moral responsibilities of scientists and the limitations of garnering knowledge in the pursuit of science. This is because science has not only paved the way to the good and useful tools and gadgets that we have today. In fact, the invention of such things such as the atomic bomb, biological bombs, guns, and a lot of other horrifying things can also be attributed to science. Nevertheless, science has been and will continue to be the cornerstone of our society today.