What is technology as a scientific discipline. Types of technologies

These inventions are worthy not only of our attention, but also of success on the world stage. After all, these technologies can dramatically change our way of life. The good news is that they won't have to wait for years, because they are already here and ready to use!

15. Glowing plants

For a long time, scientists have been looking for cheaper and more efficient methods of artificial lighting. Finally, they were successful. They managed to create several types of plants that emit light in the dark. These plants can be used in urban environments to reduce electricity bills. Not to mention, some plants will do the trick for a rock jungle.

14. Vertical trusses

To ensure that humanity is always provided with healthy and fresh food, scientists and farmers have come together to create an innovative farming method. It differs from the traditional one in that the plants are grown indoors, while the bias is made to save space. Thanks to this method, people in cities will be able to grow their own food or buy fresh food in stores at any time of the year.

13. Internet from a balloon

About four billion people in the world still do not have access to the Internet. Major Internet companies regularly come up with new ways to make the Internet accessible to all corners of the earth. This is how the idea appeared to launch balloons into the atmosphere, which will “deliver” the Internet to hard-to-reach areas. Such a project will help people in developing countries become better acquainted with the world around them and find higher-paying jobs.

12. Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a branch of science that seeks to combine technology and living organisms for useful purposes. Healthy foods range from food, including cheese, yogurt, and kefir, to medicines and biological sensors. Biotechnology continues to improve and offer new solutions. At the moment, in biotechnology, the idea of ​​crops that are drought tolerant and contain more vitamins is popular.

11. Virtual reality

With the popularity of video games, gaming companies are constantly developing ever more sophisticated ways to give the player an unforgettable experience. Their main goal is to make us feel like we are living in a game and not sitting at home in front of a monitor. To achieve this effect, various companies produce a wide variety of immersive virtual reality products. One of the most interesting options is the mask, which even allows you to feel the scents of the wilderness while playing.

10. Meat from a test tube

Many people stop eating meat because they don't want to harm the animals. To their delight, scientists have come up with a method that allows you to create meat in a laboratory. Not only does this cut down on the resources and energy that are spent on raising the animal, this meat is healthier and tastes just like the real thing. Not to mention how much space on the planet will be freed up when livestock farms disappear.

9. Exoskeletons

Of course, we are still far from the Iron Man suit, but the first steps have already been taken - exoskeletons are no longer an object of fantasy, but a real reality. They give people with spinal cord injuries the ability to walk and enjoy life to the fullest. Over time, these primitive exoskeletons will only get better - easier to use, more convenient and cheaper.

8. Devices controlled by the power of thought

If you constantly forget where you put your smartphone, you will like this news. Scientists have developed a method that allows you to control devices with the power of thought. This technology was first tested on people who have lost mobility. It turned out to be so successful that already in 2004 people were playing ping-pong with their minds. This technology will definitely make our lives easier, not to mention the possibilities it opens up for the video games of the future.

7. Bullet transport

The world does not get tired of expanding, and more and more often we feel the need to be in two places at the same time. Therefore, humanity is constantly looking for ways to move faster. One of the best examples of new technologies in this area is Elon Musk's hyperloop. It promises to be so fast that the six-hour journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco will take thirty minutes. And this is not the only such project under development.

6. Changing the genome

Due to the fact that more and more people are born with genes that make life difficult for them and increase the risk of death, geneticists have created technologies that allow you to "cut" harmful genes, add new ones and "turn on and off" existing ones. And this is not just a way to make people healthy - this technology can help people who, for example, have always dreamed of being athletes, but lack the necessary genes. Of course, such a procedure does not guarantee the result 100%, and people will still have to work hard to master the desired skills.

5. Modern desalination

Although humans have long learned to extract drinking water through desalination, the old methods are too laborious and not efficient enough. Now, humanity has a deeper understanding of physics and chemistry, and scientists have developed more efficient ways to desalinate water. Now this can be done not only faster and cheaper, but also with additional benefits. Among them are free minerals. Yes, water is full of them, and desalinated water can become a cheap source of minerals needed for production. Plus, billions of tons of desalinated water can water the entire planet.

