The phrase “science and technology” is thrown around quite frequently, but many people perceive science and technology as the same principals or as combined principals. However, science and technology are very different ideas and practices. Although they often work hand in hand, science principals differ greatly from technology principals. Let’s look at each definition and an example to illustrate this point.
Definitions
Science is defined as the systematic study of the natural, physical or material world. Science uses sets of predetermined methods, such as the scientific method, to determine the how’s and why’s of the world. Technology builds upon what science finds by developing tools or systems that safely apply the scientific knowledge to practical deigns or uses. Technology used to be known as applied science, but as the development of technological principals became more intense, it was renamed technology.
Insulin Pumps as Science and Technology
If we look at advancements in diabetes care, we can see that insulin pumps can illustrate the differences between science and technology. When scientists were studying the human body, they found that a non-diabetic’s pancreas consistently pumps insulin into the blood stream, naturally maintaining blood sugars. Once scientists discovered this, technology took over. Technologists developed insulin pumps that mimicked the natural pancreas. However, science still played a part, and scientists and technologists had to work closely together to make new discoveries and developments in pumps, to more closely mimic the pancreas and better control blood sugars.
Even today, decades after the introduction of the first insulin pump, science and technology remain married, searching for more clues in the science of the human body and developing new technologies to match the scientific discoveries. Although we see in our example that science and technology work closely together, we can also see that they are completely different ideas. They may always be linked, but they will always be defined separately.