BRIEF HISTORY OF SCIENCE,

AND TECHNOLOGY

IN THE
PHILIPPINES
 STONE AGE

 Archeological findings show that modern man from

Asian mainland first came over land on across
narrow channels to live in Batangas and Palawan
about 48,000 B.C.
 Subsequently they formed settlement in Sulu, Davao,
Zamboanga, Samar, Negros, Batangas, Laguna,
Rizal, Bulacan and Cagayan.
 Inventions

 They made simple tools and weapons of stone flakes

and later developed method of sawing and polishing
stones around 40,000 B.C.
 By around 3,000 B.C. they were producing adzes
ornaments of seashells and pottery. Pottery
flourished for the next 2,000 years until they
imported Chinese porcelain. Soon they learned to
produce copper, bronze, iron, and gold metal tools
and ornaments.
 Iron Age

 The Iron Age lasted from there third century B.C. to

11th century A.D. During this period Filipinos were
engaged in extraction smelting and refining of iron
from ores, until the importation of cast iron from
Sarawak and later from China.
 Inventions/Discoveries

 They learn to weave cotton, make glass ornaments,

and cultivate lowland rice and dike fields of terraced
fields utilizing spring water in mountain regions.
 They also learned to build boats for trading
purposes.
 Spanish chronicles noted refined plank built
warships called caracoa suited for interisland trade
raids.
 10th century A.D.

 Filipinos from the Butuan were trading with Champa

(Vietnam) and those from Ma-I (Mindoro) with
China as noted in Chinese records containing several
references to the Philippines. These archaeological
findings indicated that regular trade relations
between the Philippines, China and Vietnam had
been well established from the 10th century to the
15th century A.D.
 Trading

 The People of Ma-I and San-Hsu (Palawan) traded

bee wax, cotton, pearls, coconut heart mats, tortoise
shell and medicinal betel nuts, panie cloth for
porcelain, leads fishnets sinker, colored glass beads,
iron pots, iron needles and tin.
 Before the Spaniards

 Filipinos were already engage in activities and

practices related to science forming primitive or first
wave technology. They were curative values of some
plant on how to extract medicine from herbs. They
had an alphabet, a system of writing, a method of
counting and weights and measure. They had no
calendar but counted the years by the period of the
moon and from one harvest to another.
 Spanish Regime

The later part of the 16th Century

Development of schools
Colegio de San Ildefonso-Cebu-1595
Colegio de San Ignacio-Manila-1595
Colegio De Nuestra Senora del Rosario-Manila-1597
Colegio De San Jose-Manila-1601
 Spanish Regime

Development of Hospitals
San Juan Lazaro Hospital the oldest in the Far East
was founded in 1578.

•17th and 18th Century•

Successive shipwrecks of and attacks of pirates on
the galleons led to declining profits from the trade
that led to economic depression in Manila during the
later part of the 17th century.
 Spanish Regime

 The Real Sociedad Economica de los Amigos Del Pais

de Filipinas founded by Governador Jose Basco y
Vargas in 1780 encouraged research in agriculture
and industry. The society promoted cultivation of
indigo, cotton, cinnamon, and silk industry.
In 1789 Manila was opened to Asian shipping,
inaugurating an era of increase in export of rice,
hemp, tobacco, sugar, and indigo, and imports of
manufacturing goods.
 Spanish Regime

The 19th Century

In 1863 the colonial authorities issued a royal
degree to reform the existing educational system.
In 1871 the school of medicine and pharmacy
were opened to UST, after 15 years it had granted the
degree of Licenciado en Medicina to 62 graduates.
 Spanish Regime

 The licentiate degree equivalent to a Master degree

was granted Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy to its 1st
six graduates who included Leon Ma. Guerrero
considered was the father of Philippine Pharmacy
due to his works on Medicinal Plants of the
Philippines.
 There were no school for engineering but they
offered nautical four year course for pilot of
merchant marine that includes the subject:
 Spanish Regime

 Arithmetic
 Algebra
 Geometry
 Trigonometry
 Physics
 Hydrography
 Meteorology
 Navigation
 Pilotage
 Spanish Regime

 Higher education was generally viewed with

suspicion as encouraging rebellion among native
Filipinos and thus only few daring students were
able to undertake higher studies.
 The expanded world trade and commerce in the later
part of the 19th century led to the rapid development
of Manila as cosmopolitan center.
Modern amenities such as steam tramways,
waterworks, newspaper, electric lights, banking
system were introduce in 19th century.
 Spanish Regime

 Jesuits promoted meteorological studies founding

Manila observatory at the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila in 1865.
PICTURES
3,000 B.C
smelting and refining of iron
THE END….

THANK YOU !!!!