Science helps us to penetrate into the essence of the phenomena occurring in nature and society, to understand the patterns that govern the development of the natural and man-made environment around us.

It shows people ways to influence this development and direct it. Technique arises as a material embodiment of the experience and knowledge accumulated by science and practice, is an instrument of human practical activity. Thanks to technology, a person interacts more actively with the outside world, has the opportunity to improve the conditions of his existence. Technology also becomes a powerful stimulus for the further development of scientific knowledge, since with its help, either immediately or after a certain time, it becomes possible to evaluate the results of scientific research.

The interaction of science, technology and production, leading to the improvement of the productive forces of society, gives rise to scientific and technological progress.

For many centuries, science and technology have developed without revealing a clear relationship with each other. Science gravitated toward speculative constructions, to logical conclusions and philosophical generalizations, while technique and technology were improved mainly on the basis of experience, intuitive guesses and random finds. The secrets of craftsmanship were often passed down only by inheritance. This prevented the wide dissemination of technological discoveries. Science was not closely connected with the production activity of man.

In the XVI century. the needs of trade, navigation and large manufactories required the theoretical and practical solution of a number of problems. Under the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance, science gradually begins to turn to practice.

In subsequent centuries, scientists in different countries - G. Galileo, E. Torricelli, R. Boyle, I. Newton, D. Bernoulli, M. V. Lomonosov, L. Euler, A. Volta, G. Davy and many others - studied mechanical processes, thermal, optical, electrical phenomena. The results of their scientific discoveries contributed to the convergence of science and practice.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. With the development of machine production, science becomes more and more closely connected with the practical activities of mankind. The Russian scientist-encyclopedist M. V. Lomonosov was the initiator of a wide variety of scientific, technical and cultural events aimed at developing the productive forces of Russia. The English inventor J. Watt created a universal steam engine. The French chemist A. Lavoisier explained the process of roasting metals and combustion using the law of conservation of mass of matter. The French physicist S. Carnot gave a theoretical justification for the working cycle of a steam engine. The well-known Russian metallurgical engineer D.K. Chernov laid the foundations of metallurgy.

In the XX century. scientific and technological progress is associated with the scientific and technological revolution. Under its influence, the front of scientific disciplines oriented towards the development of technology is expanding.

Entire branches of production arise following new scientific directions and discoveries: radio electronics, microelectronics, nuclear power engineering, the chemistry of synthetic materials, the production of electronic computing equipment, etc. Science stimulates the development of technology, and technology puts forward new tasks for science and provides it with modern experimental equipment.

Scientific and technological progress covers not only industry, but also many other aspects of the practical activities of society, agriculture, transport, communications, medicine, education, and everyday life. A vivid example of the fruitful connection between science and technology is the exploration of outer space by mankind.

Scientific and technological progress is the basis of social progress. However, in a capitalist society, the progress of science and technology is carried out mainly in the interests of the ruling class, the military-industrial complex, and is often accompanied by the destruction of the human personality.

Under socialism, scientific and technological progress is carried out in the interests of the whole people, the successful development of science and technology contributes to the solution of the economic and social problems of communist construction, the creation of material and spiritual prerequisites for the all-round and harmonious development of the individual.

The 27th CPSU Congress brought to the fore the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of our country on the basis of scientific and technological progress. One of its most important directions is the wide development of advanced technologies: laser, plasma, membrane, radiation, electron beam, technologies using ultra-high pressures and impulse loads, etc. Another direction is complex automation and mechanization of production, designed to make the work of workers, collective farmers, intelligentsia more productive, creative. The modern stage of automation is based on the revolution in electronic computing technology, the rapid development of robotics, rotary conveyor lines, flexible automated production, providing high productivity.

Scientific and technical progress- this is the interconnected development of science and technology, which determines the progress of the productive forces and society as a whole.

The main source of the development of scientific and technical progress lies not in itself, but in the essential forces of man. The need for scientific and technical progress is not due to the needs of the technique and technology itself, it is inherent in human nature, in the essence of human existence. It is people who, developing the productive forces and changing under their pressure, ultimately determine the basic principles and directions of scientific and technical progress. The modern stage of scientific and technical progress is the modern scientific and technological revolution.

Scientific and technological revolution: essence and main directions.

Scientific and technological revolution- intensive qualitative change in the productive forces and society as a result of the creation of new types of equipment and technologies as a result of the practical application of fundamental scientific discoveries.

The essence of scientific and technological revolution can be expressed by its following features. First of all, these are fundamental scientific discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology, primarily in physics, which has penetrated into the microcosm and, with its successes, has advanced the entire complex of natural sciences. New areas of knowledge emerged, among which cybernetics began to play a decisive role. New industries emerged: nuclear power, rocket technology, radio electronics. Automation and cybernetization of production are the core of modern scientific and technological revolution. As a result of the scientific and technological revolution, the place and role of man in the system of production and, consequently, the content of living labor is changing radically. A radical change in the content of labor entails a radical change in the entire system of social life, in the way of life as a whole.

The following main directions of scientific and technological revolution are distinguished:

1. According to Toffler

Search for new renewable energy sources

Electronics industry

space industry

Penetration into the depths of the sea

Genetic Engineering

2. According to Bell

Replacement of mechanical equipment with electronic

Miniaturization of production

Transition to numerical methods of information storage and processing

Software production

3. Other sources

Automation of production (unmanned production)

Alternative energy sources

astronautics

Artificial materials with predetermined properties

New technologies (biotechnology, genetic engineering)

Contradictions of modern scientific and technological progress.

Contradictions of NTP:

Science and technology in their development bring not only benefits, but also threats to man and mankind. This has become a reality today and requires new constructive approaches in the study of the future and its alternatives.

NTP allows a person to solve many problems. But what price do we pay for the development of science and technology? Production has a negative impact on human health, pollutes the environment. The acceleration of the pace of life leads to nervous diseases.

Already in the present, the prevention of undesirable results and negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution has become an urgent need for humanity as a whole. It presupposes the timely foresight of these dangers, combined with the ability of society to counteract them. This is what will largely determine which alternatives will ultimately prevail in the future for man:

Failure to foresee and prevent the negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution threatens to plunge humanity into a thermonuclear, environmental or social catastrophe.

