And its Effects on Society
| 1. | The increasing pace of technological change in the 20th century makes it difficult to place recent developments into perspective. New materials, ranging from synthetic rubber through plastics and artificial fabrics, have |
| affected ways of life and fashion. Following the establishment of the assembly line by Henry Ford in 1913, the automobile became inexpensive enough for many to afford and changed the landscape in industrialized nations. The aircraft industry grew within decades after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. | |
| 2. | Although early computing machines existed by World War II, it took the invention of the transistor in 1948 to make modern computers and office machines a reality. Nuclear power was introduced after the World War II, and the space age began with the first Soviet spacecraft in 1957. Many of these developments depended on the advances in science that were required before their adaptation by engineers. |
| 3. | Medical technology, which started with better sanitary practices in the 19th century, was expanded by the use of new medicines and new equipment. This nearly doubled the life span of a person living in an industrialized country compared to 100 years earlier. New technologies in biology led to genetic engineering, in which living cells can be altered. |
| 4. | Technology keeps advancing at a rapid rate. It can only be guessed what the “information revolution” of the late 20th century will bring about. Technology has made modern society possible. It has increased the human life span and allowed a healthier life. It has added to leisure time and reduced the long hours of work. |
| 5. | Technology can allow the world to feed itself. It has reduced the effects of natural catastrophes such as famines and floods. The world is now a smaller place where people can readily communicate with each other and travel rapidly anywhere. Technology has raised the standard of living, at least in the developed nations, to a point unimaginable only a century ago. |
| 6. | Yet a dark side of technology persists. The threat of nuclear war is foremost, though other dangers are also frightening. The effects of dumping poisonous waste and the continued pollution of the atmosphere are but two examples. Although 20th-century technology has created more jobs than have been lost, it still has left many individuals unemployed. The world has become smaller, but social and political institutions have not kept pace. |
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