Environmental Studies
Warner Pacific
College
July 22, 2014
Science
Method That Has Influenced Western Culture
This
particular topic has a magnitude of variations that has impacted every American
in a way that the question should read, “What science method hasn’t influenced
western culture!” We have grown so incredibly fast these last few decades with
science breakthroughs that choosing one is very difficult. From reaching the
moon and traveling in outer space to DNA discovery, all of this in my short
life period but we are required to choose one. I believe one major scientific
discovery was oil, or actually the refinement of gasoline. Gas has transformed
a once quiet unassuming nation into the greatest industrial anarchist and
richest nation to ever exist. I am speaking of the United States, the fundamental
partner in the western culture progression.
(Inventers.com)
describes gasoline as “Gasoline produced by distillation, the separating of the
volatile, more valuable fractions of crude petroleum.” As our culture
progressed and increases of efficient motors were introduced, complex chemical
scientific processes were necessary. One such process was “defined” as
cracking. One such type of process was called Catalytic cracking. (Dictionary.com
2014) defines cracking as “The reduction of the molecular weight of hydrocarbons
by a catalyst, accomplished in a petroleum refinery by a type of chemical
reactor.” I am unaware of the exact science of how cracking is performed but
having been employed in refinery plants in the south, I have observed how
complicated the chemical process can be. Cracking or refinement of gas has
impacted many of us. It has allowed us to drive cars that deposit much less
hydrocarbons in the atmosphere and provide for cleaner breathable air. Refinement
aka cracking of oil has provided fuels that deliver humans with everyday routines
they have been accustomed to and rely on.
We have come so accustomed to gas that even with the shortage of oil we
still need it! Americans and the western culture have become overly reliant on
fossil fuels, gasoline in particular. Our glutton dependence on gas has
transformed this nation into a culture of petrol thirst. We need gas to sustain
our everyday lifestyle. Our existence as we know it, without gas, would not survive
our present day lifestyle or as a human race. Imagine if we lost the ability to
utilize gas as a daily commodity, our society, as we know it, would come to a
polarizing standstill.
The
impact of gasoline, and the science that aided in its creation, had a profound
impact on our society. Imagine what our world would be like without gas? Would
you drive a horse to your office? Would you walk to work? Would we go back to a
society of hunters and gatherers? We can only imagine. What is our future? (Post
carbon institute 2010) describes what is required, “Lloyds Insurance and
Chatham House issued a report called “Sustainable Energy Security: strategic
risks and opportunities for business”, which argued that “energy security is
now inseparable from the transition to a low-carbon economy and business plans
should prepare for this new reality.” We need to prepare now for the ultimate
ending of fossil fuels and transform the science to a sustainable society.
References
http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/a/gasoline.htm http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/catalytic%20cracking
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