JOSHUA ROME ALURA EBOL happen at random, but rather in regular patterns that

ACT – 1Q repeat themselves.

Some events in nature clearly occur according to

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN OUR WORLD rules, but there are others that do not display a clear
pattern of occurrence, and they do not even seem to
A.) ANCIENT TIMES happen as a result of a specific cause. Earthquakes,
storms, and pestilence all appear to occur randomly,
The term science comes from the Latin and natural explanations do not seem to be relevant.
Therefore, supernatural explanations arose to
word scientia, meaning “knowledge”. It can be defined
account for such events, most of them merged with
as a systematic attempt to discover, by means of
myth and legends.
observation and reasoning, particular facts about the
world, and to establish laws connecting facts with one Supernatural explanations gave rise to magic, an
another and, in some cases, to make it possible to attempt to control nature by means of rite and spell.
predict future occurrences. There are other ways to Magic is based on people’s confidence that nature
define science, but all definitions refer in one way or can be directly controlled. Magic thought is convinced
another to this attempt to discover specific facts and that by performing certain spells, a specific event will
the ability to figure out patterns in which these facts take place. James Frazer has suggested that there is
are connected. a link between magic and science, since both believe
in the cause-and-effect principle. In magic, the causes
EARLY SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS are somehow unclear and they tend to be based upon
spontaneous thoughts, while in science, through
The regular occurrence of natural events encouraged careful observation and reasoning, the causes are
better isolated and understood. Science is founded on
the development of some scientific disciplines. After a
the idea that experience, effort, and reason are valid,
period of observation and careful recordkeeping, even
while magic is founded on intuition and hope. In
some of the events perceived as random and ancient times, it was common for science to be
unpredictable might begin to display a regular pattern merged with magic, religion, mysticism,
which initially was not immediately obvious. Eclipses and philosophy, since the limits of the scientific
are a good example discipline were not fully understood.

In North America, the Cherokee said that eclipses BABYLONIAN SCIENCE

were caused when the moon (male) visits his wife,
the sun, and the Ojibway believed the sun would be Like in Egypt, priests encouraged much of the
totally extinguished during an eclipse, so they used to development of Babylonian science. Babylonians
shoot flaming arrows to keep it alight. Stephen used a numeral system with 60 as its base, which
Hawking mentions that according to the Vikings, the allowed them to divide circles into 360 degrees. The
sun and the moon are being chased by two wolves, use of 60 as a base of a mathematical system is not a
Skoll and Hati. When either wolf successfully catches minor issue: 60 is a number that has many divisors
their prey, an eclipse occurs. The Nordics made as (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60), which
much noise as they could to scare off the wolves, so simplifies the representation of fractions: 1/2 (30/60),
they could rescue the victims: 1/3 (20/60), 1/4 (15/60), 1/5 (12/60), 1/6 (10/60), and
so forth. As early as 1800 BCE, Babylonian
Hawking goes on saying that people eventually mathematicians understood the properties of
realized that the sun and the moon would emerge elementary sequences, such as arithmetic and
from the eclipse regardless of whether they made geometrical progressions, and a number of
noise to rescue the victims. In societies where they geometrical relationships. They estimated the value of
had record keeping on celestial events, they must pi as 3 1/8, which is about a 0.6 percent error. It is
have noticed after some time that eclipses do not highly likely that they also were familiar with what we
today call the Pythagorean Theorem which states that
the square of the longest side of a right triangle
equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The flooding of the Nile, which constantly altered the
However, we have no evidence that the Babylonians border markers that separated the different portions
proved it formally, since their mathematics rested on of land, also encouraged the development of
empirical knowledge rather than formal proof. mathematics: Egyptian land surveyors had to perform
measurements over and over again to restore the
It was in astronomy where Babylonians showed a boundaries that had been lost. In fact, this is the
remarkable talent, and magic, mysticism, astrology, origin of the word geometry: “measurement of land”.
and divination were its main drivers. They believed Egyptian land surveyors were very practical minded:
that the movement of the heavenly bodies forecasted in order to form right angles, which was critical for
some terrestrial event. Since the reign of Nabonassar establishing the borders of a field, they used a rope
(747 BCE), the Babylonians kept complete lists of divided into twelve equal parts, forming a triangle with
eclipses and by 700 BCE, it was already known that three parts on one side, four parts on the second
solar eclipses could only be possible during new side, and five parts on the remaining side. The right
moons and lunar eclipses only during full moons. It is angle was to be found where the three-unit side
possible that by this time Babylonians also knew the joined the four-unit side. In other words, Egyptians
rule that lunar eclipses take place every six months, knew that a triangle whose sides are in a 3:4:5 ratio is
or occasionally every five months. By the time a right triangle. This is a useful rule of thumb and it is
Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, the priests had also also a step away from the Pythagoras Theorem,
calculated the courses of the planets and plotted the which is based on stretching the 3:4:5 triangle
orbits of the sun and the moon. concept to its logical limit

Egyptians calculated the value of the mathematical

constant pi at 256/81 (3.16), and for the value of the
square root of two, they used the fraction 7/5 (which
they thought of as 1/5 seven times). For fractions,
they always used the numerator 1 (in order to express
3/4, they wrote 1/2 + 1/4). Unfortunately they did not
know the zero, and their numeral system lacked
(The pyramids) simplicity: 27 signs were required to express 999.

EGYPTIAN SCIENCE

Despite their superstitions, Egyptian priests

encouraged the development of many scientific
disciplines, especially astronomy and mathematics.
The construction of the pyramids and other
astonishing monuments would have been impossible
without a highly developed mathematical knowledge.
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (also known as the
Ahmes Papyrus) is an ancient mathematical treatise,
dating back to approximately 1650 BCE. This work
explains, using several examples, how to calculate
the area of a field, the capacity of a barn, and it also
deals with algebraic equations of the first degree. In
(Theories of Aristarchus)
the opening section, its author, a scribe named
Ahmes, declares that the Papyrus is a transcription of
GREEK SCIENCE
an ancient copy, possibly 500 years before the time of
Ahmes himself.
Unlike other parts of the world were science was
strongly connected with religion, Greek scientific year), six seasons of the year are named and related
thought had a stronger connection with philosophy. to different gods, and also the different phases of the
As a result, the Greek scientific spirit had a more moon are observed and personified as different
secular approach and was able to replace the notion deities. Many of the ceremonies and sacrificial rites of
of supernatural explanation with the concept of a Indian society were regulated by the position of the
universe that is governed by laws of nature. Greek moon, the sun, and other astronomical events, which
tradition credits Thales of Miletus as the first Greek encouraged a detailed study of astronomy.
who, around 600 BCE, developed the idea that the
world can be explained in natural terms. Thales lived Geometry was developed in India as a result of strict
in Miletus, a Greek city locate in Ionia, the central religious rules for the construction of altars. Book 5 of
sector of Anatolia’s Aegean shore in Asia Minor, the Taittiriya Sanhita, included in the Yajur-Veda,
present-day Turkey. This city was the main focus of describes the different shapes that the altars could
the “Ionian awakening”, the initial phase of classical have. The oldest of these altars had the shape of a
Greek civilization, a time when the ancient Greeks falcon and an area of 7.50 squares purusha (a
developed a number of ideas surprisingly similar to purusha was a unit equivalent to the height of a man
some of our modern scientific concepts. with uplifted arms, about 7.6 feet or 2.3 meters).
Sometimes other altar shapes were required (such as
One of the great advantages of Greece was the a wheel, a tortoise, a triangle), but the area of these
influence of Egyptian mathematics, when Egypt new altars had to remain the same, 7.50 square
opened its ports to Greek trade during the 26th purusha. Some other times, the size of the altar had
Dynasty (c. 685–525 BCE) and Babylonian to be increased without changing the shape or the
astronomy, after Alexander’s conquest of Asia Minor relative proportion of the figure. All these procedures
and Mesopotamia during Hellenistic times. The were impossible to carry out without a fine knowledge
Greeks were very talented at systematically of geometry.
innovating upon the Egyptian and Babylonian
mathematical and astronomical knowledge. This A work known as the Shulba Sutras, first composed in
turned the Greeks into some of the most competent India around 800 BCE, contains detailed explanations
mathematicians and astronomers of antiquity and on how to perform all the geometrical operations
their achievements in geometry were arguably the required to support the religious procedures regarding
finest. the altars. This text also develops mathematical
topics such as square roots and squaring the circle.
While observation was important at the beginning, After developing important geometrical studies,
Greek science eventually began to undervalue religious practices changed in India, and the need for
observation in favour of the deductive process, where geometrical knowledge gradually died out as the
knowledge is built by means of pure thought. This construction of altars fell out of use.
method is key in mathematics and the Greeks put
such an emphasis on it that they falsely believed that Possibly the most influential achievement
deduction was the way to obtain the highest of Hindu science was the study of arithmetic,
knowledge. Observation was underestimated, particularly the development of the numbers and the
deduction was made king, and Greek scientific decimal notation that the world uses today. The so-
knowledge was led up a blind alley in virtually every called “Arabic numbers” actually originated in India;
branch of science other than exact sciences they already appear in the Rock Edicts of the
(mathematics). Mauryan emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE), about
1,000 years before they are used in Arabic literature.
INDIAN SCIENCE
CHINESE SCIENCE
In India, we find some aspects of astronomical
science already in the Vedas (composed between In China, the priesthood never had any significant
1500 and 1000 BCE), where the year is divided into political power. In many cultures, science was
twelve lunar months (occasionally adding an encouraged by the priesthood, who were interested in
additional month to adjust the lunar with the solar
astronony and the calendar, but in China, it was this era saw scientific and technological advances
government officials who had the power and were amongst the maelstrom of constant war and
concerned with these areas, and therefore the population shifts. This period was not a complete
development of Chinese science is strongly linked to desert and, whilst we understand that raiding Saxons,
government officials. The court astronomers were Vikings, and other people halted progress, to a
particularly interested in the sciences of astronomy certain extent, there were still faint glimmerings that
and mathematics, since the calendar was a sensitive great minds were exploring the universe and trying to
imperial matter: the life of the sky and the life on earth find answers.
had to develop in harmony, and the sun and the
moon regulated the different festivals. During the time In the west of the continent, where verdant Ireland
of Confucius (c. 551 to c. 479 BCE), Chinese meets the destructive power of the grey Atlantic,
astronomers successfully calculated the occurrence ascetic monks produced beautiful, vibrant illuminated
of eclipses. manuscripts. In England, the Venerable Bede
(672/673 - 735) meticulously recorded the Saxon Era
Geometry developed as a result of the need to during a time of raids from the fierce Northmen,
measure land, while algebra was imported from India. bringing terror with their dragonboats. This English
During the 2nd century BCE, after many centuries also created a fine book about using astronomical
and generations, a mathematical treatise named The observations to calculate the start of Easter
Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art was
completed. This work contained mostly practical During this period, it is tempting to dismiss the
mathematical procedures including topics such as Northmen as fierce, uncouth barbarians, forgetting
determining the areas of fields of different shapes (for that their famous longboats were marvelous feats of
taxation purposes), pricing of different goods, engineering, hundreds of years ahead of their time.
commodities rate exchange and equitable taxation. The Vikings and the Saxons were capable of
This book develops algebra, geometry and also exquisite metalwork and metallurgy, with the fine
mentions negative quantities for the first time in swords and beautiful jewelry found in sites such as
recorded history. Zu Chongzhi (429-500CE), Sutton Hoo and Ladbyskibet showing that, even if the
estimated the right value of pi to the sixth decimal progress of empirical and observational science was
place and improved the magnet, which had been slowed, craftsmen still pushed boundaries and tried
discovered centuries earlier. new techniques. In this, they were undoubtedly
influenced by ideas that filtered up the trade routes
Where the Chinese displayed an exceptional talent from Greece, Egypt, and even China and India.
was at making inventions. Gunpowder, paper,
woodblock printing, the compass (known as “south-
pointing needle"), are some of the many Chinese
inventions. Despite their immense creativity, it is
ironic that Chinese industrial life did not undergo any
significant development between the Han
dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) to the fall of the Manchu
(1912 CE).

B.) MIDDLE AGE

THE DARK AGES AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF

ROME

The Early Medieval period, from about AD 500 to

1000, is regarded as the true Dark Ages, where
medieval society slipped into barbarism and
ignorance. There is some truth in this view, but even (Theorica Platenarum by Gerard of Cremone)
THE MIDDLE AGES - CHARLEMAGNE, SCIENCE, populations grew and the shared Christian identity
AND LEARNING gave some unity of purpose, from the Ireland to Italy,
and from Denmark to Spain. It is tempting to think of
During the 9th Century, these small embers of this era as a time of prolonged war between Christian
preserved knowledge leapt to life, as Western and Muslim and, in Spain and the East, constant
Europeans tried to systemize education; rulers and territorial bickering and the Crusades support this
church leaders realized that education was the key to view.
maintaining unity and peace. This period was known
as the Carolingian Renaissance, a time when Charles However, trade and the sharing of ideas were
the Great, often known as Charlemagne, tried to common, and merchants and mercenaries brought
reestablish knowledge as a cornerstone of medieval back ideas from Moorish Spain, the Holy Land, and
society. Byzantium. The Muslims translated many of the
Ancient Greek texts into Arabic and, in the middle of
This ruthless emperor, often depicted as the Golden the 11th Century, scholars from all around Europe
Hero of the Church, was a brutal man of war, but he flocked to Spain to translate these books from Arabic
was also a great believer in the power of learning. His into Latin. This provided a conduit for the knowledge
Frankish Empire covered most of Western Europe, of the Greeks to pass into Europe, where the schools
and he instigated a revival in art, culture, and set up by Charlemagne were now blossoming into
learning, using the Catholic Church to transmit universities. Many of these scholars, such as Gerard
knowledge and education. He ordered the translation of Cremona (c. 1114-1187), learned Arabic so that
of many Latin texts and promoted astronomy, a field they might complete their task.
that he loved to study, despite his inability to read!
By the 12th Century, centers of learning, known as
In England, a monk named Alcuin of York instigated a the Studium Generale, sprang up across Western
system of education in art and theology, and also in Europe, drawing scholars from far afield and mixing
arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Like the the knowledge of the Ancient Greeks with the new
Carolingians, he began promoting the establishment discoveries of the great Muslim philosophers and
of schools, usually attached to monasteries or noble scientists. This blend of ideas formed the basis of
courts. While the Carolingian Era was a pale Christian scholasticism and, whilst much of the
reflection of the Classic Age, there were attempts to scholastic school of thought turned towards theology,
promote knowledge and the process only ended it also began to integrate scientific empiricism with
because of the breakup of the Frankish Empire after religion.
the death of Charlemagne, and a renewal of the
barbarian incursions. This period may not have seen the great
technological advances of the Greeks, Romans,
However, all was not lost, and some centers of Chinese, Persians, or Muslims, but the contribution of
learning clung stubbornly to scholarly pursuits great thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Grosseteste,
throughout the political and social upheaval, forming a Francis Bacon, and William of Ockham to the creation
nucleus around which the First European of the Scientific Method cannot be underestimated.
Renaissance would grow. The teaching of logic,
philosophy, and theology would fuel the growth of AQUINAS AND GROSSETESTE - THE FATHERS
some of the greatest Christian thinkers ever seen, as OF SCHOLASTICISM AND THE SCIENTIFIC
Western European medieval society moved into the METHOD
High Middle Ages.
Thomas Aquinas, while more interested in using
THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES - THE REBIRTH OF philosophy to prove the existence of God, oversaw a
SCIENCE AND SCHOLASTICISM shift from Platonic reasoning towards Aristotelian
empiricism. Robert Grosseteste, one of the major
This era, from 1000 until 1300, saw Western Europe contributors to the scientific method, founded the
slowly begin to crawl out of the endless warring, as Oxford Franciscan School and began to promote the
dualistic scientific method first proposed by Aristotle. scholasticism, adding to the philosophy underpinning
science, Late Middle Age made sophisticated
His idea of resolution and composition involved observations and theories that were sadly
experimentation and prediction; he firmly believed superseded by the work of later scientists.William of
that observations should be used to propose a Ockham, in the 14th century, proposed his idea of
universal law, and this universal law should be used parsimony and the famous Ockam's Razor, still used
to predict outcomes. This was very similar to the idea by scientists to find answers from amongst conflicting
of ancient astronomers, who used observations to explanations. Jean Buridan challenged Aristotelian
discern trends, and used these trends to create physics and developed the idea of impetus, a concept
predictive models for astronomical events. that predated Newtonian physics and inertia.

