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[[دوتنه:Astronaut-EVA.jpg|thumbبټنوک|rightکیڼ|By the mid 20th century, humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the atmosphere of the Earth for the first time and [[space exploration|explore space]].]]
'''Technology''' is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal [[species]]' usage and [[knowledge]] of [[tool]]s and [[craft]]s, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its [[Natural environment|environment]]. Technology is a term with [[Etymology|origins]] in the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''technología'' (''[[wiktionary:τεχνολογία|τεχνολογία]]'') — ''téchnē'' (''[[wiktionary:τέχνη|τέχνη]]''), 'craft' and ''[[wiktionary:logia|-logía]]'' (''[[wiktionary:λογία|-λογία]]''), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.<ref name="mwdict">{{cite web | url=http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technology | title=Definition of technology | accessdate=2007-02-16 | publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]}}</ref> However, a strict definition is elusive; "technology" can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as [[machine]]s, [[hardware]] or [[utensil]]s, but can also encompass broader themes, including [[system]]s, methods of [[organization]], and [[wikt:technique|techniques]]. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "[[state-of-the-art]] technology".
 
The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The [[prehistory|prehistorical]] discovery of the ability to control [[fire]] increased the available sources of food and the invention of the [[wheel]] helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the [[printing press]], the [[telephone]], and the [[Internet]], have lessened physical barriers to [[communication]] and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of [[weapon]]s of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from [[club (weapon)|clubs]] to [[nuclear weapon]]s.
 
Technology has affected [[society]] and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced [[economy|economies]] (including today's [[global economy]]) and has allowed the rise of a [[leisure]] [[Social class|class]]. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as [[pollution]], and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the [[Earth]] and its [[natural environment|environment]]. Various implementations of technology influence the [[values]] of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of [[efficiency]] in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.
 
Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the [[human condition]] or worsens it. [[Neo-Luddism]], [[anarcho-primitivism]], and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as [[transhumanism]] and [[techno-progressivism]] view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other [[primates]] and certain [[dolphin]] communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.
== Definition and usage ==
[[دوتنه:Handtiegelpresse von 1811.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The invention of the [[printing press]] made it possible for scientists and [[politician]]s to communicate their ideas with ease, leading to the [[Age of Enlightenment]]; an example of technology as a cultural force.]]
The [[Merriam-Webster]] dictionary offers a definition of the term: "the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area" and "a capability given by the practical application of knowledge".<ref name="mwdict" /> [[Ursula Franklin]], in her 1989 "Real World of Technology" lecture, gave another definition of the concept; it is "practice, the way we do things around here".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.anansi.ca/titles.cfm?series_id=4&pub_id=58 | title=Real World of Technology | accessdate=2007-02-13 | author=Franklin, Ursula | publisher=[[House of Anansi Press]]}}</ref> The term is often used to imply a specific field of technology, or to refer to [[high technology]] or just [[consumer electronics]], rather than technology as a whole.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/default.stm | title=Technology news | accessdate=2006-02-17 | publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> [[Bernard Stiegler]], in ''[[Technics and Time, 1]]'', defines technology in two ways: as "the pursuit of life by means other than life", and as "organized inorganic matter."<ref>{{cite book | last=Stiegler |first=Bernard | title=[[Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus]] | year=1998 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] | isbn=0-8047-3041-3 | pages=17, 82}}</ref>
 
Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value. In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems. It is a far-reaching term that may include simple tools, such as a [[Crowbar (tool)|crowbar]] or wooden [[spoon]], or more complex machines, such as a [[space station]] or [[particle accelerator]]. Tools and machines need not be material; virtual technology, such as [[computer software]] and [[business method]]s, fall under this definition of technology.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c6/c6s5.htm | work=Science and Engineering Indicators 2002 | title=Industry, Technology and the Global Marketplace: International Patenting Trends in Two New Technology Areas | accessdate=2007-05-07 | publisher=[[National Science Foundation]]}}</ref>
 
The word "technology" can also be used to refer to a collection of techniques. In this context, it is the current state of humanity's knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products, to solve problems, fulfill needs, or satisfy wants; it includes technical methods, skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw materials. When combined with another term, such as "medical technology" or "space technology", it refers to the state of the respective field's knowledge and tools. "[[State-of-the-art]] technology" refers to the [[high technology]] available to humanity in any field.
 
