[Understanding Science and Technology]

[Icon][What is technology?]

[Understanding Science and Technology Girl looking through her telescope]Technology is all around us. It is so much a part of our world that it's sometimes hard to tell technology apart from civilization itself. It is also hard to define technology. A very simple definition is that technology is anything made by humans, as opposed to things made by nature. With the progress being made in genetic engineering, however, it might become hard to make even this simple distinction. If the genes in a tomato were manufactured by a person, is the tomato natural or artificial?

Another definition of technology is that it is the tools humans make to help them succeed in their natural environment. This includes things like a hammer, which could help someone build their home, or things like coats, which keep people warm in the winter.

Nowadays, when people use the word technology, they are usually referring to modern, complex inventions like computers, satellites, or an artificial heart. But technology can also refer to simple everyday items like can openers, paper, and tables.

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Produced by Galactics.
Comments: galactics@spacesim.org.
Last updated on 14 August 1998.