Grosseteste was one of the first to set this out as an Thomas Bradwardine investigated physics, and his
empirical process and his idea influenced such sophisticated study of kinematics and velocity
luminaries as Galileo, and underpinned the 17th predated Galileo's work on falling objects. Oresme
Century Age of Enlightenment. However, his biggest proposed a compelling theory about a heliocentric,
influence was more immediate, reflected in the impact rather than geocentric, universe, two centuries before
to the scientific method made by his pupil, Roger Copernicus, and he proposed that light and color
Bacon. were related, long before Hooke.

ROGER BACON - THE SHINING LIGHT OF Finally, many of the scholastic philosophers sought to
SCIENCE IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY remove divine intervention from the process of
explaining natural phenomena, believing that scholars
Roger Bacon is a name that belongs alongside should look for a simpler, natural cause, rather than
Aristotle, Avicenna, Galileo, and Newton as one of the stating that it must be the work of divine providence
great minds behind the formation of the scientific
method. He took the work of Grosseteste, Aristotle, THE BLACK DEATH - THE DESTROYER OF
and the Islamic alchemists, and used it to propose the MEDIEVAL SOCIETY AND SCHOLASTICISM
idea of induction as the cornerstone of empiricism. He
described the method of observation, prediction It seems strange that the advances of many of these
(hypothesis), and experimentation, also adding that philosophers and scholars became forgotten and
results should be independently verified, documenting underplayed in favor of the later thinkers that would
his results in fine detail so that others might repeat drive the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment.
the experiment. However, the first Renaissance of the Middle Ages
was halted by a natural phenomenon, the Black
With a nod towards the Islamic scholars, such as Ibn Death, which killed over a third of Europeans,
Sina ands Al-Battani, any student writing an especially in the growing urban areas.
experimental paper is following the tradition laid down
by Bacon. Both Bacon and Grosseteste studied The mass disruption to medieval society caused by
optics, and Bacon devised a plan for creating a the plague set the progress of science and discovery
telescope, although there is no evidence to suggest back, and the knowledge would not reemerge until
that he actually built one, leaving the honor to Galileo. the Renaissance.
Bacon also petitioned the Pope to promote the
teaching of natural science, a lost discipline in C.) MODERN AGE
medieval Europe.
Developments in science and technology are
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES - SCHOLASTICISM AND fundamentally altering the way people live, connect,
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD communicate and transact, with profound effects on
economic development. To promote tech advance,
The Late Middle Ages, from 1300 until 1500, saw developing countries should invest in quality
progress speed up, as thinkers continued the work of
education for youth, and continuous skills training for education and healthcare. The combination of
workers and managers. computers and the Internet, and mobile devices and
the “cloud”, has transformed human experience,
Science and technology are key drivers to
empowering individuals through access to knowledge
development, because technological and scientific
and markets, changing the relationship between
revolutions underpin economic advances,
citizens and those in authority, as well as allowing
improvements in health systems, education and
new communities to emerge in virtual worlds that
infrastructure.
span the globe.
The technological revolutions of the 21st century are
According to the United Nations International
emerging from entirely new sectors, based on micro-
Telecommunications Union (UN-ITU), by the end of
processors, tele-communications, bio-technology and
2010 there were an estimated 5.3 billion mobile
nano-technology. Products are transforming business
cellular subscriptions worldwide, including 940 million
practices across the economy, as well as the lives of
subscriptions to 3g services. About 90 percent of the
all who have access to their effects. The most
world’s population can access mobile networks, with
remarkable breakthroughs will come from the
three-quarters of mobile subscribers living in
interaction of insights and applications arising when
developing economies. Cellular technology has
these technologies converge.
allowed Africa to leapfrog the age of fixed line
Through breakthroughs in health services and telephony, bringing affordable access to millions of
education, these technologies have the power to people.
better the lives of poor people in developing
However, the continued and equitable expansion of
countries. Eradicating malaria, a scourge of the
Information Communication Technology (ICT)
African continent for centuries, is now possible. Cures
depends on electricity. The real divide over the next
for other diseases which are endemic in developing
20 years will be between those who have access to
countries are also now possible, allowing people with
reliable electricity to power these devices and those
debilitating conditions to live healthy and productive
who do not.
lives.
Other technologies under development are
Access and application are critical. Service and
interventions for cognitive enhancement, proton
technology are the differentiators between countries
cancer therapy and genetic engineering.
that are able to tackle poverty effectively by growing
Revolutionary inventions include small underground
and developing their economies, and those that are
nuclear power units called nuclear batteries that will
not. The extent to which developing economies
be ultra-safe and maintenance-free; new types of
emerge as economic powerhouses depends on their
photo-voltaics that will make electricity from sunlight
ability to grasp and apply insights from science and
cheaper than that from coal; and myriad nano-
technology and use them creatively. Innovation is the
technologies, some of which lower the cost and
primary driver of technological growth and drives
increase the reliability of many products – even in the
higher living standards.
poorest areas of the developing world.
As an engine of growth, the potential of technology is
Managing technological revolutions poses challenges.
endless, and still largely untapped in Africa and other
Certain innovations and discoveries will raise fraught
developing world regions across the globe. Less
bio-ethical issues, as genetic modification of food
developed countries not only lack skilled labour and
crops and cloning of human embryos has already
capital, but also use these less efficiently. Inputs
done. There is a risk that their cost, particularly in the
account for less than half of the differences in per
early stages of development, will worsen the present
capita income across nations. The rest is due to the
inequality by limiting access to wealthy individuals.
inability to adopt and adapt technologies to raise
This already happens in health care in certain G7
productivity.
countries, where the demand for very high-cost
Computing for example, through unlocking diagnostic equipment and surgical interventions
infrastructure backlogs and managing integrated enabling longevity and better quality of life for older
supply chains, can transform economic performance wealthy people overstretches public health care
by enabling affordable and accessible services in budgets, and lowers service quality in poor
neighborhoods. Finally, resource-intensive succeed will make substantial advances in reducing
technologies, focused on satisfying high consumption poverty and inequality.
demand, like holidays abroad in costal resorts,
wilderness areas, or iconic cities, increase carbon
emissions and environmental damage. A HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN
To promote technological advances, developing THE PHILIPPINES
countries should invest in quality education for youth,
continuous skills training for workers and managers,
and should ensure that knowledge is shared as
Precolonial Science and Technology
widely as possible across society.
In a world in which the Internet makes information
ubiquitous, what counts is the ability to use There is a very little reliable written information
knowledge intelligently. Knowledge is the systemically about Philippine society, culture and technology before
integrated information that allows a citizen, a worker, the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. As such, one has
a manager, or a finance minister to act purposefully to reconstruct a picture of this past using
and intelligently in a complex and demanding world. contemporary archaeological findings, accounts by
The only form of investment that allows for increasing early traders and foreign travelers, and the narratives
returns is in building the stocks and flows of about conditions in the archipelago which were written
knowledge that a country or organization needs, an in by the first Spanish missionaries and colonial
encouraging new insights and techniques.
officials. According to these sources, there were
Adopting appropriate technologies leads directly to numerous, scattered, thriving, relatively self-sufficient
higher productivity, which is the key to growth. In and autonomous communities long before the
societies that have large stock and flows of Spaniards arrived. The early Filipinos had attained
knowledge, virtuous circles that encourage a generally simple level of technological development,
widespread creativity and technological innovation compared with those of the Chinese and Japanese,
emerge naturally, and allow sustained growth over
but this was sufficient for their needs at that period of
long periods. In societies with limited stocks of
time.
knowledge, bright and creative people feel stifled and
emigrate as soon as they can, creating a vicious
circle that traps those who remain in a more
impoverished space. Such societies stay mired in Archaeological findings indicate that modern
poverty and dependency. men (homo sapiens) from the Asian mainland first
The investment climate is crucial, as are the right came over-land and across narrow channels to live
incentive structures, to guide the allocation of in Palawan and Batangas around 50,000 years ago.
resources, and to encourage research and For about 40,000 years, they made simple tools or
development. weapons of stone flakes but eventually developed
Successful countries have grown their ability to techniques for sawing, drilling and polishing hard
innovate and learn by doing, by investing public stones. These Stone Age inhabitants, subsequently
funding to help finance research and development in formed settlements in the major Philippine islands
critical areas. Everyone is involved – big and small, such as Sulu, Mindanao (Zamboanga, and Davao),
public and private, rich and poor. Negros, Samar, Luzon (Batangas, Laguna, Rizal,
The benefits that are certain to flow from Bulacan and the Cagayan region). By about 3,000
technological revolution in an increasingly connected B.C., they were producing adzes ornaments of
world and knowledge-intensive world will be seized by seashells and pottery of various designs. The
those countries and companies that are alive to the manufacture of pottery subsequently became well
rapidly changing environment, and nimble enough to developed and flourished for about 2,000 years until it
take advantage of the opportunities. Those that came into competition with imported Chinese
porcelain. Thus over time pottery making declined.
What has survived of this ancient technology is the centuries. Archaeological findings (in various parts of
lowest level, i.e., the present manufacture of the the archipelago) of Chinese porcelains made during
ordinary cooking pot among several local communities. this period support this contention. From the Sung
(960-1278) and Yuan (1260-1368) Dynasties, there
are descriptions of trade with the Philippines, and from
Gradually, the early Filipinos learned to make the Sung and Ming (1360-1644) Dynasties there are
metal tools and implements -- copper, gold, bronze notices of Filipino missions to Peking.
and, later, iron. The Iron Age is considered to have
lasted from the second or third century B.C. to the tenth
century A.D. Excavations of Philippine graves and The most frequently cited Chinese account in
work sites have yielded iron slags. These suggest that Philippine history textbooks is that of Chao Ju-Kua in
Filipinos during this period engaged in the actual 1225. He described the communities and trading
extraction of iron from ore, smelting and refining. But activities in the islands of Ma-i (Mindoro) and San-hsu
it appears that the iron industry, like the manufacture (literally three islands which present-day historians
of pottery, did not survive the competition with imported think refer to the group of Palawan and Calamian
cast iron from Sarawak and much later, from China. Islands). The people of Ma-i and San-hsu traded
beeswax, cotton, true pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal
betelnuts, yu-ta cloth (probably jute or ramie?) and
By the first century A.D., Filipinos were weaving coconut heart mats for Chinese porcelain, iron pots,
cotton, smelting iron, making pottery and glass lead fishnet sinkers, colored glass beads, iron
ornaments and were also engaged in agriculture. needles and tin. These were practically the same
Lowland rice was cultivated in diked fields and in the commodities of trade between the islands and China
interior mountain regions as in the Cordillera, in which the first Spanish colonial officials recorded
terraced fields which utilized spring water. when they came to the Philippines more than two
centuries later.

Filipinos had also learned to build boats for the

coastal trade. By the tenth century A.D., this had The Filipinos in Mindanao and Sulu traded with
become a highly developed technology. In fact, the Borneo, Malacca and parts of the Malay Peninsula.
early Spanish chroniclers took note of the refined This trade seems to have antedated those with the
plank-built warship called caracoa. These boats were Chinese. By the time the Spaniards reached the
well suited for inter-island trade raids. The Spaniards archipelago, these trade relations had been firmly
later utilized Filipino expertise in boat-building and established such that the alliance between the rulers
seamanship to fight the raiding Dutch, Portuguese, of Manila and Brunei had become strengthened by
Muslims and the Chinese pirate Limahong as well marriage. It was through these contacts that Hindu-
as to build and man the galleons that sailed to Buddhist, Malay-Sanskrit and Arab-Muslim Cultural
Mexico. and technological influences spread to the Philippines.
There have also been some references (by early
travelers during the precolonial period) to trade
By the tenth century A.D., the inhabitants of relations between Japan and the Philippines. To date
Butuan were trading with Champa (Vietnam); those however, Philippine historians have not found any
of Ma-i (Mindoro) with China. Chinese records which prehispanic references to the Philippines in Japanese
have now been translated contain a lot of references literature of the period.
to the Philippines. These indicate that regular trade
relations between the two countries had been well
established during the tenth to the fifteenth By the time the Spaniards came to colonies
the Philippines in 1565; they found many scattered,
autonomous village communities (called barangays) all plank-built boats. They had no calendar but counted
over the archipelago. These were kinship groups or the years by moons and from one harvest to another.
social units rather than political units. They were
essentially subsistence economies producing mainly
what they needed. In the interior and mountain settlements,
many Filipinos were still living as hunters. They
gathered forest products to trade with the lowland and
These communities exhibited uneven coastal settlements. But they also made "Iron lance-
technological development. Settlements along the points, daggers and certain small tools used in
coastal areas which had been exposed to foreign transplanting."
trade and cultural contacts such as Manila, Mindoro,
Cebu, Southern Mindanao and Sulu, seem to have
attained a more sophisticated technology. In 1570, On the whole, the pre-colonial Filipinos were
for example, the Spaniards found the town of still highly superstitious. The Spaniards found no
Mindoro "fortified by a stone wall over fourteen temples or places of worship. Although the Filipinos
feet thick," and defended by armed Moros -- knew how to read and write in their own system, this
"bowmen, lancers, and some gunners, linstocks in was mainly used for messages and letters. They
hand." There were a "large number of culverins" all seem not to have developed a written literary tradition
along the hillside of the town. They found Manila at that time.(20) This would have led to a more
similarly defended by a palisade along its front with systematic accumulation and dissemination of
pieces of artillery at its gate. The house of Raja knowledge, a condition that is necessary for the
Soliman (which was burned down by Spaniards) development of science and technology. Because of
reportedly contained valuable articles of trade -- the abundance of natural resources, a benign
"money, copper, iron, porcelain, blankets, wax, cotton environment and generally sparse population, there
and wooden vats full of brandy." Next to his house was seemed to have been little pressure for invention and
a storehouse which contained: much iron and copper; innovation among the early Filipinos. As governor
as well as culverins and cannons which had melted. Francisco de Sande observed in 1575, the Filipinos do
Some small and large cannon had just begun. There not understand any kind of work, unless it be to do
were the clay and wax moulds, the largest of which was something actually necessary -- such as to build their
for a cannon seventeen feet long, resembling a houses, which are made of stakes after their fashion;
culverin... to fish, according to their method; to row, and
perform the duties of sailors; and to cultivate the
land...
These reports indicate that the Filipinos in
Developments in Science and Technology
Manila had learned to make and use modern artillery.
The Spanish colonizers noted that all over the During the Spanish Regime
islands, Filipinos were growing rice, vegetables and
cotton; raising swine, goats and fowls; making wine, The beginnings of modern science and
vinegar and salt; weaving cloth and producing technology in the Philippines can be traced to the
beeswax and honey. The Filipinos were also mining Spanish regime. The Spaniards established schools,
gold in such places as Panay, Mindoro and Bicol. They hospitals and started scientific research and these had
wore colorful clothes, made their own gold jewelry and important consequences for the rise of the country’s
even filled their teeth with gold. Their houses were professions. But the direction and pace of
made of wood or bamboo and nipa. They had their development of science and technology were greatly
own system of writing and weights and measures. shaped by the role of the religious orders in the
Some communities had become renowned for their conquest and colonization of the archipelago and by
economic and trade adopted by the colonial in many places. In the region surrounding the walled
government. city of Manila, Filipinos migrated from their barangays
to the city in order to serve in the convents and thus
avoid the compulsory labor services in the shipyards
The interaction of these forces and the and forests. Over the centuries, this population
resulting socio-economic and political changes must, movement would greatly contribute to the congestion
therefore, be analyzed in presenting a history of of Manila and its suburbs.
science and technology in the Philippines.