Technology can be viewed as an activity that forms or changes culture.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Borgmann | first=Albert | authorlink=Albert Borgmann | year=2006 | title=Technology as a Cultural Force: For Alena and Griffin | journal=The Canadian Journal of Sociology | volume=31 | issue=3 | pages=351–360 | url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/canadian_journal_of_sociology/v031/31.3borgmann.html | format=fee required | accessdate=2007-02-16 | doi=10.1353/cjs.2006.0050}}</ref> Additionally, technology is the application of math, science, and the arts for the benefit of life as it is known. A modern example is the rise of [[communication]] technology, which has lessened barriers to human interaction and, as a result, has helped spawn new subcultures; the rise of [[cyberculture]] has, at its basis, the development of the [[Internet]] and the [[computer]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://macek.czechian.net/defining_cyberculture.htm | title=Defining Cyberculture | accessdate=2007-05-25 | author=Macek, Jakub}}</ref> Not all technology enhances culture in a creative way; technology can also help facilitate political oppression and war via tools such as guns. As a cultural activity, technology predates both [[science]] and [[engineering]], each of which formalize some aspects of technological endeavor.
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== Science, engineering and technology ==
The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. [[Science]] is the [[reasoned]] investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the [[phenomenal]] world by employing [[formal]] techniques such as the [[scientific method]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/science | title=Science | accessdate=2007-02-17 | publisher=[[Dictionary.com]]}}</ref> Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as [[utility]], [[usability]] and [[safety]].
 
Engineering is the [[goal-oriented]] process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, [[mathematics|mathematical]], [[language|linguistic]], and [[history|historical]] knowledge, to achieve some practical result.
 
Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering — although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of [[electron]]s in [[electrical conductor]]s, by using already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines, such as [[semiconductor]]s, [[computer]]s, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/ | title=Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology | accessdate=2007-02-17 | publisher=[[Intute]]}}</ref>
 
The exact relations between science and technology in particular have been debated by scientists, historians, and policymakers in the late 20th century, in part because the debate can inform the funding of basic and applied science. In immediate wake of [[World War II]], for example, in the United States it was widely considered that technology was simply "applied science" and that to fund basic science was to reap technological results in due time. An articulation of this philosophy could be found explicitly in [[Vannevar Bush]]'s treatise on postwar science policy, ''Science—The Endless Frontier'': "New products, new industries, and more jobs require continuous additions to knowledge of the laws of nature... This essential new knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research." In the late-1960s, however, this view came under direct attack, leading towards initiatives to fund science for specific tasks (initiatives resisted by the scientific community). The issue remains contentious—though most analysts resist the model that technology simply is a result of scientific research.<ref>George Wise, "Science and Technology", ''Osiris'', 2nd Series, 1 (1985): 229-246. </ref><ref>David H. Guston, ''Between politics and science: Assuring the integrity and productivity of research'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000). </ref>
 
== Role in human history ==
{{main|History of technology|Timeline of historic inventions}}
 
=== Paleolithic (2.5 million – 10,000 BC) ===
[[دوتنه:Chopper of Dmanisi.png|thumb|right|A primitive [[chopper (archaeology)|chopper]]]]
The use of tools by [[Homo (genus)|early humans]] was partly a process of discovery, partly of evolution. Early humans evolved from a [[Australopithecus afarensis|race]] of [[foraging]] [[hominids]] which were already [[bipedal]],<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/mother_of_man1.shtml|title=Mother of man – 3.2 million years ago |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> with a brain mass approximately one third that of modern humans.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=212317|title=Human Evolution|publisher=[[History (TV channel)|History channel]]}}</ref> Tool use remained relatively unchanged for most of early human history, but approximately 50,000 years ago, a [[behavioral modernity|complex set of behaviors]] and tool use emerged, believed by many archaeologists to be connected to the emergence of fully-modern [[language]].<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E0DF173CF936A25754C0A9659C8B63&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=1|title= Early Voices: The Leap to Language |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2003-07-15|author=Wade, Nicholas}}</ref>
 