The abuse of the achievements of scientific and technological progress, even under certain control over their use, can lead to the creation of a totalitarian technocratic system in which the vast majority of the population can be under the rule of a privileged elite for a long time.

The suppression of these abuses, the humanistic use of the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution in the interests of the whole society and the comprehensive development of the individual is accompanied by an acceleration of social progress.

It depends on the moral responsibility of scientists, on the political consciousness of the broadest masses, on the social choice of peoples, in line with which of these alternatives the scientific and technological revolution will shape the future of mankind in the coming decades. In the historical perspective, the scientific and technological revolution is a powerful means of social liberation and spiritual enrichment of man.

43. World history as a single natural process. Historical process: formational and civilizational approaches. Civilizational and formational approaches to history and law.

World history as a single natural world process.

Both philosophers considered the history of mankind as a single whole, each separate step of which can be truly achieved only in the light of this whole. The connection between the course and events of world history is a necessary connection, because each epoch of world history arises and naturally comes to replace a certain previous epoch, which has outlived itself internally and thereby necessitated the transition to a new one. This principle of necessity was especially emphasized in the works of Fichte. According to the philosopher: everything that really exists exists with absolute necessity and exactly as it exists; it could not not exist or be other than what it is. But this immanent necessity is not absolutely unconscious and otherworldly for man and his activity. Comprehension of necessity, a person becomes free, and his conscious activity grows ever stronger as the most important factor in the historical process. These ideas of unity and development, freedom and necessity in world history are understood by both Fichte and Schelling as the implementation of world reasonable plans given to humanity by the divine power of the ideals of progress and improvement. Fichte bases the historical process on the idea of ​​a world plan as a concept of the unity of the entire earthly life of mankind. Schelling develops the idea that a peculiar feature of the history of mankind lies in the combination of freedom and necessity, and that through this people realize the ideal of perfection inherent in them and never disappeared from consciousness - a universal legal system that can only be realized by the entire human race. And the whole process of historical development is necessary and comes down only to the eternal striving for this ideal.

History of scientific and technological progress

Scientific and technological revolution, world economic leaders of technological progress

Section 1. The essence of scientific and technological progress, scientific and technological revolution.

Section 2. World economic leaders.

Scientific and technical progress - it is an interconnected progressive development of science and technology, due to the needs of material production, the growth and complication of social needs.

The essence of scientific and technological progress, scientific and technological revolution

Scientific and technological progress is inextricably linked with the emergence and development of large-scale machine production, which is based on the ever wider use of scientific and technical achievements. It allows you to put powerful natural forces and resources at the service of man, to turn production into a technological process of conscious application of the data of natural and other sciences.

With the strengthening of the relationship of large-scale machine production with science and technology at the end of the 19th century. 20th century special types of scientific research aimed at translating scientific ideas into technical means and new technology are rapidly expanding: applied research, experimental design and production research. As a result, science is increasingly becoming a direct productive force, transforming an increasing number of aspects and elements of material production.

Scientific and technological progress has two main forms:

evolutionary and revolutionary, meaning a relatively slow and partial improvement of the traditional scientific and technical foundations of production.

These forms determine each other: the quantitative accumulation of relatively small changes in science and technology eventually leads to fundamental qualitative changes in this area, and after the transition to a fundamentally new technique and technology, revolutionary changes gradually outgrow evolutionary ones.

Depending on the prevailing social system, scientific and technological progress has various socio-economic consequences. Under capitalism, the private appropriation of the means, production and results of scientific research leads to the fact that scientific and technological progress develops mainly in the interests of the bourgeoisie and is used to intensify the exploitation of the proletariat, for militaristic and misanthropic purposes.

Under socialism, scientific and technological progress is put at the service of the whole of society, and its achievements are used to more successfully solve the economic and social problems of communist construction, to form the material and spiritual prerequisites for the all-round development of the individual. In the period of developed socialism, the most important goal of the economic strategy of the CPSU is to accelerate scientific and technological progress as a decisive condition for raising the efficiency of social production and improving the quality of products.

The technical policy worked out by the 25th Congress of the CPSU ensures the coordination of all directions in the development of science and technology, the development of fundamental scientific research, as well as the acceleration and wider introduction of their results into the national economy.

Based on the implementation of a unified technical policy in all sectors of the national economy, it is planned to accelerate the technical re-equipment of production, to widely introduce progressive equipment and technology that ensures an increase in labor productivity and product quality, saving material resources, improving working conditions, protecting the environment and rationally using natural resources. The task was set - to carry out the transition from the creation and implementation of individual machines and technological processes to the development, production and mass use of highly efficient machine systems;

equipment, instruments and technological processes that ensure the mechanization and automation of all production processes, and especially auxiliary, transport and warehouse operations, to make greater use of reconfigurable technical means that make it possible to quickly master the production of new products.

Along with the improvement of already mastered technological processes, groundwork will be created for fundamentally new equipment and technology.

The scientific and technological revolution is a fundamental transformation in the system of scientific knowledge and in technology, taking place inextricably linked with the historical process of the development of human society.

The industrial revolution of the 18th-19th centuries, during which handicraft technology was replaced by large-scale machine production, and capitalism was established, relied on the scientific revolution of the 16th-17th centuries.

The modern scientific and technological revolution, leading to the replacement of machine production by automated production, is based on discoveries in science at the end of the 19th - the first half of the 20th century. The latest achievements of science and technology bring with them a revolution in the productive forces of society and create enormous opportunities for the growth of production. Discoveries in the field of the atomic and molecular structure of matter laid the foundation for the creation of new materials;

advances in chemistry made it possible to create substances with predetermined properties;

the study of electrical phenomena in solids and gases served as the basis for the emergence of electronics;

the study of the structure of the atomic nucleus opened the way to the practical use of atomic energy;

thanks to the development of mathematics, means of automating production and control were created.

All this indicates the creation of a new system of knowledge about nature, a radical transformation of technology and production technology, an undermining of the dependence of the development of production on the restrictions imposed by the physiological capabilities of man and natural conditions.

