Studies

201
Compulsory

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In this course we will examine the constitution and development of modern science in its colonial and post-colonial context. Our starting point is the central insight of science and technology studies that for understanding the practices of knowledge production it is fruitful to view them as embedded in local political and social settings. Thereby one seeks to identify the means and goals of past science and what were the chief drivers of scientific development. The case studies investigated focus on physics: the world-wide network allowing for measuring the earth and defining universal laws of nature, the building of infrastructures for transport and communication in the ruling of colonized territories, the role of nuclear power in the post-colonial world order, and finally the interplay of local and global contexts in providing energy and power utilizing solar technologies.

A scientific collective can be characterized by its development of a specific thought style, its work place culture and gender performance, beliefs about professional quality and attitudes towards political environment. We will have a closer look at three distinct physics collectives, located at three different sites and embedded in three different historical periods:

(1) the physicists at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge around 1890;

(2) the circle of physicists working at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institutes in Berlin in the 1920s;

(3) the group of theoretical physicists of Robert J. Oppenheimer working for the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California and their following careers up to the 1950s.

The materials for studying these collectives comprise biographical recollections of the involved men and women, historiographical accounts and socio- structural analyses.

Cross-language

201 158
Compulsory

Expectant Mother

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Nursing Mother

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AncillaryCourses

Living Physics - Collectives, Sites, Historical Contexts

Expectant Mother

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Nursing Mother

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Partly dangerous
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Dangerous
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