Kleinstadt und Bibliothek in der Frühmoderne. Zu Genese und Struktur der Ratsbibliothek der fränkischen Reichsstadt Weißenburg

Small town and library in early modern times: Even small German imperial towns in particular were unable to conduct their daily business without maintaining a library with a wide range of excellent and usefull books suitable for employment by the judiciary, the administration, the health-care services, the church and school system as well as for supporting the interests of the town effectively. It is clear that the municipial council placed high value on the acquisition of the most important works in the field of law, theology and literature treated in school considering the relatively rational manner in which the “Ratsbibliothek” (library of the council) of the imperial town of Weißenburg (Bavaria) took stock of its books in the early modern times (16th to 18th century): this can be seen in the contemporary cataloguing (1600/1745/1829) of the library. Since the library orientated itself pragmatically towards the administrative interests of the town, there was hardly any inclination towards the acquisition of works in the fields of philosophy or poetry. — This study is based on the first edition of the “Beringer-catalogue” included (1600).     

Messen und Zählen. Die Herstellung des normalen Menschen als Maß der Gesundheit

The emergence of a ‘norm of normalcy’ in 19th century laboratories and hospitals was in no way simply a byproduct of the scientific search for knowledge. It was instead closely associated with expectations of social egalitarianism which merged with the moral economy of a new scientific objectivity. The establishment of normal people as a valid measure for a population socially divided and segregated in estates was thus an essential element of the processes of social formation which created our modern society.     

Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Ur- und Frühgeschichte

During the past few years a history of special subjects and a history of science, being critical and historical as well as taking into account scientific theory and methodology, has established itself under the influence of philosophy in many domains of the sciences. Such a scientific history is now also required in the branch of the science of history. It demands the ability of re-evaluating historical sources and studies as well as the knowledge of the political aspect of a future scientific history. As a matter of fact a future scientific chronicle of prehistory has to examine not only the subject of historical research itself, but also its aim, method and the whole sociopolitical background. This is more important than a positivist study of individual and specific historical aspects, a thorough compilation of different approaches in historical research, scientists and institutions. It is also better than making an arbitrary selection of single biographies in order to have a political legitimation of the present state of research. Moreover, the danger of such a selection is the degradation of persons in history and the falsification of historical facts. Apart from a determination of the subject with regard to scientific and political aspects the search of historical clues as well as the re-evaluation of historical and archeological sources could both lead to a revision of prehistory.     

Jesuiten zwischen Religion und Wissenschaft

Natural sciences and natural philosophy of the Jesuits are based on theology. At least the concept of God is an integral part of their theoretical structure. Examples are taken from Rudjer Boskovic, Honoré Fabri and Nicolaus Cabeus. In fact, the Jesuits, e.g. Theophil Raynaud, dealt with natural theology as the spiritual foundation of knowledge independent of revelation. But natural theology, as in Raimundus Sabundus, has an anthropocentric and hence moral dimension: it links knowledge with religion. ‘Ignatius of Loyola influenced decisively the Jesuits’ concept of science and its relationship to religion through his Spiritual Exercises in which meditation and religious practice are developed into a technique and a scientific approach to faith.     

Zur Historisierung der Staatswissenschaften Von der Kameralistik zur historischen Schule der Nationalökonomie

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the mostly practically orientated and speculative patterns of economic theory of the eighteenth-century cameralists result with interrupted (but on the whole remarkable) traditional bands in the German Historical School of National Economy, which prevailed most of the German universities after 1870. This school of thought developed, although in the Germany of the beginning nineteenth century the cameralist encyclopedias and the reception of traditional theories of economic liberalism declined. The school of National Economy proved to be determined by traditional professional impacts (training of government officials), regional differences and specific regional changes of the English model, by the historical attitude of National Economy in relation to the arts sciences - this was however not a defined economic science concerning method and contents -, and by continuing the aims of a welfare state within late industrialized authoritarian governments.     

Spezialisierung und Bildungsanspruch. Zur Geschichte der Technischen Hochschulen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

In the late 19th century at the “Technische Hochschulen” the understanding of “Wissenschaft” and “Bildung” changed considerably. During the 19th century the “Polytechnische Schulen” and “Technische Hochschulen” adopted the neo-humanistic standards of “Bildung”, established by the universities and the “Humanistische Gymnasium”. At the end of the century they joined the “realistische Schulbewegung” which emphasized the value of mathematics and natural sciences, taking issue with the classical languages. At the same time, systematic experimentation was added to mathematics, natural sciences and technical experience to constitute the specific methodology of engineering sciences. Attempts to define specific technical elements of “Allgemein-bildung” did not succeed as a result of the rapidly increasing differentiation and specialization of engineering sciences.     

Geschichte als leitende Orientierungswissenschaft im 19. Jahrhundert

The nineteenth century has sometimes been dubbed “the age of historical science”, taking account of the hegemonic position occupied by historiography vis-à-vis the natural sciences and also its fellow humanities. The “historical method” was widely adopted by all kinds of Kulturwissenschaften. Moreover, public interest focussed on historiography to a quite exceptional degree since it combined scholarly inquiry and the purposes of general education and personal cultivation. Historiography reached the peak of its influence during the two decades leading up to the revolution of 1848. During this period, the ideas of historians on the national state, on the social order and on cultural affairs carried considerable weight. In the second half of the nineteenth century, historiography gradually lost its position of a “pilot discipline”. Sciences such as economics and sociology were better equipped to respond to the needs of German society in the age of industrialization.     

Die Embryologie im Spannungsfeld zwischen Tradition und Empirie

Already in classical antiquity people dealt with the principle of formation, developing different theories. Researchers in the renaissance, working in the conflict zone between tradition and experience, tried to prove one or the other of these theories by the means of new observations, especially of chicken development. Aldrovandi was the first to see the real principle of formation of the hen's egg, i. e. the blastodisc, but he didn't recognize the importance of his discovery due to his close adherence to Aristotle in the theoretical field. Fabricius even thought that traditional knowledge was of more importance than his own excellent observations. Parisano was the first to succeed in making a correct interpretation of the function of the blastodisc, but only by holding to a ‘false’ classical theory. Harvey combined his attempt to restore the developmental theory of Aristotle with a religious interpretation postulating God's intervention in all development. Subsequent to atomism, Highmore evolved a two seed theory of development, which in his view made a permanent engagement of God superfluous. Also the first observations using the microscope did not contribute to any improvement in developmental theory. Malpighi used them to confirm the theory of epigenesis, whereas Croone attributed to a piece of blastoderm the proportion of a whole embryo to demonstrate his ovistic theory of preformation. The founder of animalculism Leeuwenhoek, an amateur researcher, was at first not influenced by the trends of the scientific community. He postulated that the spermatozoa, which he discovered, contained perfect miniature animals. His investigations are a good example of where prejudices can lead, even when the observations are excellent. In the 17th century the tension between experience and tradition shifted in favour of experience, but a final solution had not by any means been reached.