==== Stone tools ====
[[دوتنه:Biface de St Acheul MHNT.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Hand axes from the [[Acheulian]] period ]]
[[دوتنه:Clovis Point.jpg|upright|thumb|A [[Clovis point]], made via [[Lithic reduction#Pressure flaking|pressure flaking]]]]
Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' approximately 200,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://anthropology.si.edu/humanorigins/ha/sap.htm | title=Human Ancestors Hall: Homo sapiens | accessdate=2007-12-08 | publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] }}</ref> The earliest methods of [[stone tool]] making, known as the [[Oldowan]] "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/336555.stm | title=Ancient 'tool factory' uncovered | accessdate=2007-02-18 | publisher=[[BBC News]] | date=1999-05-06}}</ref> with the earliest direct evidence of tool usage found in [[Ethiopia]] within the [[Great Rift Valley]], dating back to 2.5 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Environment and Behavior of 2.5-Million-Year-Old Bouri Hominids | last=Heinzelin | first=Jean de | journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] | month=April | year=1999 | volume=284 | issue=5414 | pages=625–629 | doi= 10.1126/science.284.5414.625 | pmid=10213682}}</ref> This era of stone tool use is called the ''[[Paleolithic]]'', or "Old stone age", and spans all of human history up to the development of [[agriculture]] approximately 12,000 years ago.
 
To make a stone tool, a "[[lithic core|core]]" of hard stone with specific flaking properties (such as [[flint]]) was struck with a [[hammerstone]]. This flaking produced a sharp edge on the core stone as well as on the flakes, either of which could be used as tools, primarily in the form of [[chopper (archaeology)|choppers]] or [[scraper (archaeology)|scrapers]].<ref name="ea_archaeology">{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0019880-04|title=Archaeology|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Americana]]|author=Burke, Ariane}}</ref> These tools greatly aided the early humans in their [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at the [[marrow]]); chopping wood; cracking open nuts; skinning an animal for its [[hides|hide]]; and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Flaked Stones and Old Bones: Biological and Cultural Evolution at the Dawn of Technology|author= Plummer, Thomas|publisher=[[Yearbook of Physical Anthropology]]|year=2004|issue=47}}</ref>
 
The earliest stone tools were crude, being little more than a fractured rock. In the [[Acheulian]] era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stone into specific shapes, such as [[hand axe]]s emerged. The [[Middle Paleolithic]], approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of the [[prepared-core technique]], where multiple blades could be rapidly formed from a single core stone.<ref name="ea_archaeology" /> The [[Upper Paleolithic]], beginning approximately 40,000 years ago, saw the introduction of [[Lithic reduction#Pressure flaking|pressure flaking]], where a wood, bone, or antler [[punch (engineering)|punch]] could be used to shape a stone very finely.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge|author= Haviland, William A.|publisher=[[The Thomson Corporation]]|year=2004|isbn=0534624871|page=77}}</ref>
 
==== Fire ====
 
The discovery and utilization of fire, a simple [[energy]] source with many profound uses, was a turning point in the technological evolution of humankind.<ref>{{cite book | last=Crump | first=Thomas | title=A Brief History of Science | year=2001 | publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] | isbn=1-84119-235-X | page=9}}</ref> The exact date of its discovery is not known; evidence of burnt animal bones at the [[Cradle of Humankind]] suggests that the domestication of fire occurred before 1,000,000&nbsp;BC;<ref>{{cite web | url=http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=915 | title=Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and Environs | accessdate=2007-03-10 | publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref> scholarly consensus indicates that [[Homo erectus]] had controlled fire by between 500,000&nbsp;BC and 400,000&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab10 | title=History of Stone Age Man | accessdate=2007-02-13 | publisher=History World}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene | last=James | first=Steven R. | journal=[[Current Anthropology]] | volume=30 | issue=1 | pages=1–26 | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0011-3204(198902)30%3A1%3C1%3AHUOFIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J | format=fee required | month=February | year=1989 | doi=10.1086/203705}}</ref> Fire, fueled with [[wood]] and [[charcoal]], allowed early humans to cook their food to increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient value and broadening the number of foods that could be eaten.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Stahl | first= Ann B. | year=1984 | title=Hominid dietary selection before fire | journal=[[Current Anthropology]] | volume=25 | pages= 151–168 | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0011-3204(198404)25%3A2%3C151%3AHDSBF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E | format=fee required | doi=10.1086/203106}}</ref>
 
