Unit 2. Living with the Chip and the Gene Key Vocabulary List

gene, defective genes, genetic, geneticist

genetic engineering, genetic modifications, genetic defects, genetic enhancement genetic extension

human genome

to map the human genome

genetically modified food, to change/alter the nature of foodstuffs

chip, microchip, silicon chip, V-Chip, V-Chip code

computer, desktop computer, computing power, hardware, software, cyberspace, to be computer literate/ illiterate

satellite, to launch a satellite

operator, to serve an operator

mobile phone, answer/answering machine

innovation

breakthrough, to come up with an idea

impact, to have an impact/effect on smth

to inflict smth

to increase in power at (a certain) rate

to relieve smb of smth, to relieve smb of hard labour

access, accessible, to get/obtain access to smth

to benefit smb, to benefit from smth, beneficial, to bring benefits, benefits of scientific progress

alien, alienate, to become/be alienated

congestion, to be congested

pace, the pace of development, to keep pace with

longevity

to coin, coinage

to devise smth, device

to leave smth to chance

to affect smth, to affect social skills

indispensable, abundant, unimaginable, unavailable, waterproof, low/high-speed, low/high-cost, rusty, faulty, live (wire), flat (batteries)

to facilitate, to surpass, to prevail, to misuse, to accelerate, to speed up, to turn on smb, to enable smb do smth

manual, screwdriver, corkscrew, bottle-opener, bolt, padlock, nut, grinder, pliers, file, crane, bulb, valve, grater, spanner/monkey-wrench, socket, plug, lead, fuse, aerial, mixer, drill, gadget

scrap, scrap-iron, scrap-heap, to throw smth on the scrap-heap

scaffolding, to put up scaffolding

to adjust, to service, to tune, to charge/ recharge, to install, to come loose

to leak (The pipe leaks.)

to drip (The tap drips.)

Text A

Re-Inventing the World

Periods of invention can easily be categorised by the dominant technology – the age of the wheel, of steam, of industrialisation, of electricity, of radio and so on. But the post-war 20th century was remarkable because it was the age of many technologies simultaneously. The atomic age, the space age, the computer age, the information revolution, the genetics era – all these terms have been coined to describe the past 55 years.

The world underwent a remarkable acceleration in technological achievement after the Second World War. A second industrial revolution revolved around two key developments: the invention of the transistor in 1947 and the exploitation of the gene after the discovery of its structure in 1953.

By the end of the 20th century, these two innovations resulted in technology setting the agenda in most spheres of society. Breakthroughs in genetics have had a profound effect on our attitudes to fundamental issues. They meant we can now tinker with our own existence and that of other life forms. The moral and social ramifications of changing the nature of foodstuffs, altering inherited characteristics or even cloning ourselves far exceed the technological complexities involved in their execution.

The consequences of the invention of the transistor in 1947 have been similarly profound. As a result of the transistor and its evolution into the silicon microchip, we can now carry more computing power in our pockets than was collected in all of the room-sized computers across the world in 1950. The transistor and microchip made possible the mobile phone, the internet, desktop computers, space travel, colour television, the video recorder, satellites, portable calculators and many other applications, including the mapping of the human genome, our entire genetic makeup.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, technology was often accused of inflicting some of the most destructive actions on humanity; certainly the harnessing of nuclear power was accompanied by the terrible destruction power of the atomic bomb. But the technology was also central to man’s single greatest extension of his environment, the exploration of space.

In the first years of the 21st century, technology and invention present society with a dichotomy. Invention is acknowledged as one of the most formative and persistently creative themes in our development, but it is still regarded with suspicion, its contribution to our improved living standards weighed against the threat of technological self-destruction, ecological imbalance and silicon-chip hegemony. Certainly, if computers continue to increase in power at the current rate (a doubling of power every 18 months, according to one of the pioneers of the silicon microchip), then by 2025 artificial intelligence systems could rival human intelligence.

It has thus become commonplace to blame inventors, scientists and engineers for many of society’s ills. While this position rightly reflects the central role of science and technology in today’s society, it often disregards the fact that scientific discovery and technological invention are merely tools in our hands, and their misuse a reflection of human frailty. Invention is the one characteristic that sets us apart from other species yet it continues to be devalued in cultural terms. And as Christopher Cockerell, inventor of the hovercraft, famously remarked, “But for the silly chaps we would still be living in the Stone Age.”

Text B