Ch 25: Science, Technology and Beliefs
About This Chapter
Science, Technology, and Beliefs - Chapter Summary
This chapter's lessons explore how changes in scientific beliefs and developments in technology can lead to societal changes and changes in belief systems. For example, one lesson details the conflict between Galileo and the Roman Catholic Church over the telescope and the discoveries he made with this new invention.
Our instructors will discuss advances in technology since the end of World War II, including space exploration and the Internet, and will explain how new technologies have influenced society. You'll also have a chance to look at ways scientific breakthroughs can cause people to change long-held ideas. These lessons should equip you to:
- Identify scientific developments from 1945 to the present
- Discuss how these developments have changed society
- Review the Church's dispute with Galileo over the telescope and what it meant
- Show how scientific developments can lead people to re-think their own beliefs
Our brief, engaging videos and text lessons break down complex topics and make learning enjoyable. Led by experts in the field, these lessons include video quizzes and an exam at the end that allow you to check your knowledge. Video tags make it easy to go back and review parts of the lesson that are giving you trouble.

1. The Advance of Science & Technology Since 1945: Developments & Impact
In this lesson, we explore just a few of the numerous advances and innovations made in the worlds of sciences and technology, from automobiles and televisions to computers and phones that can fit in the palm of your hand.

2. Sputnik to the Internet: How Technology and Science Have Changed Society since WWII
In this lesson, we will highlight critical scientific and technological advances since the end of World War II. We will explore the profound effects these advances had upon society.

3. Galileo, the Telescope & the Church
This lesson explores the contributions of Galileo to modern science. It examines his early steps toward a scientific method, his work on falling bodies and, of course, his astronomical discoveries. Finally, the Church's reaction to these discoveries is explored.

4. How Scientific Discoveries Can Cause People to Change Their Beliefs
Personal beliefs are one thing that people hold to very tightly. However, over time, with enough scientific evidence, a critical eye and consistent experiments, science can and does change people's beliefs in ways that simple observations cannot.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the College Physics: Help & Review course
- Scientific Inquiry
- Formulating Scientific Questions
- Planning a Scientific Investigation
- Observation and Data Collection
- Data Analysis and Graphing
- Drawing and Explaining Conclusions
- Safety During Science Experiments
- Scientific Ethics
- Motion and Newton's Laws
- Kinematic Equations in Physics
- Properties of Rotational Motion
- Linear Momentum Principles
- Oscillations
- Work, Energy and Power
- Heat and Thermodynamics
- Characteristics of Waves
- Electrical & Magnetic Forces
- Electric Potential & Capacitance
- Physics Circuits
- Magnetic Forces and Fields
- Quantum Mechanics and the Standard Model
- Science Literacy
- Diversity in Science
- Historical Perspectives in Physics