4. A real tricorder

If you are a science fiction fanatic, you are probably familiar with this device from Star Trek. It was his characters in the series that were used to measure medical indicators. The real version of this device can measure blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, temperature, respiration, and diagnose 12 diseases, including chickenpox and HIV.

3. Drones in agriculture

More and more farmers are asking for help from modern technology. Drones have become one of these assistants. Although outwardly they resemble those used in the army and film production, their functionality is very different. Their main task is to take infrared images that allow farmers to determine where seeds are germinating successfully and where problems begin. Some companies are creating agricultural drones that can destroy harmful insects, mold and other things that are unpleasant for the harvest.

2. Super materials

With a deeper understanding of chemistry, we learned how to create new, exciting materials. These include graphene, a material that consists of only one layer of carbon atoms. Thanks to this thickness, it is easy to stretch, has a high thermal conductivity and is 200 times stronger than steel. Graphene can be used to create ... anything. Graphene will make armored vehicles, clothing, computers and many other things much better and much more durable.

1.4D printers

You've probably heard of 3D printers. But you hardly know about the existence of 4D printers. Both perform the same task - printing materials or special objects - but 4D creates objects that are capable of changing under external influences. The fact is that living conditions are constantly changing, and what we needed yesterday may no longer be needed in a year. To avoid creating things that only last a short time, researchers have created printers and materials that adapt wonderfully to all types of environmental changes, damage, and other potential hazards.

technology). Application of knowledge in production for the material sphere. Technology means the creation of material means (for example, machines, automatic machines) for the purpose of their use by humans.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY) As it is used in sociology, it encompasses all forms of manufacturing techniques, including manual operations, and is not synonymous with machinery, as is represented in some popular concepts. In the sociology of work and employment, this term also means the physical organization of production, that is, the way in which production equipment is located in an enterprise, and thus covers the division of labor and the organization of work, which are part of an efficient production process or its necessary condition. Production technologies and organization of production are social products, the consequences of a person making certain decisions; thus, technology can be seen as the result of social processes. Sociologists working within the tradition of "human relations" (see: Human Relations School) focused on the relationship between technology, on the one hand, and morale and alienation of workers, on the other, especially on the direct interaction of worker and machine and the impact of technology to working groups. This kind of interaction and influence, they have shown, has some limited effect on the morale of people. Later, technology came to be seen as an aspect of social class and class relations. Within the framework of the Marxist labor process approach, technology was understood as a manifestation of relations between social classes. At the same time, it was argued that within the framework of capitalist economies, in order to mitigate the consequences of the inevitable conflict between the interests of workers (labor) and management (capital), new production technologies are developing that dominate and control hired workers. In the framework of some Weberian theories of class, the “work situation” is considered as a criterion of class position, the main determining factor of which is technology. See also: Automation; Flexible specialization; Dequalification; Scientific management; Alienation; Postfordism; Socio-technical systems; Labor process; Fordism.

In everyday life, technology is understood as a purely technical science. It should be noted that such a view is explicable historically (for the first time the concept of "technology" appeared in the 19th century and was associated precisely with industrial production, which was predominantly machine). The modern content of the concept of "technology" is more diverse. Along with the traditional phrase "industrial technology" in the second half of the XX century. the terms "information technology", "technology of thinking" and even "technology of creativity" appeared. Moreover, the content of the concept of "technology" has spread to the sphere of production of services (art, literature, etc.).

The term "technology" is derived from the Greek words "techne" and "logos" (techne- skill, art; logos- science, teaching). Literally translated, technology is a science (doctrine) about craftsmanship, art.

Mastery is perhaps the most important human property. It is to them that a person differs and stands out from the totality of other biological beings. A person rises to the level of mastery gradually, going through the stages of mastering knowledge, acquiring skills, abilities and, finally, achieving mastery.