==== Clothing and shelter ====
 
Other technological advances made during the Paleolithic era were [[clothing]] and shelter; the adoption of both technologies cannot be dated exactly, but they were a key to humanity's progress. As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 380,000&nbsp;BC, humans were constructing temporary wood huts.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_3.htm | title=Evolution of Modern Humans: Archaic Homo sapiens Culture | accessdate=2007-03-31 | author=O'Neil, Dennis | publisher=[[Palomar College]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Villa | first=Paola | year=1983 | title=Terra Amata and the Middle Pleistocene archaeological record of southern France| publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] | isbn= 0-520-09662-2 |page= 303}}</ref> Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to [[Historical migration|migrate]]
out of Africa by 200,000&nbsp;BC and into other continents, such as [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Cordaux | first=Richard | coauthors=Stoneking, Mark | title=South Asia, the Andamanese and the genetic evidence for an "early" human dispersal out of Africa | journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] | year=2003 | volume=72 | url=http://site.voila.fr/rcordaux/pdfs/04.pdf |format=PDF| pages=1586 | doi=10.1086/375407}}</ref>
 
Humans began to work bones, [[antler]], and [[hides]], as evidenced by [[burin]]s and [[racloir]]s produced during this period.{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}
 
=== Neolithic through Classical Antiquity (10,000BC – 300AD) ===
[[دوتنه:Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.]]
Man's technological ascent began in earnest in what is known as the [[Neolithic]] period ("New stone age"). The invention of polished [[stone axe]]s was a major advance because it allowed forest clearance on a large scale to create farms. The discovery of [[agriculture]] allowed for the feeding of larger populations, and the transition to a [[sedentism|sedentist]] lifestyle increased the number of children that could be simultaneously raised, as young children no longer needed to be carried, as was the case with the nomadic lifestyle. Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060103114116.htm|title=The First Baby Boom: Skeletal Evidence Shows Abrupt Worldwide Increase In Birth Rate During Neolithic Period|publisher=[[Science Daily]]|date=2006-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0011-3204(197204)13%3A2%3C258%3AACTFSA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5|title=Child Transport, Family Size, and Increase in Human Population During the Neolithic|journal=[[Current Anthropology]]|author=Sussman, Robert W. |coauthors= Hall, Roberta L.|volume=13|issue=2| pages=258–267|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|month=April|year=1972|doi=10.1086/201274}}</ref>
 
With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in labor specialization.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=isGyuX9motEC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=labor+neolithic+population&source=web&ots=SehEQ4H3bw&sig=thq_cZXpdkanmO4rNe7DzcswmR0#PPA163,M1|title=Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective|publisher=[[The Thomson Corporation]]|author=Ferraro, Gary P.|year=2006|isbn=0495030392}}</ref> What triggered the progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as [[Uruk]], and the first civilizations, such as [[Sumer]], is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly [[hierarchy|hierarchical]] social structures, the specialization of labor, trade and war amongst adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges, such as the building of [[Dike (construction)|dikes]] and [[reservoir]]s, are all thought to have played a role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=labor+surplus+neolithic+population&source=web&ots=P4xGsewlSs&sig=CB8Kcgsobsfz03KMstsE-DbSyoU#PPA10,M1|accessdate=2008-05-17|title=The ESSENTIALS of Ancient History|publisher=Research & Education Association|author=Patterson, Gordon M.|year=1992}}</ref>
==== Metal tools ====
Continuing improvements led to the [[furnace]] and [[bellows]] and provided the ability to [[smelting|smelt]] and [[forge]] native metals (naturally occurring in relatively pure form).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html | title=A Short History of Metals | accessdate=2007-01-08 | last=Cramb | first=Alan W | publisher=[[Carnegie Mellon University]]}}</ref> [[Gold]], [[copper]], [[silver]], and [[lead]], were such early metals. The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone, and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of [[Neolithic]] times (about 8000 BC).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VANVAEjBG-QC&pg=PA708&lr=&as_brr=1&ei=fl2NR6ODGYbWiwGW8Zi_BA|accessdate=2008-05-17|author= Chisholm, Hugh|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=1910|page=708}}</ref> Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of [[alloys]] such as [[bronze]] and [[brass]] (about 4000 BC). The first uses of iron alloys such as [[steel]] dates to around 1400 BC.
 
