African Science and Technology

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at Africa's historical approach of accessing technology and how the effects of the colonial era have preconditioned Africa in the areas of future development of science and technology. It also looks at some of the possible solutions of how to convince Africans to become more involved in their development in regards to science and technology.

From the Paper:

"The ecological and demographic features do help explain Africa's technological conservatism, but they are not all-encompassing theories. The additional aspects of Africa's conservatism can be found in its culture. The cultural aspects should be viewed independently because they are not tangible materials and can have influential effects in regards to adoption of technology. Three broad cultural views found in Africa that have historically suppressed innovation are: (1) lack of literacy, (2) preference for military and political rather than economic solutions to problems and, (3) patterns in sexual division of labor and child-rearing . Literacy was in some ways viewed as being a "magical" ability that was kept within the realm of religious activities. Although writing did exist in Africa, it was not until later that writing became internalized to aid in Africans' dealing with the world, and the subsequent technologies that went along with that. "

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