Man has been described as essentially” a tool-making animal”. From the earliest prehistoric hunter-gatherers to present-day makers of supersonic airliners, nuclear stations and satellite communication systems, man has had to produce some forms of technological instrument to build a viable society.

Technology is defined as the sum of ways in which a social group provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization. In fact, the term”technology” is derived from a Greek expression meaning”the study of arts and crafts.”

In the 21st century, a distinction is made between “low technology” and “high technology”. The former refers to pre-industrial technology, the knowledge, the means and processes available for making tools and products of tools and the extraction and collection of materials. The latter involves the systematic application of scientific knowledge and principles to industrial processes or to the problems arising from the interaction of people with their environment.

When we talk of technology, then, we are referring to the corpus of knowledge and skills and the thousands of tools, techniques and processes evolved by man for the purpose of changing, manipulating and controlling his environment. The list of such tools techniques and processes is colossal and embraces technology related to food production, provision of health and sanitation, building, clothing, metallurgy, transportation of all forms, communication, warfare, fuel and power, etc.

A society that lacks strong technological infrastructure or the resources for creating one and depends solely on imported technology runs a grave risk of sudden decline and collapse if the external sources providing technology are cut off. Technological production is based not only on inherited know-how ingenuity and craftsmanship but also on types of raw material available from the local environment or external sources, raw materials such as different types of stone, clay, sand, wood, glass, metal, plant parts and animal parts.