The nature of the modern society has made the relationship between science and technology to become stronger than before. The two domains are acknowledged as primary forms of human activities. They therefore stand at the side of arts and social sciences as essential to the human accomplishment as well as expression. The key to acknowledging the strong point in the relationship between the domains of science and technology is the recognition that neither of the two holds a deferential position. Instead, science and technology work jointly for the mutual benefit as well as advancement of each domain in both projected and unforeseen ways. There is, therefore, a strong link and dependency between science and technology (Brooks, 2010).
The principal goal of science is to avail explanation on the natural world via repetitive intellectual and investigative practices that engross observations and restricted manipulations of the world. In favour of this, science can be strongly argued at the moment in terms of a critical realist standpoint. This mirrors a notion that things exist in the world and they are as they are. Therefore, the role of scientists is to investigate the real things that exist in a natural world so as to come up with explanations of them. In view of science as an activity of the modern man, resulting explanatory books are entrenched in the socio-cultural world (Hansson, 2011).
The overriding goal of technology is to arbitrate in the world to create things other than that which exists at the moment. It accomplishes this via repetitive intellectual and practices that are design-based. The practices encompass multiple sources of input. The sources include a combination of natural things, simulated things, imagined things, and so on. Technologists also get ideas from the past, present and a number of probable futures. What authenticate technological knowledge is the success and not the truth. Nevertheless, like science, accomplishment of technological knowledge is determined in the technological practice by specialists in the technology domain. Technological practice is situation specific, and hence it is as varied as people involved in the process (Hansson, 2011).
Scientific understanding and methodologies themselves offer a key source of input into the advancement of technological practices and results. They are also major tools in coming up with explanations on the reason for the failure or success of a technological intervention. Concisely, science provides strong explanations for the why and why not in relation to technological interventions. Though at times the interventions depend on more than the scientific understanding, science provides reliable validation for technological practices as well as endings (Brooks, 2010).
Science contributes to technology in many ways. First, it avails contemporary knowledge which acts as an unswerving source of ideas for new technological inventions. Second, science provides tools and techniques for making more effective engineering designs and a knowledge base for analysis of design feasibility. Third, science provides research instrumentations, laboratory techniques as well analytical methodologies. These are employed in studies that are useful in technological practices. Science also offers research practices as a source for advancement and incorporation of new human skills and capacity eventually helpful for technology. Furthermore, science helps in the establishment of a knowledge base that is of growing importance in the analysis of technology on the basis of social as well as environmental impacts. Lastly, science offers a knowledge base that makes it possible for more effective strategies of applied research as well as the enhancement of new technologies (Brooks, 2010).
On the other hand, technological practices and results avail a mechanism for science to get a better outlook of its distinct world. It has also introduced new areas to be exploited by science. For instance, the advancement of the technological objects that have widened the observation capacity of humans (for example, microscopes) has improved the visibility and availability of new terms for science to investigate and expound on. The aforementioned relationships between science and technology, therefore, reaffirm the argument that the two are strongly interdependent. Each of the two domains depends on the other for advancement (Mickogrady, 2013).
References
Brooks, H. (2010). The relationship between science and technology. Retrieved from
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/sciencetechnology.pdf
Hansson, S.O.(2011). Science and technology: what they are and why their relation matters.
Retrieved from www.springer.com/cda/content//cda/9789401797610-c2.pdf?
Jones, A. (2013). The relationship between science and technology in the new zea land
curriculum. Retrieved from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle /Relationship.pdf?
Mickogrady, (2013). Relationship between science, technology and society.
http://mickogrady.blogspot.co.ke/2012/08/the-relationship-between-science.html
