Arne Schirrmacher
Weder ein Akt der Verzweiflung noch ein Sonnenaufgang über Helgoland. Mythos und Geschichte der Quantenphysik
Not only are the phenomena of quantum physics and its theories often difficult to understand, but their historical origins and theoretical formulation are also complex and cannot be reduced to a few flashes of inspiration or decisive experiments. Despite intensive research over the past twenty years, historians still struggle to prevail against anecdotes and beloved heroic tales. What should an appropriate history of quantum physics look like, one that provides physicists, physics students, and the interested public with a realistic and productive view of the emergence of the quantum age?
Arne Schirrmacher is a historian of science specializing in the history of modern natural sciences and the history of science and technology cultures of the 20th century, particularly their communication through media and exhibitions. He teaches and conducts research on these topics at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU) and at the Technical University of Berlin. After a doctorate in mathematical physics in Munich, he studied history of science at the University of California, Berkeley, and completed his habilitation at HU in 2015. He has worked at the Research Institute for the History of Technology and Science at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, and was principal investigator at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, leading a research group on the history of quantum theory. In 2019 he published his study Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen: David Hilbert, Max Born, and Peter Debye in Context, 1900–1926.
The German talks will be simultaneously translated into English.