Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
An institute of the Max Planck Society, dedicated to the study of the history of science and of scientific thinking and practice as historical phenomena.
📍 Berlin, Germany
🔗 mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/data-protection-soc…
- The MPIWG seeks to appoint a new head of purchasing! 🛒 lead our #purchasing team 🗺️ coordinate national and international tenders 🖥️ drive the digitalization of our business processes 🗓 Deadline: open until vacancy filled 🔗 bit.ly/3RYJcKl #JobsInBerlin #Career #Administration #Logistics
- New article in @news.dw.com by MPIWG Journalist-in-Residence alumna Chermaine Lee! 🔗 bitly.cx/zcIUd #HistSci #EnvHum #EnvHist
- New edited volume: "Energy's History: Toward a Global Canon” eds Thomas Turnbull & @ueberdruss.bsky.social ⚡ 13 authors explore energy narratives that have shaped the past & impact the present, envisioning ways to #EnergyTransition beyond Western capitalism 🛤️ 🔗 bit.ly/4iOAzO3 #HistSci #GreenSky
- "Into the Kn/own/" podcast—E08🎙️ Writing, weaving, dancing... 📝🧶💃 In this episode we explore how a focus on textual knowledge disadvantages those whose expertise lies in their bodies and physical objects—and offer a new perspective on equitable knowledge ownership. 🎧: spoti.fi/4lRXTfH #HistSci
- All resources of the "Kn/own/able" research project, including the related book, are #OpenAccess. For more information, additional resources, and the link to the book, visit: 🔗 knownable.org/ #IntellectualProperty #OpenScience
- Mit dieser Episode nehmen wir am Wettbewerb Fast Forward Science 2025 in der Kategorie #AudioAward teil. #ffs
- "Into the Kn/own/" podcast—E07: The Invisible Craftsmen🎙️ ... in which we discuss how the simple act of naming crafts in premodern China determined which knowledge was made visible and considered valid expertise—and thereby who could own that knowledge. 🎧: spoti.fi/3YOr2i4 #HistSci #Sinology
- All resources of the "Kn/own/able" research project, including the related book, are #OpenAccess. For more information, additional resources, and the link to the book, visit: 🔗 knownable.org/ #IntellectualProperty #OpenScience
- Mit dieser Episode nehmen wir am Wettbewerb Fast Forward Science 2025 in der Kategorie #AudioAward teil. #ffs
- #CfA: Journalists in Residence 2026 🗞️📺 📮 Applications of all career levels and media formats invited 🎙️ Pursue your own research project on history, philosophy, or sociology of science 🌐 Network with our researchers during a two-month stay 🗓️ Deadline: June 2, 2025 🔗 bitly.cx/Lqrk #HistSci #SciComm
- We are excited to welcome our new Journalist in Residence from April to June 2025: @thomaslewton.bsky.social, features editor at @newscientist.com 🌌 Thomas will work on their project "Bringing #Astrophysics 'Down to Earth': a Cosmopolitics of Astronomy and Indigenous Worlds.” 🔗 bitly.cx/IzlZ5
- New book by MPIWG Journalist in Residence alumna Laura Spinney. 📕
- Our Spring Publications Slam in pictures 🌷📚 Congrats on your new books and articles Thomas Turnbull, Razieh-Sadat Mousavi, Wilko Graf von Hardenberg, Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, Alfred Freeborn, Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann, Cameron Brinitzer and Dora Vargha! Learn more 👉 bitly.cx/n7aF #HistSci #EnvHist
- New #StudentJob opportunity! 🦸🛠️ If you are currently enrolled in an #Engineering degree program, are into #NetEng, and are handy with tools, you could be just what our Technical Services department is looking for 👀 🗓 Deadline: until filled 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #JobsInBerlin #ITJobs #NetworkEngineering
- CfA: Short-term fellowships and research stays open for applications 📖 Scholars of any career stage are invited to apply for research visits to the MPIWG! Please visit our website for details on duration and funding options. 🗓️ Deadlines: May 1/Sept 15 🔗 bitly.cx/bepR5 #HistSci #EnvHist #Sinology
- New #StudentJob opportunity!🦸 Research Group "Astral Sciences in Trans-Regional Asia (ASTRA)" seeks to hire a #StudentAssistant in #Communications and #Administration 💫🔭 🗓 Deadline: May 11, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #JobsInBerlin #Astronomy @astra-mpiwg.bsky.social
- The MPIWG’s Research Report 2021–2024 is now available online and in print! 📗 The report provides insights into the Institute’s structure and research, including our researchers and staff, projects, and publications. 🔗 bitly.cx/l3ovd #HistSci #HistMed #EnvHist #STS #Sinology #DigitalHumanities