Since skill is intangible, it cannot by itself modify a material object, for example, an object of labor (raw materials). Skill ensures the process of processing raw materials into finished products only in conjunction with labor activity. However, it is precisely from the level of skill in

ultimately depends on the amount of labor input in the production process. Even from everyday ideas for a person it is clear that the more skill, the less labor costs for the production of products. The goal of learning and the economic role of mastery lies in ensuring a reduction in labor costs.

Craftsmanship connects together natural processes with labor, thus forming an integral process of processing raw materials into a product, while technology is a key integrating link in this processing process, its essence.

Technology integrates knowledge from many areas and cannot be reduced to either physics, chemistry, or any other science of natural processes, since its subject is the skill of using natural processes in artificial production conditions.

Summarizing the above, we can formulate the following short definition: technology is the science of craftsmanship in the processes of creating goods.

The role of technology (skill) in the life of society is as follows:

Applied use of the baggage of knowledge of the society. Without technology, knowledge remains "dead", does not find application;

A tool that creates supernatural benefits that form the conditions for the existence of human society;

Predetermining the conditions for the use of labor, saving its costs and, as a result, creating well-being and material wealth;

A person, a collective or a state, deprived of the technologies necessary for their functioning, are deprived of independence and independence, since they are not able to reproduce the conditions for their own existence.

In this way, technology in the applied sense represents realized (materialized) ideas about the patterns of production of specific types of material and intangible benefits. Only when a person possesses the technology, it becomes possible to reproduce the process of manufacturing products with certain consumer properties according to a previously known algorithm.

Since the objective laws of the surrounding world are the basis (foundation) of technology, the latter can be reproduced and repeated as many times as desired.

Technology as science studies:

The essence (content) of production processes
different goods and services;

Mutual internal connections between craftsmanship and labor costs of making a product;

Regularities in the development of processes for the production of goods and services based on the achieved level of knowledge of a person about the world around him.

The most common classification of technologies (processes of creating various goods) according to the type of the obtained good or result. According to her, technologies are divided into material (creating material products) and intangible, or social (creating intangible goods). Intangible technologies include education, science, health care, culture, literature, art, etc.

Overwhelming majority material technologies are machine, i.e. a set of technological actions on raw materials is carried out mainly by machines, apparatus, technical devices and fixtures. V social technologies technical means are also used, but they do not directly create the result, they are of secondary importance. For example, the result of a teacher's work will not fundamentally depend on what material the school desk is made of, at which the students sit, or the blackboard on which the teacher writes. Consequently, when the final result is achieved, machines play a great role in material technologies, and people and their professional qualities play an important role in non-material technologies.

It should be noted that the production process is studied from different angles: technological activity is studied by technology, economic - by economics. Although the subjects of technology and economics are different, both research areas have the same goal: ensure the highest output of goods at the lowest cost. The unity of purpose is explained by the objective unity and indivisibility of the production process.

It should be added that the technology and economics of production are the same in terms of content. The fact is that the concept of "technology" currently includes not only the process of obtaining a material product, but also any purposeful actions leading to the satisfaction of a certain need (remember the terms "management technology", "education technology").

Thus, technology is the pivot, the basis, linking together the natural, technical and economic sciences. Technology is the most important element, on the state of which the development of production and society depends.

The driving force behind the development of technology- the predominance of the needs of society over the possibility of meeting them with the existing means of production.

Source of technology development- achievements of technodynamics, a science that comprehends the laws of technological development.

In the context of defining technology as an element of production, it is important to separate the concepts of "technology" and "technique". Unfortunately, quite often these terms are considered identical in content.

Technics in production it is represented by equipment - various machines, apparatus, devices. Obviously, technical devices are used to carry out certain technological actions for the production of a particular product, but technology is not the technology itself, since the technological production process can be realized without the use of technology (for example, in the case of handicraft, handicraft production).