The possibilities for the growth of production created by the scientific and technological revolution are in blatant contradiction with the production relations of capitalism, which subordinate the scientific and technological revolution to the growth of monopoly profits and the strengthening of the rule of the monopoly (see Capitalist monopolies). Capitalism cannot put forward social tasks corresponding to their level and nature to science and technology, it gives them a one-sided, ugly character. The use of technology in capitalist countries leads to such social consequences as rising unemployment, increased intensification of labor, and an ever-increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of financial magnates. Socialism is the social system that opens up scope for the development of scientific and technological revolution in the interests of all working people.

In the USSR, the implementation of the scientific and technological revolution is inextricably linked with the construction of the material and technical base of communism.

The technical development and improvement of production is carried out in the direction of completing the comprehensive mechanization of production, automating the processes that are technically and economically prepared for this, working out the system of automatic machines and creating the prerequisites for the transition to integrated automation. At the same time, the development of labor tools is inextricably linked with a change in production technology, the use of new sources of energy, raw materials and materials. Scientific and technological revolution affects all aspects of material production.

The revolution in the productive forces determines a qualitatively new level of activity of society in the management of production, higher requirements for personnel, the quality of work of each worker. The possibilities opened up by the latest achievements of science and technology are realized in the growth of labor productivity, on the basis of which prosperity is achieved, and then an abundance of consumer goods.

The progress of technology, primarily with the use of automatic machines, is associated with a change in the content of labor, the elimination of unskilled and heavy manual labor, an increase in the level of professional training and the general culture of workers, and the transfer of agricultural production to an industrial basis.

In the long term, having ensured full well-being for all, society will overcome the still remaining significant differences between town and country under socialism, the significant differences between mental and physical labor, and will create conditions for the all-round physical and spiritual development of the individual.

Thus, the organic combination of the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution with the advantages of the socialist economic system signifies the development of all aspects of society's life in the direction of communism.

The scientific and technological revolution is the main arena of economic competition between socialism and capitalism. At the same time, it is also an arena for a sharp ideological struggle.

Bourgeois scientists approach the disclosure of the essence of scientific and technological revolution mainly from the natural-technical side.

In order to apologise for capitalism, they consider the shifts taking place in science and technology, outside of social relations, in a "social vacuum".

All social phenomena are reduced to processes taking place in the sphere of “pure” science and technology, they write about the “cybernetic revolution”, which supposedly leads to the “transformation of capitalism”, to its transformation into a “society of universal abundance” devoid of antagonistic contradictions.

In reality, the scientific and technological revolution does not change the exploitative essence of capitalism, but further sharpens and deepens the social contradictions of bourgeois society, the gulf between the wealth of a small elite and the poverty of the masses. The countries of capitalism are now as far from the mythical "abundance for all" and "general prosperity" as before the start of the scientific and technological revolution.

Potential opportunities for development and production efficiency are determined, first of all, by scientific and technological progress, its pace and socio-economic results.

The more purposefully and effectively the latest achievements of science and technology, which are the primary source of the development of productive forces, are used, the more successfully the priority tasks of the life of society are solved.

Scientific and technological progress (STP) in the literal sense means a continuous interdependent process of development of science and technology, and in a broader sense - a constant process of creating new and improving existing technologies.

Scientific and technical progress can also be interpreted as a process of accumulation and practical implementation of new scientific and technical knowledge, an integral cyclic system “science-technology-production”, covering the following areas:

fundamental theoretical research;

applied research work;

experimental design developments;

development of technical innovations;

increasing the production of new equipment to the required volume, its application (operation) for a certain period of time;

technical, economic, environmental and social aging of products, their constant replacement with new, more efficient models.

The scientific and technological revolution (STP) reflects a radical qualitative transformation of the conditional development based on scientific discoveries (inventions) that have a revolutionary effect on the change of tools and objects of labor, production management technologies, and the nature of people's labor activity.

General NTP priorities. Scientific and technological progress, always carried out in its interrelated evolutionary and revolutionary forms, is the determining factor in the development of productive forces and the steady increase in production efficiency. It directly affects, first of all, the formation and maintenance of a high level of technical and technological base of production, ensuring a steady increase in the productivity of social labor. Based on the essence, content and patterns of the modern development of science and technology, it is possible to single out the general directions of scientific and technical progress characteristic of most sectors of the national economy, and for each of them priorities, at least in the short term.

In the conditions of modern revolutionary transformations of the technical basis of production, the degree of its perfection and the level of economic potential as a whole is determined by the progressiveness of the technologies used - methods for obtaining and converting materials, energy, information, manufacturing products. Technology becomes the final link and form of materialization of fundamental research, a means of direct influence of science on the sphere of production. If earlier it was considered a supporting subsystem of production, now it has acquired an independent significance, turning into an avant-garde direction of scientific and technological progress.

Modern technologies are characterized by certain development and application trends. The main ones are:

firstly, the transition to low-stage processes by combining in one technological unit several operations that were previously performed separately;

secondly, the provision in new technological systems of little or waste-free production;

thirdly, raising the level of complex mechanization of processes based on the use of machine systems and technological lines;

fourthly, the use of microelectronics in new technological processes, which makes it possible, simultaneously with an increase in the level of automation of processes, to achieve greater dynamic flexibility of production.

Technological methods increasingly determine the specific form and function of the means and objects of labor, and thereby initiate the emergence of new areas of scientific and technological progress, displace technically and economically obsolete tools from production, and give rise to new types of machines and equipment, automation tools. Now fundamentally new types of equipment are being developed and manufactured “for new technologies”, and not vice versa, as it was before.

It has been proved that the technical level and quality of modern machines (equipment) directly depend on the progressivity of the characteristics of the structural and other auxiliary materials used for their production. Hence follows the enormous role of the creation and wide use of new materials - one of the most important areas of scientific and technological progress.

In the field of objects of labor, the following trends in scientific and technical progress can be distinguished:

a significant improvement in the quality characteristics of materials of mineral origin, stabilization and even a decrease in the specific volumes of their consumption;

intensive transition to the use of light, strong and corrosion-resistant non-ferrous metals (alloys) in a greater number, which became possible due to the emergence of fundamentally new technologies that significantly reduced the cost of their production;

a noticeable expansion of the range and a forced increase in the production of artificial materials with predetermined properties, including unique ones.

