Cheryl Goldman, age 15, of Cullen, Va., for her question:
WHAT EXACTLY IS TECHNOLOGY?
While the advance of technology has greatly benefited man in many ways, it has also created a number of serious problems. The development of the automobile in the late 1890s and the early 1900s, for example, was welcomed because the people believed it would be quieter and less smelly than horses. But the cars made more noise than the horses and exhaust fumes were worse than the smell of horse manure.
Technology refers to all of the many ways man uses his inventions and discoveries to satisfy his needs and desires. It involves man's use of tools, machines, materials, techniques and sources of power to make his work easier and more productive.
When people speak of technology today they generally mean industrial technology, or the technology that helped bring about our modern society.
Industrial technology started about 200 years ago with the development of power driven machines. Science contributed much.
Technology has enabled man to live in greater comfort and security than ever before. It has also helped him obtain control over nature and so build a civilized way of life.
Man benefits in four ways because of technology: production of goods and services is increased; the amount of labor needed to produce goods and services is reduced; man's labor is made easier; and a higher living standard is obtained.
While man has benefited because of technology, it has also brought problems. Trouble included environmental pollution, the depletion of natural resources and the causing of technological unemployment.
Some of the dramatic ways in which advanced technology can be seen is to look at transportation over the last 100 years. A century ago we traveled by stagecoach at about nine miles per hour. Today cars and busses move smoothly over our highways at 65 miles per hour and Japan's electric rail train zooms at 130 miles per hour. Clipper ships sailed at about 23 miles per hour 100 years ago, and today our jet airliners carry us at about 600 miles per hour.
Computer technology affects our everyday lives. Computers perform tasks rapidly and efficiently. Communications have been improved tremendously by telecomunications technology which includes satellites, cell phones and computers.
Tremendous challenges are presented to us today as part of the modern technology. A chief challenge is to combat the undesirable side effects of existing technologies.
Another cchallenge is for us to discover new technologies. As new inventions come up and new discoveries are made, many new doors will open. Another challenge is to spread technology's benefits to the people of developing nations.