In modern industrial production, technical devices, together with people, embody technology in the form of sequential and predetermined actions for converting raw materials into finished products. Thus, technology is only one of the means of implementing technology. Changes in a technical device (in the structure and interconnection of its elements) do not necessarily cause a change in the technology of production with the help of this device. At the same time, changes in the method of influencing the feedstock, i.e. in technology, inevitably lead to a change in the technical device that implements this technology.

Therefore, technology as a functional element of material production is primary in relation to technology, which only carries out those actions in the production process that are predetermined in advance by the production technology.

To manufacture any product, you need information about raw materials and means of production (the field of technical sciences - materials science, theory of machines and mechanisms, resistance of materials, etc.), the appropriate organization of production, its supply, control, analysis, etc. (area of ​​economic sciences). In addition, all production is based on the labor activity of people. Consequently, knowledge about the labor process is necessary, and most importantly, about how to arouse a person's interest in active work (the field of social sciences). In the production of spiritual goods, additional information is needed from the field of the humanities. Thus, practically the entire sphere of modern scientific knowledge is covered. And this is natural, since the basis of the existence of society is

production is in progress. Therefore, all the knowledge that a person receives in his life, he uses with one degree or another in his future professional activity. Various types of human professional activity, in fact, are reduced to the role of the performer of a particular technology.

However, it should be emphasized once again that the manufacturing process of any product is based on the use of natural (natural) processes proceeding according to their own laws. With the help of science, man cognizes these objective processes and uses them in artificially created conditions of production. Therefore, he can increase the effectiveness of the technological process only within the framework that nature, its laws allow, and not by means of his own, subjective volitional decision.

At the same time, technology is a source of unlimited development of production and society. It is the technological development of production that has ensured the current achievements of human society. It will remain the determining link in the development of world civilization in the future.

Control questions

1. Describe the purpose of the production system.

2. What elements are included in the production system? How are they related to each other?

3. Under what conditions in the production system is it possible to carry out the production process?

4. Are the concepts of the production system and the production process identical?

5. Why are raw materials not part of the production system?

6. Is it possible, within the framework of the production process, to arbitrarily change the actions of performers? Why? If it is impossible, how are these actions predetermined?

7. What functional elements make up any manufacturing process? What is their purpose?

8. On what grounds can one say that technology is the main link in the production process?

9. What are the similarities and differences between production technology and production economics?

10. What is the object studied by technology as a science?

11. With which sciences does the technology have direct links?

12. What is the current understanding of technology?

13. What properties and traits are constant for all types of technologies?

14. What are the characteristic features of material technology.

15. List the characteristic features of social (non-mother
al) technology.

a sequence of material processes and operations, the implementation of which leads to the appearance of a product (use value) with properties necessary and useful for further human use. (See technology, innovation).

