This document discusses how science affects society. It aims to discover how scientific discoveries change perspectives and influence history. Several examples are given of major scientific discoveries that overturned existing views, including Copernicus determining the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice versa, and the first atomic and hydrogen bomb tests that began the Atomic Age. The future possibilities of designer babies and discoveries at the Large Hadron Collider are also examined. The document reflects on the two-way relationship between science and society.

1. Science & Society
How does science affect society?

2. The biggest scientific discovery in the last
100 years has been…

3. Aims
• Discover how scientific discoveries change the
way we see the world.
• Discuss how these changes can change the
course of history.
• Reflect on what science really has done for
society and YOU.
• Consider how science could change society in
the future.

4. Science & Society
Science and Society have been linked for
hundreds of years – from the arguments about the
Earth being the centre of the solar system to
recent debates surrounding GM foods and stem
cell research.
The kind of society we live in and the amount and
nature of science taking place in it are bound
together inextricably.

5. biology
engineering
avionics
chemical
Particle Physics
biometrics
medical
prostheticsNeurology
Astronomy
Ecology
Geology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Cosmology
Embryology
Entomology
Genetics
Immunology
Pathology
Pharmacology Zoology
Virology
Robotics
Science Doesn’t Affect Me?!

6. Science Changing Society
Earth at the centre of the universe.
Prior to the 16th
Century it was commonly held that the
Earth was the centre of the universe and all other
planets orbited around us.
In the mid-16th
Century Copernicus went against the
scientific and religious beliefs of the time and put
forward a ‘heliocentric’ model whereby the Sun was
at the centre with Earth merely being one of many
planets which orbited it.

7. How science changed the way they thought.
• Before the 16th
Century ideas about the
universe had little basic theory to go on.
• Educated people were taught classical ideas
(controlled massively by religious scholars).
• Overturning a classical view, for example,
astronomy, resulted in a profoundly different
way of looking at the world which, in part,
went against religious teachings.

8. Science Changing History
Ivy Mike was the first H Bomb
test. It was exploded at 7.15 am
local time on November 1st
1952. The mushroom cloud was
8 miles across and 27 miles
high. The canopy was 100 miles
wide. Radioactive mud fell out of
the sky followed by heavy rain.
80 million tons of earth was
vaporised. Mike was the first
ever megaton yield explosion.

9. TheAtomicAge

10. Science Changing History
The Apollo 11 mission was the first
human spaceflight to land on the Moon.
Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried
Mission Commander Neil Armstrong,
Command Module Pilot Michael Collins,
and Lunar Module Pilot 'Buzz' Aldrin,
Jr.
On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin
became the first humans to land on the
Moon, while Collins orbited above.

11. Onegiantleap

12. Activity: Science & Society
• How has your discovery altered the course of
history?
• How has your discovery been used to solve
human problems?
• Has your discovery actually caused any new
problems?
• Has your discovery been supported or
objected by society and governments?

17. The Future: Designer Babies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7918296.stm
The term "designer baby"
refers to a baby whose genetic
makeup has been artificially
selected by genetic engineering
combined with in vitro
fertilisation to ensure the
presence or absence of
particular genes or
characteristics.

18. The Future: The Large Hadron Collider
• How did our universe come to
be the way it is?
• The Universe started with a Big
Bang – but we don’t fully
understand how or why it
developed the way it did. The
LHC will let us see how matter
behaved a tiny fraction of a
second after the Big Bang.
Researchers have some ideas of
what to expect – but also expect
the unexpected!

19. LargeHadronCollider

20. Review
We’ve considered:
• Past scientific discoveries and their effect on
society and thinking at the time.
• What recent (last 100 years) developments in
science have meant for society and
individuals.
• What could happen with future developments
in science.

21. Final Thought
• Throughout this lesson we have considered
what affect Science has on Society. However,
it should be considered that often Society has
a profound effect on Science.
• Public outrage or support can push forward or
halt scientific discovery. But should it?