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Prof. Dr. Jürgen Renn

 

Profile

Jürgen Renn is Director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Adjunct Professor (Honorarprofessor) for the History of Science at Humboldt-Universität Berlin and Adjunct Professor (Honorarprofessor) for Physics at Freie Universität Berlin. He studies the interactions between cognitive and contextual factors in the history of science and is working on a historical theory of the evolution of knowledge. His emphases are on the generation of mechanics in antiquity, the interactions between practical and theoretical knowledge in the early modern period, and on the transition from classical to modern physics. He is also an advocate for Open Access and for building electronic research infrastructures (Digital and Computational Humanities).

Personal Page at the Max-Planck-Institut for the History of Science

Selected Publications

Renn, Jürgen: "Auf den Baustellen des Anthropozäns." In: Andres Lepik (ed.): Draußen: Landschaftsarchitektur auf globalem Terrain. Berlin: Hatje Cantz 2017, 16–19.

Renn, Jürgen and Olaf Engler: Gespaltene Vernunft: Einstein – Fleck – Schlick. Berlin: Mattes & Seitz 2017.

Friedrich, Bretislav, Dieter Hoffmann, Jürgen Renn, Florian Schmaltz and Martin Wolf (eds.): 100 Years of Chemical Warfare: Research, Deployment, Consequences. New York: Springer 2017, in press.

 

Selected Books

Renn, Jürgen and Olaf Engler: Gespaltene Vernunft: Einstein – Fleck – Schlick. Berlin: Mattes & Seitz 2017.

Renn, Jürgen and Sonja Brentjes: Globalization of Knowledge in the Post-Antique Mediterranean. 700–1500. London: Ashgate 2015.

Renn, Jürgen and Hanoch Gutfreund: The Road to Relativity. The History and Meaning of Einstein's "The Foundation of General Relativity". Princeton: Princeton University Press 2015.

Renn, Jürgen, Angelo Baracca and Helge Wendt: The History of Physics in Cuba. Dordrecht: Springer 2014.

Renn, Jürgen and Peter Damerow: The Equilibrium Controversy. Guidobaldo Del Monte's Critical Notes on the Mechanics of Jordanus and Benedetti and Their Historical and Conceptual Background. Berlin: Edition Open Access 2012.

Renn, Jürgen: The Globalization of Knowledge in History. Berlin: Edition Open Access 2012.

Renn, Jürgen: Boltzmann und das Ende des mechanistischen Weltbildes. Wiener Vorlesungen, Bd. 130. Wien: Picus Verlag 2007.

Renn, Jürgen: Auf den Schultern von Riesen und Zwergen. Einsteins unvollendete Revolution. Berlin: Wiley-VCH 2006.

Renn, Jürgen, Peter Damerow, Gideon Freudenthal and Peter McLaughlin: Exploring the Limits of Preclassical Mechanics. Zweite Auflage. New York: Springer 2004.

Renn, Jürgen and Giuseppe Castagnetti: Homo Faber. Studies on Nature, Technology, and Science at the Time of Pompeii. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider 2002.

 

Selected Edited Books

Friedrich, Bretislav, Dieter Hoffmann, Jürgen Renn, Florian Schmaltz and Martin Wolf (eds.): 100 Years of Chemical Warfare: Research, Deployment, Consequences. New York: Springer 2017, in print.

Renn, Jürgen and Hanoch Gutfreund (eds.): Relativity: The Special and the General Theory. 100th Anniversary Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2015.

Renn, Jürgen, Wilhelm Osthues and Hermann Schlimme (eds.): Wissensgeschichte der Architektur. Vol. 1: Vom Neolithikum bis zum Alten Orient; vol. 2: Vom Alten Ägypten bis zum Antiken Rom; vol. 3: Vom Mittelalter bis zur Frühen Neuzeit. Max Planck Research Library in the History and Development of Knowledge, Studies 3, 4, 5. Berlin: Edition Open Access 2014.