The religious orders likewise played a major role

Spanish conquest and the colonization of the in the establishment of the colonial educational system
archipelago were greatly facilitated by the adoption of in the Philippines. They also influenced the
an essentially religious strategy which had earlier been development of technology and promotion of scientific
successfully used in Latin America. Known as research. Hence, these roles must next be examined.
reduccion, it required the consolidation of the far-flung,
scattered barangay communities into fewer, larger and
more compact settlements within the hearing distance Various decrees were issued in Spain calling for
of the church bells. This was a necessary response the establishment of a school system in the colony
to the initial shortage of Spanish missionaries in the but these were not effectively carried out. Primary
Philippines. This policy was carried out by a instruction during the Spanish regime was generally
combination of religious conversion and military force. taken care of by the missionaries and parish priests in
the villages and towns. Owing to the dearth of qualified
teachers, textbooks and other instructional materials,
The net result of reduccion was the creation primary instruction was mainly religious education.
of towns and the foundation of the present system of Higher education was provided by schools set
local government. The precolonial ruling class, the up by the different religious orders in the urban
datus and their hereditary successors, were adopted centers, most of them in Manila. For example, the
by the Spanish colonial government into this new Jesuits founded in Cebu City the Colegio de San
system to serve as the heads of the lowest level of Ildefonso (1595) and in Manila, the Colegio de San
local government; i.e. as cabezas de barangay. The Ignacio (1595), the Colegio de San Jose (1601) and
colonial authorities found the new set-up expeditious the Ateneo de Manila (1859). The Dominicans had the
for establishing centralized political control over the Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1640) in Manila.
archipelago -- for the imposition and collection of the Access to these schools was, however, limited to the
tribute tax, enforcement of compulsory labor services elite of the colonial society -- the European-born and
among the native Filipinos, and implementation of the local Spaniards, the mestizos and a few native
compulsory sale of local products to the government. Filipinos. Courses leading to the B.A. degree,
Bachiller en Artes, were given which by the nineteenth
century included science subjects such as physics,
The Filipinos naturally resisted reduccion as chemistry, natural history and mathematics.
it took them away from their rice fields, the streams
and the forests which were their traditional sources
of livelihood and also subjected them to the onerous On the whole, however, higher education was
economic exactions by the colonial government. Thus pursued for the priesthood or for clerical positions
the first century of Spanish rule brought about in the colonial administration. It was only during the
serious socio-economic dislocation and a decline latter part of the nineteenth century that
kin agricultural production and traditional crafts technical/vocational schools were established by the
Spaniards.(26)
 Commercial Accounting and a School of French and
English Languages were established in 1839.
Throughout the Spanish regime, the royal and
pontifical University of Santo Tomas remained as the
highest institution of learning. Run by the Dominicans,
In 1887, the Manila School of Agriculture was
it was established as a college in 1611 by Fray Miguel
created by royal decree but it was able to open only
de Benavides. It initially granted degrees in theology,
in July 1889. The School was designed to provide
philosophy and humanities. During the eighteenth
theoretical and practical education of skilled farmers
century, the faculty of jurisprudence and canonical law
and overseers and to promote agricultural
was established. In 1871, the schools of medicine and
development in the Philippines by means of
pharmacy were opened. From 1871 to 1886, the
observation, experiment and investigation. Agricultural
University of Santo Tomas granted the degree of
stations were also established in Isabela, Ilocos, Albay,
Licenciado en Medicina to 62 graduates. For the
Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and parts of Mindanao. The
doctorate degree in medicine, at least an additonal
professors in the School were agricultural engineers.
year of study was required at the Universidad Central
The School was financed by the government but it
de Madrid in Spain.
appears that its direction was also left to the priests.
The certificates of completion of the course were
awarded by the University of Santo Tomas or the
The study of pharmacy consisted of a
Ateneo Municipal. It seems that the School was not
preparatory course with subjects in natural history and
successful as Filipinos did not show much inclination
general chemistry and five years of studies in subjects
for industrial pursuits.
such as pharmaceutical operations at the school of
pharmacy. At the end of this period of the degree of
Bachiller en Farmacia was granted. The degree of
In 1863, the colonial authorities issued a royal
licentiate in pharmacy, which was equivalent to a
decree designed to reform the existing educational
master's degree, was granted after two years of
system in the country. It provided for the
practice in a pharmacy, one lof which could be taken
establishment of a system of elementary, secondary
simultaneously with the academic courses after the
and collegiate schools, teacher-training schools, and
second year course of study. In 1876, the university
called for government supervision of these schools.
granted the bachelor's degree in pharmacy to its first
The full implementation of this decree, however, was
six graduates in the school of pharmacy. Among them
interrupted by the coming of the Americans in 1898.
was Leon Ma. Guerrero, who is usually referred to as
the "Father of Philippine Pharmacy" becuase of his Higher education during the Spanish regime
extensive work on the medicinal plants of the was generally viewed with suspicion and feared by
Philippines and their uses. The total number of the colonial authorities as encouraging conspiracy
graduates in pharmacy during the Spanish period was and rebellion among the native Filipinos. For this
164. reason, only the more daring and persevering students
were able to undertake advantaged studies. The
attitude of the Spanish friars towards the study of the
There were no schools offering engineering at sciences and medicine was even more discouraging.
that time. The few who studied engineering had to go As one Rector of the University of Santo Tomas in the
to Europe. There was a Nautical School created on 1960s said: "Medicine and the natural sciences are
1 January 1820 which offered a four-year course of materialistic and impious studies." It was not
study (for the profession of pilot of merchant marine) surprising, therefore, that few Filipinos ventured to
that included subjects as arithmetic, algebra, study these disciplines. Those who did were poorly
geometry, trigonometry, physics, hydrography, trained when compared with those who had gone to
meteorology, navigation and pilotage. A School of European universities. Science courses at the
University of Santo Tomas were taught by the professional advanced studies. These included Jose
lecture/recitation method. Laboratory equipment was Rizal who was able to pursue studies in Medicine and
limited and only displayed for visitors to see. There specialize in ophthalmology in Spain and Germany;
was little or no training in scientific research. Sir Graciano Apacible who studied medicine in Madrid;
John Bowring, the British Governor of Hongkong who Antonio Luna who obtained his Ph.D. in pharmacy in
made an official visit to the Philippines in the 1850s Madrid and later worked with renowned scientists in
wrote: Ghent and Paris; Jose Alejandrino who took up
engineering in Belgium, and others. It was this group
Public instruction is in an unsatisfactory state in the
of students which set up the Propaganda Movement in
Philippines--the provisions are little changed from
Europe that eventually led to the Philippine revolution
those of the monkish ages.
against Spain.
In the University of Santo Tomas... no attention is given
The religious orders provided most of the
to the natural sciences... nor have any of the
teaching force and institutions of learning in the colony.
educational reforms which have penetrated most of
This was similar to the situation that had earlier
the colleges of Europe and America found their way
prevailed in Europe (where they had come from) during
to the Philippines.
the medieval ages. Inevitably, members of the
In spite of the small number of Filipino religious orders also took the lead in technological
graduates from the UST in medicine and the sciences innovation and scientific research. This involvement
they still faced the problem of unemployment. This invariably arose from their need to provide for basic
was because the colonial government preferred to necessities as they went around the archipelago to
appoint Spanish and other European-trained perform their missionary work of propagating the
professionals to Catholic faith and to finance the colleges, hospitals
and orphanages that they had established.

At the start of the American regime, a German

physician of Manila submitted a report to the The Spaniards introduced the technology of town
authorities on the conditions at UST's medical college. planning and building with stones, brick and tiles. In
The report mentions, among others, its lack of library many places, religious (such as Bishop Salazar in
facilities, the use of outdated textbooks (some Manila) personally led in these undertakings. Because
published in 1845), that no female cadaver had ever of the lack of skilled Filipinos in these occupations, the
been dissected and the anatomy course was a "farce", Spaniards had to import Chinese master builders,
that most graduates "never had attended even one artisans and masons. The native Filipinos were
case of confinement or seen a case of laparotomy" drafted, through the institution of compulsory labor
and that bacteriology had been introduced only since services, to work on these projects. In this manner, the
the American occupation and "was still taught construction of the walls of Manila, its churches,
without microscopes!" Many of these graduates later convents, hospitals, schools and public buildings were
joined the revolutionary movement against Spain. completed by the seventeenth century.

With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the
the consequent ease in travel and communications religious orders had established several charity
that it brought about, the liberal ideas and scientific hospitals in the archipelago and in fact provided the
knowledge of the West also reached the Philippines. bulk of this public service. These hospitals became
The prosperity that resulted from increased commerce the setting for rudimentary scientific work during the
between the Philippines and the rest of the world Spanish regime long before the establishment of the
enabled Filipino students to go to Europe for University of Santo Tomas (UST) college of medicine.
Research in these institutions were confined to Spanish inhabitants of Manila who were given shares
pharmacy and medicine and concentrated on the of lading space in the galleons. Many of them simply
problems of infectious diseases, their causes and speculated on these trading rights and lived off on their
possible remedies. Several Spanish missionaries profits. It was the Chinese who profited most from the
observed, catalogued and wrote about Philippine trade. They acted as the trade's packers, middlemen,
plants, particularly those with medicinal properties. retailers and also provided services and other skills
The most notable of these was Father Fernando de which the Spanish community in Intramuros needed.
Sta. Maria's Manual de Medicinas Caseras published
in 1763 which was so in demand that it had undergone
several editions by 1885. Spanish preoccupation with the Manila Galleon
eventually led to the neglect of agriculture and mining
and the decline of native handicrafts and industries in
By the second half of the nineteenth century, the Philippines. The deleterious effects of the trade on
studies of infectious diseases such as smallpox, the archipelago's domestic economy had been pointed
cholera, bubonic plague, dysentery, leprosy and out by some Spanish officials as early as 1592. But
malaria were intensified with the participation of this seems to have been largely ignored by colonial
graduates of medicine and pharmacy from UST.(45) policy-makers. Only the local shipbuilding industry
At this time, native Filipinos began to participate in continued to prosper because of necessity -- to build
scientific research. In 1887, the Laboratorio Municipal the galleons and other ships required for internal
de Ciudad de Manila was created by decree. Its main commerce and the defense of the archipelago. This
functions were to conduct biochemical analyses for had become quite well developed according to a
public health and to undertake specimen examinations French visitor in the nineteenth century. He observed:
for clinical and medico-legal cases. It had a publication
called Cronica de Ciencias Medicas de Filipinas
showing scientific studies being done during that time. In many provinces shipbuilding is entirely in
the hands of the natives. The excellence of their work
is proof that they are perfectly capable of undertaking
There was very little development in Philippine the study of abstruse sciences and that mathematical
agriculture and industry during the first two centuries of equations are by no means beyond their
Spanish rule. This was largely due to the dependence comprehension....
of the Spanish colonizers on the profits from the
Galleon or Manila-Acapulco trade, which lasted from Agricultural development was left to the
resident Chinese and the Spanish friars. The latter
1565 to 1813. It was actually based on the trade with
saw in the cultivation of their large estates around
China which antedated Spanish rule. The galleons
Manila a steady source of financial support for their
brought to Latin America Chinese goods -- silk and
churches, colleges, hospitals and orphanages in
other cloths, porcelain and the like -- and brought back
Intramuros. The friar estates profited from the
to Manila Mexican silver. When the Spanish and
expanding domestic food market as a result of the
Portuguese thrones were united from 1581 to 1640,
population growth of Manila and its suburbs. But the
goods brought to Manila by ships from Japan and
friars contribution in the development of existing
Portuguese ships from Siam, India, Malacca, Borneo
agricultural technology was more of quantitative than
and Cambodia were also carried by the galleons to
qualitative in nature. The profitability of their estates
Mexico. During the time, Manila prospered as the
was largely derived from the intensive exploitation of
entrepot of the Orient.
native technology and their free compulsory personal
services.
The Filipinos hardly benefited from the Galleon Successive shipwrecks of and piratical attacks
trade. Direct participation in the trade was limited to on the galleons to Mexico led to declining profits from
the trade and triggered an economic depression in Foreign capital was allowed to operate on an
Manila during the latter part of the seventeenth equal footing with Spanish merchants in 1829. By this
century. This situation was aggravated by increasing means agricultural production particularly of sugar and
restrictions on the goods carried by the Manila Galleon hemp, was accelerated and modernized. Local
as a consequence of opposition coming from industries flourished in Manila and its suburbs --
Andalusion merchants and mercantilists in Spain. weaving, embroidery, hatmaking, carriage
manufacture, rope-making, cigar and cigarettes-
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the
making. Much of the finished products of these
Bourbon dynasty ascended to the Spanish throne
industries were exported. Yet although Philippine
and brought with it political and economic ideas of
exports kept rising during the nineteenth century,
the French Enlightenment. This paved the way for
imports of manufactured goods also rose and foreign,
more government attention to the economic
particularly English capital dominated external trade
development of the Philippines. Enterprising
and commerce. This partly because of short-sighted
Spaniards began to exploit the mineral wealth of the
Spanish colonial trade policies and the relative
islands, develop its agriculture, and establish
inexperience and lack of capital of Spanish colonial
industries. These efforts were further encouraged by
trade policies and the relative inexperience and lack of
the need to promote economic recovery after the
capital of Spanish and Filipino merchants.
British Occupation of Manila in 1762-1764.
Research in agriculture and industry was
encouraged by the founding of the Real Sociedad The prosperity arising from expanded world trade
Economica de los Amigos del Pais de Filipinas (Royal and commerce in the nineteenth century led to Manila's
Economic Society of Friends of the Philippines) by rapid development as a cosmopolitan center. Modern
Governador Jose Basco y Vargas under authority of amenities -- a waterworks system, steam tramways,
a royal decree of 1780. Composed of private electric lights, newspapers, a banking system -- were
individuals and government officials, the Society introduced into the city by the latter half of the
functioned somewhat like the European learned nineteenth century. Undoubtedly, commercial needs
societies during the eighteenth and nineteenth led to the Spanish governments establishment of a
centuries and a modern National Research Council, Nautical School, vocational schools and a School of
It undertook the promotion of the cultivation of indigo, Agriculture during the nineteenth century. Various
cotton, cinnamon, and pepper and the development offices and commissions were also created by the
of the silk industry. During the nineteenth century, Spanish government by the Spanish government to
it was endowed with funds which it used to provide undertake studies and regulations of mines, research
prizes for successful experiments and inventions for on Philippine flora, agronomic research and
the improvement of agriculture and industry: to finance teaching, geological research and chemical analysis
the publication of scientific and technical literature, of mineral waters throughout the country. However,
trips of scientists from Spain to the Philippines, little is known about the accomplishments of these
professorships; and to provide scholarships to scientific bodies.
Filipinos.