Modern production processes are subject to such requirements as achieving maximum continuity, safety, flexibility and productivity, which can only be realized with an appropriate level of mechanization and automation - an integrated and final direction of scientific and technical progress. Mechanization and automation of production, reflecting the varying degree of replacement of manual labor by machine labor, in its development successively, in parallel or in parallel-sequentially passes from a lower (partial) to a higher (complex) form.

In the conditions of production intensification, the urgent need for a reusable increase in labor productivity and a radical improvement in its social content, a radical increase in the quality of manufactured products, automation of production processes is becoming a strategic direction of scientific and technical progress for enterprises in most sectors of the national economy. The priority task is to ensure integrated automation, since the introduction of separate automatic machines and units does not give the desired economic effect due to the remaining significant amount of manual labor. A new and rather promising integrated direction is associated with the creation and implementation of flexible automated production. The accelerated development of such industries (primarily in mechanical engineering and some other industries) is due to the objective need to ensure the highly efficient use of expensive automatic equipment and sufficient mobility of production with constant updating of the product range.

World Economic Leaders

Developed countries of the world, the countries of the "golden billion". They are seriously preparing to enter the post-industrial world. Thus, the states of Western Europe have joined their efforts within the framework of a pan-European program. Industrial developments are unfolding in the following areas of information technology. Global mobile telephony (Germany, 2000-2007) - providing ubiquitous teleaccess to any subscribers and information and analytical resources of the global network from a personal handset (like a cellular one) or a special mobile terminal.

Teleconferencing systems (France, Germany, 2000-2005) an opportunity for remote subscribers to quickly organize a temporary corporate network with audio-video access.

3D Television (Japan, 2000-2010).

Full-scale use of electronic media in everyday life (France, 2002-2004).

Creation of virtual reality networks (Germany, France, Japan, 2004-2009) - personal access to databases and a synthesis system for multi-touch (multimedia) display of an artificial image of the environment or scenarios for the development of hypothetical events.

Non-contact personal identification systems (Japan, 2002-2004).

In the USA in 1997-1999. George Washington University experts prepared a long-term forecast for the development of national science and technology for the period up to 2030 based on repeated surveys of a large number of heads of research institutions.

It has been deeply developed in the State Department, the Department of Justice, in large manufacturing companies and in the banking sector.

The program provides for operational global high-speed network access to any national and major world information resources.

The organizational, legal and financial bases for its implementation are determined, and measures are provided for the rapid development of powerful computing and analytical centers.

Since 1996, the implementation of the program has begun, a multi-million dollar budget has been allocated and corporate investment funds have been formed. Analysts note a very rapid growth of the informatization industry, exceeding government plans.

The maximum surge of "breakthrough" information technologies is predicted from 2003 to 2005. The period of rapid growth will take 30-40 years.

In the field of computer systems, by 2005 there will be personal computers compatible with cable television networks. This will accelerate the development of interactive (partially programmable) television and lead to the creation of domestic, industrial and scientific-educational collections of television recordings.

The development of such local funds and large databases of images will be ensured by the creation in 2006 of a new generation of digital memory systems and storage of practically unlimited amounts of information.

At the turn of 2008, the creation and wide distribution of handheld computers, the growth in the use of computers with parallel processing of information is expected. By 2004, commercial introduction of optical computers is possible, and by 2017, the start of serial production of biocomputers embedded in living organisms.

In the field of telecommunications, by 2006 it is predicted that 80% of communication systems will switch to digital standards, there will be a significant leap in the development of microcellular personal telephony - PC5, which will account for up to 10% of the world mobile communications market. This will ensure the ubiquitous possibility of receiving and transmitting information of any formats and volumes.

In the area of ​​information services, teleconferencing systems will be introduced by 2004 (through voice and video communication using computer devices and fast digital networks for transmitting audio-video information between several subscribers in real time). By 2009, the possibilities of electronic banking settlements will expand significantly, and by 2018, the volume of trade transactions carried out through information networks will double.

A fundamentally new approach to photography was presented by Lytro employees. They presented a camera that does not store an image, but light rays.

In traditional cameras, a matrix (film) is used to create a picture, on which the light flux leaves a trace, which is then converted into a flat image. The Lytro camera uses a field light sensor instead of a sensor. It does not save an image, but captures the color, intensity and direction vector of the light rays.

This approach allows you to choose the focus object after shooting, and the special Lytro LFP (Light Field Picture) image format allows you to change the focus in the image as much as you like.

Writing

Mankind has been looking for ways to transmit information since time immemorial. Primitive people exchanged information with the help of folded branches, arrows, smoke from fires, etc. in a certain way. However, a breakthrough in development occurred with the appearance of the first forms of writing around 4000 BC.

Typography

Typography was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the middle of the 15th century. Thanks to him, the world's first printed book, the Bible, appeared in Germany. Gutenberg's invention sparked the green of the Renaissance.

It was this material, or rather, a group of materials with common physical properties, that made a real revolution in construction. What ancient builders had to go to in order to ensure the strength of buildings. So, the Chinese used glutinous rice porridge with the addition of slaked lime to fasten the stone blocks of the Great Wall.

It was only in the 19th century that builders learned how to prepare cement. In Russia, this happened in 1822 thanks to Yegor Cheliev, who obtained a binder from a mixture of lime and clay. Two years later, an Englishman D. Aspind received a patent for the invention of cement. It was decided to call the material Portland cement in honor of the city where the stone was mined, similar to cement in color and strength.

Microscope

The first microscope with two lenses was invented by the Dutch optician Z. Jansen in 1590. However, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek saw the first microorganisms using a microscope made by himself. As a merchant, he mastered the craft of a grinder on his own and built a microscope with a carefully ground lens that increased the size of microbes 300 times. Legend has it that ever since Van Leeuwenhoek examined a drop of water through a microscope, he only drank tea and wine.

Electricity

More recently, people on the planet slept up to 10 hours a day, but with the advent of electricity, humanity began to spend less and less time in bed. The culprit of the electrical "revolution" is considered to be Thomas Alva Edison, who created the first electric light bulb. However, 6 years before him, in 1873, our compatriot Alexander Lodygin, the first scientist who thought of using tungsten filaments in lamps, patented his incandescent lamp.

