Technology and the Anthrosphere

TECHNOLOGY AND THE ANTHROSPHERE

Since the anthrosphere is the result of technology, it is appropriate to discuss technology at this point. Technology refers to the ways in which humans do and make things with materials and energy. In the modern era, technology is to a large extent the product of engineering based on scientific principles. Science deals with the discovery, explanation, and development of theories pertaining to interrelated natural phenomena of energy, matter, time, and space.

 Based on the fundamental knowledge of science, engineering provides the plans and means to achieve specific practical objectives. Technology uses these plans to carry out the desired objectives. 

Technology has a long history and, indeed, goes back into prehistory to times when humans used primitive tools made from stone, wood, and bone. As humans settled in cities, human and material resources became concentrated and focused such that technology began to develop at an accelerating pace. Technological advances predating the Roman era include the development of metallurgy,

beginning with native copper around 4000 B.C., domestication of the horse, discovery of the wheel, architecture to enable construction of substantial buildings, control of water for canals and irrigation, and writing for communication. 

The Greek and Roman eras saw the development of machines, including the windlass, pulley, inclined plane, screw, catapult for throwing missiles in warfare, and water screw for moving water. Later, the water wheel was developed for power, which was transmitted by wooden gears. 

Many technological innovations such as printing with wood blocks starting around 740 and gunpowder about a century later, originated in China. 

The 1800s saw an explosion in technology. Among the major advances during this century were widespread use of steam power, steam-powered railroads, the telegraph, telephone, electricity as a power source, textiles, the use of iron and steel in building and bridge construction, cement, photography, and the invention of the internal combustion engine, which revolutionized transportation in the following century. Since about 1900, advancing technology has been characterized by vastly increased uses of energy; greatly increased speed in manufacturing processes, information transfer, computation, transportation, and communication; automated control; a vast new variety of chemicals; new and improved materials for new applications; and, more recently, the widespread application of computers to manufacturing, communication, and transportation.

 In transportation, the development of passenger-carrying airplanes has affected an astounding change in the ways in which people get around and how high-priority freight is moved. Rapid advances in biotechnology now promise to revolutionize food production and medical care. 

The technological advances of the present century are largely attributable to two factors. The first of these is the application of electronics, now based upon solid state devices, to technology in areas such as communications, sensors, and computers for manufacturing control. The second area largely responsible for modern technological innovations is based upon improved materials. 

For example, special strong alloys of aluminum were used in the construction of airliners before World War II and now these alloys are being supplanted by even more advanced composites. Synthetic materials with a significant impact on modern technology include plastics, fiber reinforced materials, composites, and ceramics. Until very recently, technological advances were made largely without heed to environmental impacts. 

Now, however, the greatest technological challenge is to reconcile technology with environmental consequences. The survival of humankind and of the planet that supports it now requires that the established two-way interaction between science and technology become a three-way relationship including environmental protection.

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