Meteorological studies were promoted by Jesuits

In 1789, Manila was opened to Asian shipping. who founded the Manila Observatory in 1865. The
This inaugurated an era of increasing Philippine Observatory collected and made available typhoon
exports of rice, hemp, sugar, tobacco, indigo and and climatological observations. These observations
others and rising imports of manufactured goods. In grew in number and importance so that by 1879, it
1814, Manila was officially opened to world trade and became possible for Fr. Federico Faura to issue the
commerce; subsequently other Philippine ports were first public typhoon warning. The service was so
opened. highly appreciated by the business and scientific
communities that in April 1884, a royal decree made There was very little development in science and
the Observatory an official institution run by the technology during the short-lived Philippine Republic
Jesuits, and also established a network of (1898-1900). The government took steps to establish
meteorological stations under it. In 1901, the a secular educational system by a decree of 19
Observatory was made a central station of the October 1898; it created the Universidad Literaria de
Philippine Weather Bureau which was set up by the Filipinas as a secular, state-supported institution of
American colonial authorities. It remained under the higher learning. It offered courses in law, medicine,
Jesuit scientists and provided not only meteorological surgery, pharmacy and notary public. During its short
but also seismological and astronomical studies. life, the University was able to hold graduation
exercises in Tarlac on 29 September 1899 when
degrees in medicine and law were awarded.
The benefits of economic development during
the nineteenth century were unevenly distributed in the
archipelago. While Manila prospered and rapidly
modernized, much of the countryside remained
underdeveloped and poor. The expansion of Developments in Science and Technology
agricultural production for export exacerbated existing During the American Regime
socio-economic inequality that had been cumulative
consequence of the introduction of land as private Science and technology in the Philippines
property at the beginning of Spanish rule. There was advanced rapidly during the American regime. This
increasing concentration of wealth among the large was made possible by the simultaneous government
landowners -- the Spaniards, especially the religious encouragement and support for an extensive public
orders, the Spanish and Chinese mestizos, the native education system; the granting of scholarships for
Principalia -- and poverty and landlessness among the higher education in science and engineering; the
masses. This inequality, coupled with abuses and organization of science research agencies and
injustices committed by the Spanish friars and officials establishment of science-based public services.
gave rise to Philippine nationalism and eventually the
Revolution of 1896.
The Americans introduced a system of
At the end of the Spanish regime, the Philippines secularized public school education as soon as civil
had evolved into a primary agricultural exporting government was set up in the islands. On 21 January
economy. Progress in agriculture had been made 1901, the Philippine Commision, which acted as the
possible by some government support for research executive and legislative body for the Philippines until
and education in this field. But it was largely the entry 1907, promulgated Act No. 74 creating a Department
of foreign capital and technology which brought about of Public Instruction in the Philippines. It provided for
the modernization of some sectors, notably sugar and the establishment of schools that would give free
hemp production. The lack of interest and support for primary education, with English as the medium of
research and development of native industries like instruction. This was followed by the setting up of a
weaving, for example, eventually led to their failure to Philippine Normal School to train Filipino teachers.
survive the competition with foreign imports. Because Secondary schools were opened after a further
of necessity and the social prestige attached to enactment of the Philippine in Commission in 1902.
university education, medicine and pharmacy The Philippine Medical School was established in
remained the most developed science-based 1905 and was followed by other professional and
professions during the Spanish regime. technical schools. These were later absorbed into the
Science and Technology during the First Republic University of the Philippines.
 The colonial authorities initially adopted a for this privilege, the pensionados, as they came to be
coordinated policy for the promotion of higher called, were to serve in the public service for five years
education in the sciences and government research after their return from their studies. Between 1903 and
institutions and agencies performing technical 1912, 209 men and women were educated under this
functions. The University of the Philippines was program in American schools. After the establishment
created on 18 June 1908 by Act of the Philippine of the University of the Philippines, scholarships for
Legislature. Among the first colleges to be opened advanced studies of a scientific or technical nature in
were the College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna American Universities were given only in preparation
in 1909, the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Engineering and for assignment to jobs in the public service.
Veterinary Medicine in 1910 and the College of Law in
1911. By 1911, the University had an enrollment of
1,400 students, Four Years later, its enrollment had The Philippine Commission introduced science
almost doubled (to 2,398) and the University included subjects and industrial and vocational education into
two new units, a School of Pharmacy and a Graduate the Philippine school system but they found that
School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. In industrial and vocation courses were very unpopular
1916, the School of Forestry and Conservatory of with the Filipinos. When the Manila Trade School was
Music were established; and in 1918, the College of opened in 1901, the school authorities found it difficult
Education was opened. to get students to enroll in these courses. Because of
their almost 400 years of colonial experience under
the Spaniards, middle class Filipinos had developed a
Except in the College of Medicine, where there general disdain for manual work and a preference for
were already a number of Filipino physicians who the prestigious professions of the time, namely, the
were qualified to become its faculty members when priesthood, law and medicine. Education in these
it was opened in 1907, most of the early instructors professions came to be regarded as the means of
and professor in the sciences and engineering at the making the best of the limited opportunities in the
University of the Philippines were Americans and other Spanish colonial bureaucracy and thus of rising from
foreigners. Qualified Filipinos were sent abroad for one's social class. Hence, even at the newly-opened
advanced training and by this means foreign faculty University of the Philippines, it was difficult to get
were gradually replaced by Filipinos. For example, in students to enroll in courses which required field
1920, Filipino Ph.D. graduates of U.S. universities work such as, for example, agriculture, veterinary
took over the Department of Agriculture Chemistry in medicine, engineering and other applied science.
the College of Agriculture. By December 1926, the Scholarships were thus offered by the government to
university's enrollment in all colleges had reached attract a sufficient number of students to enroll in
6,464 and out of a total teaching staff of 463, only courses that were needed to fill up the technical
44 were Americans and other foreigners. positions in the government service.

Before 1910, the American colonial government In the field of medicine, the Philippine
encouraged young men and women to get higher Commission provided for as many scholarships as
professional education as much as possible in there were regularly organized provinces in the
American colleges. In 1903, the Philippine Islands. These were awarded by the school
commission passed an Act to finance the sending of departments after competitive examinations in the
135 boys and girls of high school age to the United provinces. A recipient of these scholarships was
States to be educated as teachers, engineers, required to return to the province from whence he
physicians and lawyers. One third of these were came and to serve as a physician for as many years
chosen by the governor-general on a nation-wide basis as his medical education was paid for by the
and the rest by the provincial authorities. In exchange government. This policy was adopted not only to
assure the medical school a continuing supply of The establishment of the University of the
carefully selected students but also to ensure a Philippines satisfied the short-run needs for
balanced geographical distribution of physicians professionally trained Filipinos in the colonial
in the different provinces and to counteract their government's organization and programs. What the
tendency to settle in the large urban areas. authorities did not recognize was that by providing for
an extensive public school system at the elementary
and secondary levels they had increased
Selected graduates of the schools of medicine tremendously the social demand for professional
and nursing were also sent on government education. The University of the Philippines
scholarship to universities in the United States for remained the only publicly-supported institutions for
postgraduate courses and training in special fields. higher education, and, since it could not meet the
In 1921, the Rockefeller foundation provided for six increasing social demand for universities was left to
fellowships for qualified Filipinos in universities in the the initiative of enterprising Filipinos. For many
United States and Europe, two each in he fields of Filipinos, private education became the alternative for
public health (preventive medicine), public health professional education.
laboratory work and teacher training in nursing
education. Over several years, the Foundation
provided more than thirty of these fellowships and also Many of the existing private nonsectarian
financed shorter observation trips of many other health universities were organized during the early period of
officials. the American regime to help meet the increasing
demand for professional education and the country's
need for trained manpower. At the same time, these
It also greatly aided in the establishment and schools remained distinctively Filipino in orientation
development of the Graduate School of Public Health as they were conceived by their founders as a means
and Hygiene in the University of the Philippines. to conserve the national heritage and prevent the
complete Americanization of the Filipinos.

When the Bureau of Public Works was

created in 1901, the Americans found that there were At the outset of the American regime, there was
no competent Filipino engineers, and American no definite government policy on private schools.
engineers had to be imported. As a consequence, a Because of the widespread disorganization that
special effort was made to attract Filipinos to pursue followed a more of these schools were set up,
advanced studies leading to careers as engineers. In government regulation and control was found
many cases government financial assistance was necessary. The first attempt to regulate private
provided to enable them to complete their professional schools was through the Corporation Law (Act No.
studies in the United States. Upon achieving their 1459) enacted by the Philippine Commission in 1906.
professional qualifications they were employed as In effect, it treated the schools like commercial firms or
junior engineers in the Bureau of Public Works. Many business enterprises except that they would be under
of them rapidly advanced in their positions. Their the supervision of the Department of Public Instruction
career progress can be seen from the fact that rather than the Department of Trade and Industry.
whereas in 1913 there were only 18 Filipino engineers
out of a total of 145 engineers in the Bureau of Public
Works, the rest being American; by the end of 1925, In 1917, Act No. 2076 (Private School Act) was
out of 190 engineers in the Bureau, only 16 were enacted by the Philippine Legislature. The Act
Americans and 174 were Filipinos. recognized private schools as educational institutions
and not commercial ventures. It required the
Secretary of Public Instruction to "maintain a general
standard of efficiency in all private schools and establishment until the end of the Second World War.
colleges so that...(they shall) furnish adequate It had a biological laboratory, a chemical laboratory, a
instruction to the public..." and authorized him to serum laboratory for the production of vaccine virus,
"inspect and watch" these school and colleges. The serums and prophylactics, a library. Most of the
supervision of these schools was entrusted to senior scientists in the Bureau were initially Americans
a staff of four within the Department of Public but as Filipinos acquired the necessary training, they
Instruction -- a superintendent, an assistant gradually took over their positions.
superintendent and two supervisors.
The number of private colleges increased rapidly.
The Bureau of Science served as a valuable
In 1925 a survey of the educational system of the
training ground for Filipino scientists. It performed the
Island was authorized Survey which was headed by
needed chemical and biological examinations for the
Paul Monroe made a comprehensive investigation of
Philippine General Hospital and Bureau of Health and
all public and private institutions of learning in the
manufactured the serums and prophylactics needed
country. The Monroe Survey found most private
by the latter. Pioneering research was done at the
schools substandard. It reported that most of these
Bureau of Science on such diseases as leprosy,
were physically ill equipped and with more part-time
tuberculosis, cholera, dengue fever, malaria and
than full-time faculty members. Among the private
beri-beri. Results of these studies were readily
colleges and universities, it found out that: "The
available to the Bureau of Health for use in its various
equipment of all these institutions is owefully
programs. Studies on the commercial value of
inadequate, the laboratory for the teaching of science
tropical products, tests of Philippine minerals and
being but a caricature of the real thing".
roadbuilding materials, the nutritional value of foods,
and other were similarly done at the Bureau of
Science. From 1906, it published the Philippine
As a consequence of the findings of the Monroe
Journal of Science which reported not only work
Survey, the Government took steps to improve the
done in local laboratories but also scientific
machinery for the supervision of private schools.
developments abroad which had relevance to
The Philippine Legislature created the Office of
Philippine problems.
Private Education to look into such matters as physical
plant, school facilities, libraries, laboratory equipment
and student load, and administrative work such as
The American colonial authorities organized
enforcement of relevant government regulations,
other offices which, by the nature of their operations,
evaluating credits taken by students, managing
contributed further to the growth of scientific research.
admission of foreign students and the like. As a result
of the increased outlay for supervision of private These were the Weather Bureau (1901), the Board
(later Bureau) of Health (1898), Bureau of Mines
schools, their standards were improved.
(1900), Bureau of Forestry (1900), Bureau of
Agriculture (1901), Bureau of Coast and Geodetic
Survey (1905), Bureau of Plant Industry (1929) and
During the American regime, the development of
Bureau of Animal Industry (1929) (82) From 1927,
science gained more government support along with
there were proposals from professional societies for
efforts to establish an old extensive public school
the creation of a National Medical Research Council
system and public health programs. The old
and a National Research Council similar to those in the
Laboratorio Municipal was absorbed by the Bureau of
United States, Canada, and Australia. The Philippine
Government Laboratories created by the Philippine
Legislature passed an extensively emulated abroad."
Commission in 1901. In 1905, the latter was
reorganized and renamed Bureau of Science. It
remained the principal government research
 Act in 1933 creating the National Research expand its public school system to accommodate the
Council of the Philippine Islands (NRCP). Aside from increasing number of schoolchildren. The
working for the promotion of scientific research, the Government abolished Grade VII as the terminal
NRCP actively participated in the deliberations and grade in the elementary curriculum and also
drafting of provisions affecting science and industry in instituted the "double-single session" plan thus
the 1934 Constitutional Convention. reducing the time allotment or dropping certain
subjects in the elementary school. The government
also enacted Commonwealth Act No. 180 (13
Educational and science policy during the November 1936) reestablishing the Office of
American regime was not coordinated with colonial Private Education which had been abolished in 1932.
economic policy. While Filipinos were provided
On the whole, higher education was provided
opportunities for higher education in the sciences and
mainly by the private sector. By 1936, there were 425
engineering, the economy remained basically
private schools recognized by the government, 64 of
agricultural. To a great extent, Philippine economic
which we institutions at the College level and 7 were
development was determined by free trade relations
universities. These were Centro Escolar University,
established in 1909 between the Philippines and
Far Easter University, National University,
the United States, and these continued long after
Philippine Women's University, Silliman University,
independence was achieved in 1946. As a result of
University of Manila and the University of Santo
this policy, the Philippine economy became tied to that
Tomas. Together with the University of the Philippines
of the United States, remaining primarily an
these had a total of 19,575 college students in all
exporter of agricultural crops and raw materials and
universities in the country. The combined significant
an importer of American manufactured goods. increase in trained scientists and engineers in the
Undoubtedly this delayed Philippine industrialization.
Philippines before the Second World War.
The relative underdevelopment of the physical
sciences vis-a-vis the medical and agricultural The Commonwealth government worked
sciences may be traced to this policy. Basic and towards the development of economic self-reliance
applied research in the medical, agricultural and which would be necessary to sustain genuine political
related sciences received much greater government independence. It created the National Economic
support during the American regime than did industrial Council to prepare an economic program and advise
research. the government on economic and financial questions.
Several government corporations were reorganized
Science and Technology
and new ones were created to perform such varied
During the Commonwealth Period functions as the exploitation and development of
natural resources (e.g., the National Power
In 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth was Corporation); the development and promotion of
inaugurated and ushered in a period of transition to local industries (such as the National Development
political independence. The Constitution Company (NDC) and its subsidiaries, the National
acknowledged the importance of promoting scientific Abaca and Other Fibers Corporation); promotion of
development for the economic development of the agricultural production and marketing; and the like.
country by incorporating a provision (Article XIII, The NDC was especially mandated to undertake the
Section 4) declaring that "The State shall promote development of successful researches of government
scientific research and invention, Arts and Letters shall science agencies (such as the Bureaus of Science,
be under its patronage..." Animal Industry and Plant Industry) for commercial
production.