The first telephone in the world, which was immediately dubbed the miracle of miracles, was created by the famous Boston inventor Bell Alexander Gray. On March 10, 1876, the scientist called his assistant at the receiving station, and he distinctly heard in the receiver: "Mr. Watson, please come here, I need to talk to you." Bell hurried to patent his invention, and a few months later the telephone was in almost a thousand homes.

Photography and cinema

The prospect of inventing a device capable of transmitting an image haunted several generations of scientists. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, Joseph Niepce projected the view from the window of his workshop onto a metal plate using a camera obscura. And Louis-Jacques Mand Daguerre perfected his invention in 1837.

The indefatigable inventor Tom Edison made his contribution to the invention of cinema. In 1891, he created a kinetoscope - an apparatus for demonstrating photographs with the effect of movement. It was the Kinetoscope that inspired the Lumiere brothers to create cinema. As you know, the first film show took place in December 1895 in Paris on the Boulevard des Capuchins.

The debate about who first invented the radio continues. However, most representatives of the scientific world attribute this merit to the Russian inventor Alexander Popov. In 1895, he demonstrated a wireless telegraphy apparatus and became the first person to send a radiogram to the world, the text of which consisted of the two words "Heinrich Hertz". However, the enterprising Italian radio engineer Guglielmo Marconi patented the first radio receiver.

A television

Television appeared and developed thanks to the efforts of many inventors. One of the first in this chain is the professor of St. Petersburg Technological University Boris Lvovich Rosing, who in 1911 demonstrated the image of a cathode ray tube on a glass screen. And in 1928, Boris Grabovsky found a way to transmit a moving image over a distance. A year later, in the USA, Vladimir Zworykin created a kinescope, modifications of which were subsequently used in all televisions.

Internet

The World Wide Web, which has enveloped millions of people around the world, was modestly woven by Briton Timothy John Berners-Lee in 1989. The creator of the first web server, web browser and website could have become the richest man in the world if he had patented his invention in time. As a result, the World Wide Web went to the world, and its creator - a knighthood, the Order of the British Empire and a Technology Prize of 1 million euros.

Scientific and technological progress is the progressive development of science and technology, the transformation of science into the direct productive force of society, i.e. systematic use of the achievements of science in order to improve technology and production technology, their learning. Ultimately, the scientific and technical progress is expressed in the development of a material element of the productive forces, in the complication of technology and production technology through the addition of more and more powerful forces of nature by man in order to increase labor productivity and, consequently, save it. The main source of the development of scientific and technological progress is not in itself, but in the essential powers of man. The need for scientific and technological progress is not due to the needs of technology and technology itself, it is inherent in human nature, in the essence of human existence. It is people who, developing the productive forces and changing under their influence, ultimately determine the basic principles and directions of scientific and technological progress.

STP originates in the ancient period, but as a social phenomenon it arises in the era of capitalism. Until the end of the XVIII century. the development of technology was guided by empirical experience and the beginnings of scientific discoveries. The modern stage of scientific and technical progress is the modern scientific and technological revolution. The starting point of its emergence is “the latest revolution in natural science” (Lenin), which led in the middle of the 20th century. to a deep radical break of all science and technology. Both revolutions (in science and technology) did not develop separately, but merged into a single process of the scientific and technological revolution, in which the revolution in science and the revolution in technology are only its different sides. At the same time, scientific discoveries become a necessary prerequisite for the emergence of new branches of technology.

The essence of scientific and technological revolution can be expressed by its following features. First of all, this fundamental scientific discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology, primarily in physics, which penetrated into the microcosm and, with its successes, advanced the entire complex of natural sciences. New areas of knowledge emerged, among which cybernetics began to play a decisive role. Fundamental discoveries, primarily the theory of nuclear structure, began to turn into applied ones, and then materialized in the means of labor, which led to fundamental changes in engineering and technology production.New industries emerged: nuclear power, rocket technology, radio electronics. The latter made it possible to significantly improve the technology, and also served as the basis for the creation in the 60s. COMPUTER. Automation and cybernetization of production are the core of modern scientific and technological revolution. As you know, working machines in the XVIII century. they replaced not some kind of tool, but a human hand, which was a turning point in the development of production. If the use of working machines frees the hands of the worker, then the use of cybernetic devices leads to the release of the human head from performing some logical and control functions. As a result, fundamental changes the place and role of man in the system of production and, consequently, the content of living labor. In the words of Marx, labor no longer appears so much as included in the direct process of production, but rather as labor in which a person relates to the production process as its controller and regulator. This implies the formation of a new type of worker, who is in perfect command of the scientific principles of production and is able to ensure its functioning on the basis of the achievements of science and technology, i.e. to ensure the intensive development of production.

A radical change in the content of labor entails a radical change in the entire system of social life, the way of life in general: socio-economic structure, degree of freedom, democratization, social security, education system, spiritual culture, communication, etc. Scientific and technological revolution is therefore not only a consequence, but also the cause of the transformation of society, the main means of solving social issues, activating a person. Hence, one of the necessary conditions for the transition to a new model of socialism is the mastery of scientific and technical progress.

In modern conditions, there are five main areas of scientific and technological progress: electronization, integrated automation, nuclear energy, development of new types of materials, biotechnology. The priority areas that determine the main content of scientific and technological progress are related to the current state of science and technology and will be supplemented and replaced by new ones in the future. This makes it necessary to take a deeper approach to scientific and technical progress as the main means of solving the problems of accelerating socio-economic development, which will make it possible to reveal the underlying trends in the development of engineering and technology and determine the most fundamental directions, which form the basis of the priority directions of scientific and technological progress. The key to their identification is given by the concept of a single natural world process, which considers man and nature in a single process of development. From this perspective, technology is further development nature, the realization of its unrealized potentials.

Each of the basic forms of matter known to us (physical, chemical, biological), which form a sequence of stages in the development of nature, contains a huge fund of possibilities that cannot be realized by nature, since it lacks the complexity and direction that are inherent in man as a universal being. The means of labor therefore act as a result of the additional development of nature by man, the realization of its unrealized possibilities. Mastering nature can be carried out by man only according to the logic of the methods of development of the main forms of matter: physical and chemical substrate synthesis and biological transformations. The way of development of each basic form of matter is the basis of technology. However, acting as the basis of transformative activity, the methods of development of the basic forms of matter are not simply used by man, but are modified accordingly, acquire a technological character. These modifications take on a more complex form compared to natural development methods. So, technogenic chemical synthesis is the highest form of chemical synthesis.

