The Impact of Technology on Society: The Invention of Electricity - Research Paper Example

Topic The Invention of Electri Introduction The invention of electri can be regarded as the strongest turning point in technical field since the emergence of industrial revolution. Here, the paper attempts to reveal the history of electricity invention and its position in changing the face of the world. This paper also looks at the positive and negative dimensions of the electrification and how this scientific invention continues to impact the contemporary life of human beings. 2. Background: Invention and Effect of Electricity on Society 2.1 The Invention of Electricity The invention of electricity is a not an easy phenomenon to explain as it not an invention made by human being , since it already existed in nature in many forms .However, it could be very well said that discovery of electricity was due to the combined effort of many geniuses. Since the evolution of electricity is a complex phenomenon, its makeover is done by various personalities at various span of time at different stages. If we look at who identified electricity in an elaborate way, then the credit can be given to Benjamin Franklin who recognized electricity by flying kite on the occasion of lightning. It was in 1752, June 15th that Benjamin Franklin propagated that lightning is the pure form of electricity. He founded through experiment that electricity could pass through metals and this gave way to the great discovery of many electrical appliances and gadgets. 2.1.1 The Phenomenon of Electricity Surprisingly, the electricity as a scientific phenomenon did not gain recognition until the last quarter of eighteenth century. The early civilization to probe in to the discovery of electricity was the Greek personalities. The word electricity itself is connected to the Greek word “Elektron” or amber as rubbing of amber with cloth produced electricity. The electricity which was once a frightening element of nature, changed in to the most beneficial gift of nature as man discovered its immense potentiality and usability in his daily life. According to (William)“We generate electricity, which is a secondary energy source, from converting other, primary, sources of energy like coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources”. The electricity consists of electrons which are tiny particles of energy and are the smallest unit of energy. These electrons which are energy particle, when passed through metals like copper and iron aids in use of electricity in electrical appliances. However the production and supply of electricity is the most perplexing procedure and capital intensive program, which the industrial sector has ever experienced. The electricity is produced in extensive power plants with the help of huge turning turbines. Here the turbines are turned with the help of steam produced by coal. However, if electricity is produced by water then the rushing of water moves the turbine. The voltage of electricity is increase with the help of transformers which is later passed to the electrical equipments for use. 2.2 The status of pre- electricity period. 2.2.1 Quality of life The quality of life before the invention of electricity was considerably dull and dark. The period prior to the last quarter of 18th century was a duration of strive and struggle due to the absence of electricity. The life during those times was murky and was entirely depended on the dim light of the candle. Unlike 21st century, the age before electricity was limited in luxury and amenities. People were not in a position to take maximum benefit of natural resources and had to struggle hard to conduct their daily life. Moreover, the night life of people were less exciting because as the night fell, people resorted to their homes keeping in mind their personal security and safety. During those times, people depended on bee wax, cow dung and animal fat to illuminate their houses and other personal and public spaces. 2.2.2. Performing task Before the invention of electricity, all the house hold chores and productive works were outcome of manual labor. People like poets and writers faced real problem in writing as they need to manually input their subject matter in to paper with the help of grim light produced by candle .The time before the invention of computer was slow and demanded much effort and hard work from people working in every field like social, economical or cultural sector. Apart from this, the entertainment industry before the advent of electricity was less colorful, graphical and visually effective. Those times also consisted of a poor social interactive atmosphere and people were mostly leading a life with less social connectivity. 2.3 Life after the launch of electricity The life of human beings after the invention of electricity is worth explaining as it brought about stupendous technological revolution to the world.Before the invention of electricity, the life of people was gradual and less sophisticated. It is a known fact that, the magical touch of electricity has fallen on every segment of the society. As per (Nejar 1)“Electricity plays a pivotal role in nation building. With it, various sources of livelihood are created, delivery of services is improved which leads to the betterment of the lives of people”. With the arrival of electricity, the ever day life of people changed to a great extent. The population from children to adult technically evolved due to the presence of electronic device and machines in their life. As centuries passed by, man started to invent more and more electronic devices which made the life of mankind more comfortable and luxurious. The major innovation of electric bulb by Thomas Edison brought about humongous revolution in the human history. Later on every innovation like radio, telephone, television and computer were depended on the power supplied by electricity. With the emergence of 21st century, the personal computers worked like an alternative brain to human kind. With the presence of personal computers, the business sector also achieved new heights, as the interaction between the organizations on an international platform became more engaging and efficient. Additionally, the electrification has contributed largely to the entertainment field, as people all over the world got the tremendous opportunity to access to movies, music, art and games. 