Is technology applied science?
Technology is not applied science
People argue for a century that whether technology is an applied science or not. I was also told that I am not doing applied science since I pay too much attention to basic science. Even I heard extreme argument that basic science is useless in 21st century.
Really? I think I do not need to say too much to defense it. Let’s see how does Vannevar Bush say about this:
Basic research … creates that fund from the practical applications of knowledge must be drawn. New products and new processes do not appear full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions, which in turn are painstakingly developed by research in the purest realms of science… Today, it is truer than ever that basic research is the pacemaker of technological progress.
In line with above quote, I would say science is applied technology more than technology is applied science. As an software engineer, I am sure that development of technology needs scientific and technical knowledge. But as a computer scientist (not engineer), I am very certain the development of technology also needs material, financial, social, and rhetorical resources. Even ideology and racism can be inputs, in the sense that they might shape decisions and the conditions of success and failure.
The linear model is …. dead.
Another interesting statement I recently heard is that:
There is a linear relation between basic science and technology. We can combine these two different traditions for searching a maximized proposal funding.
If only for proposal funding, there is nothing wrong with this statement. But the odd intention behind this statement is that basic science is used as fundamental service for technology. I heard this argument many times. Not odd enough, all come from engineering fields.
Basic science or a nicer word — scientific knowledge is a resource on which engineers can draw and perhaps on which they are drawing increasingly, but on the whole it is not a driver of technology. Rather, technological development is a complex process that integrates many different kinds of knowledge — including its own knowledge traditions and all kinds of material resources. Meanwhile, science also draw technology for its instruments, or some of its models of knowledge just as engineers draw on science for their engineering knowledge. The relationship between basic science and technology goes beyond a linear model.
I have a typical example. I have been working in the maritime domain for over 8 years. I observed that this is a closed domain. Unlike other domains, such as healthcare, aviation, and IT, maritime domain traditionally is a engineering-domination area. Engineers are trained to apply any knowledge or skills to solve a specific problem. They do not think too much where the knowledge comes from and how the knowledge is actually formed and transformed. Additionally, very few scholars would like to spend time on maritime domain even though the domain itself might be a gold paradise. Technically speaking, it is not because scholars have no capabilities to conduct maritime-oriented research. The reason is simple. It is expensive to get into maritime domain due to many factors. One of them is whether a researcher focuses on civil v.s. military. Whether the national high education policy encourages purely applied research… and many more. In the past 2–3 centuries, there were several nations gave high weights on maritime domain. In the 21st century, the number is declined.
However, with the advances of IT research and technology, the maritime domain is unpacked for everything. It is not so expansive to get into the maritime domain. Everyone can contribute to the ship building and shipping related research. The whole domain is unlocked for not just engineers and shipping industries. In line with this, the old statement comes back again…
Basic research is the basic for technology and thus the basic for the maritime domain.
I would say that this statement is old and odd enough, just as there is a linear relation between basic science and technology. Remember that all can contribute to the maritime domain and use such a domain to make invaluable knowledge. But it does not mean that all these knowledge must be able to apply for the maritime domain only. Scientists draw maritime domain and its supported technologies for new theory, concept building and some instruments, or some of its models of knowledge just as engineers draw on science for their engineering knowledge.
Simple enough, isn’t it?!
