Naturwissenschafts‐, Technik‐ und Medizingeschichte in Deutschland, 1997—2004. Literaturbericht über die Forschung an den Institutionen

This compilation of German research in history of science, technology, and medicine for the years 1997 to 2004 will continue the previous ones. Researchers of the institutions have given us these information, however, only up to ten indications were requested by the national committee of the IUHPS/DHS. More research results may be found on the homepages of the larger institutes and of most of the individual researchers. The list adheres to the alphabet of the authors names, no longer to that of the institutions. After this note you will find the survey of them. A new national data base is proceeding very slowly and completion might still last some time in a country where this kind of research is considered to be of regional importance only …! This compilation was again supported by the national German science foundation (DFG), which we appreciated very much. The compilation work was mainly done thanks to the efforts of Verena Witte MA, Bochum.     

»…über Sekunden lacht man nicht« — Über die Folgen der Anwendung von Genauigkeit und Präzision in den Wissenschaften. Einführung in das Tagungsthema

Since the time of Descartes science has been influenced by the demand for precision and accuracy in research. In the 20^th century also humanities began to submit to this demand. The term precision itself has a far‐reaching and historically grown semantics. As a consequence of the attempt to answer precisely and irrefutably to scientific questions, achieved knowledge today is only valid for an increasingly narrow range.     

Gesundheitspolitik im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert — Deutschland und England als Beispiele —Bericht über eine internationale Arbeitstagung am Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung der Universität Bielefeld, 7.–9. November 1986

Recent German publications on the social history of health policy stress longterm developments. Especially the preconditions, concepts, and anticipated as well as unexpected consequences must be elaborated more clearly. International comparison seems to be a valid scientific tool for this purpose. An international working group met at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies/University of Bielefeld for a symposium on “Health Policy in the 19th and early 20th Century — Germany and England as examples”. The general subject was divided in several areas of discussion: social reactions to the cholera; hygienization of every-day-life; imperialism, armed forces and health policy; developments in occupational medicine.     

Wachstum der Wissenschaftsressourcen in Deutschland 1650‐2000: Eine empirische Studie zur Anzahl der Hochschulen und Professoren sowie der Forschungsausgaben

When Derek J. de Solla Price studied the growth of science in the 1960s he found a very rapid exponential growth doubling every 15 years. He predicted a logistic slowing down of the growth rate until finally saturation is reached. This study examines three ressource indicators ‐ R&D expenditures, number of professors and of universities ‐ for Germany between 1650 and 2000. They show rather hyperbolic than exponential growth until 1980 when saturation is suddenly reached.     

“Gedankenaustausch über Probleme und Methoden der Forschung”. Transatlantische Gastprofessoren aus Emigrantenkreisen in Westdeutschland nach 1945

The history of the sciences and humanities follows cycles in some of which there is greater emphasis on the continuity of developments, in others on the breaks in continuity. In recent years the main focus of research for the 20^th century has been on the continuities extending beyond the boundaries of 1933 and 1945. The main aim of this study, however, is to examine the impulses for the internationalization of German universities provided by a transnational group of academic migrants. These migrants, whose origins were in the German academic community, represented an alternative continuity beyond the boundaries of this period: they were visiting academics who were the conveyors and interpreters of ideas from Germany into the USA and Britain and vice versa. The study of this group therefore combines remigration history and the history of universities as institutions, focussing on actors, networks and innovations in teaching, with the history of individual subjects and disciplines.