3. The advantages and disadvantages of electricity The positive side of electricity is largely evident as every sphere of human activity takes place within the assistance of electronic appliances and gadgets. Every single purpose of human is attended by electricity and entire credit for this can be directed to the inquisitive nature of human kind. The application of electricity to devices like radio, telephone, television and computer has transformed the earth to a heavenly place to live on. Apart from this, the conversion of personal computer in to laptop has made people consider computer as an integral part of their life. Fortunately, invention of electricity has evolved human into a multi – dimensional personalities as they transformed in to a versatile, refined and socially enriched personalities. But still, electricity has certain disadvantages to it. 3.1 Health disadvantages The health disadvantage of electricity is that it has made human population less intelligent and lazy social animal. The electricity also is a light threatening force and can lead to much fatal causality. Moreover, the gadgets like computer, has affected the ability of man to think and contemplate on issues in a negative way. Shockingly, every activity done by human is assisted by electrical equipments and this has downgraded the cognitive thinking and analyzing skill of the human being. In earlier times, before the invention of electricity, man had to put tremendous mental and physical effort to extract benefits out of natural resources .Now the new electronic gadgets and appliances , has made people obese and physically inactive. As per (Keller 161)“Increased time spent in sedentary activities, such as computer games and video games, may decrease time spent in more active pursuits”. The use of electricity has also led to weakening of physical durability, mental strength and intelligence quotient of human beings. 3.2 Environmental Disadvantages Even though electricity is a miraculous achievement of human beings, it still carries few environmental disadvantages. Generally talking about electricity, it is the most consumed natural source and it pose as a tremendously consumed environmental foot print. All the developed and developing countries use extensively natural resources like fossils fuel, natural gas, coal and oil to generate electricity. So as human get more depended on these natural resources, its depletion is imminent. According to (TEIA 5)“Even if the "fuel" of a hydropower project is water and as such renewable, the projects are often quite controversial since the construction and operation directly influences the river systems, whereby the adverse impacts become direct and visible”. Moreover the consumption of the fossil fuels leads to greenhouse effect and pave way to more of global warming 4. Implication for engineering The innovation o f electricity has been an absolute achievement for the engineering world .No other invention has created such a revolution in the 19th century like electricity. Electricity has influenced every field of human activity like science, politics, culture and medicine. Since the advent of electricity, the technical dimension of human life has changed in an unbelievable manner. This invention of electricity has assured the scientific field that, human have the enormous power to be creative and launch equipments which can run parallel to human intelligence. The emergence of electricity also has persuaded human to bring about more sophisticated technological machines which can make their life more adventurous and fruitful. 5. Conclusion Electricity is definitely one of the greatest inventions by human beings. Now, the whole world is depended on electricity to conduct their worldly affairs. The potentiality of the electricity is extensive and no scientific invention has influenced men like the electrification. If we conduct a survey, in developed countries we can hardly find a household without the presence of electrification. It is not only the adults, but also the young children consider it as a part of their life. In the 21st century, it is hard enough for people to live a life without the assistance of electronic appliances and equipments. The whole industrialization is the residue of electricity. Electrification has taken over every sphere of human activity, and if this energy vanishes from our life, then we remain clueless as towards our conduction of day to day life. Electricity is definitely a corner stone in the technological field, but over dependence on this natural force can make the life of people redundant. Many know about the drawbacks of electrification, when it comes to health aspect and environmental issue. As per (Rosen & Woolf 1) “The generation of electricity plays a large role in local, regional, national and international environmental issues, such as global warming, acid rain, ground-level ozone, air toxics, land use and water impacts”. One should always consider environment to be of prime importance and must make all attempts to keep it as natural as possible. Efforts must be made to generate electricity from more eco –friendly sources, so that the negative impact on natural environment is reduced. Finally , it can be said that a secure use of electricity by considering its bad effects can save the world from being too life threatening and unnatural. References TIEA, . "ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH." THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (2002): 5. Print Keller, Kathleen. Encyclopedia of Obesity, Volume 1. California: Sage Publications Ltd., 2008. 161. Print. Rosen, Richard, and Tim Woolf. "PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY." The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners 95.56 (1995): 1. Print. William, . "What is Electricity?." skwirk.com.au. Red Apple Education Ltd. , 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012 Read More