The processes of innovation and technological development are deeply embedded in social, economic and cultural contexts. An engineer programs a robot waiter during a media preview at the Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad in November 2018. | Reuters Why should scientists and engineers learn social science? This question is often asked of and by scientists and engineers who focus on the natural sciences.Social science is considered to have little relevance for those who work in laboratories and spaces dedicated to innovation and technological development, which are considered to be charged with natural science and devoid of social phenomena.