ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the intricate and ambivalent historical roles of science and technology in the formulation of problems and solutions. Different perceptions of technology and its role in society separate the classic world from the modern world. For industry, the association of knowledge and technology meant that efficiency and, in particular, profitability became the main leitmotif of technological development. Being developed by specialised engineers based on 'scientific knowledge' within engineering research departments and no longer by the labourer and the end-user of a technology, technological development is directed and selected in terms of productivity and profitability. The authors can observe an important historical evolution in the way emission problems are articulated. They face an entirely new way of dealing with technology—locally searching for solutions based on a global and long-term understanding of the challenges posed.
