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Introduction: America's Technological Challenge
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14774 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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11 / 1988 |
894 Words |
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Change in society is an indisputable fact, yet few institutions or images of society have incorporated change into their fabric. Stable structures and circumstances seem to be the only kind that we can grasp, so we have failed to adequately identify and understand the forces of change now buffeting every sovereign nation.
The United States today is contending with particular forces of change with regard to its preeminent global position in science, technology, and economics. Consumers across the United States are well aware that U.S.-made electronic equipment can rarely be found in retail stores. On U.S. highways, foreign-made autos seem to equal or even outnumber U.S.-made autos. The standing of the United States as a superpower in world economics is being challenged by a much smaller nation with few natural resources or energy sources of its own.
One of the major factors behind these phenomena is the complex process known as technological innovation--the linking of science, technology, and management to produce new products based on new technologies. Both the rise of the United States to its position as a world economic and military superpower and the challenge it now faces at the world economic pinnacle have been related to excellence in science, technology, and industry. Around the world, the United States has taken a leading role in promulgating the fruits of science and technology, yet today many signs suggest that U.S. scientific and technological vigor is in decline.
The fruits born of science and technology pose some of the major challenges to the United Stats as a world leader today. Science and technology are forces for change that have been unleashed in a world where diverse sovereign nations now compete to apply science and technology for their greatest benefit--whether military, economic, or both.
Why are science and technology such potent forces? How do these twin agents act to produce change in society? What are the complex dynamics among institutions, practices, values, policies, and human actors that influence the way that original scientific discoveries become commercial products?
To give this multifaceted issue proper attention, THE WORLD & I devotes its entire Natural Science section to placing the challenge of science and technology in perspective. Given the historical leadership role of the United States in the developments of science and technology, it is appropriate to focus attention on the particular
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