Three main technological principles correspond to the ways of interaction between man and the nature he transforms. First technological principle consists in the concentration (accumulation) of flows of matter, energy, information. Man as a supernatural being is not limited to what he finds in nature, but concentrates the resources scattered in it. In essence, this technological principle is the use in a special, higher form of the universal regularity of the accumulative development of matter. The rate of concentration of substances consumed by man, energy and information in the modern era is increasing at an enormous rate. At the same time, knowledge is increasingly beginning to act as the most powerful “type of energy”. Thus, Japan, providing its energy needs by 98% by importing appropriate funds from other countries, is among the most industrialized countries. Its fifth-generation computer program aims to turn the country into a major source of intellectual energy.

Creating a “second nature”, however, a person needs not just substance, energy, information, but the properties and qualities of natural objects, which he also concentrates. The polymeric materials, composites, and ceramics synthesized by him are superior to natural materials of any group in terms of a variety of properties.

Quantitative and qualitative "densification" of matter, energy, information contributes to the acceleration and intensification of natural processes, i.e. their intensification (second technological principle). For several decades, humanity has synthesized such a variety of chemical compounds (about 8 million), which is many times greater than the diversity created by nature over billions of years. In the foreseeable future, life will be artificially synthesized; will be reproduced, repeated under artificial conditions billions of years of ongoing chemical process that gave rise to living things. At the present stage, humanity has begun to create especially intensive equipment and technology: laser, gene, plasma, planar, etc. However, the main way to intensify equipment and technology, in our opinion, lies in the realization of those potentialities that are inherent in the line of development of the “subordinate” ( “included”) lower, since the “included” lower turns out, on the one hand, to be the most developed lower, and on the other hand, “fitted” to the higher, being in formal structural (iso- and homomorphic) correspondence with it.

The intensification of technological processes expresses the activity of man as a universal being capable of unlimited combination of natural conditions, of separating and combining natural forces according to the laws of nature, but in better ways than in nature. Due to its universality, it can receive, for example, physical phenomena and processes not only by physical, but also by more complex, chemical and biological methods. Therefore, the structures he creates are more complex and better than natural ones. In addition, natural processes proceed relatively slowly and are distributed over a vast area. Man, producing conditions that are absent in nature, intensifies processes, “compacts” space and time .

The third general principle technological activity is anthropomorphic principle, acting as a continuation, addition and a kind of opposite of the anthropic principle. Its main meaning is that the further development of matter is unthinkable without the participation of man generated by it. It is in it that matter receives the decisive factor of its further development, without which its essential progress becomes impossible. The appearance of man, therefore, in a certain sense signifies "the true resurrection of nature." Of course, nature does not have any conscious “striving” for progress. The point is only that it contains the possibility of further progress. However, nature does not have the ability to realize them; this progress can only be made by man as the highest product of nature. The anthropic principle thus turns into its opposite, the anthropomorphic principle. The anthropic principle means that the material world is “fraught” with man, and the anthropomorphic principle indicates that the material world can be transformed by man in the direction he needs, acquire a “humanized” form. At the same time, changing the world, a person does not violate its laws, on the contrary, they receive the highest expression in human activity.

The anthropomorphic principle expresses the development of technology in three fundamental directions, determined to a large extent by the logic of a single regular world process. First of all, a person implements those variants of complexity that were not implemented by nature itself, i.e. completes the development of numerous lateral lines of development of the basic forms of matter: physical, chemical and biological. So, he synthesized, for example, transuranium elements, analogues of which have not been found on Earth. There are also no organosilicon compounds, borohydrides, organoelement compounds, etc. in nature. In the future, mankind will be able to produce pre-biological and biological systems that nature has not implemented. The production of new branches of the evolution of the basic forms of matter is the first fundamental direction of scientific and technological progress.

The development of engineering and technology, due to the macroscopic nature of man, begins with the development of the levels of the macroworld nearby (in the modern sense, it covers certain aspects of the four forms of matter known to us), i.e. starts with relatively complex, rather than simple (for example, microworld) levels. Within the limits of the macrocosm, a person also initially used the simplest properties and processes, then more complex, “hidden” macroscopic properties and processes, and only in the 20th century. he went deep into the microcosm. At the present stage, development goes both “in depth”, to mastering subphysical forms of matter, and “in breadth”, to mastering the Galaxy and Metagalaxy. However, no matter how the material substrate of labor tools changes, their effective use presupposes the presence of a macroscopic connecting link human sensory perception. It is only thanks to him that a person, as a macroscopic being, can have contact with levels remote from him. Using one of the main laws of the evolution of nature - the law of accumulative development, a person rebuilds the microworld (and in the future will begin to rebuild the megaworld) and creates new "macroworlds". Today we are witnessing an increasing penetration into our lives of macroscopic quantum phenomena and objects (superconductivity, lasers, etc.). Production of new macro objects necessary for a person as a macro-being for effective contact with micro- and mega-worlds, is the second fundamental direction of scientific and technical progress.

By changing natural phenomena and processes, a person endows the structures he creates with his own features: autonomy, self-improvement, self-control, etc., that is, he brings them closer to his own nature, “pulls” them up to his level. This is especially evident in the computers he creates, flexible automated productions that carry the germs of human abilities for action and thinking. Production of supernatural objects in terms of complexity, i.e. artificial systems approaching in properties, functions and complexity to humans, constitutes the third fundamental direction of scientific and technical progress. Now only an artificial physical system (computer) has been created that surpasses natural physical objects in complexity. But the development of the "second nature" goes in the direction of creating artificial "life-like organisms" that imitate the functions and connections of a living organism and the human brain. The economic potential of any developed country will soon be largely determined by the efficiency, effectiveness and scale of the use of the achievements of biochemistry and biology. Anthropomorphism (humanization) of the second nature, thus, acquires new forms at the present stage, determined by the proximity (parallelism) of the paths of development of man and technology. In other words, in the course of the transformative activity, humanity has begun a direct synthesis of the deep tendencies in the development of nature and man. On this path lies the main source of further development of scientific and technical progress.

