History Of The Term Technology
Technology is the study of any new techniques, skills, processes, or methods used in the attainment of specific goals, like scientific research, or in the manufacture of products or services. In the broadest sense technology can refer to anything that is new and different. In fact, technology is constantly being changed and evolving like the universe itself. Just as the universe is constantly changing, so too must our civilization be. It’s a very fast changing world and it behooves all of us to keep up.
Broaden your horizons and see the world through a technological lens. Technology is very broad and covers many different things. For instance, architecture, computer science, electrical engineering, medical technology, industrial technology, and many more. This is just a short sampling of the many different categories of technology. Some examples include transportation technologies, information technology, manufacturing technologies, personal and transportation technologies, communications technology, information technology, and so forth.
The study of technology begins with the ancient Greeks who distinguished six broad concepts from among them. The first of these was schizogogy, which encompassed the physical sciences including Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and zoology. The second was technotycan, which included such forms as mechanics, technology, arts, and technology. Aristotle disagreed with Schizogogy and classified these categories further, but his idea still resonated through the Renaissance, the Modern era, and even the New Age.
Schatzberg believed that technology was a matter of understanding how things work. And he saw the study of technologies as being in need of an analytical category. He called this category the technologic order and its goal was to “derive a definition that would enable one to specify and define the various aspects of the different technological domains.”
The technologic order includes such examples as the ways by which information is transmitted and the ways in which it is stored. It also includes such examples as the medical technology that has made it possible for today’s doctors to do things that were impossible just a few decades ago. This type of medical breakthroughs are often the product of a long line of research and development. The same is true of other technologies, such as information technology, which has enabled people to communicate ideas and reach across great distances without being unable to see or touch them.
In the later period, Thomas Jefferson used the term technology extensively to argue against the power of the Crown. One of his main arguments was that English language was not the best suited for the transmission of large amounts of useful information because of the scientific knowledge that the Egyptians had used to construct the pyramids. Jefferson continued to use the term technology throughout his life, although his explanations of its use sometimes became a little muddled. For instance, he sometimes denied that the term technology had any place in the education of man because it was incapable of providing man with the means to learn.