Science and the Technological Vision of the Future

This article aims to demonstrate that humanity must prepare itself to face not only the immediate threats to its survival such as the current deadly Coronavirus pandemic and others that may arise in the future and the catastrophic climate change that may occur from the middle of the 21st century, but also the future threats represented by the progressive increase in the distance from the Moon to Earth, the collision of asteroids on the planet Earth, the explosion of supernovae with the release of gamma radiation and X-rays, the collision of the Andromeda Galaxy with the Milky Way Galaxy where the solar system is located, the death of the Sun and the end of the Universe in which we live. Both immediate and future threats will not be successfully addressed without the advancement of science and technology that is the passport to humanity's survival

“The escalation of science and technology and their contribution to the progress and survival of humanity” is the title of my 16th book to be published, which is subtitled “Science and technology and its contribution to economic and social development and as a passport to save humanity from extinction”. This book of more than 300 pages aims to present the evolution of science and technology from its origins to the contemporary era, as well as its contribution to economic and social progress and the survival of the human species from the internal threats of planet Earth and from threats outsiders from outer space. This book that I publish incorporates all the knowledge I have acquired over 60 years of studies and research on science and technology and the experience in dealing with scientific and technological issues as an engineering professional.

Imagining, forecasting and predicting the future is an inextricable and increasingly important part of the present. States, organizations and individuals almost continuously have to make decisions about future actions, financial investments or technological innovation, without much knowledge of what will exactly happen in the future. Science and technology play a crucial role in this collective attempt to make sense of the future. Technological developments such as nanotechnology, robotics or solar energy largely shape how we dream and think about the future, while economic forecasts, gene tests or climate change projections help us to make images of what may possibly occur in the future. This book provides one of the first interdisciplinary assessments of how scientific and technological imaginations matter in the formation of human, ecological and societal futures. Rooted in different disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, and science and technology studies, it explores how various actors such as scientists, companies or states imagine the future to be and act upon that imagination. Bringing together case studies from different regions around the globe, including the electrification of German car infrastructure, or genetically modified crops in India, Imagined Futures in Science, Technology and Society shows how science and technology create novel forms of imagination, thereby opening horizons toward alternative futures. By developing central aspects of the current debate on how scientific imagination and future-making interact, this timely volume provides a fresh look at the complex interrelationships between science, technology and society.

We could start with a simple saying: "You can't be happy alone in this Universe", such a phrase that can have a myriad of meanings, in addition to being of a Philosophical nature, is strongly dependent on our Scientific and Technological evolution. In this article, through the analysis of some critical issues of our society's system, and some aspects of the "Intimate Nature of the Universe", we will try to identify the role that Science and Technology play in the evolution of our contemporary society. This comes out of a period of time characterized by the production of large quantities of objects and means useful to our life, essentially the heritage of the "technologically advanced" part of the world, to enter a period where large-scale production has moved to other areas of the "globalized world", with lower labor costs, creating problems of restructuring the work environment in the "technologically advanced" world, which leads to the creation of social discomfort especially among young people. It is increasingly evident that in order to power the enormous technological machine of this "globalized world", it is necessary to find enormous quantities of energy, which contribute to fueling the phenomenon of "climate change" in progress. To reverse this trend, new ideas are needed, which our classical science is unable to propose, because being divided into a thousand specialized streams it has lost its synthesis, and the great theme of unification has remained unfinished. To try to recover a lost synthesis, we started from a fundamental aspect of Physics, such as the one that describes the role of Space in the Universe, which we are convinced can stimulate a general renewal in Science. In this sense, our passion as researchers has directed us to investigate the fundamental rules of nature, which by debunking the "wave-particle" dualism, eliminate the concept of "concrete particle", replacing it with that of "field and resonance". This is an innovative scientific vision, which will direct us towards a paradigm shift, aimed at investigating the "whys" of the resonances existing in the universe, and the relationships that bind them. In in this regard Feyman said: "Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions and transmit them. Our responsibility is to leave freedom to the men of the future. As scientists, who know the enormous progress due to a correct philosophy of ignorance, the enormous progress that is the fruit of freedom of thought; it is our task to proclaim the value of this freedom, to teach how one should not fear doubt, but rather welcome it and discuss it. Demanding this freedom is our duty in front of all the generations to come". It is clear at this point that to take a step forward in Technology, we must first take a step forward in scientific knowledge, which for the authors is represented by the innovative vision of the "Science of Resonances". Understanding and becoming aware of this innovative concept of what the Universe is, and what we are doing in it, will also lead us towards a new way of conceiving energy, which is not created, but manifests itself, with a myriad of beneficial consequences in our social and technological life as a spin-off.

