Technology - Wikipedia. This article is about the use and knowledge of techniques and processes for producing goods and services. For other uses, see Technology (disambiguation). Most electricity is produced by thermal power stations with turbines like this one. When Technology Fails by Neil Schlager; 1 edition; First published in 1994. When Technology Fails - A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Edition. March 2012 Unleashing Innovation: Using Everyday Technology to. Using Everyday Technology to Improve Nonprofit. Technology to Improve Nonprofit Services. Electricity consumption and living standards are highly correlated. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, and the like, or it can be embedded in machines which can be operated without detailed knowledge of their workings. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistoric discovery of how to control fire and the later Neolithic Revolution increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans to travel in and control their environment. Developments in historic times, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. The steady progress of military technology has brought weapons of ever- increasing destructive power, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has many effects. It has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by- products known as pollution and deplete natural resources to the detriment of Earth's environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, and the challenges of bioethics. Philosophical debates have arisen over the use of technology, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Buy When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Edition on Amazon.com FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders. When Technology Fails explores the causes and effects of approximately 100 of the most significant man-made disasters, accidents and failures of this century. Neo- Luddism, anarcho- primitivism, and similar reactionary movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, arguing that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno- progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but 2. Definition and usage. The use of the term . Before the 2. 0th century, the term was uncommon in English, and usually referred to the description or study of the useful arts. The term's meanings changed in the early 2. American social scientists, beginning with Thorstein Veblen, translated ideas from the German concept of Technik into . The Merriam- Webster Learner's Dictionary offers a definition of the term: . In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real- world problems. It is a far- reaching term that may include simple tools, such as a crowbar or wooden spoon, or more complex machines, such as a space station or particle accelerator. Tools and machines need not be material; virtual technology, such as computer software and business methods, fall under this definition of technology. Brian Arthur defines technology in a similarly broad way as . In this context, it is the current state of humanity's knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products, to solve problems, fulfill needs, or satisfy wants; it includes technical methods, skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw materials. When combined with another term, such as . A modern example is the rise of communication technology, which has lessened barriers to human interaction and as a result has helped spawn new subcultures; the rise of cyberculture has at its basis the development of the Internet and the computer. As a cultural activity, technology predates both science and engineering, each of which formalize some aspects of technological endeavor. Science, engineering and technology. Antoine Lavoisier conducting an experiment with combustion generated by amplified sun light. The distinction between science, engineering, and technology is not always clear. Science is systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result. Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering, although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of electrons in electrical conductors by using already- existing tools and knowledge. This new- found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines such as semiconductors, computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference. In the immediate wake of World War II, for example, it was widely considered in the United States that technology was simply . An articulation of this philosophy could be found explicitly in Vannevar Bush's treatise on postwar science policy, Science . This essential new knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research. The issue remains contentious, though most analysts resist the model that technology simply is a result of scientific research. Early humans evolved from a species of foraginghominids which were already bipedal. Approximately 5. 0,0. The earliest stone tools were little more than a fractured rock, but approximately 7. As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 3. The invention of polished stone axes was a major advance that allowed forest clearance on a large scale to create farms. Agriculture fed larger populations, and the transition to sedentism allowed simultaneously raising more children, as infants no longer needed to be carried, as nomadic ones must. Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could to the hunter- gatherer economy. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone, and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of Neolithic times (about 1. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of alloys such as bronze and brass (about 4. BCE). The first uses of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1. BCE. The earliest known use of wind power is the sailboat; the earliest record of a ship under sail is that of a Nile boat that dates back to the 8th millennium BCE. Similarly, the early peoples of Mesopotamia, the Sumerians, learned to use the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers for much the same purposes. However, more extensive use of wind and water (and even human) power required another invention. According to archaeologists, the wheel was invented around 4. BCE probably independently and nearly simultaneously in Mesopotamia (in present- day Iraq), the Northern Caucasus (Maykop culture) and Central Europe. There is also evidence from the same period for the use of the potter's wheel. More recently, the oldest- known wooden wheel in the world was found in the Ljubljana marshes of Slovenia. It did not take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads. Fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery, but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources. Medieval and modern history (3. CE . Medieval technology saw the use of simple machines (such as the lever, the screw, and the pulley) being combined to form more complicated tools, such as the wheelbarrow, windmills and clocks. The Renaissance brought forth many of these innovations, including the printing press (which facilitated the greater communication of knowledge), and technology became increasingly associated with science, beginning a cycle of mutual advancement. The advancements in technology in this era allowed a more steady supply of food, followed by the wider availability of consumer goods. Technology took another step in a second industrial revolution with the harnessing of electricity to create such innovations as the electric motor, light bulb, and countless others. Scientific advancement and the discovery of new concepts later allowed for powered flight and advancements in medicine, chemistry, physics, and engineering. The rise in technology has led to skyscrapers and broad urban areas whose inhabitants rely on motors to transport them and their food supply. Communication was also greatly improved with the invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio and television. The late 1. 9th and early 2. The 2. 0th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission has led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Computers were also invented and later miniaturized utilizing transistors and integrated circuits. Information technology subsequently led to the creation of the Internet, which ushered in the current Information Age. Humans have also been able to explore space with satellites (later used for telecommunication) and in manned missions going all the way to the moon. In medicine, this era brought innovations such as open- heart surgery and later stem cell therapy along with new medications and treatments. Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are needed to make and maintain these new technologies, and entire industries have arisen to support and develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools. Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education .
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