- New Feature Story: "From Natural to #Synthetic? Rethinking Narratives of #Chemical 'Replacement' in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" 🎨 In brief case studies, Leije Zeng, Jonathan Haid, and Omri Polatsek highlight how social elements shape material advancement 🧵1/5 🔗 bitly.cx/ToM14 #HistSci
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View full threadThe final case examines how ideals influenced the uneven adoption of synthetic fertilizers in British-ruled Palestine. Initially rejected by citrus growers favoring organic methods, synthetic manure gained traction only when it became central to Palestine's agricultural modernization discourse. 🧵4/5
- You can read more about each case in the Feature Story here 👉 bitly.cx/ToM14 🧵5/5 #HistSci #MaterialCulture #CulturalStudies #EnvHist #PoliticalEconomy
- The first case study traces the skepticism that German manufacturers of synthetic coal-tar dyes faced in the late 19th century. Their product’s perceived lack of authenticity forced them to adapt their marketing strategies—exemplifying the influence public opinion has on technological change. 🧵2/5
- The second case highlights economic and diplomatic factors in camphor distribution, vital for producing celluloid. By 1905, Japan's long-standing monopoly on natural camphor was challenged by synthetic alternatives from Germany. However, production collapsed as World War I disrupted trade. 🧵3/5
- Visiting Senior Research Fellow Dora Vargha is featured alongside several other historians of science in a @nytimes.com article by Gina Kolata. They discuss the COVID-19 aftermath and the challenges of comparing it to previous pandemics. 🔗 bitly.cx/w0yx #Covid #HistMed #Epidemiology
- The Berlin History of Knowledge Course List (KVV) for summer semester 2025 is now available online! This list conveniently compiles all history of knowledge and science courses @humboldtuni.bsky.social, @tuberlin.bsky.social, and @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. 🔗 bit.ly/438eouS #HistSci
- New job opportunity in #Administration and #HR! 💁 The institute is hiring a #HumanResourcesAdministrator as parental leave cover, initially limited to 1 year part-time (19.5hrs/week) ✍️ 🗓 Deadline: open until vacancy filled 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #PersonnelAdministrator #JobsInBerlin
- Call for Applications! #StudentJob The MPIWG Dept. "Artifacts, Action, Knowledge" looks to hire a #StudentAssistant in #DigitalHumanities with knowledge of modern Chinese language and #DeepLearning. 🌐🦾 🗓 Deadline: May 31, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #Sinology #JavaScript #Python #MachineLearning
- New #StudentJob opportunity!🦸 Department III ("Artifacts, Actions, Knowledge") currently seeks a #StudentAssistant well-versed in classical Chinese with a focus on historical #DataCollection or #DataManagement 👩💻 🗓 Deadline: May 31, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #DH #DigitalHumanities
- #CallForApplications! Three new positions for Postdoctoral Scholars in Department III "Artifacts, Actions, Knowledge." 🗓 Deadline: April 13, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #AcademicSky #Skystorians #CfA #EnvHum #EnvHist #Sinology #DigitalHumanities #DH #MaterialCulture
- New #StudentJob opportunity!🦸 Department II ("Knowledge Systems and Collective Life") is hiring up to 3 #StudentAssistants to assist in #Research (transcription, translation, database management), organization, and #Communications. 🗓 Deadline: April 6, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci
- Call for applications! Dept. II ("Knowledge Systems and Collective Life") seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Scholar proficient in #OralHistory and #DigitalHumanities to join the CORAL (Commoning Oral Histories of Knowledge) project 💬 🗓 Deadline: April 30, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #AcademicSky
- Next up in our Institute’s Colloquium Series “History of Science in Public”: Kate Crawford @katecrawford.bsky.social will talk on "Mapping #AI: How to See Planetary-Scale #ArtificialIntelligence.” 🗓️ Mar 25, 2025 (14:00 CET) 🔗 bitly.cx/m0KeS 📍 relocated: MPIWG Main conference room #HistSci #SciComm
- New book by alumna Audrey Borowski 🗃️ "Leibniz in His World: The Making of a Savant" is a groundbreaking reassessment of #Leibniz that draws on his correspondences in the scientific circles of Paris and court politics of Hanover between 1672 and 1679. 🔗 bitly.cx/mMSM #HistSci #Philosophy
- Call for applications✨ Department II ("Knowledge Systems and Collective Life") offers up to two short-term fellowships (1–6 months) for scholars at any career stage to research histories of knowledge and collective life in Africa 🌍 🗓 Deadline: May 1, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #AcademicSky