The government, which was by this time

completely under Filipino management, continued to
 The Commonwealth government likewise universities provide education for the majority of the
adopted measures to encourage and provide collegiate population.
assistance to private Filipino businessmen in the
The number of state universities and colleges
establishment of industries and manufacturing
has been increasing since 1946. However, their
enterprises. For example, it created new agencies,
growth has not been based on a rational plan. Partisan
such as the Bureau of Mines, to provide assistance
political considerations often determined the creation,
to businessmen undertaking mining exploration and
location and staffing of these institutions. Hence,
development. It also increased appropriations for the
many of them were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to
Bureaus of Science, Plant and Animal Industry, and
provide quality higher education particularly in the
thereby encouraged more scientific research for
sciences and engineering. State universities and
industrial purposes.
colleges vary in standards arising largely from the
In spite of all these efforts, the Commonwealth uneven distribution of faculty development programs.
government was unable to achieve its goal of The University of the Philippines System remains the
economic self-reliance. This was primarily because most developed with extensive graduate and
foreign trade and tariff policies remained under the undergraduate degree programs in the sciences and
control of the American government. Free trade engineering. It receives over half of the national
relations also continued and thus perpetuated the budget for state universities and colleges.
preferential treatment of exports of agricultural raw
materials. Moreover, the Pacific War broke out in
1941 and the Philippines was occupied by Japanese Private universities and colleges have similarly
troops. increased in numbers since 1946. However, these
vary in standards. Most non-sectarian universities and
The occupation of the Philippines by the
colleges are organized and managed like business
Japanese during the War brought educational and
enterprises and are heavily dependent on tuition fees.
scientific activities practically to a halt as able bodied
To operate profitably, they tend to concentrate on low-
citizens joined the resistance movement. Worse still,
cost courses like business administration, liberal arts
much of the country was reduced to ruins during the
and education, and encourage large enrollments in
battles ought for the liberation in 1944-45. Manila,
these. Sectarian universities and college tend to be
which was the center of all educational and scientific
financially better endowed. Hence, they have been
activities, was razed to the ground, destroying
able to impose selective admissions, lower faculty-
everything that had been built up before. It was in this
student ratios and provide laboratory and library
condition that the Philippines became an independent
facilities requires for science and engineering program.
state. The government had to contend with economic
The large number of private colleges and
reconstruction, normalization of operations as well as
universities to be supervised and the limited
the task of planning the direction of economic
Department of Education and Culture (now the
development.
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports) staff to do
Science and Technology since Independence it has hampered effective government supervision and
control of their standards.
The underlying pattern of education and
training of scientists, engineers and physicians
established during the America regime, as well as the The number of college students and graduates
direction of government support for scientific from public and private universities and colleges has
research and development, has basically remained shown tremendous increases since 1946.
unchanged since independence in 1946. State Nevertheless, the proportion of those in agriculture,
support for education continues to be concentrated at medical and natural sciences, and engineering has
the elementary school level; private colleges and remained relatively low. There are very few graduates
in the physical sciences. Most students (and
graduates) in agriculture come from state institutions Results of these conferences were then endorsed to
while most of those in engineering and medical the Department of Education and Culture (DEC) for
sciences come from private institutions. In both, the official adoption. In other branches of engineering,
majority of college students and graduates continue to the government through DEC convened meetings of
be in teacher training/education and educators, members of professional examining
commerce/business administration courses. This boards, representatives of professional organizations
situation results from the fact that students tend to and the private sector to update and adopt uniform
enroll in courses where there are perceived core curricula for all universities and colleges to
employment opportunities and which their families can follow. These developments took place in 1973-1974.
afford. Engineering and science courses entail longer
periods of study and have generally been more
expensive to pursue. On the whole, there has been little innovation
in the education and training of scientists and
engineers since independence in 1946. This is in part
The rise of professional organizations of due to the conservative nature of self-regulation by
scientists and engineers followed closely the growth of the professional associations. Because of specialized
higher education in the Philippines. The earliest training, vertical organization by disciplines and lack
organizations were in medicine and pharmacy, of liaison between professions, professional
professions which were the first to be introduced during associations have been unable to perceive the
the colonial era. As the number of graduates in a dynamic relationship between science, technology
particular discipline increased, associations were and society and the relevance of their training to
formed to promote professional interests and regulate Philippine conditions.
standards of practice and these were modelled after
their counterparts in the United States. Self-
regulation by professional associations was eventually Paralleling the increasing number of state
institutionalized in government laws which established colleges and universities has been a rise in
professional examining boards and licensing government science agencies since 1946. In 1947,
procedures. the Bureau of Science was reorganized into an
Institute of Science.(95) In the same year, an
Instituter of Nutrition, and in 1952, the Science
In certain cases, professional organizations Foundation of the Philippines (SFP) were created and
initiated changes in the collegiate curriculum for their placed (along with the Institute of Science) under
specialization and worked for improvements in the Office of the President.(96) The Institute of
educational standards. The Philippine Medical Nutrition was to perform research, advisory and
Association (PMA) actively worked to improve extension functions while the Science Foundation
standards of medical education by limiting enrollment was to stimulate research in the sciences and
in medical colleges and adding courses required for engineering and promote science consciousness
the medical degree. Academic members of the among the people. In 1952, the Commission on
profession have led in questioning the relevance of Volcanology was also created and placed under the
Western-oriented medical curriculum to Philippine National Research Council of the Philippines
conditions. This has resulted in recent innovations in (NRCP). Its function was primarily basic research on
medical training such as more exposure of students volcanology.
to community medicine and the experimental
curriculum to produce doctors for rural areas. In the
field of engineering, the Philippine Institute of Scientific work in government suffered from a
Chemical Engineers initiated a series of conference to lack of support, planning and coordination during the
discuss curriculum revisions for its profession. early postwar years. The U.S. Economic Survey
Mission to the Philippines in 1950, noted in its Report Research Institute (1967), and Forest Products
the dearth of basic information needed by industries Research and Industries Development Commission
of the country, the neglect of experimental work and (1969).(102) Several existing agencies were also
the meager appropriation in the national budget for attached to NSDB for policy coordination -- the NRCP,
scientific research, including the low salaries of Metals Industry Research and Development Center
government scientists. The Bell Mission (MIRDC), the SFP, Philippine Science High School
recommended, among other things, the systematic (PSHS) and Philippine Council for Agriculture and
exploration of the country's natural resources to Resources Research (PCARR).
determine their potentialities for economic
The creation of these science agencies
development.
undoubtedly shows increasing government concern
and support for the development of Philippine science
and technology. In 1974, a national science
Following the Bell Mission's Report, the
Institute of Science was reorganized in 1951. In 1982, NSDB was further reorganized into a
Renamed Institute of Science and Technology, it National Science and Technology Authority (NSTA)
acquired the status of a government-owned composed of four research and Development
corporation and was placed under the office of Councils; Philippine Council for Agriculture and
Economic Coordination. Added to its former functions Resources Research and Development; Philippine
of resources survey, testing and standardization, Council for Industry and Energy Research
were the responsibility for improving industrial Development; Philippine Council for Health Research
processes and stimulating technological development. and Development and the NRCP. NSTA has also
eight research and development institutes and
In 1957, a report was submitted to the President
support agencies under it. These are actually the
pointing out the deterioration of Philippine science
former organic and attached agencies of NSDB which
since the early years of the American regime. The
have themselves been reorganized.
report analyzed the causes of this decline -- the lack
of government support; dearth of scientists of high
training and ability; low morale of scientists and a lack
The expanding number of science agencies has
of public awareness of Science. It made several
given rise to a demand for high calibre scientists and
recommendations towards a long-range development
engineers to undertake research and staff
of science in the country. Consequently, Congress
universities and colleges. Hence, measures have
enacted the Science Act of 1958.
also been taken towards the improvement of the
country;s science and manpower. In March 1983,
Executive Order No. 889 was issued by the President
The Science Act created the National Science
which provided for the establishment of a national
Development Board (NSDB) to formulate policies for
network of centers of excellence in basic sciences. As
the development of science and coordinate the work
a consequence, six new institutes were created: The
of science agencies. The Act also created the
National Institutes of Physics, Geological Sciences,
Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and
Natural Sciences Research, Chemistry, Biology and
the National Institute of Science and Technology
Mathematical Sciences. Related to this efforts was
(NIST) and placed these, along with the NRCP, under
the establishment of a Scientific Career System in
the NSDB.
the Civil Service by Presidential Decree No. 901 on 19
In the 1960s additional science agencies were July 1983. This is designed to attract more qualified
created by law which thereby expanded NSDB's scientists to work in government and encourage
organization and functions. These were the young people to pursue science degrees and
Philippine Inventors Commission (1964), Philippine careers.
Coconut Research Institute (1964), Philippine Textile
 for the theory of biological evolution: he accumulated
THE INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION evidence demonstrating that organisms evolve and
discovered the process, natural selection, by which
The term "Intellectual Revolution" is used to refer to
they evolve. But the import of Darwin's achievement is
Greek speculation about the "nature" in the period
that it completed the Copernican revolution initiated
before Socrates (roughly 600 to 400 BCE). Hence, the
three centuries earlier, and thereby radically changed
alternative, technical terms are "pre Socratic" or "non-
our conception of the universe and the place of
theological" or "first philosophy". Bear in mind that the
humanity in it.
"philosophy" in question has little to do with ethics, and
much more to do with what we would call physics or The discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and
logic. Newton in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
had gradually ushered in the notion that the workings
There are three characteristic features of this form of
of the universe could be explained by human reason.
speculation. First, the world is a natural whole (that is,
It was shown that the earth is not the center of the
supernatural forces do not make things 'happen').
universe, but a small planet rotating around an average
Second, there is a natural 'order' (that is, there are
star; that the universe is immense in space and in time;
'laws of nature'). Third, humans can 'discover' those
and that the motions of the planets around the sun can
laws. I will develop these concepts more fully in class.
be explained by the same simple laws that account for
Although the texts have been translated as prose, the motion of physical objects on our planet. These and
much of what survives is actually verse. other discoveries greatly expanded human knowledge,
but the intellectual revolution these scientists brought
All of these pro-Socratic philosophers reached maturity about was more fundamental: a commitment to the
in the colonies, east and west. Was the "colonial" postulate that the universe obeys immanent laws that
mentality more intellectually adventurous than that account for natural phenomena. The workings of the
found in the mother country? universe were brought into the realm of science:
Though these thinkers thought in non-theological explanation through natural laws. Physical phenomena
terms that does not mean that they were atheists, most could be accounted for whenever the causes were
were not, but rather that they viewed the natural order adequately known.
as reflecting some underlying intelligence, the Logos Darwin completed the Copernican revolution by
(loosely: "the rational principle"). drawing out for biology the notion of nature as a lawful
The earliest of these thinkers lived in Ionia, on the system of matter in motion. The adaptations and
western coast of modern Turkey, in the town of Miletus. diversity of organisms, the origin of novel and highly
The Ionians were concerned with two issues: What is organized forms, even the origin of humanity itself
the underlying and primary 'substance' (Greek: arché)? could now be explained by an orderly process of
And, second, how can one explain change and change governed by natural laws.
transformation, given that what we perceive derives The origin of organisms and their marvelous
from one substance? One should note the modernity adaptations were, however, either left unexplained or
of these questions. Physicists still seek the primary attributed to the design of an omniscientCreator. God
particle; science still attempts to explain how natural had created the birds and bees, the fish and corals, the
substances 'change'. trees in the forest, and best of all, man. God had given
us eyes so that we might see, and He had provided fish
with gills to breathe in water. Philosophers and
THE DARWINIAN REVOLUTION theologians argued that the functional design of
organisms manifests the existence of an all-wise
The publication in 1859 of The Origin of Species by
Creator. Wherever there is design, there is a designer;
Charles Darwin ushered in a new era in the intellectual
history of humanity. Darwin is deservedly given credit
the existence of a watch evinces the existence of a own axis once every twenty-four hours. The apparent
watchmaker. movement of the heavens was an illusion, caused by
the movement of the observer.
The English theologian William Paley in his Natural
Theology (1802) elaborated the argument-from-design Suggesting that the earth moved was heresy enough.
as forceful demonstration of the existence of the But Copernicus went on to argue that the wandering
Creator. The functional design of the human eye, motion of the planets could be explained if they were
argued Paley, provided conclusive evidence of an all- orbiting the sun rather than the earth. This led to the
wise Creator. It would be absurd to suppose, he wrote, theory that the earth was itself just another planet also
that the human eye by mere chance "should have in orbit around the sun. (This was not a totally new
consisted, first, of a series of transparent lenses ... theory. A little know Greek philosopher, Aristarchus,
secondly of a black cloth or canvas spread out behind had advanced the idea that the earth and the other
these lenses so as to receive the image formed by planets moved around the sun in 270 BC. If his views,
pencils of light transmitted through them, and placed at rather than those of Plato and Ptolemy, had held sway,
the precise geometrical distance at which, and at which history might have taken a very different course.)
alone, a distinct image could be formed ... thirdly of a
Being a distinguished churchman, Copernicus knew
large nerve communicating between this membrane
the views of the Vatican on the earth's all important
and the brain." The Bridgewater Treatises, published
position at the center of the universe, and how
between 1833 and 1840, were written by eminent
tenaciously it held to that view. In proposing his theory,
scientists and philosophers to set forth "the Power,
he was not just challenging orthodox science; he was
Wisdom, and Goodness of God as manifested in the
challenging the established religious view of reality --
Creation." The structure and mechanisms of man's
hand were, for example, cited as incontrovertible which in those days held even greater sway than the
scientific view. So, fearing the wrath of the church, he
evidence that the hand had been designed by the
same omniscient Power that had created the world. kept his ideas to himself for thirty years. Only as he
was nearing death, and feeling that he did not want to
The advances of physical science had thus driven take this important knowledge with him to the grave,
humanity's conception of the universe to a split- did he finally decide to publish his little book On the
personality state of affairs, which persisted well into the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres. When it was
mid-nineteenth century. Scientific explanations, eventually published, in 1543, (Copernicus first saw a
derived from natural laws, dominated the world of copy on the day he died) it was immediately placed on
nonliving matter, on the earth as well as in the the papal index of forbidden books.
heavens. Supernatural explanations, depending on the
So it remained, ignored and forgotten, for nearly eighty
unfathomable deeds of the Creator, accounted for the
years, until the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei took up
origin and configuration of living creatures—the most
an interest in planetary motions. Utilizing the newly
diversified, complex, and interesting realities of the
invented telescope, he found convincing evidence in
world. It was Darwin's genius to resolve this conceptual
favor of the Copernican model. He saw that Venus had
schizophrenia.
phases, just like the moon, when only half, or just a
crescent, of it would be lit -- which is what would
COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
happen if Venus orbited the sun. He also found that
This view of the universe, cumbersome as it was, Jupiter had its own moons in orbit around it, dispelling
survived, virtually unchallenged, for thirteen hundred the idea that everything went around the earth.
years, until the early sixteenth century when the Polish
After publishing his findings, Galileo was contacted by
astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, put forward a
radically different model. The reason the stars Pope Paul V, who demanded he retract his heretical
ideas. Fearing for his life, he did so. But a few years
appeared to orbit the earth was, he suggested,
because the earth itself was moving, rotating on its later, unhappy that so important a truth should remain
suppressed, he published a brilliantly composed
dialogue in which he defended and supported the The received wisdom amongst scientifically-minded
Copernican theory. Again, under threat of torture, he psychologists is that Freud is passé — a sad case of
was forced to "abjure, curse, and detest" the absurd theoretical speculation gone wild. There is something
view that the earth moves around the sun. He was then right about this bleak assessment, but there is also
put under house-arrest so that he could be watched more than a little wrong with it. Compare it with the view
and prevented from causing any further trouble -- and of Freud offered by Clark Glymour, a noted philosopher
remained there till his death. of science, in a paper entitled "Freud's androids."
"Freud's writings contain a philosophy of mind," writes
At the same time as Galileo was making his critical
Glymour, "and indeed a philosophy of mind that
observations of the planets, a German mathematician,
addresses many of the issues about the mental that
Johannes Kepler, was putting into place another key
nowadays concern philosophers and ought to concern
piece of the puzzle. Copernicus had argued that the
psychologists."
sun, not the earth, lay at the center of things, but he
still adhered to the Platonic ideal of circular motion, and "Freud's thinking about the issues in philosophy of
although his model explained planetary movements mind is often better than much of what goes on in
much better than the old geocentric model, there were contemporary philosophy, and it is sometimes ad good
still unexplained irregularities, which Copernicus tried as the best. Some of this is dated, of course, by the
to account for with various epicycles. Kepler had the limits of Freud's scientific knowledge, but even when
good fortune to be a student of the Danish astronomer Freud had the wrong answer to a question, or refused
Tycho Brahe, who had accumulated volumes of to give an answer, he knew what the question was. And
accurate astronomical observations. Brahe set Kepler when he was deeply wrong, it was often for reasons
to work on the motion of Mars, the planet with the most that still make parts of cognitive psychology wrong."
troublesome orbit. Kepler’s breakthrough was the
discovery that the movements of Mars, and all the
other planets, could be accounted for, without any To fully appreciate Glymour's point, one needs a
detailed understanding of psychoanalytic theory, as
need for epicycles, if their orbits were ellipses rather
than circles. But as to why the orbits should be circles well as more than a nodding acquaintance with the
history of the sciences of the mind. I will be returning
rather than ellipses, he had no idea.
to some of these topics from time to time in future blog
The final piece of the puzzle was put in place some 50 entries, but for now I want to concentrate Freud's
years later by the English mathematician, Sir Isaac philosophical importance as a critic of the conception
Newton. He realized that heavenly bodies were of the human mind set out by Descartes in the 17th
governed by exactly the same laws as earthly objects; century, and which dominated psychological thought
the force that causes an apple to fall is the same force well into the 20th century.
that holds the moon in its orbit around the earth.
The Cartesian paradigm consisted of two components:
Working out the resulting equations of motion he
a view of the mind's relation to itself and a view of the
established that any orbiting body would indeed move
mind's relation to the body. Descartes held that all
in an ellipse -- just as Kepler had discovered.
occurrent mental states are self-intimating - that is, he
The revolution was now complete. The journey had thought that when a mental event is occurring, the
been started by Copernicus, but putting it all together person in whose mind the event occurs is aware that it
had involved other equally significant breakthroughs in is occurring. Put more crudely, Descartes held that we
thinking, and had taken nearly 150 years to complete. are of necessity immediately aware of our own
(Although it was not until 1992 that the Vatican finally cognitive states and processes. He also held that this
admitted Galileo been right.) self-aware mind is something distinct from the body.
The mind is a non-physical thing that interacts with the
THE FREUD REVOLUTION
physical body (a complex, flesh-and-blood machine)
through the medium of the brain.
Descartes' doctrine that the mind is transparent to itself These scientists were also in a quandary when it came
suggested that one need only introspect to acquire to explaining what seemed to be unconscious mental
knowledge of one's own mental states and processes. phenomena. They needed to find some way of
This approach to investigating the mind became so squaring these with the Cartesian dogma that mental
securely entrenched that when philosophy gave birth states have got to be conscious. Put differently, they
to the science of psychology in the latter part of the needed to find ways of describing their clinical
19th century, the first psychologists (men like Wilhelm observations so that they did not conflict with the
Wundt, Edward Titchener, and William James) used deeply-held beliefthat there are no such things as
introspection as their primary research tool. It is also unconscious mental phenomena.
true that the vast majority of psychologists and
Two strategies suggested themselves. One was to
neuroscientists during the late 19th and early 20th
deny that the phenomena in question are really
centuries were body-mind dualists who took
unconscious and the other was to deny that they are
themselves to be studying the operations of non-
really mental. Those who took the first route proposed
physical minds that were only contingently liked to the
that what appear to be unconscious mental states are
physical brains of their patients and experimental
actually disassociated conscious states. The idea is
subjects (books on the history of psychology
that consciousness (which these people equated with
and neuroscience are often grossly misleading in this
mentality) can split apart like an amoeba, with the
regard).
consequence that neither of the resulting
With the advances of science during the 19th century, consciousnesses has access to the other's mental
the Cartesian paradigm came under increasing states. Those who took the second route claimed that
pressure. The discovery of the law of the conservation what appear to be unconscious mental states are really
of energy, Darwin's formulation of evolutionary theory, just neurophysiological dispositions for mental states.
and the discovery of regions of the brain specialized for They are purely physical states, and therefore (on
the production and comprehension of speech, all Cartesian assumptions) not mental, although their
suggested that mental states are physical states of the effects are similar to those produced by mental states.
brain. At around the same time, the study of mental
During the first decade or so of his
