»Experimental Systems and Epistemic Objects«
Lecture of Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Rheinberger
Saturday, October 27th 2012, 10:45 – 11:45
It is generally accepted that the development of the modern sciences is rooted in experiment. Yet for a long time, experimentation did not occupy a prominent role, neither in philosophy nor in history of science. With the „practical turn“ in studying the sciences and their history, this has begun to change. This paper is concerned with systems and cultures of experimentation and the epistemic objects that are generated within such systems and cultures. I will look at the forms of historical and structural coherence that characterizes the experimental approach to epistemic objects. In particular, I will show how it is driven to permanently transgress its boundaries.
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger is a Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. The main focuses of his research lie in the History of Biology, Medicine and Molecular Biology. By bridging the gap between the study of History and cutting-edge sciences, such as Biomedicine, Rheinberger’s work represents a good example of the emerging multidisciplinary knowledge society. The Swiss-born scientist is a member of Leopoldina, the German Academy of Natural Scientists, an honorary professor at Technical University of Berlin’s Department of the History of Science, and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of the Sciences.
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger is a Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. The main focuses of his research lie in the History of Biology, Medicine and Molecular Biology. By bridging the gap between the study of History and cutting-edge sciences, such as Biomedicine, Rheinberger’s work represents a good example of the emerging multidisciplinary knowledge society. The Swiss-born scientist is a member of Leopoldina, the German Academy of Natural Scientists, an honorary professor at Technical University of Berlin’s Department of the History of Science, and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of the Sciences.
Influential Books:
- Toward a History of Epistemic Things (1997)
- Experimentalsysteme und epistemische Dinge (2001)
- with Frederic L. Holmes and Jürgen Renn: Reworking the Bench: Research Notebooks in the History of Science (2003)
- with Jean-Paul Gaudillière: Classical genetic research and its legacy: the mapping cultures of twentieth-century genetics, and: From molecular genetics to genomics: the mapping cultures of twentieth century genetics (2004)
- Iterationen (2005)
- Epistemologie des Konkreten (2006)
- with Staffan Müller-Wille (ed.): Heredity Produced: At the Crossroads of Biology, Politics, and Culture, 1500-1870 (2007)
- with Staffan Müller-Wille: Vererbung. Geschichte und Kultur eines Konzepts (2009)
- with Staffan Müller-Wille: Das Gen im Zeitalter der Postgenomik (2009)
- On Historicizing Epistemology (2010)
- An Epistemology of the Concrete (2010)
- with Staffan Müller-Wille: A Cultural History of Heredity (2012)
Contact
e-Mail: rheinbg@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
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