TEXT D The meanings of "science"
and "technology" have changed significantly from one generation to another. More
similarities than differences, however, can be found between the terms. Both
science and technology imply a thinking process; both are concerned with causal
relationships in the material world, and both employ an experimental methodology
that results in empirical demonstrations that can be verified by repetition.
Science, at least in theory, is less concerned with the practicality of its
results and more concerned with the development of general laws, but in practice
science and technology are inextricably involved with each other. The varying
interplay of the two can be observed in the historical development of such
practitioners as chemists, engineers, physicists, astronomers, carpenters,
potters, and many other specialists. Differing educational requirements, social
status, vocabulary, methodology, and types of rewards, as well as institutional
objectives and professional goals, contribute to such distinctions as can be
made between the activities of scientists and technologists; but throughout
history the practitioners of "pure" science have made many practical as well as
theoretical contributions. Indeed, the concept that science
provides the ideas for technological innovations and that pure research is
therefore essential for any significant advancement in industrial civilization
is essentially a myth. Most of the greatest changes in industrial civilization
cannot be traced to the laboratory. Fundamental tools and processes in the
fields of mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, metallurgy, and hydraulics were
developed before the laws governing their functions were discovered. The steam
engine, for example, was commonplace before the science of thermodynamics
elucidated the physical principle underlying its operations. In
recent years a sharp value distinction has grown up between science and
technology. Advances in science have frequently had their bitter opponents, but
today many people have come to fear technology much more than science. For these
people, science may be perceived as a serene, objective source for understanding
the eternal laws of nature, whereas the practical manifestations of technology
in the modern world now seem to them to be out of control. Many
historians of science argue not only that technology is an essential condition
of advanced, industrial civilization but also that the rate of technological
change has developed its own momentum in recent centuries. Innovations now seem
to appear at a rate that increase geometrically, without respect to geographical
limits or political systems. These innovations tend to transform traditional
cultural systems, frequently with unexpected social consequences. Thus
technology can be conceived as both a creative and a destructive
process. Which of the following does the author NOT agree with
A.Scientific activities are deeply involved with those of technology. B.Industrial civilization is largely based on the scientific progress. C.Science and technology move forward at a comparable speed. D.Either of science and technology is necessary for the advance of each other.