University of Glasgow - College of Social Sciences, 2013

Inaugural lecture, 16 Apr 2013, University of Glasgow The links between science and technology, on the one hand, and wider society, on the other, have been the focus of growing attention over the past two generations. This inaugural lecture by Sean Johnston, Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the University of Glasgow’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies, will explore the recent history of this relationship and discuss why the social implications of science and technology have become increasingly contentious. Illustrated by career experiences as a participant and researcher in emerging fields, his session will highlight the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach for creating new knowledge and opportunities. The lecture will describe how current research and postgraduate teaching seek to identify and tackle issues at the heart of our current century.

DESCRIPTION What are the origins, purposes, and limits of science and technology? Science and technology have shaped modern society such that we live at a time unprecedented in its potential for human flourishing and its vulnerability to violence and suffering. Today, human society harnesses atomic and solar energy, edits the human genome, engineers new species, impacts the global climate, and reflexively shapes itself through social media. As Martin Luther King, Jr. witnessed the rapid acceleration of society's scientific and technological capacities half a century ago he observed that moral and social progress were not keeping pace: "We have guided missiles and misguided men." The interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology, & Society emerged in response to such challenges for the sake of present and future generations. This course familiarizes students with historical challenges, influential interdisciplinary studies, and complex ethical considerations that inform the field of Science, Technology, & Society. Throughout, we will examine cases from diverse STEM fields in order to develop ethically-informed approaches to scientific research and cross-disciplinary applied projects. Readings, discussions, and assignments will invite students to broaden their understandings of vocation and professional responsibilities beyond the merely descriptive and technical to normative and theoretical domains encompassing multiple disciplinary perspectives, diverse values, and a range of views about what makes for a good and just society.

Nanun'do Publishing, 2020

Sometimes we need to look backwards in order to look forward. Th at is to say, in order to understand the world of science today and where it may be heading tomorrow, it helps to know where it has been in the past. How did we come to our present understanding of atoms, energy, gravity and light? What are the fundamental principles through which we investigate the world around us? Who are the great scientifi c fi gures who helped us to fi nd our place in the universe? Th is book aims to answer these questions, guiding students from the past to the present and from the present to the future.

2008

One has the distinct perception that the debate on the future of science, especially regarding the acquisition of more knowledge, is hotting up. We appear to be in the midst of fast and furious change—in which the internet, new modes of funding, disseminating and applying science, and of educating future scientists, and the sheer volume of English-language scientific papers now emanating from China are all contributing. Whether the changes currently taking place are qualitatively greater than those associated with previous scientific revolutions is hard to say, but we certainly risk being overwhelmed by their quantitative hugeness, which seems unprecedented. Perhaps the present fervour, at least in the UK, is a symptom of a nation under stress, beset on all sides by new forms of competition, much as must have been felt by Britain on the threshold of World War I, when its more or less satisfactory arrangement of recruiting troops by the individual efforts of local grandees was sudden...

In the twentieth century, it was believed that the only reliable means to improve the human condition came from the new machines, chemicals and many different techniques. Including recurrent social ills and the environment that accompanies technological advances rarely have affected this faith. Today, there is a clear perception that science and technology have provided progress for humanity, but, along with it, have the ability to also destroy it.

The contradiction between physical and economical sciences concerning the growth of the production/consumption mechanism is analyzed. It is then shown that if one wishes to keep the security level stable or to enhance it in a growing economy the cost of security grows faster than the gross wealth. The result is a typical evolution in which the net wealth increases up to a maximum, then abruptly collapses. Besides this, any system of relations based on a growing volume of exchanges is bound to go progressively out of control.