Technics

The study or science of an art or of arts in general, especially the mechanical or industrial arts.

The beginning

Is from An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observation in Robert Hooke's Cutlerian Lectures, 1674:

I shall explain a system of the world, differing in many particulars from any yet known, answering in all things to the common rules of mechanical motions. This depends upon 3 suppositions; first, that all celestial bodies have an attractive of gravitating power towards their own centres, whereby they attract not only their own parts, and keep them from flying from them, as we observe the Earth to do, but that they do also attract all the other celestial bodies that are within the sphere of their activity, ... The second supposition is this, that all bodies, that are put into direct and simple motion will continue to move forwards in a straight line, until they are by some other effectual powers deflected and bent into a motion describing a circle, ellipsis, or some other uncompounded curve line. The third supposition is, that these attractive powers are ‘so much the more powerful in operating, by how much nearer the body wrought upon is to their own centres

According to Wikipedia:

The "first great unification" was Isaac Newton's 17th century unification of gravity, in which he brought together the understandings of the observable phenomena of gravity on Earth with the observable laws of behaviour of celestial bodies in space, formulating a fundamentally new, universal mathematical framework that applied to every particle in the universe.

The problem with this statement is that Robert Hooke's "system of the world" had previously attained these understandings and brought them together to unify terrestrial and celestial mechanics. Hooke subsequently undertook an extended correspondence with Newton on the subject, who eventually came round to Hooke's point of view, and set about his mathematical analysis, based on Hooke's unified approach.

Concern about this enduring problem was eloquently expressed by Robert Weinstock, in Problem in two unknowns: Robert Hooke and a worm in Newton’s apple published in The Physics Teacher, 1992. Weinstock summarises the affair by saying that Newton's greatest achievement was in public relations.

The middle

At the time of Weinstock's paper there was a general lack of awareness of Hooke's life and work, beyond the law of spring which bears his name. Considerable progress has been made since then. In 2009 Robert D. Purrington could write "In any event, the last two decades have seen Robert Hooke rise from almost total obscurity to the point that he is nearly fashionable, something that would have been unimaginable not so very long ago" ¹ Robert D. Purrington, The First Professional Scientist: Robert Hooke and the Royal Society of London, Science Networks, Historical Studies, Volume 39 2009 page xiii . Some detail on how far this progress has gone is presented here at Hooke restored.

Hooke may have become almost fashionable, but the extent of Hooke's contribution to celestial mechanics remains underestimated thirty years on from Weinstock's paper: the popular biographies of Hooke and Newton convey that his contribution was insignificant. All of the four relevant Wikipedia pages (Principia, de Motu, Universal gravitation, Hooke) dismiss Hooke's contribution as well.

It would be a fine thing if we could achieve a balanced view of the roles Hooke and Newton. A route to achieving this is presented here at Celestial. It is supported by a detailed examination of the original evidence and secondary sources here at Glimpses.

The material referenced in Hooke restored and Celestial shows historical examples where the first concepts are formed from technical investigations, before work by scientists elaborates and extends them. It may be that this is an exceptional case; we might contrast it with the story of the development of the pendulum clock, also in the seventeenth century. According to this, a centuries old mechanism is revolutionised by an eminent scientist who applied an advanced mathematical analysis to solve the problem. This appears to be a clear example of science leading technology.

This case is reviewed here at Clockwork. It turns out that it was technical developments that made the new mechanism viable, the positive role of the scientist was to sponsor the construction of the new device, and the negative role was that to the present day we still focus on the aspect of the mechanism to which his analysis applies. Clockwork also reports that it is quite another aspect of the mechanism that is most important in regulating the timekeeping.

The end

The above material reveals a framework in which the precedence of science over technology is sustained by histories that are interpreted with an inadequate understanding of the technical and scientific issues. At the same time, the science curriculum fails to give the understanding needed for a sound interpretation, and assumes this precedence in its teaching. The doctrine is thus self sustaining and self satisfied.

This situation calls for more detailed study: terms like Science, Technology and Education are very general. Historical approaches vary widely in their depth of analysis and insight. The whole problem is an interlocking web of misunderstandings. A detailed study of the situation is provided here in a set of web pages, summarised at Introduction. They present the nature of what we call science and technology, and how they are taught in four countries. The pages also look in detail at the history of perhaps the most important technical development in which the role of science is widely asserted: the advent of steam power.