The production of goods and services that mankind
considers useful. Technology is not the same as science, though in
today's society the two are closely linked. Many of our products – our
computers, our plastics, our medicines – are direct products of our
knowledge of the behaviour of atoms and molecules. However, it is not
necessary to understand the science in order to make use of
technology. Long before the chemistry of steel was understood, mankind
knew how to make a better sword.