Renn, Jürgen (ed.): The Genesis of General Relativity. Vol. 1 and vol. 2 Einstein's Zurich Notebooks; vol. 3: Gravitation in the Twilight of Classical Physics – Between Mechanics, Field Theory and Astronomy; vol. 4: Gravitation in the Twilight of Classical Physics – the Promise of Mathematics. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 250. Dordrecht: Springer 2007.

Renn, Jürgen and Kostas Gavroglu (eds.): Positioning the History of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 248. Dordrecht: Springer 2007.

Renn, Jürgen (ed.): Albert Einstein. Ingenieur des Universums. 3 vols. Berlin: Wiley-VCH 2006.

 

Selected Book Sections

Renn, Jürgen: "Auf den Baustellen des Anthropozäns." In: Andres Lepik (ed.): Draußen: Landschaftsarchitektur auf globalem Terrain. Berlin: Hatje Cantz 2017, 16–19.

Renn, Jürgen: "Introduction." In: Bretislav Friedrich, Dieter Hoffmann, Jürgen Renn, Florian Schmaltz and Martin Wolf (eds.): One Hundred Years of Chemical Warfare: Research, Deployment, Consequences. New York: Springer 2017, in print.

Renn, Jürgen and Manfred D. Laubichler: "Extended Evolution and the History of Knowledge." In: Friedrich Stadler (ed.): Integrated History and Philosophy of Science. Problems, Perspectives, and Case Studies. Dordrecht: Springer 2017.

Renn, Jürgen, Dirk Wintergrün, Roberto Lalli, Manfred Laubichler and Matteo Valleriani: "Netzwerke als Wissensspeicher." In: Jürgen Mittelstraß und Ulrich Rüdiger (eds.): Die Zukunft der Wissensspeicher. Forschen, Sammeln und Vermitteln im 21. Jahrhundert. Konstanz: UVK Verlagsgesellschaft 2016, 35–79.

Renn, Jürgen and Robert Rynasiewicz: "Einstein’s Copernican Revolution." In: Michel Janssen and Christoph Lehner (eds.): The Cambridge Companion to Einstein. New York: Cambridge University Press 2014, 38–71.

Renn, Jürgen: "Learning from Kushim about the Origin of Writing and Farming." In: Katrin Klingan, Ashkan Sepahvand, Christoph Rosol and Bernd M. Scherer (eds.): Grain | Vapor | Ray. Textures of the Anthropocene. Cambridge: MIT Press 2015, 241–259.

Renn, Jürgen: "Schrödinger and the Genesis of Wave Mechanics." In: Wolfgang L. Reiter and Jakob Yngvason (eds.): Erwin Schrödinger. 50 Years After. Zurich: European Mathematical Society 2013, 9–36.

Renn, Jürgen and Olivier Darrigol: "The Emergence of Statistical Mechanics." In: Jed Z. Buchwald and Robert Fox (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013, 765–788.

Renn, Jürgen and Peter Damerow: "The Transformation of Ancient Mechanics into a Mechanistic World View." In: Hartmut Böhme und Georg Toepfer (Hg.): Transformationen antiker Wissenschaften. Transformationen der Antike, vol. 15. Berlin: De Gruyter 2010, 243–267.

Renn, Jürgen and Peter Damerow: "Mentale Modelle als kognitive Instrumente der Transformation von technischem Wissen." In: Hartmut Böhme, Christof Rapp, and Wolfgang Rösler (eds.): Übersetzungen und Transformationen. Transformationen der Antike, vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter 2007, 311–331.

 

Selected Journal Articles

Kolboske, Birgit, Jürgen Renn, Florian Schmaltz, Alexander v. Schwerin and Sascha Topp: "Die Anfänge eines Forschungsriesen." Damals. Das Magazin für Geschichte 2 (2018), 10–13.

Renn, Jürgen, Christoph Rosol and Sara Nelson: "In the Machine Room of the Anthropocene." The Anthropocene Review 4/1 (2017), 2–8.

Renn, Jürgen: "From the History of Science to the History of Knowledge – and Back." Centaurus 57/1 (2015), 37–53.

Renn, Jürgen: "The Globalization of Knowledge in History and its Normative Challenges." Rechtsgeschichte/Legal History 22 (2014), 52–60.

 

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