[Buddha-l] it's not about belief

[Chris]

As long as we're talking about metallurgy as being a 'technology' as opposed
to a 'science', permit me a personal reflection. In the '60s, when I was an
undergrad at UBC, my then female friend of choice at the time was studying
metalurgical engineering. After five years of diligent study, she was
awarded a Bachelor of Applied SCIENCE degree (as opposed to a B.A.Tech.) -
and went to work for Cominco as an applied metalurgical *scientist*.

I also recall the undergraduate physics text I was assigned at the time
(Sears and Zemansky) having been divided into two sections; a "classical"
physical sciences section and a "Modern" physical sciences section. I think
that when we discuss the impact of science on religious thinking, we need to
clarify which particular genera of science we're referring to. Newton's
implications are far different from Stephen Hawking's in my opinion.


On 1/8/06, Richard P. Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 14:52 -0500, curt wrote:
>
> > I'm surprised that no one has brought up metallurgy yet
>
> Perhaps it is because we were talking about science, not technology.
> Metallurgy in ancient times was technology, but hardly anything like
> science as we now use the term.
>
> One of my own personal heroines is Ursula Franklin, whom I first knew
> through her pacifistic work. (She's a Quaker, and at one time so was I.)
> She wrote extensively of metallurgy in China, also in subarctic America
> and South America. For reasons known best to herself she wrote of
> ancient metallurgy as part of the history of technology, not as part of
> the history of science. Having got her PhD in physics, I reckon she may
> have had some idea of the distinction between science and technology. In
> fact, I know she did, since I heard her magnificent Massey lectures on
> CBC radio, which were eventually published as a very readable book
> entitled The Real World of Technology. I recommend it.
>
> Thank you for mentioning the ancient technological art of metallurgy, Dr
> Steinmetz. It indirectly brought to mind fond memories of an old friend.
>
> --
> Richard
>
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