The Institute for the History of Science at the University of Hamburg: The First Ten Years,1960-1970Author(s): Bernhard StickerSource: Isis, Vol. 63, No. 3 (Sep., 1972), pp. 393-394Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/229280 .

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TIE INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG: THE FIRST TEN YEARS,

1960-1970

Resume of a Report by Bernhard Sticker*

Research as well as instruction in the history of science at Hamburg goes back to 1926, when the late Adolph Meyer- Abich became private lecturer (Privat- dozent) in Philosophy and History of Science, the first ever habilitated at a German university. In 1946 a chair was created for the History of Sciences-the second (after Frankfurt) in the Bundes- republik.

After the retirement of Meyer-Abich in 1960 he was succeeded by Bernhard Sticker, who actually founded a well- devised Institute. Confronted with the problem, familiar to other institutions throughout the world, of finding a place for the history of science in the no man's land between science and history, Sticker structured the Institute in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences by recruiting historians with such different backgrounds as classical philology, mathe- matics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology.

The staff (1970) The staff consists of Director, Prof. Dr.

Bernhard Sticker (history of astronomy, theory and methodology of history of science); lecturers, Dr. Fritz Krafft (history of physical sciences in antiquity and the Middle Ages), to go to Mainz in 1971; Dr. Hans-Werner Schiutt and Dr. Jost Weyer (both history of chemistry); Dr. Hans Kangro (history of exact sciences); Prof. Walter Baron (history of

* The work which is here summarized is Bern- hard Sticker, Institutfiir die Geschichte der Natur- wissenschaften der Universitat Hamburg, Bericht iiber das erste Jahrzent 1960/1970 (Hamburg, 1970). Copies may be requested from the Institute, 2 Hamburg 13, Moorweidenstrasse 9. The report will be continued in the Nachrichten aus dem Institut published every year.

biology), deceased in 1971. Lectures are also given by Dr. Hans Schimank (history of physical sciences and technology), honorary professor at the University.

Teaching The following short list gives an exam-

ple of an average half-year term-winter semester 1970/1971: Sticker: History of science, fourth part: The development of the exact sciences in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (this is an introduction to the general history of science from antiquity which is spread out over four semesters). 2 hours. Folkerts (visiting professor from the University of Berlin): History of classical mathematical problems. 1 hour. Schimank: History of experimental phys- ics from the Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century. 1 hour. Kangro: History of physics in antiquity and the Middle Ages. 2 hours. Schimank: Great chemists. 1 hour. Weyer: Theoretical and practical alchemy as an historical phenomenon. 1 hour. Baron: Introduction to the history of biology: first part: from antiquity to the eighteenth century. 1 hour. Freiesleben: History of navigation. 1 hour. Sticker and assistants: Seminar: Instru- mental optics and scientific research in interaction (1750-1850). 2 hours.

The schedule is further enriched by guest lectures and special colloquia and symposia organized in cooperation with other institutes of the University.

Research Special spheres of interest are, among

others: history of cosmoloyv. the origin

393

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394 BERNHARD STICKER

and the growth of science in antiquity, history of biological evolution, chemistry of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies, mathematics and mechanics of the seventeenth century, classical physics and modern physics, theory of the history of science, methods of historical research. Staff publications are listed in the report from which this summary is made.

The Institute organized the Inter- national Symposium for the History of Astronomy in 1964 and participated in the organization of many other congresses and symposia: International Leibniz Congress (1966); Gesprachskreis fur das 19. Jahrhundert with annual conferences since 1963. The director is editor of the journals Sudhoffs Archiv and Studia Leibnitiana and the series Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Wissenschaft und Technik and Boethius in which texts and treatises

on the history of the exact sciences are being published.

The library The library (containing 10,000 works

and 35 journal series) serves both re- search and teaching in the above-men- tioned main fields of interest. No attempt has been made to collect textbooks and handbooks published within the last hundred years which are available in other libraries of the Hamburg institutes. Among notable possessions are the collec- tion of Wilhelm Voss (especially seleno- graphical maps and works); a collection of chemical literature mainly from the nineteenth century; the Fahrenheit collec- tion of Fr. A. Meyer, which contains all works and copies of manuscripts of D. G. Fahrenheit (including correspondence with Boerhaave).

HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART

By Armin Hermann*

Research The major part of our work is carried

out in the history of modern physics, particularly in the nineteenth and twen- tieth centuries. As a joint effort of all our co-workers the dictionary Geschichte der Physik (Koln: Deubner Verlag) has just been finished. It is intended to be used by our students and physics teachers, but because of its numerous references to sources and secondary literature we also consider it an important aid for historians of science.

Niels Bohr and Wolfgang Pauli Editions We are involved in part of the work for

the Niels Bohr Edition carried out under

* Lehrstuhl fur Geschichte der Naturwissen- schaften und Technik, Universitat Stuttgart, 7 Stuttgart 1, West Germany.

the direction of Prof. L. Rosenfeld in Copenhagen. Part of the microfilmed material is in Stuttgart. Dr. Hoyer is in charge of Volume II, which is to cover Bohr's work on the atomic theory 1912- 1916. The manuscript for the first draft is almost finished. We plan to send a young member of the staff to Copenhagen with a fellowship to take part in the work for the edition.

Whereas we are only participants in the Bohr Edition, we are in full charge of the Wolfgang Pauli Edition, entrusted to us by Mrs. Franca Pauli. The advisory com- mittee will consist of Mrs. Pauli, Prof. V. F. Weisskopf, and Prof. A. Hermann. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is providing the money for a co-worker, Steffen Richter, and the travel expenses. The archive is in Zurich, though the work will be done mainly in Stuttgart.

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