Technology refers to all the ways people use their inventions and discoveries to satisfy their needs and desires. Ever since people appeared on the earth, they have had to work to obtain food, clothing, and shelter. They have also had to work to satisfy their desire for leisure and comfort. Through the ages, people invented tools, machines, materials, and techniques to make work easier. They also discovered how to harness water, wind, steam, electricity, and other sources of power that increased the rate at which they could work.

Many people call the age we live in the age of technology. Yet people have always lived in a technological age because they have always had to work to obtain most of life's necessities and many of its pleasures. Technology thus includes the use of both primitive and highly advanced tools and methods of work. But when people speak of technology today, they generally mean industrial technology--the technology that helped bring about our modern society.

As industrial technology advanced, it affected more and more aspects of people's lives. For example, the development of the automobile influenced where people lived and worked and how they spent their leisure time. Radio and television changed entertainment habits, and the telephone revolutionized communication. Today, industrial technology helps people achieve goals that few thought possible a hundred years ago. It gives people a way to conquer hunger and to cure or prevent many diseases. It enables them to transport goods and passengers swiftly and easily to any place on the earth. They can even leave the earth, soar through space, and set foot on the moon.

Science attempts to explain how and why things happen. Technology is concerned with making things happen. Since 1850, science has contributed much to modern technology. However, technology has often contributed to science. In addition, not all technology is based on science, nor is science necessary to all technology. For example, people made objects of iron for hundreds of years before they learned about the changes that occurred in the structure of the metal during ironmaking. But some modern technologies, such as nuclear power production and space travel, depend heavily on science.

Excerpt from the "Technology" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999