- Our Research Group “Astral Sciences in Trans-Regional Asia” is hiring a Postdoctoral Scholar! 🌌 Applicants should work on the history of astral sciences and be fluent in at least one classical Eurasian language. 🗓️ Deadline: April 13, 2025 🔗 bitly.cx/3n5n #HistSci #Astronomy #Indology #PostDoc
- New #StudentJob opportunity! 🚐💨 The MPIWG library is looking for someone to help transport books. If you enjoy being on the road rather than the desk, own a Class B driver's license, and are enrolled at a university apply now👇 🗓 Deadline: February 28, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #Jobs
- New job opportunity! Department II ("Knowledge Systems and Collective Life") seeks to appoint a Foreign Language Secretary (permanent contract, 50%) fluent in English and German and proficient in French or Spanish🗣️🌐 🗓 Deadline: open end 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #Jobs #Berlin #Administration
- Our Digital Humanities team is looking for a Student Assistant! 👩🏻💻🧑🏽💻🗃️ Applicants should have programming experience and be interested in working on the intersection of digital humanities, data science, and software development. 🗓️ Deadline: May 31, 2025 🔗 bitly.cx/LvoDD #HistSci #DigiHum #SHK #HiWi
- The library seeks to appoint a #StudentAssistant. We invite students enrolled in #LIS, #EditorialStudies, or #Sinology, proficient in both traditional and simplified Chinese and its transliteration systems to apply. 🗓 Deadline: Feb 20, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #Jobs #LibraryJobs #Skybrarians
- "Hardenberg gives us a richly detailed yet very accessible history of how over five centuries, the concept of measuring mean sea level was a painstaking process." 🌊📏 @forbes.com reviews Wilko Graf von Hardenberg's new book "Sea Level: A History" 🔗 bitly.cx/qz0Mj #HistSci #EnvHist #Oceanography
- "Into the Kn/own/" podcast—E06🎙️ How to rethink the ownership of musical knowledge? Researchers Viren Murthy and Annapurna Mamidipudi explore #IndianClassicalMusic where community creates knowledge commons 🎻 🎧 spoti.fi/3RVmkeV #HistSci #CarnaticMusic #Raga
- All resources of the "Kn/own/able" research project, including the book, are #OpenAccess and completely free. For more information, additional resources, and the link to the book, visit: 🔗 knownable.org/ #HistSci #IntellectualProperty #OpenScience
- Next up in our Institute's Colloquium series “History of Science in Public”: “Communicating Menstruation,” with Saniya L. Ghanoui, Camilla M. Røstvik, and Jana Wittenzellner. 🗓️ Feb 11, 2025 (14:00 CET) 📍 MPI for Molecular Genetics 🔗 bit.ly/42cDBX9 #HistSci #SciComm
- "Into the Kn/own/" podcast—E05🎙️ Can a banana and a shoebox reshape #ScienceEducation? Historian Amy Slaton unpacks how standardized methods in #STEMEducation work as boxes we need to think outside of 📦🍌 🎧 spoti.fi/4eFDhCX #HistSci #Technology #Engineering #Mathematics
- All resources of the "Kn/own/able" research project, including the book, are #OpenAccess and completely free. For more information, additional resources, and the link to the book, visit: 🔗 knownable.org/ #HistSci #IntellectualProperty #OpenScience
- The project “The Sphere. Knowledge System Evolution and the Shared Scientific Identity of Europe” led by Matteo Valleriani is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Scholar 📚📊 🗓 Deadline: February 15, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #Jobs #DigiHum
- New #OpenAccess book by Jeffrey Kotyk on "Sino-Iranian and Sino-Arabian Relations in Late Antiquity: China and the Parthians, Sasanians, and Arabs in the First Millennium" 🔗 bit.ly/42i5InQ #HistSci #CulturalHistory
- We’re looking for two Student Assistants to help our library digitize rare books and archival material 📚💿 🗓 Deadline: February 15, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #Jobs #HiWi #SHK
- New "First Research Article” fellowships 🤩 Graduate students based at Asian, African, or Latin American institutions are invited to apply to Dept. "Artifacts, Action, Knowledge" or "Knowledge Systems and Collective Life." 🗓️ Deadline: Feb 16, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/4eDRUq4 #HistSci #ResearchOpportunities
- "Into the Kn/own/" podcast—E04🎙️ Authentic replicas: Can a “fake” become its own entity? Art historian Marjolijn Bol investigates the dynamics between imitation & original, questioning notions of value & cultural ownership🖨️💎 🎧spoti.fi/3ZFvIYT #HistSci #MaterialCulture
- All resources of the "Kn/own/able" research project, including the book, are #OpenAccess and completely free. For more information, additional resources, and the link to the book, visit: 🔗knownable.org/ #HistSci #IntellectualProperty #OpenScience