disorders and investigations of hypnosis suggested
that mental states sometimes occur outside of neuroscientific career, Freud was on board with the
prevailing view. However, all of this changed in the
awareness. Still, neo-Cartesianism seemed to be the
only game in town. spring of 1895. By this time, he had become
increasingly disenchanted with the theoretical
Philosophically-minded scientists tried to evade the contortions required to reconcile his clinical
explanatory challenges that were posed by these observations with the Cartesian perspective. He
developments by embracing alternative variations on realized that he needed to revise his philosophical
the dualist theme. For example, John Hughlings views about the nature of the mind, and that this had
Jackson, who introduced Darwinian ideas into to begin with a new theory of consciousness. So he cut
neuroscience, tried to deal with the conflict between the Gordian knot by discarding the entire Cartesian
the Cartesian framework and empirical observations package, beginning with body-mind dualism. Freud
by embracing the theory that the non-physical mind became what is nowadays called a physicalist - that is,
and the physical brain are entirely distinct but he came to assert (many decades before this was
(miraculously!) coordinated, while others were intellectually fashionable) that mental states are brain
attracted to epiphenomenalism, the view promulgated states. He put the point succinctly in the posthumously
by "Darwin's bulldog" Thomas Henry Huxley, that non- published Project for a Scientific Psychology, which
physical mental events are nothing but causally written in 1895: "The intention is....to represent
inefficacious effects of brain events. psychical processes as quantitatively determinate
states of specifiable material particles, thus making
those processes perspicuous and free from peoples occupied most of the New World south of the
contradiction." glacial ice cap covering northern North America. The
cooler climate of this period as compared with that of
He also jettisoned the view that all mental phenomena
the present day supported a grassland vegetation,
are conscious. In fact, Freud argued that all cognitive
especially in the highland valleys, that was ideal for
processes are unconscious, and that the outputs of
large herds of grazing animals. The shift toward
some of these processes are secondarily displayed in
sedentary agriculture apparently began after about
consciousness. So-called conscious thoughts are
7000 BCE, when a dramatic global warming caused
merely representations of unconscious thoughts.
the glaciers to retreat and tropical forests to overtake
Along with all of this, Freud rejected the viability of
the Mesoamerican grasslands.
introspection as an investigative method for
psychology, on the grounds that if consciousness only The gradual domestication of successful food plants—
displays the outputs of unconscious cognitive most notably a mutant corn (maize) with husks, dating
processes, then consciousness has no access to the to c. 5300 BCE—over succeeding millennia gave rise
cognitive processes responsible for these outputs. to more or less permanent village farming life by about
1500 BCE. In addition to corn, crops
Freud's philosophically momentous change of mind
included beans, squashes, chili peppers, and cotton.
anticipated much of what occurred during the cognitive
As agricultural productivity improved, the rudiments of
revolution of the late 20th century. And when looks at
civilization emerged during the period designated by
the details of Freud's theory of mental architecture, his
archaeologists as the Early Formative (1500–
achievement is revealed as even more impressive. But
900 BCE). Pottery, which had appeared in some areas
I will leave that topic for future blog postings...
of the region as early as 2300 BCE, perhaps
introduced from Andean cultures to the south, took on
varied and sophisticated forms. The idea of the temple-
pyramid seems to have taken root during this period.
MESOAMERICAN
Mesoamerican civilization, the complex
of indigenous cultures that developed in parts Corn cultivation in one area—the humid and fertile
of Mexicoand Central America prior to Spanish lowlands of southern Veracruz and Tabasco, in
exploration and conquest in the 16th century. In the Mexico—was sufficiently productive to permit a major
organization of its kingdoms and empires, the diversion of human energy into other activities, such as
sophistication of its monuments and cities, and the the arts and commerce. Struggles for control of this rich
extent and refinement of but limited farmland resulted in a dominant landowning
its intellectual accomplishments, the Mesoamerican class that shaped the first great Mesoamerican
civilization, along with the comparable Andean civilization, the Olmec.
civilization farther south, constitutes a New World
counterpart to those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, San Lorenzo, the oldest known Olmec centre, dates to
and China. about 1150 BCE, a time when the rest of Mesoamerica
was at best on a Neolithic level. The site is most noted
A brief treatment of Mesoamerican civilization follows. for its extraordinary stone monuments, especially the
For full treatment, see pre-Columbian civilizations. “colossal heads” measuring up to 9 feet (nearly 3
Archaeologists have dated human presence in metres) in height and possibly representing players in
Mesoamerica to possibly as early as a ritual ball game (see tlachtli).
21,000 BCE (though the dating of the Valsequillo finds The period known as the Middle Formative (900–
on which that early date is based remains 300 BCE), during which the La Venta urban complex
controversial). By 11,000 BCE, hunting-and-gathering rose and flourished, was one of increased cultural
regionalism. The Zapotec people, for example, new generation of African scholars trained in the
attained a high level of development at Monte Albán, European tradition of the ‘historical methods’
producing the first writing and written calendarin developed by Ibn Khaldun” (Uya, 1984:6) to
Mesoamerica. However, at this site, as well as in the demonstrate the glorious and sophisticated history,
Valley of Mexico, the Olmec presence can be widely culture and dignity of Africa in order to “counter the
detected. dangerous Europeans had systematized and
institutionalized about the African past” (Uya, 1984:6).
In the subsequent Late Formative and Classic periods,
Speaking further of the task and achievements of this
lasting until about 700–900 CE, the well-known Maya,
generation of enigmatic and charismatic historical
Zapotec, Totonac, and Teotihuacán civilizations
personality, Uya (2008:80-81) gleefully said that their
developed distinctive variations on their shared Olmec
basic task
heritage. The Maya, for example,
brought astronomy, mathematics, calendar making, Was to rescue African history from the monumental
and hieroglyphic writing, as well as monumental distortions and falsehoods of Euro-American scholars
architecture, to their highest expression in the New who not only denied our historical heritage but also
World. At the same time, Teotihuacán, in the Valley of excluded us, by and large, from having played a
Mexico, became the capital of a political and significant role in their European drama of exploration,
commercial empire encompassing much of conquest, colonization, and administration of the
Mesoamerica. continent. The pioneering works of this generation set
new challenging directions for African historical studies
Teotihuacán power diminished after about 600, and for
in content and methodology.
the next several centuries numerous states vied for
supremacy. The Toltecs of Tula, in central Mexico, Perhaps, the most outstanding of this dedicated crop
prevailed from about 900 to 1200 (the Early of pioneer practitioners of African/Nigerian history is
Postclassic Period). Following Toltec decline, a further professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike who incidentally was
period of unrest in the Late Postclassic Period lasted the “first to arrive in Nigeria” after “his doctorate degree
until 1428, when the Aztec defeated the rival city of from the University of London” (Enemugwem, 2012:9).
Azcapotzalco and became the dominant force in Let us turn our academic search light to deeply
central Mexico. This last native Mesoamerican empire investigate and clinically interrogate the major ideas
fell to the Spaniards, led by Hernán Cortés, in 1521. and historic contributions of this “distinguished
scholar”, “a far – sighted pioneer,” “pathfinder,” and
AFRICAN INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION
“godfather of African history”
The first phase of the post-World War 11 revolution in
the twentieth century African history began with an DIKE’S IDEA OF AFRICAN PERSONALITY AND
insistence on the fact that Africa had a glorious and CAPABILITY
sophisticated past worth studying by historians within
the departments of university by African graduate As seen from the above exposition, there is no
students in European Universities(Ajayi,1997:361). gainsaying the fact that Europeans had a doubtful
conceptualization of the African historical image. Their
Consequently, African graduate students “insisted on
dogmatic belief hinged on the fact that the “pre –
registering titles in pre – colonial African history for their
European” Africa was a dark, uncivilized continent
PhD dissertations. It was necessary for them to assert without history and culture and, therefore, destined to
this because the existence of such a history had been be ruled by the most superior and civilized Europeans.
denied” (Ajayi, 1997: 361). Put differently, African Our analysis shows that Africa was written off due to
history emerged as a veritable instrument to create “a the European over dependence on written records as
new historical image” of Africa. Thus, the later part of the only acceptable, reliable and accurate source for
the 1950s and the wake of the 1960s witnessed a historical reconstruction. For example, an eminent
revolution in African historiography called English writer, A.P. Newton once said that “history
“historiography of decolonization” undertaken by “a begins when men begin to write” (cited in Uya, 1984:
3). Toeing the same lines, Perham (cited in Alagoa, ASIA
1998:5) an Oxford University don, alluded that Africa
was “without writing and so without history”. Piqued by The nineteenth and the twentieth centuries in East Asia
these developments, Dike, then a post graduate are known as a time of rapid change. Whereas change
student at the university of London “rose above the was a daily and concrete experience in a globalizing
hostility of the environment of his education” (Alagoa, environment, it was also the object of psychological
1998 : 7) and swiftly responded to Eurocentric views fear and ideological desire. During that period, Asian
about Africa in general and Perham’s article in countries and their intellectual and political elites
particular. Through the mouth piece of The West Africa confronted the technical and military superiority of the
Magazine, Dike used the intellectual arm of history and western powers, as well as local inner tensions and
protested that due to the unique ecology of Africa, the crises, by elaborating patterns of selective imitation,
so – called “wheel” was not a sine qua non for lack of reconsidering their traditional knowledge, and
development in Africa. Hence, the absence of ‘wheel’ recreating their own cultural background. In order to
cannot conceptualize these strategies, Asian intellectuals and
political activists faced the theoretical problem of
be a potent factor for the backwardness and naming the change in which they were living or to
incapability of man in tropical Africa (Alagoa, 1998: 5). which they aspired. In those years, a new vocabulary
Dike further spiced his argument that Africa had history emerged, constituting a multifaceted discourse on
systematically documented by the Arabic and change. Drawing on western cultural traditions, the
European Writers dating back to numerous centuries new vocabulary consisted of words such
ago prior to European contact and subsequent as enlightenment, renaissance, evolution, revolution a
colonization. Interestingly, too, Dike gave an eye nd renewal. However, indigenous terms such
opening account of the use of oral tradition in the as i, bian, ge, and xin were also part of it.
historical reconstruction of African past as most parts Nevertheless, quite independently of the cultural
of Africa were non – literate societies. Justifying the context from which they emerged, these terms were
use of oral and non – written data in the reconstruction resignified within the dynamic context of modernising
of African history, DuBois (1997:144) suitably contends Asia.
that there is almost no community of intellectual life or
point of transference where the thoughts and feelings On the one hand, traditional terminology and concepts
of one race can come into direct contact and sympathy from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism found a
with the thoughts and feelings of the other. It is new configuration that enriched their meanings. Such
important to remember that Dike was, among other a process dislocated well-established cultural roots
things inspired by B.O. Ogot, an African scholar from and made them compatible with exogenous systems of
East Africa. Little or no surprise that Dike who had the knowledge including modern physics and biology,
option of studying in Oxford and Cambridge Darwinism, Marxism, Liberalism, and Christian
Universities settled for the University of London so as theology. On the other hand, East Asian scholars
to study the 39 – Man Committee headed by B.O. Ogot applied terms such
(Enemugwem, 2012:9). Perham’s reaction after as renaissance and enlightenment to their historical
reading Dike’s thought provoking and legendary article predicament and, in doing so, they appropriated them.
was that of realization that Africa had a history. In the In that very moment of appropriation, these terms
words of Dike (1980:7) cited in Alagoa, (1998:7) she started to exceed their primary historical referent. They
(Perham) confessed saying “she did not know what belonged no more to the west alone and became all-
made her write the way she did”. Undoubtedly, encompassing metaphors, universals and tropoi that
Europeans and their scholars had informed opinion gave meaning to the experience of change.
about Africa and its past. Uya (1984:7) tells us quite
bluntly that there was “the increasing recognition The following collection of essays examines this
among scholars that traditional (African) societies, emerging and transcultural discourse on change
though different from so – called modern ones, were centred in Asia, though not confined to it. The
never static”. Indeed, they actually contributed a great collection aims to show how different reflections
deal to the historical development process in their originated in different contexts across Japan and
continent China, formed networks of ideas, and actively related
to discussions that were going on in Europe and follows the fraught relationship between the
America. Together, the essays tell a story that is not Renaissance/renaissance, on the one hand, and
reducible to the mere paradigm of cultural reception. humanism on the other. Campagnola points out that,
They consider East Asia not only as a latecomer to the whereas the Japanese Romantics (Roman-ha) and
game of modernity, whilst narrating the vicissitudes of other Japanese authors added an anti-humanist slant
a world facing the acceleration of historical to the Renaissance as a symbol for national
development and growing complexity from the specific regeneration, other intellectuals belonging to different
perspective of China and Japan. Ultimately, this factions and schools employed the same metaphor in
perspective helps us understand the background order to conceive a different strategy with a view to
against which a rhetoric of renewed centrality is imagining a new human being. He devotes particular
growing in Asia today and how it is entwined with a attention to the case of Miki Kiyoshi’s specifically
conceptualization of change that eschews Japanese brand of humanism. Finally, after describing
monogenesis and all sorts of linear paternities. how, in the 1940s, wartime censorship and militarist
orthodoxy came to efface humanism from the
Mick Deneckere’s article, ‘The Japanese discourse on renaissance, the article ends with the
Enlightenment: a Re-examination of its Alleged underground survival of humanism in the critical and
Secular Character’, explores the meaning and the anti-nationalistic form advocated by Watanabe Kazuo.
limitations of using the term enlightenment to describe
the early Meiji period. Reading her contribution gives Li Man analyses the relationship between crisis and
us the opportunity to reflect on the enlightenment from change in the decaying Qing Empire following the First
a global perspective and to locate the Japanese case Opium War. Using Confucian official Wei Yuan as his
within a wider and much longer movement. Deneckere compass, he depicts the theoretical battle surrounding
does not describe the Japanese Enlightenment as a the notion of change itself and its intellectual and
mere offshoot of an essentially European historical political meaning in mid-nineteenth-century China.
experience. On the contrary, building on Sebastian According to Li Man, making use of philological
Conrad’s seminal study ‘Enlightenment in Global investigation for the character i, which plays a major
History: A Historiographical Critique’, she sheds light role in the history of premodern Chinese culture, Wei
on a multiplicity of enlightenments which cannot be Yuan tried to offer a new definition of change. Li Man’s
explained by the paradigm of diffusion. In this article highlights how, in Wei Yuan’s philosophical
framework, Deneckere analyses the specificities of the disquisition, the ontological level meets the political
Japanese advocacy for intellectual, social and national one. Thus, the denial of change as the essential
change in periodical publications and other media from meaning of i, by part of the Chinese intelligentsia is
the Meiji era, and, by doing so, she opens up the criticized as a form of blindness to the incoming new
definition of enlightenment to historical actors that have world order. In this changing world, Wei Yuan kept firm
so far remained marginal in the prevailing historical his defence of the motherland but advocated its
narrative. Describing an enlightenment that is no transformation by means of the acquisition of Western
longer a copy of the European model, she goes technique. In such a context of historical necessity and
beyond the classic case of Fukuzawa Yukichi and unavoidable confrontation with external forces, the
the Meiroku Zasshi, embracing figures, such as only possible choice was either to change or be
Buddhist priest Shimaji Mokurai, who have been changed. The ontological reflection on the Way, as the
sidelined in the more traditional historiographical fundamentally unchanged characterised by continuous
accounts. change, thus also becomes a criticism of those who,
when faced with historical and political change, stuck
Francesco Campagnola surveys the history of the to their uncritical Sinocentrism.
symbolization of the Renaissance and humanism in
early Shōwa Japan up to the end of the Second World Bart Dessein shows us how Gadamer’s perspective on
War. His analysis does not limit itself to erudite books European Renaissance, in which socio-cultural
and purely scholarly essays but includes the transformation never completely effaces that which lies
transcripts of public symposia and articles in at its origin, also applies to nineteenth- and twentieth-
newspapers in order to provide a wider picture of the century China. He describes the climate of incertitude
developing Japanese cultural climate. The article and self-doubt that characterized China of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and explains during the Enlightenment and Renaissance. Though a
how German Idealism and Kant’s work became a tool number of prominent thinkers and philosophers, many
for revising and transforming the Confucianist tradition of whom have contributed significantly to the wealth of
through the medium of Wang Yangming. After a survey human knowledge, have lived during the period since
of the models of change, transformation and evolution those eras, their lives and works have not necessarily
entailed by the theory of ‘China as essence, the West produced a new ‘era’ of thought. Simply put, the world
as function’ (zhongti xiyong), Dessein particularly continues to build off of the thoughts of a previous era,
focuses on philosopher Mou Zongsan and his and is still waiting for another intellectual revolution.
discovery of a ‘moral self’ and of individuality as a
possible category within Confucian thought, as revised The world of today is a markedly different place than
from a Kantian perspective. However, Dessein notices 50 years ago, and is continuing to rapidly change.
how Mou Zongsan takes a decidedly anti-Kantian Humanity has moved into a new era: the information
stance when, in accordance with Confucianist holism, age. The rise of the computer and now the internet has
he asserts that personal cultivation and political connected humanity in a way that has never before
governance are complementary principles. In the end, been possible. Literally all of the knowledge of the
Dessein suggests that the cases made by Mou human race is available to anyone’s fingertips, so long
Zongsan and the other new Confucianists render as they have the internet. The implications of this might
apparent how modernisation in China was a be enormous: this might be the necessary foundation
‘renaissance’ based on a reshaping of tradition, rather for the development of a new era of revolutionary
than a revolution from the outside. thought and intellectual development. In the past, so
much thought, culture, and progress was lost to history
INFORMATION AGE and thus the future because of various circumstances.
Lost thought cannot contribute to the forward progress
When we consider the development of Western of humanity. With the computer and its enormous
philosophy, we can generally group major leaps in capacity to record and store information, however, this
intellectual thought into a number of eras: the Classical will no longer be a problem. So long as something can
era of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, the be recorded and put onto the internet, it will forever
Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. It was during exist and be accessible; no longer can the thought or
these periods of time that revolutionary new ways of culture of entire civilizations disappear never to be
thought were introduced and knowledge greatly found again. Also during the past thought was limited
disseminated throughout society; in turn, it was the to geographic or societal boundaries; the distances in
thought of these eras that the foundations of our space and culture prevented the dissemination of
civilization were built upon. Outside of the philosophy thought. Now, however, the computer, the internet, and
of the West, however, thought has also rapidly other tools of communication have brought everyone
developed during periods of great intellectualism and on the globe together.
discovery and stagnated during periods of economic,
societal, or intellectual downturn. It is perhaps natural With the entire human population capable of
that this is the case: thought and philosophy ebbs and accessing, considering, and building off of the entirety
flows with the changing societal, cultural, religious, and of human knowledge, enormous developments in
political environments of the time. thought and philosophy may be coming soon. We are
now capable of utilizing the intellectual resources of
Since the Enlightenment, which produced the political our species in far greater amounts than we were during
philosophies off of which most of the world is now built the Enlightenment or Renaissance, times during which
and operates: – liberty, social equality, and reason to we still managed to revolutionized thought. The power
name just a few – there has been a lack of of technology contributing to this intellectual revolution
revolutionary forward progress in philosophical will also continue to grow; computers are continuously
thought. The rise of socialism and the resulting new growing more powerful, and in turn they will connect us
economic and social theories of the 19th century and assist us in our intellectual pursuits more and
marked a period of brief development, but these more. As long as the internet exists, and barring any
theories were isolated from a greater culture of major catastrophic, the products of thought in the
intellectualism and thought that was more apparent future will be recorded for the entirety of humanity both
in the present and in the future to build off of. The care today is cost.2 Many of the medical products
possibilities for growth in thought are almost limitless. generated by research and development, such as
vaccines, actually reduce total health care costs. Other
Already we are beginning to witness the intellectual new products derived from research and development,
transformation the internet is capable of. The average such as complex imaging devices and expensive
human is much more informed about the world around surgical procedures, raise costs in the short term while
them and about the lives of people far removed from enhancing overall care. Still other procedures reduce
them in space and time… knowledge which is the first unit treatment costs, but these reductions make
step in producing new thought. Forums, websites, and treatments more available and thus increase demand
other mediums of technology are providing spaces for and total costs. The development and pricing of health
intellectual thought, discussion, and discourse, akin to care products are unusual for a number of reasons. In
the Salons of France and the meeting houses of a normal market economy, differences in the costs of
Renaissance and Enlightenment Italy. We are technologies are reflected in the level of use. But our
witnessing how the internet is intimately connecting current system of health care reimbursement insulates
people across the globe through websites which patients from the true costs. In addition, the
routinely bring people from distant parts of the world government directly regulates many aspects of
together. This newfound communication may facilitate medical technology to ensure safety and control costs,
the most revolutionary and widespread dissemination further distorting market signals. Finally, health care
of knowledge, perspectives, and philosophy ever involves such basic human conditions as birth,
experienced in our species’ history. disease, and ultimately death. Under such conditions,
individual consumers often ignore economic
LAW OF STS IN NATION BUILDING considerations; yet the total cost of health care is a
matter of enormous national concern. The effects of
In addition to their influence on industrial performance, technical progress on costs depend to a large extent
science and technology are directly involved in efforts on the social and institutional structures surrounding
to achieve a number of other important national goals. the health care system. As the nation undertakes a
As in the case of industry, many other factors must also broad reassessment of its health care system, a
be in place for the goals to be achieved, but science central challenge is to create administrative structures
and technology provide many of the crucial insights that promote the development of medical technology
and techniques that enable progress. The following while improving care and containing costs.
sections briefly describe some of the linkages between
science and technology and several of these goals. National Security

