Mathematics is the principal tool and language that scientists use in their inquiries. Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to solve a problem or to improve our lives, either by creating a new technology or by exploiting an existing one. Technology is the product of science and engineering. It involves taking naturally occurring and man-made materials and transforming them into products that help us solve a problem or improve our lives. Of course, technology has byproducts and consequences.
Gasoline engines provide power, but they also produce pollution and consume a nonrenewable resource.
The products of technology surround you. Just consider the computer you are using, the clothes you are wearing, or the chair you are sitting on. We tend to take for granted the enormous amount of technological progress made in the United States during the last 225 years. In the 18 th century the pace of progress was slow and may not have touched everyone's daily lives. In many ways young people then could have expected to live their lives exactly as their parents and grandparents had lived theirs.