Exercise 16. Master the active vocabulary.

Science, engineering and technology

The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. Science is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing scientific method. Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.

Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. 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.

The exact relations between science and technology in particular have been debated by scientists, historians, and policymakers in the late 20th century. In immediate wake of World War II, for example, in the United States it was widely considered that technology was simply "applied science" and that to fund basic science was to reap technological results in due time. An articulation of this philosophy could be found explicitly in Vannevar Bush's treatise on postwar science policy, Science—The Endless Frontier: "New products, new industries, and more jobs require continuous additions to knowledge of the laws of nature... This essential new knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research." In the late-1960s, however, this view came under direct attack, leading towards initiatives to fund science for specific tasks. The issue remains contentious—though most analysts resist the model that technology simply is a result of scientific research.

distinction – разница

endure – длиться

utility – полезность

usability – пригодность

safety – безопасность

to exploit – разрабатывать

electrical conductor – проводник электрического тока

in this sense – в этом смысле

to reap – пожинать

explicitly – ясно, подробно

treatise – [tri:tiz] – трактат

Exercise 17. Answer the following question:

1. Can we define the distinction between science, engineering and technology?

2. What is engineering?

3. Are technologies exclusively products of science?

4. What does the development of technology depend on?

Exercise 18. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following words and word combinations:

последствие, полупроводник

прикладная наука

отвергать

спорный

удовлетворять требованиям

собирать технологические результаты вовремя

Exercise 19. Find the words with similar meanings:

tool aim

investigation advanced

to involve to create

purpose to decline

to innovate machinery

to resist implement

modern research

equipment to include

contemporary