==== Energy and Transport ====
 
Meanwhile, humans were learning to harness other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power is the sailboat.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} The earliest record of a ship under sail is shown on an Egyptian pot dating back to 3200 BC.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} From prehistoric times, Egyptians probably used "the power of the Nile" annual floods to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely-built irrigation channels and 'catch' basins. Similarly, the early peoples of Mesopotamia, the Sumerians, learned to use the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for much the same purposes. But more extensive use of wind and water (and even human) power required another invention.
 
[[وېشنيزه:تکنالوژي ]]
[[دوتنه:Wheel Iran.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[wheel]] was invented in circa 4000 BC.]]
[[وېشنيزه:تکنالوژي غونډال| ]]
According to archaeologists, the [[wheel]] was invented around 4000 B.C. The wheel was probably independently invented in Mesopotamia (in present-day [[Iraq]]) as well. Estimates on when this may have occurred range from 5500 to 3000 B.C., with most experts putting it closer to 4000 B.C. The oldest artifacts with drawings that depict wheeled carts date from about 3000 B.C.; however, the wheel may have been in use for millennia before these drawings were made. There is also evidence from the same period of time that wheels were used for the production of [[Potter's wheel|pottery]]. (Note that the original potter's wheel was probably not a wheel, but rather an irregularly shaped slab of flat wood with a small hollowed or pierced area near the center and mounted on a peg driven into the earth. It would have been rotated by repeated tugs by the potter or his assistant.) More recently, the oldest-known wooden wheel in the world was found in the Ljubljana marshes of Slovenia.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.angelfire.com/country/veneti/AmerDomoOldestWheel.html | title=Slovenian Marsh Yields World's Oldest Wheel | accessdate=2007-02-13 | publisher=Ameriška Domovina | date=2003-03-27}}</ref>
 
The invention of the wheel revolutionized activities as disparate as transportation, war, and the production of pottery (for which it may have been first used). It didn't take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads and fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early mass production of pottery. But it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources.
 
=== Modern history (300 AD —) ===
 
Tools include both [[simple machine]]s (such as the [[lever]], the [[screw]], and the [[pulley]]), and more complex machines (such as the [[clock]], the [[engine]], the [[electric generator]] and the [[electric motor]], the [[computer]], radio, and the [[Space Station]], among many others). As tools increase in complexity, so does the type of knowledge needed to support them. Complex modern machines require libraries of written technical manuals of collected information that has continually increased and improved — their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require the mastery of decades of sophisticated general and specific training. Moreover, these tools have become so complex that a comprehensive infrastructure of technical knowledge-based lesser tools, processes and practices (complex tools in themselves) exist to support them, including [[engineering]], [[medicine]], and [[computer science]]. Complex [[manufacturing]] and [[construction]] techniques and organizations are needed to construct and maintain them. Entire [[industry|industries]] have arisen to support and develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools.
The relationship of technology with society ( culture) is generally characterized as synergistic, symbiotic, co-dependent, co-influential, and co-producing, i.e. technology and society depend heavily one upon the other (technology upon culture, and culture upon technology). It is also generally believed that this synergistic relationship first occurred at the dawn of humankind with the invention of simple tools, and continues with modern technologies today. Today and throughout history, technology influences and is influenced by such societal issues/factors as economics, values, ethics, institutions, groups, the environment, government, among others.
The discipline studying the impacts of science, technology, and society and vice versa is called Science and technology in society.
 
== Technology and philosophy ==
=== Technicism ===
Generally, [[technicism]] is an over reliance or overconfidence in technology as a benefactor of society.
 
Taken to extreme, some argue that technicism is the belief that humanity will ultimately be able to control the entirety of existence using technology. In other words, human beings will someday be able to master all problems and possibly even control the future using technology. Some, such as Monsma,<ref name="Monsma 1986">{{cite book| last = Monsma | first = Stephen V.| publisher = W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co|location= [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]]| title = Responsible Technology | year= 1986 }}</ref> connect these ideas to the abdication of religion as a higher moral authority.
 