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

TECHNOLOGY

from the Greek. art, craftsmanship, skill and Greek. study) - a set of methods and tools to achieve the desired result; the method of converting the given into the necessary; mode of production. At the end of the 18th century. in techno-knowledge they began to distinguish between a descriptive section and a new one, which was called "technology". The term “technology” was introduced into scientific use by Johann Beckmann in his Introduction to Technology (1777) to denote a craft art that includes professional skills and empirical ideas about tools and labor operations. The modern understanding of technology has several meanings: 1) the technological form of the movement of matter - a global set of material processes of the material-energy interaction of society and nature, occurring in systems of technology and in general forming the technosphere; 2) technological process - material influences on an object, causing in it appropriate qualitative and quantitative changes in properties and space-time position. The generalized subject of technological changes is various forms of matter, energy and information (the whole set of technological processes can be expressed by a technological matrix); 3) technological sciences - a class of tech. sciences studying the problems of transformation of natural objects and processes into artificial expedient forms. The basis of technological sciences is technological theories that comprehensively describe the laws and patterns of technological interactions, parameters and conditions of the processes of transformation of matter, energy and information; 4) technological methodology - a system of principles, norms and requirements, technological methods, methods and techniques developed by engineering disciplines for the creation and regulation of technological processes for receiving, transforming, transferring and storing items; 5) the use of any scientific knowledge for solving practical problems, such an interpretation of technology is adopted in foreign philosophical and sociological literature, mainly in English. In a broad sense, technology is the amount of knowledge that can be used to produce goods and services from economic resources, and in the narrow sense, it is a way of converting matter, energy, information in the process of manufacturing products, processing and processing materials, assembling finished products, and quality control , management. Technology includes methods, techniques, mode of operation, sequence of operations and procedures, it is closely related to the tools used, equipment, tools, materials used. Modern technologies are based on the achievements of scientific and technological progress and are focused on the production of a product: material technology creates a material product, information technology creates an information product. Technology is also a scientific discipline that develops and improves production methods and tools. In everyday life, technology is usually called the description of production processes, instructions for their implementation, technological requirements, etc. Technology or technological process is often called the very operations of extraction, transportation and processing, which are the basis of the production process. Technical control in production is also part of the technology. Technologists, engineers, designers, programmers and other specialists in the relevant fields are engaged in the development of technology. Each type of technology has its own technological model. Consequently, production technologies, scientific, medical, and others are distinguished. In each specific branch of material production, the corresponding technological processes dominate. With an integrated approach, only two forms of technology are distinguished, namely: a) scientific and industrial technologies; b) social technologies. Modern technology is a dynamically developing area of ​​scientific knowledge and practical activity. There are the following main directions of modern technological developments: 1) increasing the degree of efficiency of technological processes based on computerization and automation of production and economic activities; 2) the creation of effective biotechnologies, involving the gradual replacement of discrete (intermittent) processes with continuous technological processes, as well as a percentage increase in the share of non-mechanical technologies; 3) the greening of technical and technological systems, that is, an increase in the "degree of isolation" of all forms of production and economic activity. The technology contributes to the effectiveness of the implementation of certain socio-technical solutions and the overcoming of relevant problems. Consequently, technology is a real (practical) solution to a specific scientific and technical, production, economic and socio-political problem. Technological knowledge is realized in production and economic activities within the framework of the system "technoznanietekhnologiya-production".

Instructions

Engineers and technologists working in various manufacturing industries have high hopes for nanotechnology. There are no generally accepted standards for this area of ​​science and technology. Its main idea is the production of a wide variety of products with a predetermined molecular structure. We are talking about high-precision manufacturing of material objects by manipulating atoms and molecules.

3D printing technology is just as amazing. On the basis of the digital model, simple three-dimensional objects can already be printed layer-by-layer on a three-dimensional printer. It is possible that within the next decade compact 3D printers will appear in every home, taking place next to personal computers. The use of volumetric printing in the production of various goods is also very promising. It allows you to reduce costs to a minimum and ensure high quality products.

Wireless computer technologies, which a few years ago seemed a curiosity, are increasingly penetrating into human life. This innovation allows the creation of vast networks that can connect multiple users wirelessly. The carrier of information in such networks is not electric cables, but microwave radio waves. A compact transmitter with a built-in omnidirectional antenna is an attribute of the wireless connection.

Wireless electrical energy is also becoming a reality. In 2011, the first successful experiments in this direction were carried out, which, in the near future, are likely to be embodied in the form of technologies available to ordinary consumers. One of the promising uses of such power systems is recharging and tablets, in which not wires are used, but the transmission of pulses in the microwave range. Scientists are working intensively to increase the magnification to which it will be possible to transmit energy wirelessly.

There are other modern technologies in the energy sector as well. One of them is associated with the use of geothermal energy, which is contained in the earth's interior. To implement this technology, special geothermal stations are being designed and built. The most promising construction of such structures in areas with increased volcanic activity. Scientists from Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua and China are working on geothermal problems.

Robotics has been developing in the world for several decades. At the beginning of this century, it began to penetrate into. Such technologies make it possible to create automated systems for performing surgical operations. At the same time, the doctor does not contact the patient, but manages the process from a distance through a special terminal. Such technological solutions guarantee minimal interference with the work of the body and allow operations to be performed with extraordinary high precision.