The direct synthesis of deep tendencies in the development of nature and man is due to a certain extent to the objective logic of the development of matter. Automated systems arise as a result of the additional development of the “first nature”, which can only develop towards greater complexity, i.e. from its lowest levels to the highest - living and human. Therefore, modern technology is increasingly beginning, firstly, to correspond to human biology: it increasingly uses the properties of the deep levels of living things - molecular and submolecular; contact with levels distant from a person is enhanced due to special macro links. Secondly, technology is increasingly becoming a “splinter” of a person as an integral being, his copy. The anthropomorphism of the modern stage of scientific and technical progress, therefore, is expressed in the possibility of creating technology of such generations, which, in complexity, approach the complexity of the person himself. This makes it necessary to develop "machine versions" of human problems: "psychology" and "sociology" of machines, machine "ethics", etc.

The derivation of fundamental technological principles and directions from the most general properties of development, the regularities of the ratio of lower and higher forms of matter, allows us to conclude that dialectical-materialistic theory of development acts as the most general theory of the development of engineering and technology, the theory of scientific and technical progress. Ignoring the concept of development, the dialectics of the lower and higher in the process of designing, manufacturing and operating technical systems leads to the creation of unviable technology. It is known that the process of emergence, functioning and change of objects reproduces in short the long history of the development of matter. This pattern can be traced in the development of technology. Technical systems are in continuous development, which is expressed primarily in the continuity of their functional and structural organization. One technical system, having exhausted the possibilities of development, becomes an integral part of another, new, i.e. in the organization of the latter, the history of its development is reproduced. For example, a microprocessor repeats the structure of both classical computers of previous generations and modern minicomputers, including all the main typical functional units. Based on the theory of development as a movement from the lowest to the highest and taking into account the current level of the technosphere, it can be said with all certainty that the further development of technology will follow the path of ever closer approach to the structure, properties and nature of man. This will lead to greater “fitting”, adaptability (ergonomics) of technology to man, the effectiveness of the dialogue between man and machine and, accordingly, to the strengthening of the humanistic essence of scientific and technological progress.

One of the manifestations of the humanistic essence of scientific and technical progress at the present time is a radical change in the nature of labor and the improvement of its conditions. This contributes to the development of the wealth of human nature, the enrichment of the content of human life, and the change in its quality. A person is removed from the direct process of production and becomes close to it, the costs of low-value labor are reduced and the amount of free time necessary to improve his physical and spiritual strength increases. A change in the quality of life is also achieved through the “technization of life”, i.e. the penetration of technology into all spheres of society: economics, morality, politics, art, etc.

The development of technology, which takes on one after another the functions of a person, also leads to its humanization. Under capitalism, this tendency is limited by the dominant trend - the desire to extract the greatest profit. Therefore, as some American scholars 115 believe, further cybernization of production will sharply intensify the negative trends in the development of capitalism. The lag of socialism in the development of the latest technology puts man in a socially unfavorable position compared to capitalism. A society in which 50% of manual labor is undoubtedly inferior in a certain humanistic sense to a society with a high level of labor automation.

The humanistic tendency of scientific and technical progress lies in the possibility of targeted intervention in human biology in order to improve it. There are two directions of influence - biological And technological. The first is related to the deciphering of the human genome (according to geneticists, effective methods for studying the organization of the human genome will make it possible to completely describe it in chemical terms by the year 2000) and with the development of genetic engineering, opening up the possibility of treating and preventing hereditary diseases, of which there are already more than two thousand. It is believed that genetic research will significantly extend the life of a person. Within the framework of the new scientific and technological revolution, which is associated with the widespread use in engineering and technology of the properties and patterns of the biological form of matter, one can also expect a significant restructuring of human biology.

The second direction allows the construction of artificial organs of the human body, restoring the lost functions of natural organs or replacing them. The results achieved indicate that the functions of almost all organs can be realized with the help of specific artificial devices. A much more difficult task is the creation of artificial intelligence on a non-biological basis. Its partial solution - modeling of artificial intelligence systems - is achievable at the present stage of scientific and technical progress, a complete solution - the creation of artificial intelligence with the parameters of highly organized biological systems - in the distant future. Compared to neurons, high-speed electronics switch about a million times faster. Therefore, one super-powerful computing system can conduct a dialogue with thousands of subscribers who do not notice the delay in answers to their questions, although the system “talks” with them not simultaneously, but in turn, giving each of them a relatively small - about one thousandth of a second - segment of computer time. Highly organized automata are developing at a fairly rapid pace and will significantly outperform humans in terms of the speed of solving intellectual problems.

The humanistic essence of scientific and technical progress is also manifested in the expansion of the human environment due to its unlimited expansion into space. Entering the era of real history and completing prehistory, society is only at the beginning of global cosmic evolution.

Knowledge of the fundamental directions of scientific and technological progress also makes it possible to better understand the decisive role of the human factor in the conditions of accelerating the pace of scientific and technological progress. The creation of more and more complex and “humanized” technology in no way simplifies work, but, on the contrary, complicates it, requires a person to develop the ability to plan activities, taking into account the likelihood of a change in the course of the controlled process under the influence of a change in the environment.

The social and economic reorganization in Russia has caused instability in the backbone links of the previously existing mechanism. It was focused on the production of scientific and technical products. This, in turn, affected the state of the economic country as a whole.

Scientific and technological progress (STP) and economic growth

The modern priorities of the advanced states are determined not only by the volume of labor resources and the mining industry, and natural reserves. This is what traditionally acts as a characteristic of the welfare of the country. The degree of use of innovations in a particular sector is becoming increasingly important today. As you know, economic growth characterizes the functioning of the entire economic system. Its indicators are used in the analysis of the state of the national sector, in a comparative assessment of countries. Scientific and technological progress (STP) acts as a determining factor in this area. Let's take a look at what it is.

STP: definition and content

Talk about this form of development began for the first time at the end of the 19th - at the beginning of the 20th century. What is NTP? The general definition can be formulated as follows:

Improvement due to the needs of material production, the increase and complexity of the needs of society.