=== Optimism ===
{{see also|Extropianism}}
Optimistic assumptions are made by proponents of ideologies such as [[transhumanism]] and [[singularitarianism]], which view [[technological evolution|technological development]] as generally having beneficial effects for the society and the human condition. In these ideologies, technological development is morally good. Some critics see these ideologies as examples of [[scientism]] and [[techno-utopianism]] and fear the notion of [[human enhancement]] and [[technological singularity]] which they support. Some have described [[Karl Marx]] as a techno-optimist.<ref name="Hughes 2002">{{cite paper| author = Hughes, James| title = Democratic Transhumanism 2.0| year= 2002 | url = http://www.changesurfer.com/Acad/DemocraticTranshumanism.htm| accessdate=2007-01-26}}</ref>
 
=== Pessimism ===
{{see also|Luddite|Neo-luddism|Anarcho-primitivism|Bioconservatism}}
On the somewhat pessimistic side are certain philosophers like the [[Herbert Marcuse]] and [[John Zerzan]], who believe that technological societies are inherently flawed ''[[A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)|a priori]]''. They suggest that the result of such a society is to become evermore technological at the cost of freedom and psychological health.
 
Many, such as the [[Luddite]]s and prominent philosopher [[Martin Heidegger]], hold serious reservations, although not ''a priori'' flawed reservations, about technology. Heidegger presents such a view in "[[The Question Concerning Technology]]": "Thus we shall never experience our relationship to the essence of technology so long as we merely conceive and push forward the technological, put up with it, or evade it. Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it."<ref name="Heidegger 1977">{{cite book | last = Lovitt | first = William | chapter = The Question Concerning Technology | year= 1977 | url = http://www.culturaleconomics.atfreeweb.com/Anno/Heidegger%20The%20Question%201954.htm | accessdate=2007-11-21 | title = The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays | publisher = Harper Torchbooks | pages = 3–35}}</ref>
 
Some of the most poignant criticisms of technology are found in what are now considered to be dystopian literary classics, for example [[Aldous Huxley|Aldous Huxley's]] ''[[Brave New World]]'' and other writings, [[Anthony Burgess|Anthony Burgess's]] ''[[A Clockwork Orange]]'', and [[George Orwell|George Orwell's]] ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''. And, in ''[[Faust]]'' by [[Goethe]], Faust's selling his soul to the devil in return for power over the physical world, is also often interpreted as a metaphor for the adoption of industrial technology.
 
An overtly anti-technological treatise is ''[[s:Industrial Society and Its Future|Industrial Society and Its Future]]'', written by [[Theodore Kaczynski]] (aka The [[Unabomber]]) and printed in several major newspapers (and later books) as part of an effort to end his bombing campaign of the techno-industrial infrastructure.
 
=== Appropriate technology ===
{{see also|Technocriticism|Technorealism}}
The notion of [[appropriate technology]], however, was developed in the 20th century (e.g., see the work of [[Jacques Ellul]]) to describe situations where it was not desirable to use very new technologies or those that required access to some centralized [[infrastructure]] or parts or skills imported from elsewhere. The [[eco-village]] movement emerged in part due to this concern.
 
== Other animal species ==
[[دوتنه:Gorilla tool use.png|right|thumbnail|This adult [[gorilla]] uses a branch as a [[walking stick]] to gauge the water's depth; an example of technology usage by primates.<center><small>Credit: [[Public Library of Science]]</small></center>]]<!-- Could do with cropping -->
The use of basic technology is also a feature of other animal species apart from humans. These include primates such as [[chimpanzee]]s, some [[dolphin]] communities,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb//anthro2003/origins/hominid_journey/optional3.html | title=Chimpanzee Tool Use | accessdate=2007-02-13 | author=Sagan, Carl; Druyan, Ann; Leakey, Richard}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4613709.stm | title=Sponging dolphins learn from mum. | accessdate=2007-02-13 | author=Rincon, Paul | publisher=[[BBC News]] | date=2005-06-07}}</ref> and [[crow]]s.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-17|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21135366/|title=Crows use tools to find food|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|date=2007-10-04|author=Schmid, Randolph E.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Rutz, C.; Bluff, L.A.; Weir, A.A.S.; Kacelnik, A.|title=Video cameras on wild birds|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=2007-10-04}}</ref> Considering a more generic perspective of technology as ethology of active environmental conditioning and control, we can also refer animal examples such as beavers and their dams, or bees and their honeycombs.
 
