Technology
Technology is the skills, methods, and processes used to achieve goals. The word has been in use since the 17th century.
People can use technology to:
- Produce goods or provide customer services
- Carry out goals, such as scientific investigation or sending a spaceship to the moon
- Solve problems, such as disease or famine
- Do things we already do, but more easily.
Technology can be knowledge of how to do things. Some machiness have automatic controls. This lets others use the machines without knowing how they work. Technological systems use technology by taking something, changing it, then producing a result. They are also known as technology systems.
The most simple form of technology is the development and use of basic tools. The discovery of fire and the Neolithic Revolution made food easier to get. Other inventions, such as the wheel and the ship, helped people to transport goods and themselves. This, along with information technology such as the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, has led to globalization.
People have used technology for millions of years. Without food technology, most people would die.
Etymology
The word "technology" comes from two Greek words:
Technology Media
A steam turbine with the case opened, an example of energy technology
A person holding a hand axe
An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools
The wheel was invented c. 4,000 BCE.
Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered as of 2024)
Photograph of the Pont du Gard in France, one of the most famous ancient Roman aqueducts
The automobile, here the original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, revolutionized personal transportation.
Experimental 3D printing of muscle tissue
Antoine Lavoisier experimenting with combustion generated by amplified sunlight
.jpg)
