Meaning is altered as definitions change and as memory fades.
"Part of the problem is that words change meaning through time, and even at any one time may have different meanings for different peoples. Definitions cannot be the starting place for historical study, but must be part of that study. The words 'science' and 'technology', for example, fall easily upon our ears in the late twentieth century, but two centuries ago would have had little of their modern meanings."
The Oxford English Dictionary lists for science a 1660 usage referring to 'a craft trade ot occupation requiring a trained skill'. The word Technology', on the other hand, , is listed as first occurring in 1615, and meaning ' a discourse or treatis on an art or arts'. Neither word reached its current meaning much before the mid-nineteenth century."
He concludes:
"Before that, 'technology' would probably have been referred to as 'the useful arts', and 'science' as either 'natural history' or 'natural philosophy'."
Carroll Pursell, White Heat: People and Technology, (1994), pp. 121-122.
Argument:
Evidence
The Oxford English Dictionary is the source to use for all definitions.
The word 'technology', on the other hand, , is listed as first occurring in 1615, and meaning a 'discourse or treatise on an art or arts'.
lists for 'science' a 1660 usage referring to 'a craft trade or occupation requiring a trained skill'.
Summation
"Neither word reached its current meaning much before the mid-nineteenth century."
Rhetorically speaking, any argument must be based on evidence, the evidence must be attributed to some reliable source and confirmed, the summation then guides the listener, reader or audience to the next point.
Steps | examples of a discourse | content of the discourse |
our assumptions are incorrect
|
the use of the word technology is really older than science | |
clearly presented
|
science is informed by technology
|
Two affiliated words |
evidence |
technology vs. science
|
etymology |
must be have a reliable source
|
Pursell
|
1615, "arts" |
confirmed by a source or sources
|
Oxford English Dictionary
|
1660, "skilled craft" |
summation |
the importance of the past.
|
the scope of tools we use. |
explains to readers or audience the points
raised
|
history reveals a paradox
|
Knowing depends on what we can not know. |
guides readers or audience the following
point
|
the confusion still leads us to mistakes
in judgment.
|
The user is as important as the designer or inventor. |