The ability to make and use tools was once considered a defining characteristic of the genus [[Homo (genus)|Homo]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Oakley | first=K. P. | title=Man the Tool-Maker | publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1976 | isbn=978-0226612706}}</ref> However, the discovery of tool construction among chimpanzees and related primates has discarded the notion of the use of technology as unique to humans. For example, researchers have observed wild chimpanzees utilising tools for foraging: some of the tools used include leaf sponges, termite fishing probes, [[pestle]]s and [[lever]]s.<ref>{{cite book | last=McGrew | first=W. C | year=1992 | title=Chimpanzee Material Culture | publsher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | isbn=978-0521423717 | publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press | location=Cambridge u.a.}}</ref> West African [[chimpanzee]]s also use stone hammers and anvils for cracking nuts,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Boesch | first=Christophe | title=Mental map in wild chimpanzees: An analysis of hammer transports for nut cracking | year=1984 | journal=[[Primates (journal)|Primates]] | issue=25 | pages=160–170 | coauthors=Boesch, Hedwige | url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/e7x6620732717288/ | format=fee required | doi=10.1007/BF02382388 | volume=25}}</ref> as do [[capuchin monkey]]s of [[Boa Vista]], Brazil.<ref>[http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16426-nutcracking-monkeys-find-the-right-tool-for-the-job.html Nut-cracking monkeys find the right tool for the job], New Scientist, 15 January 2009</ref>
 
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== See also ==
{{main|Outline of technology}}
 
{{multicol}}
* [[List of emerging technologies]]
* [[Bernard Stiegler]]
* [[Golden hammer]]
* [[Critique of technology]]
* Game-changing technology
* [[High technology]]
* [[History of science and technology]]
* [[Innovation]]
* [[Internet]]
* [[Knowledge economy]]
* [[Lewis Mumford]]
{{multicol-break}}
* [[Luddite]]
* [[Niche construction]]
* [[Technology assessment]]
* [[Timeline of historic inventions]]
* [[Technological convergence]]
* [[Technology and society]]
* [[Technology tree]]
* [[-ology]]
* [[Science and technology]]
* [[The Latin American docta|Science and Technology in the ''Latin American docta'']]
* [[Superpower#Possible factors|Technological superpowers]]
{{multicol-break}}
{{sisterlinks|Technology}}
{{multicol-end}}
{{Wikipedia-Books}}
{{portal|Technology}}
 
=== Theories and concepts in technology ===
{{main|Theories of technology}}
 
{{multicol}}
* [[Appropriate technology]]
* [[Diffusion of innovations]]
* [[Paradigm]]
* [[Philosophy of technology]]
* [[Posthumanism]]
* [[Precautionary principle]]
* [[Strategy of technology]]
* [[Techno-progressivism]]
* [[Technocentrism]]
* [[Technocracy]]
{{multicol-break}}
* [[Technocriticism]]
* [[Technological evolution]]
* [[Technological determinism]]
* [[Technological nationalism]]
* [[Technological singularity]]
* [[Jacques Ellul|Technological society]]
* [[Technorealism]]
* [[Technological revival]]
* [[Transhumanism]]
* [[Technology Management]]
{{multicol-end}}
 
{{multicol}}
 
=== Economics of technology ===
 
{{div col}}
* [[Technocracy (bureaucratic)]]
* [[Technocapitalism]]
* [[Diffusion (business)|Technological diffusion]]
* [[Technology acceptance model]]
* [[Technology lifecycle]]
* [[Technology transfer]]
* [[Energy accounting]]
{{multicol-end}}
{{div col end}}
 
== References ==
{{reflist}}
 
== Further reading ==
* [[Michael Kremer|Kremer, Michael]] (1993) ''Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990'', The Quarterly Journal of Economics 108(3): 681-716.
* [[Frank Popper]] (2007) ''From Technological to Virtual Art'', Leonardo Books, [[MIT Press]]
* [[Charlie Gere]] (2005) ''Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body'', Berg
* {{cite paper | author=Ambrose, Stanley H. | title=Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution | publisher=''Science'' | date=2001-03-02 | url=http://www3.isrl.uiuc.edu/~junwang4/langev/localcopy/pdf/ambrose01science.pdf |format=PDF| accessdate=2007-03-10}}
 
== External links ==
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/5170618/Technology-for-kids W5H of Technology] Technology for Kids
* [http://www.argentina.ar/sw_seccion.php?id=124&idioma_sel=en Science and Technology in the Southern world]
 
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[[وېشنيزه:Technology| ]]
[[وېشنيزه:Technology systems| ]]
 
[[af:Tegnologie]]