Since World War II, the United States has sought

Health Care military advantage through technological rather than
numerical superiority. For example, technological
Maintenance of health and prevention of illness are superiority in the hands of a well-trained military
among the highest goals of our society. cience and contributed greatly to the success of the Persian Gulf
technology have become critical factors in achieving War. The United States will continue to rely on this
those goals, and the health sciences—including the life strategy to retain military advantage, but the sources
sciences, health services research, and public health of new military technology are shifting. 3 In the past,
research—will remain vital elements in the promotion the segment of industry that has supplied both
of the nation’s wellbeing. In health care, as in other hardware and software to the U.S. military has been
areas, science and technology are embedded in much largely separate from civilian industry. This segment of
broader social and institutional structures. For industry has had essentially one customer, and its
example, a research discovery can lead to requirements were focused on product performance
experimental products in a very short time. Yet those more strongly than on cost. In the 1950s and 1960s,
products may require very long lead times to bring to the defense industry produced much technology of
market because of the need to ensure their safety and value to civilian industry. But today the technological
efficacy. The most visible public policy issue in health sophistication of civilian industry in many cases
surpasses that of the defense industry. As a result, the
military has become more dependent on civilian Medical Incubator: Invented in 1941 by Fe del
technologies. This trend will make improvements in Mundo. She was the first Asian student in Harvard’s
national security more dependent on overall national School of medicine. Countless young lives were saved
economic performance. A major challenge facing the by her invention and genius.
military today is to maintain technological superiority in
the face of declining defense budgets. Meeting this Moon Buggy: Invented in 1968 by Eduardo San Juan.
challenge will require a reexamination of the broad He was the project leader for NASA in the buggy
scientific and technological base that contributes to development: An underfunded and underappreciated
military needs, including research and development in engineering success. This one has special significance
government laboratories, in industry, and in to me, due to my Grandfather working at the Cape in
universities. the early space program. The moon buggy allowed
greater exploration of the Moon, yet Eduardo San
Environmental Protection Juan’s contribution has been relegated largely to
status as a footnote.
Over the past two decades, the United States has
recognized and has made substantial progress in Erythromycin: Invented (Discovered) by Dr. Abelardo
curbing the degradation of the environment. Aguilar in 1949. He sent a sample to Eli Lilly, who
Nevertheless, difficult problems remain. economic promptly stole the idea and patented it, and later
studies show that more than half the per capita marketed it successfully. Remember kids, this is why
productivity increases in the United States since World the great inventors always go to attorneys first… He
War II have come from technological advances. never received a single peso from his product, that
Although such factors as better skills among workers saved millions of lives (Thank him if you are allergic to
and new methods of organizing production will penicillin!).
continue to contribute to economic expansion, new
technologies will continue to be the major force behind Yoyo: Invented as a hunting weapon by the ancient
the generation of new wealth. Similarly, many new Filipinos, probably in the Visayas. “Discovered” when
technologies are increasingly reliant on science— Magellan landed.
whether the new science emerging from research
laboratories or the well-established science available Video Phone: Invented by Gregorio Zara, in 1955 no
to everyone with the necessary training. Engineering, less! When James Bond was using one in Dr. No, it
increasingly science-based, could not have achieved had already been in existence a number of years. This
its present level of sophistication without its base of is the predecessor of the camera in your mobile!
scientific knowledge. This increasing integration of
science and technology also applies in reverse: Computer Microchips: Many types were invented by
technological problems now inspire important areas of Diosdado Banatao, beginning with the world’s first 16-
science, even as science broadens the scope and bit chip in 1972, which he invented while working at
capabilities of technology. Commodore. This led to the development of GUI (The
thing that makes the graphics on this page…). Why
THE GREAT FILIPINO INVENTORS AND THEIR should you care? Without GUI, you would now be
INVENTIONS looking at a page filled with nothing but a bunch of ones
and zeroes.
Karaoke: Invented in 1975 by Roberto del Rosario. I
really thought this was a Japanese invention, despite Isolated Rice Breeds: In 1966, Dr. Rodolfo Aquino
its’ popularity here, and I was completely wrong. A isolated nine specific breeds of rice for the International
brilliant guy, he invented many other musical devices, Rice Research Institute. His discoveries helped
but Karaoke will always be remembered as his prevent famine in much of Asia, and were nearly solely
greatest triumph (or bane to humankind, depending on responsible for Thailand and Vietnam becoming the
your point of view.) world’s leading rice producers (A spot once solely
occupied by the Philippines.).
 Drug Detection: Dr. Enrique Ostrea developed the The progressive minds seemed to have prevailed, the
method for detecting drug use by pregnant females by DOST official said.
detecting traces in the baby’s stools. His method is
used by doctors worldwide in diagnosing drug Recently, the Philippines ranked 73rd out of 128
dependency in infants. economies in terms of Science and Technology and
Innovation (STI) index, citing the country’s strength in
Jeepney: Immediate post-war, and the most common research and commercialization of STI ideas. The
form of transportation in the country today. A Filipino report also said that 60 percent of companies in the
invention, though born from necessity, ingenuity, and country offer training to improve the technical skill of
thrift. their employees.

Patis: Love it or hate it, I was surprised that it has only Investment
been around for the last 60 years! Additionally, the
Filipino Patis was the basis for the Vietnamese and HOWEVER, a study by the Philippine Institute for
Thai fish sauce industries, and not the other way Development Studies highlighted the weak ties
around. (If you think Filipinos use a lot, after a week in between innovation-driven firms and the government,
Thailand or Vietnam???) It was invented by Tantay and it also identified the country’s low expenditure in
Food and Sauces after they discovered that their dried research and development (R&D).
fish were turning into liquid when stored with salt in
earthen jars. According to Dela Peña, this is the reason the
government is now extending all its efforts to reach out
THE GOVERNMENT POLICY AND AGENDA IN STS with the private sector, explaining that STI plays an
IN THE PHILIPPINES important role in economic and social progress and is
a key driver for a long-term growth of an economy.
IN a recent meeting with members of the Makati
Business Club and several foreign chambers of Technology adoption, the official said, allows a
commerce, the government’s chief scientist Fortunato country’s firms and citizens to benefit from innovations
dela Peña encouraged local and foreign businessmen created in other countries, and allows it to catch up and
to invest in technology-related enterprises. Dela Peña, even leap-frog obsolete technologies.
Secretary of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST), said this is relevant as the This can lead to significant improvements in
government is now investing heavily in science and productivity for existing firms in agriculture, industry
technology. and services.

The chief scientist cited advancement in health and For one, long-term investments in building local
medicine development with the county’s numerous capacity for technology generation can lead to
traditional medicinal herbs as focus, education, innovations that will give local firms a competitive
energy, disaster resiliency, and climate-change advantage. This can result in the creation of new firms
adaptation, including enterprises that deal with and even entirely new industries.
creativity such as designs.
For another, the local medicine sector has been
A civil servant for two decades now holding various showing potential, the DOST official said, citing the
teaching and civil-service positions up to his case of two dozen local herbs or medicinal plants being
appointment as top official of the DOST under the studied as one example.
present administration, Dela Peña said that for a time,
the country seemed to have grown “resistant” to Lagundi
science- and technology-related endeavors, although
a core number of advocates persisted in pushing the WHEN asked about the case of Lagundi (Vitex
science agenda.
negundo), whose efficacy as medicine is being
challenged by drug manufacturers, DOST Assistant
Secretary for International Cooperation Leah J. lagged behind Singapore (6th), Malaysia (35th),
Buendia said that the shrub was subjected to 20 years Thailand (52nd) and Vietnam (59th).
of stringent clinical trials and has been proven
consistently as effective. The factors behind the weak performance of the STI
sector include a weak STI culture, Dela Peña said.
“But since the DOST, and the government for that
matter, is not into commercialization, private There is lack of public awareness and interest in STI
companies are the ones who manufacture the and many sectors do not recognize, appreciate and
component of the medicinal plant into commercially understand the use of technology- and science-based
available medicines,” Buendia said, adding that the information in their daily activities.
agency only gives the results which include the right
formula and volume of the medicinal component. There’s also a number of weaknesses in social and
professional culture, i.e., research culture in
Asked on the possibility that private manufacturers universities, commercialization of results from public
might knowingly dilute the required strength for the research, among others. According to Dela Peña, a
medicine to be effective to cut cost and unwittingly lack of awareness on intellectual property rights, in the
made the medicine commercially available ineffective, research community and the general public, still
the official declined to comment. persists.

