What is technology?

Technology is the science & art of making and using things. Human beings are uniquely able to turn the materials of the natural world into tools and machines that can help them live. Although other animals can make things and use tools - the otter uses rocks to break open shell - the way they do this hardly ever changes. Human technology is different: people are able to see new needs, find new ways of meeting them, and spot the value of accidental discoveries. The discovery of fire, for example, and its ability to transform clay into pottery or rocks into metals, made the modern world possible. Over the last few hundred years, scientists have found out why materials and machines behave the way we do. Using this knowledge, old materials have been improved, new materials invented, and science and mathematics brought to bear on products as different as swimwear and aircraft. Making things starts with design - working out what is needed and how to provide it. Designers now have a vast range of materials, methods, and components with which to realize their ideas, and today much of their work can be done by computers. But producing something that works well, costs little, and appeals to its users remains a truly human art.