The need for this process arose as a result of strengthening the interaction of large-scale machine industry with technology and science.

contradictions

They were the result of the relationship between science, technology and machine production. Contradictions affected two directions of development at once. In theory, therefore, they are divided into technical and social. With the mass production of the same products for many years, it becomes possible to create automatic systems for expensive machines. Over a long operating period, all costs for them pay off. Along with this, there is a need for continuous improvement of the production facilities themselves. This can be done either by upgrading them or by replacing products. This situation is due to the acceleration of scientific and technological progress. This is the first contradiction. It occurs between the service life and the payback period. The social contradiction of NTP is the inconsistency associated with the human factor. On the one hand, innovations are aimed at facilitating working conditions. This is achieved through automation as a result of scientific and technical progress. This, however, causes monotony and monotony of work. The resolution of these contradictions is directly related to the strengthening of the requirements for the process of improvement itself. They are embodied in the public order. It acts as a form of expression of social strategic interests in the long run.

Evolution

Scientists talk about various factors that accompanied the scientific and technological progress. Determining them is of particular importance in the analysis of social transformations. The importance of factors is related to their influence on changes in society. Together, these factors determine the features of scientific and technical progress, stages of development, and forms. The process can be either evolutionary or revolutionary. In the first case, scientific and technical progress is a relatively slow improvement of traditional production bases. In this case, we are not talking about speed. The emphasis is on the rate of production growth. So, they can be low for revolutionary improvement or high for evolutionary improvement. For example, consider labor productivity. As history shows, its growth rates are high in the evolutionary form, and low in the revolutionary form.

Revolution

In the modern world, this form of STP is considered to be predominant. It provides large scale, accelerated reproduction rates, high effect. Revolutionary scientific and technological progress (STP) is a fundamental transformation in the entire system. The complex of interrelated revolutions in various spheres of material production is based on the transition to qualitatively new principles. In accordance with the changes taking place in material production, the main features and stages inherent only in such a phenomenon as scientific and technological progress (STP) are formed.

stages

The changes mentioned above concern not only the efficiency of production itself, but also the factors that determine growth. Revolutionary improvement goes through the following stages:

1. Preparatory (scientific).
2. Modern, including the restructuring of the structural elements of the national economy.
3. Large machine automated production.

Preparatory stage

It can be attributed to the first third of the 20th century. At that time, new theories of machine technology and principles of production formation were being developed. This work preceded the creation of updated equipment, technologies that were subsequently applied during the preparations for the Second World War. During this period, many fundamental ideas about environmental factors changed radically. At the same time, an active process of subsequent development of technology and technology was noted in production.

Second stage

It coincided with the beginning of the war. The most active scientific and technological progress (STP) and innovations were in the USA. This was mainly due to the fact that America did not conduct hostilities on its territory, did not have outdated equipment, had convenient minerals from the point of view of extraction and processing, as well as a sufficient amount of labor. Russia in the 40s of the 20th century could not claim a leading position in the field of scientific and technical progress in terms of its technical development. Its second stage in the USSR began after the end of the war and the restoration of the destroyed economy. The rest of the main Western European countries (Italy, France, England, Germany) entered this stage almost immediately after the United States. The essence of this stage was a complete production restructuring. In the production process, the material prerequisites were formed for a further radical revolution in the machine and other leading industries, as well as in the entire national economy.

Automation

It marked the third stage of the NTP. Over the past few decades, there has been an active production of many different automatic machine tools and machine lines, the creation of workshops, sites, and in a number of countries - the construction of entire factories. At the third stage, the prerequisites are formed for the enlargement of automated production, which affects, among other things, objects of labor and technologies.

Uniform Policy

The government of any country, in order to ensure an efficient economy and prevent lagging behind other states, must implement a unified scientific and technical policy. It is a set of targeted measures. They ensure the comprehensive development of technology and science, the introduction of the results obtained into the economic system. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to identify priority areas in which the achievements will be used in the first place. This is mainly due to the limited state resources for large-scale research in all areas of scientific and technical progress and their subsequent implementation in practice. At each stage, therefore, priorities must be determined and conditions for the implementation of developments provided.

Directions

They represent areas of development, the implementation of which will ensure maximum social and economic efficiency in a short time. There are general (state) and private (branch) directions. The former are considered a priority for one or more countries. Industry directions are important for specific sectors of industry and economy. At a certain stage, the following national directions of scientific and technical progress were formulated:

Electrification

This area of ​​scientific and technical progress is considered the most important. Without electrification it is impossible to improve other economic spheres. It should be said that for its time the choice of directions was quite successful. This had a positive impact on increasing efficiency, development, and accelerating production. Electrification is the process of generating and widely using electrical energy in industry and everyday life. It is considered bilateral. On the one hand, production is carried out, on the other, consumption in different areas. These aspects are inseparable from each other. Production and consumption coincide in time, due to the physical characteristics of electric current as a form of energy. Electrification acts as a base for automation and mechanization. It helps to increase the efficiency of production, labor productivity, improve the quality of goods, reduce their cost, and obtain greater profits.

Mechanization

This direction includes a set of measures, within the framework of which a wide replacement of manual operations by machines is envisaged. Automatic machines, individual productions and lines are being introduced. The mechanization of processes means the direct replacement of manual labor by machines. This direction is in constant development and improvement. It passes from manual work to partial, small, general mechanization, and then to its highest form.

Automation

It is considered the highest degree of mechanization. This direction of scientific and technical progress allows to carry out a full cycle of work only under the control of a person without direct participation. Automation is a new type of production. It is the result of scientific and technological development by transferring operations to an electronic basis. The need for automation is due to the inability of a person to manage complex processes with the required speed and accuracy. Today, in most industries, the main production is almost completely mechanized. At the same time, auxiliary processes remain at the same level of development and are performed manually. Most of these operations are present in loading and unloading, transport operations.

Conclusion

Scientific and technological progress should be considered not as simply the sum of its constituent elements or forms of its manifestation. They are in close unity, mutually complementing and conditioning each other. STP is a continuous process of the emergence of technical and scientific ideas, developments, discoveries, their implementation, obsolescence of equipment and its replacement with new technology. The concept itself includes many elements. Scientific and technical progress is not limited only to forms of development. This process presupposes all progressive changes both in the production sphere and in the non-production one.