FUNDING: Funded PhD in the History of Early Modern Science - Iconography of Early Modern Scientific Instruments.

The Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies (IZWT) at Wuppertal University invites applications for a

PhD position (65%, E 13 TVL) in History of Early Modern Science

starting April 1, 2018. This position is part of the research project “Iconography on Early Modern Scientific Instruments” (for a description of the project see below), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

The project Iconography on Early Modern Scientific Instruments specifically analyses the imagery of such instruments and aims at a systematic analysis of the multifaceted visual material on the instruments, asking for its role in the various contexts of the adorned instruments (genesis, function, use).   Requests concerning the project should be directed to Volker Remmert.

Requirements:

A master’s degree in history of science or history of art and a specialization in the history of early modern science or art. Cf. the official posting can be found here (in German).

Applications referring to the job opening 17255 should include a c.v., copies of diploma, research profile. Applications should be submitted electronically to Univ.- Prof. Dr. Volker Remmert

The University is working towards increasing the role of women in research positions. Women will be preferentially employed if their qualification and records of research are equal to other candidates. This does not affect the preferential employment of handicapped persons if their qualification is equal.

Applications should arrive no later than January 19, 2018.

Iconography on Early Modern Scientific Instruments

During the Scientific Revolution scientific instruments, such as astrolabes, air pumps, microscopes and telescopes became increasingly important for the study of nature. In the early modern period they had not yet reached the status of standardized and impersonal means to study nature. Rather they usually were unique items, which by their function as well as their design could serve the mediation between scholars, social elites and beyond. In this context the iconography on the instruments played a crucial role. In fact a great number of early modern instruments are adorned with images, that in themselves have no relevance for the use of the instruments, as for instance the depiction of Atlas and Hercules on an astrolabe by Praetorius (1568, Dresden) or the line of tradition in astronomy and geometry on Bürgi’s astronomical clock (1591, Kassel) stretching from the church fathers to Copernicus. As of now such imagery on instruments and its contexts have only sporadically been analysed.

The project Iconography on early modern scientific instruments specifically analyses the imagery on the instruments. It aims for the first time at a systematic analysis of the multifaceted visual material on the instruments asking for its role in the various contexts of the adorned instruments (genesis, function, use) and its importance for setting up or supporting stories/histories of success and relevance within the emerging field of the sciences. The iconography points to quite a few significant topics as, for instance, statements of specific positions in theoretical debates (e.g. Copernican question), mediation and illustration of knowledge, in particular by picturing the usability of the instruments, or the role of instruments as patronage artefacts with specific iconographic programmes.

The analysis of the imagery is likewise highly relevant in order to understand the intellectual, cultural and artistic contexts shaping and determining the production of instruments in the early modern period. It opens a window on the investigation of collaborative processes during the conception, design and construction of instruments in the multi-layered field between instrument makers, artists, artisans, patrons and scholars.

HAPP Network Summer School on History of Physics: Scientific Instruments and Environmental Physics

20th-24th August 2018
Brasenose College
University of Oxford

This Summer School will survey the history of scientific instruments and seeks to contribute to the understanding of the development of recent climate science by exploring the role played by the physical sciences. Climate change has been an important concern for historians of science since the mid-1990s. There have been foundational accounts of the discovery of global warming and subtle portraits of changing views of climate and place over time, along with detailed studies of the history of meteorology and the rise of numerical modelling, and vital accounts of climate discourse and scepticism. Underlying this scholarship are abiding concerns with the diverse ways that climate has forced reassessments of scale, demanded new engagements between local histories and global measures, and engaged different sorts of audiences. Alongside these accounts are a range of studies that consider how instruments and tools of science have been deployed in the field to gather data in the service of such global projects. These accounts link supposedly metropolitan physical sciences with stories of empire and expose the challenges of making instruments work in remote locations. Finally, these studies will help historians of physics today engage creatively with the issues important in understanding the implications of global warming in distinctively different locales. The Summer School sessions will focus on various scientific tools and techniques, including those used to investigate and represent the climate, linking scientific inquiry to the development and trade in specialist instruments. There will be visits to the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford and to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

The Summer School will be held in the historic surroundings of Brasenose College at the University of Oxford with the provisional programme available here. Registration to attend the Summer School with payment of the registration fee of £195 which will also include the cost of all lunches and dinners can be done here by the registration deadline of Friday 30th March 2018. Bed and breakfast accommodation in rooms at Brasenose College for the duration of the Summer School can be booked and paid for here. There will be visits to the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory as part of the programme. A limited number of bursaries to cover the registration fee are available to students and postdoctoral researchers from developing countries - to apply please send a request or any queries to happ-centre@stx.ox.ac.uk .