dator
Questions 20-28
The interrelationship of science, technology, and industry is taken for granted
today—summed up, not altogether accurately, as "research and
development." Yet
historically this widespread faith in the economic virtues of science is a
relatively recent
Line phenomenon, dating back in the United States about 150 years, and in the
Western world
(5) as a whole not over 300 years at most. Even in this current era of large
scale, intensive
research and development, the interrelationships involved in this process are
frequently
misunderstood. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution, science and
technology
evolved for the most part independently of each other. Then as
industrialization became
increasingly complicated, the craft techniques of preindustrial society
gradually gave way
(10) to a technology based on the systematic application of scientific knowledge
and scientific
methods. This changeover started slowly and progressed unevenly. Until late in
the
nineteenth century, only a few industries could use scientific techniques or
cared about
using them. The list expanded noticeably after 1870, but even then much of what
passed
for the application of science was "engineering science" rather than
basic science.
(15) Nevertheless, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the rapid expansion
of scientific
knowledge and of public awareness-if not understanding-of it had created a
belief that the
advance of science would in some unspecified manner automatically generate
economic
benefits. The widespread and usually uncritical acceptance of this thesis led
in turn to the
assumption that the application of science to industrial purposes was a linear
process, starting
(20) with fundamental science, then proceeding to applied science or
technology, and through
them to industrial use. This is probably the most common pattern, but it is not
invariable. New
areas of science have been opened up and fundamental discoveries made as a
result of
attempts to solve a specific technical or economic problem. Conversely,
scientists who mainly
do basic research also serve as consultants on projects that apply research in
practical ways.
(25) In sum, the science-technology-industry relationship may flow in several
different ways, and
the p
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