She, however, assured that the private sector is Despite its availability, adoption and application of
working with the agency for the purpose of technologies among micro, small and medium
commercializing discoveries made and studied by the enterprises (MSMEs) and sectors like agriculture and
DOST in partnership with the private sector, as these fisheries remains low, he added.
“products would not help private companies profit but
advance the country’s agenda.” Research

The science agenda that, despite advances, is still in LOW government and private spending on STI is
need of prioritization and more funding. This agenda is another factor behind the weak performance of the STI
in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, which sector, according to the GII report.
devotes an entire chapter on STI.
Investments in R&D are central for enhancing the
STI culture country’s innovation ecosystem, the report said.
Expenditures on R&D and innovation activities, as well
RECENT positive developments and advancement in as the support given to the development of human
science and technology notwithstanding, there resources in various fields of science and technology
remains a low level of innovation in the country. This is (S&T), are the parameters scrutinized in the monitoring
brought by weaknesses in STI human capital, low R&D and evaluation of STI.
expenditure and weak linkages in the STI ecosystem.
While nominal R&D expenditures increased by 80
In the Global Innovation Index (GII) Report last year, percent to P15.92 billion in 2013, the proportion of R&D
the Philippines ranked 74th among 128 economies in spending to GDP stood at only 0.14 percent. This is
terms of overall innovation, garnering a score of 31.8 substantially below the 1-percent benchmark
out of 100. This is a slight improvement from the score recommended by the United Nations Educational,
of 31.1, ranking 83rd out of 141 economies in 2015. Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the
global average of 2.04 percent. It is also low compared
The country also ranked fifth out of seven members of to other Asean countries, such as Vietnam, 0.19
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) percent, Thailand with 0.36 percent, Malaysia with 1.09
that were included in the survey. The Philippines was and Singapore’s 2.0 percent. The data is available
ahead of Cambodia (95th) and Indonesia (88th) but online from Unesco’s Institute for Statistics.
The country’s relatively low ranking in the GII Report the country garnered a score of 25.5 out of 100,
was pulled down by weaknesses in human capital and ranking 26th.
R&D, with a score of 22.7 out of 100, ranking 95th. This
is due to the low public and private expenditures on Capital
education and R&D, as well as low tertiary inbound
mobility. Tertiary inbound mobility refers to the number AN assessment of the country’s innovation system
of students from abroad studying in a given country, as conducted by a program of the United States Agency
a percentage of the total tertiary or college enrollment. for International Development (Usaid) reveals that the
supply of Stem graduates exceeds local demand.
The bulk of the R&D spending, about 60 percent,
comes from the public sector. These were directed to As a result, there is an out-migration and, worse,
agricultural and industrial production and technology, underemployment of many skilled, locally trained
protection and improvement of human health, control scientists and engineers. The report by the Usaid’s
and care of the environment, among others. Most of Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for
the R&D activities in the country are still concentrated Development, or Stride, program also cited a shortage
in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Central in training for fields critical for innovation, particularly in
Luzon. information technology. Such shortage contributes to
the challenge that many local companies face,
Manpower especially in securing employees with the skills
required to grow the business.
ANOTHER indicator measuring the capacity for
technology generation is the number of S&T human This somewhat explains the nature of brain drain the
resources engaged in R&D. country has. It is not so much because of Filipinos not
being “nationalistic” but simply because there is limited
As of 2013, the country has a total of 36,517 R&D opportunity for people of science to stay in the country.
personnel, of which 26,495 are key researchers,
scientific, technological and engineering personnel However, Buendia said the issue of nationalism has
engaged in R&D; the rest are technicians and support some credence, if not the absolute answer, citing the
personnel. case of South Korea in the 1950s.

The figures denote that there are only 270 researchers When South Korea was in its lowest in terms of
for every one million Filipinos. Such ratio falls short of economic level, the government called on all its
the Unesco norm of 380 per million population and the scientists and engineers scattered around the world to
1,020 researchers per million population average go home and help build their economy, and many
across developing economies of East Asia and the responded, she said.
Pacific.
According to Buendia, this brain drain contributes to
Of the total researchers in the country from the the problem as potential researchers, scientists and
government, higher educational institutions (HEIs) and engineers, the key actors for the innovation ecosystem
private nonprofit sectors, 14 percent had doctoral to flourish, prefer to seek employment overseas due to
degrees (PhD), 38 percent had master’s degrees, better economic opportunities and potential for
while 34 percent had Bachelor of Science (BS) up to advancement. Since knowledge and technology are
post-BS degrees. The low number of researchers in mostly embodied in human resources, this emphasizes
the country reflects the propensity of the educational the urgency to accelerate the development of R&D
system in the country to produce graduates outside of human resource.
science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or
Stem, programs—the disciplines where R&D Patents
flourishes. Nevertheless, the latest GII report indicates
that in terms of graduates in science and engineering, THE output of R&D is commonly measured in terms of
patents applied and granted to Filipino residents.
However, reports show that many universities do not up with little technical assistance from the government
have the expertise to market their patent portfolios for and research institutions.
commercial use. Furthermore, technology generators
face persisting issues on technology ownership while Another factor in this equation is restrictive regulations
researchers are constrained by the “publish or perish” that hamper implementation of R&D programs and
phenomenon. projects.

This results in the weak technology transfer system in The tedious government procurement process hobbles
the country. the immediate procurement of equipment and other
needed materials for research, which, in turn, delays
An annual average of 209 patent utility models and 597 the implementation of R&D projects, the GII report
industrial design applications were filed from 2005 to said. This was confirmed by the Usaid-Stride study,
2015. In the same period, an annual average of 54 which revealed that restrictive regulations make the
patents, 446 utility models and 502 industrial designs procurement of equipment and consumables for
were granted. research extremely slow and unnecessarily complex,
decreasing research productivity, publication potential,
In 2016, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the and speed-to-market of innovation.
Philippines 86th out of 128 economies for the number
of patents filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty In addition, the report said the government research
per million population. Invention patents granted to grants do not compensate universities for the salary of
local inventors represent the smallest share in number faculty members’ research activities. This practice is
of intellectual properties granted from 2001 to 2003. rarely seen outside the Philippines.
Industrial design and utility models consistently
comprise the majority of the intellectual property The final factor in the weak performance of the STI
granted. sector is inadequacy of an STI infrastructure that
includes laboratory facilities, testing facilities and R&D
The country also needs to catch up in research centers.
publications since the number of scientific publication
in peer-reviewed journals per million population stands Many existing hubs need upgrading to improve their
at 55, substantially below that of Asean member-states services, which contributes to the lack of absorptive
like Singapore with its staggering 10,368, Malaysia capacity in research institutions, the Usaid-Stride
with 1,484, Thailand with 478 and Vietnam with 105. report said. It also cited that the public institutions failed
to provide young researchers with equipment
Ecosystem packages, particularly those returning from PhD
studies abroad with more advanced research agendas.
ANOTHER factor behind the weak performance of the
STI sector is the weak linkages among players in the The country’s leading research institutions also remain
STI ecosystem. concentrated in Luzon.

The 2009 survey of Innovation Activities and the 2014 Hopes

Usaid-Stride Assessment of the Philippine Innovation
Ecosystem discovered that innovation actors have DESPITE the many inadequacies, from funding to
weak cooperation, partnerships and trust among human capital, there are some technology-intensive
themselves. Most HEIs perceive collaboration with research and capacity-building projects which resulted
companies as outside of their core missions and a risk in products which are currently being used
to exploitation. successfully.

Consequently, firms report that difficulties in One is the micro-satellite.

convincing HEIs of their shared interests stem from
resentment, suspicion and distrust. In effect, firms end
In April 2016, the country launched into space its first Initiatives
micro-satellite called Diwata-1. It was designed,
developed and assembled by Filipino researchers and THE DOST, in cooperation with HEIs and research
engineers under the guidance of Japanese experts. institutions, established advanced facilities that seek to
The Diwata (deity in English) satellite provides real- spur R&D activities and provide MSMEs access to
time, high-resolution and multi-color infrared images testing services needed to increase their productivity
for various applications, including meteorological and competitive advantage.
imaging, crop and ocean productivity measurement
and high-resolution imaging of natural and man-made One is the Advanced Device and Materials Testing
features. Laboratories. The center houses advanced equipment
for failure analysis and materials characterization to
It enables a more precise estimate of the country’s address advanced analytical needs for quality control,
agricultural production, provides images of watersheds materials identification and R&D. Closely related to this
and floodplains for a better understanding of water facility is the Electronics Products Development
available for irrigation, power and domestic Center, used to design, develop and test hardware and
consumption. The satellite also provides accurate software for electronic products.
information on any disturbance and degradation of
forest and upland areas. There are also high-performance computing facilities
that perform tests and run computationally intensive
The country also has the Nationwide Operational applications for numerical weather prediction, climate
Assessment of Hazards (Noah), which uses the Lidar modeling, as well as analytics and data modeling and
(light detection and ranging) technology. Project NOAH archiving.
was initiated in June 2012 to help manage risks
associated with natural hazards and disasters. The The Philippines could also boast of its Genome Center,
project developed hydromet sensors and high- a core facility that combines basic and applied
resolution geo-hazard maps, which were generated by research for the development of health diagnostics,
light detection and ranging technology for flood therapeutics, DNA forensics and preventive products,
modeling. and improved crop varieties.

Noah helps the government in providing timely warning According to Buendia, the country also has drug-
with a lead time of at least six hours in the wake of discovery facilities, which address the requirements for
impending floods. producing high-quality and globally acceptable drug
candidates. She said the Philippines also has
According to Buendia, the country is now training the nanotechnology centers, which provide technical
Cambodians on this technology, as part of the services and enabling environment for interdisciplinary
partnerships among Asean countries, just like in the and collaborative R&D in various nanotechnology
case of Japan which assisted the country’s scientists applications.
and engineers in building its first micro-satellite.
Buendia said there are also radiation processing
Another hope lies in the so-called Intelligent Operation facilities that are used to degrade, graft, or crosslink
Center Platform. polymers, monomers, or chemical compounds for
industrial, agricultural, environmental and medical
Established through a collaboration between the local applications. The Philippines could also boast of its Die
government of Davao City and IBM Philippines Inc., and Mold Solutions Center, which enhances the
the center resulted in the creation of a dashboard that competitiveness of the local tool and die sector through
allows authorized government agencies, such as the localization of currently imported dies and molds.
police, fire and anti-terrorism task force, to use
analytics software for monitoring events and These reflect that we are advancing, albeit slowly, to a
operations in real time. culture that embraces STI as a sure path to growth,
according to Dela Peña.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF STS IN THE manufacture of the ordinary cooking pot among
PHILIPPPINES several local communities.
Gradually, the early Filipinos learned to
There is a very little reliable written make metal tools and implements -- copper, gold,
information about Philippine society, culture and bronze and, later, iron. The Iron Age is
technology before the arrival of the Spaniards in considered to have lasted from the second or third
1521. As such, one has to reconstruct a picture century B.C. to the tenth century A.D.
of this past using contemporary archaeological Excavations of Philippine graves and work sites
findings, accounts by early traders and foreign have yielded iron slags. These suggest that
travelers, and the narratives about conditions in Filipinos during this period engaged in the actual
the archipelago which were written by the first extraction of iron from ore, smelting and refining.
Spanish missionaries and colonial officials. But it appears that the iron industry, like the
According to these sources, there were numerous, manufacture of pottery, did not survive the
scattered, thriving, relatively self-sufficient and competition with imported cast iron from Sarawak
autonomous communities long before the and much later, from China.
Spaniards arrived. The early Filipinos had
attained a generally simple level of technological
development, compared with those of the By the first century A.D., Filipinos were
Chinese and Japanese, but this was sufficient for weaving cotton, smelting iron, making pottery and
their needs at that period of time. glass ornaments and were also engaged in
agriculture. Lowland rice was cultivated in diked
fields and in the interior mountain regions as in the
Archaeological findings indicate that Cordillera, in terraced fields which utilized spring
modern men (homo sapiens) from the Asian water.
mainland first came over-land and across narrow
channels to live in Palawan and Batangas around
50,000 years ago. For about 40,000 years, they Filipinos had also learned to build boats for
made simple tools or weapons of stone flakes but the coastal trade. By the tenth century A.D., this
eventually developed techniques for sawing, had become a highly developed technology. In
drilling and polishing hard stones. These Stone fact, the early Spanish chroniclers took note of the
Age inhabitants, subsequently formed settlements refined plank-built warship called caracoa. These
in the major Philippine islands such as Sulu, boats were well suited for inter-island trade raids.
Mindanao (Zamboanga, and Davao), Negros, The Spaniards later utilized Filipino expertise in
Samar, Luzon (Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan boat-building and seamanship to fight the raiding
and the Cagayan region). By about 3,000 B.C., Dutch, Portuguese, Muslims and the Chinese
they were producing adzes ornaments of pirate Limahong as well as to build and man the
seashells and pottery of various designs. The galleons that sailed to Mexico.
manufacture of pottery subsequently became well
developed and flourished for about 2,000 years
until it came into competition with imported By the tenth century A.D., the inhabitants of
Chinese porcelain. Thus over time pottery making Butuan were trading with Champa (Vietnam);
declined. What has survived of this ancient those of Ma-i (Mindoro) with China. Chinese
technology is the lowest level, i.e., the present
records which have now been translated contain a technological influences spread to the Philippines.
lot of references to the Philippines. These indicate There have also been some references (by early
that regular trade relations between the two travelers during the precolonial period) to trade
countries had been well established during the relations between Japan and the Philippines. To
tenth to the fifteenth centuries. Archaeological date however, Philippine historians have not
findings (in various parts of the archipelago) of found any prehispanic references to the
Chinese porcelains made during this period Philippines in Japanese literature of the period.
support this contention. From the Sung (960-
1278) and Yuan (1260-1368) Dynasties, there are
descriptions of trade with the Philippines, and from By the time the Spaniards came to
the Sung and Ming (1360-1644) Dynasties there colonies the Philippines in 1565; they found many
are notices of Filipino missions to Peking. scattered, autonomous village communities
(called barangays) all over the archipelago.
These were kinship groups or social units rather
The most frequently cited Chinese account than political units. They were essentially
in Philippine history textbooks is that of Chao Ju- subsistence economies producing mainly what
Kua in 1225. He described the communities and they needed.
trading activities in the islands of Ma-i (Mindoro)
and San-hsu (literally three islands which present-
day historians think refer to the group of These communities exhibited uneven
Palawan and Calamian Islands). The people of technological development. Settlements along
Ma-i and San-hsu traded beeswax, cotton, true the coastal areas which had been exposed to
pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal betelnuts, yu-ta foreign trade and cultural contacts such as
cloth (probably jute or ramie?) and coconut Manila, Mindoro, Cebu, Southern Mindanao and
heart mats for Chinese porcelain, iron pots, lead Sulu, seem to have attained a more sophisticated
fishnet sinkers, colored glass beads, iron needles technology. In 1570, for example, the Spaniards
and tin. These were practically the same found the town of Mindoro "fortified by a stone
commodities of trade between the islands and wall over fourteen feet thick," and defended
China which the first Spanish colonial officials by armed Moros -- "bowmen, lancers, and some
recorded when they came to the Philippines more gunners, linstocks in hand." There were a "large
than two centuries later. number of culverins" all along the hillside of the
town. They found Manila similarly defended by a
palisade along its front with pieces of artillery at its
The Filipinos in Mindanao and Sulu traded gate. The house of Raja Soliman (which was
with Borneo, Malacca and parts of the Malay burned down by Spaniards) reportedly contained
Peninsula. This trade seems to have antedated valuable articles of trade -- "money, copper, iron,
those with the Chinese. By the time the Spaniards porcelain, blankets, wax, cotton and wooden vats
reached the archipelago, these trade relations had full of brandy." Next to his house was a
been firmly established such that the alliance storehouse which contained: much iron and
between the rulers of Manila and Brunei had copper; as well as culverins and cannons which
become strengthened by marriage. It was through had melted. Some small and large cannon had
these contacts that Hindu-Buddhist, Malay- just begun. There were the clay and wax moulds,
Sanskrit and Arab-Muslim Cultural and
the largest of which was for a cannon seventeen something actually necessary -- such as to build
feet long, resembling a culverin... their houses, which are made of stakes after their
fashion; to fish, according to their method; to
These reports indicate that the Filipinos in
row, and perform the duties of sailors; and to
Manila had learned to make and use modern
cultivate the land...
artillery. The Spanish colonizers noted that all
over the islands, Filipinos were growing rice,
vegetables and cotton; raising swine, goats and
fowls; making wine, vinegar and salt; weaving
cloth and producing beeswax and honey. The
Filipinos were also mining gold in such places as
Panay, Mindoro and Bicol. They wore colorful
clothes, made their own gold jewelry and even
filled their teeth with gold. Their houses were
made of wood or bamboo and nipa. They had
their own system of writing and weights and
measures. Some communities had become
renowned for their plank-built boats. They had no
calendar but counted the years by moons and
from one harvest to another.
In the interior and mountain settlements,
many Filipinos were still living as hunters. They
gathered forest products to trade with the lowland
and coastal settlements. But they also made "Iron
lance-points, daggers and certain small tools used
in transplanting."
On the whole, the pre-colonial Filipinos
were still highly superstitious. The Spaniards
found no temples or places of worship. Although
the Filipinos knew how to read and write in their
own system, this was mainly used for messages
and letters. They seem not to have developed a
written literary tradition at that time.(20) This
would have led to a more systematic accumulation
and dissemination of knowledge, a condition that
is necessary for the development of science and
technology. Because of the abundance of natural
resources, a benign environment and generally
sparse population, there seemed to have been
little pressure for invention and innovation among
the early Filipinos. As governor Francisco de
Sande observed in 1575, the Filipinos do not
understand any kind of work, unless it be to do