Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The word technology comes from Greek τεχνολογία (technología); from τέχνη (téchnē), meaning "art, skill, craft", and -λογία (-logía), meaning "study of-". The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology.

The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons.

Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Adjective

technical (comparative more technical, superlative most technical)

1. Of or pertaining to the useful or mechanic arts, or to any academic, legal, science, engineering, business, or the like terminology with specific and precise meaning or (frequently, as a degree of distinction) shades of meaning; specially appropriate to any art, science or engineering field, or business; as, the words of an indictment must be technical.
2. (slang) A secretarial way of saying "specific".

• Said of documents, subjects, writers, terms, issues, etc.

• Acoustics, Ultrasound and Vibration (321)
• Aerospace (496)
• Automotive Engineering (3)
• Biomedical Engineering (163)
• Biotechnology@ (408)
• Chemical Engineering (269)
• Civil Engineering (482)
• Computational Engineering (6)
• Computer Science@ (1,978)
• Cryotechnology (123)
• Cybernetics (109)
• Data Acquisition and Control@ (378)
• Electrical Engineering (240)
• Electronics (1,017)
• Energy (1,777)
• Engineering (4)
• Food Science (231)
• Human Factors and Ergonomics@ (91)
• Industrial Engineering (16)
• Invention and Innovation (38)
• Lighting (70)
• Manufacturing (269)
• Materials (430)

• Mechanical Engineering (410)
• Metallurgy (58)
• Metrology (92)
• Military Science (84)
• Mining (246)
• Nanotechnology (278)
• Nuclear Power@ (233)
• Operations Research@ (222)
• Optics@ (296)
• Petroleum Engineering@ (124)
• Propulsion@ (43)
• Pyrotechnics (93)
• Quality Engineering (20)
• Reliability Engineering (49)
• Robotics@ (787)
• Safety Engineering (140)
• Sanitary Engineering (6)
• Space (1,426)
• Structural Engineering (601)
• Surveying@ (661)
• Television (95)
• Transportation (84)
• Welding (17)

• Academic Departments (48)
• Conferences and Events (37)
• Directories (12)
• Education (18)
• Employment@ (52)
• History@ (138)
• Museums@ (108)
• News and Media (62)
• Organizations (150)

• People (0)
• Personal Pages (11)
• Professional Exams (5)
• Publications (36)
• Research Groups and Centers (28)
• Software for Engineering (534)
• Standards@ (338)
• Weblogs@ (21)

• Business: Industrial Goods and Services: Engineering (2,042)
• Computers: News and Media: Weblogs (50)
• Home: Consumer Information: Electronics (277)
• Science: Methods and Techniques (194)

• Usenet sci.engr - news: - Google Groups