- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Institució Milà i Fontanals
C/Egipcíaques, 15
08001 Barcelona
Spain - T: +34 93 442 34 89
- Interaction between science and its publics in historical perspective, Case studies: Human-Origins-Research (20th century) Zoological Gardens (19th century) Electricity (18th century), Urban History of Science, History of Archaeology, Science Popularization, History of Science, and 7 moreUrban History, Barcelona, History of Barcelona, History of Paleontology, Human Origins Research, Human origins (Anthropology), and Paleofictionedit
- I am historian of science and a tenured researcher at the Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC Barcelona). My research ... moreI am historian of science and a tenured researcher at the Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC Barcelona). My research focuses on the relationship between science and its publics. Case studies include electricity as a public science in the German enlightenment, the history of the zoo in the nineteenth century, the history of human origins research in the twentieth century and the urban history of science around 1900.edit
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known as a promoter of scientific animal husbandry. He applied his ideas of a «Catalan race» not only to livestock (cattle and pork) but also to human beings. Because of his insistence on «racial purity», historians called him a «modern... more
known as a promoter of scientific animal husbandry. He applied his ideas of a «Catalan race» not only to livestock (cattle and pork) but also to human beings. Because of his insistence on «racial purity», historians called him a «modern racist». Much less known is his important role in the attempts to reform the Barcelona Zoo between 1918 and 1932. In this context, in 1919 and 1921, Rossell produced two voluminous memoranda that have not yet been studied. In these memoirs, he tried to present the state-ofthe-art in zoo management by presenting a wealth of data on European and North American zoos. They dealt with issues such as the construction of animal houses, animal diseases, economic parameters, and zoo personnel. The first memorandum was to a large part based on reports published by the French zoo reformer Gustave Loisel. The second one was the fruit of Rossell's zoo voyage through Western and Central Europe in the summer of 1920. Rossell was deeply influenced by the «zoo revolution» of Carl Hagenbeck and his concept of enclosures without visible bars or fences put into practice in the «animal paradise» of Stellingen outside Hamburg. This article will show how both Rossell's reading of Loisel and his enthusiasm for Hagenbeck, drove the reform discussion in Barcelona in the 1920s and beyond. It will thus highlight the relevance of transurban networks of zoos as well as the ongoing debate about the goal of the zoo, torn between scientific research, acclimatization, and site of mass culture. Through constant communication, cooperation but also competition, zoos co-evolved. Finally, the article will ask how Rossell's Catalan nationalism and biological racism coexisted with his transnational vision of a modern zoo.
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How does the newborn kangaroo get into the pouch after birth? This question was much discussed by naturalists around the globe between 1826, when Etienne Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire first addressed the issue, and 1926, when Ellis Troughton... more
How does the newborn kangaroo get into the
pouch after birth? This question was much discussed by naturalists
around the globe between 1826, when Etienne Geoffroy Saint-
Hilaire first addressed the issue, and 1926, when Ellis Troughton
published a “definite” account of the debate.
In its first part, this paper focuses on the investigations conducted
at European zoos. The advent of kangaroos made it possible to
investigate the riddle through observation. In the early 1830s,
Richard Owen enlisted the aid of London Zoo to devise a research
programme. He claimed that the mother put the embryo into the
pouch using her lips, and naturalists in other Europeans zoos were
eager to confirm Owen's hypothesis. In its second part, this paper
contrasts the zoo-based investigations with observations made in
Australia. Hunters and animal traders claimed that the joey
travelled into the pouch without any assistance from the mother.
This case study allows us to address a number of overarching
questions: Could the zoo live up to its promise to generate
knowledge in natural history, challenging the classical method of
anatomical dissection? What practical difficulties did naturalists and
animal keepers face in their observations? How did the information
on the reproduction of marsupials circulate (or not) between
metropolitan centres and colonial outposts? The riddle of the kangaroo birth casts light on the potential and the limitations of
the zoo as a site for research.
pouch after birth? This question was much discussed by naturalists
around the globe between 1826, when Etienne Geoffroy Saint-
Hilaire first addressed the issue, and 1926, when Ellis Troughton
published a “definite” account of the debate.
In its first part, this paper focuses on the investigations conducted
at European zoos. The advent of kangaroos made it possible to
investigate the riddle through observation. In the early 1830s,
Richard Owen enlisted the aid of London Zoo to devise a research
programme. He claimed that the mother put the embryo into the
pouch using her lips, and naturalists in other Europeans zoos were
eager to confirm Owen's hypothesis. In its second part, this paper
contrasts the zoo-based investigations with observations made in
Australia. Hunters and animal traders claimed that the joey
travelled into the pouch without any assistance from the mother.
This case study allows us to address a number of overarching
questions: Could the zoo live up to its promise to generate
knowledge in natural history, challenging the classical method of
anatomical dissection? What practical difficulties did naturalists and
animal keepers face in their observations? How did the information
on the reproduction of marsupials circulate (or not) between
metropolitan centres and colonial outposts? The riddle of the kangaroo birth casts light on the potential and the limitations of
the zoo as a site for research.
Research Interests:
Paleoartists reconstruct hominids for museums, popular science magazines and other media as three-dimensional sculptures or two-dimensional images. This paper describes the practices and the self-understanding of half a dozen... more
Paleoartists reconstruct hominids for museums, popular science magazines and other
media as three-dimensional sculptures or two-dimensional images. This paper
describes the practices and the self-understanding of half a dozen paleoartists, in part
based on interviews. It will ask the following questions: How does one become a paleoartist, what skills and what knowledge are required? How are reconstructions of Australopithecines and Neanderthals actually manufactured? How do paleoartists deal
with the notorious gaps in the fossil record? The claim for scientific rigor, the artist’s
quest for creativity and the market forces, demanding visually attractive representations
of early humans, are in constant tension. The paper analyses how paleoartists,
paleoanthropologists (advisors) and museum curators (sponsors) interact and negotiate
contested issues. It will argue that these reconstructions of hominids shape not only
the perception of our ancestors of the general public but also influence the knowledge
production of the human origin researchers themselves.
media as three-dimensional sculptures or two-dimensional images. This paper
describes the practices and the self-understanding of half a dozen paleoartists, in part
based on interviews. It will ask the following questions: How does one become a paleoartist, what skills and what knowledge are required? How are reconstructions of Australopithecines and Neanderthals actually manufactured? How do paleoartists deal
with the notorious gaps in the fossil record? The claim for scientific rigor, the artist’s
quest for creativity and the market forces, demanding visually attractive representations
of early humans, are in constant tension. The paper analyses how paleoartists,
paleoanthropologists (advisors) and museum curators (sponsors) interact and negotiate
contested issues. It will argue that these reconstructions of hominids shape not only
the perception of our ancestors of the general public but also influence the knowledge
production of the human origin researchers themselves.
Research Interests:
Was the zoological garden a place for science in the 19th and 20th centuries? This question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Rather, this Special Issue suggests, we need to reconstruct how the concrete conditions of the zoo... more
Was the zoological garden a place for science in
the 19th and 20th centuries? This question cannot be answered
with a simple yes or no. Rather, this Special Issue suggests, we
need to reconstruct how the concrete conditions of the zoo as an
institution influenced, enabled, triggered, facilitated, obstructed, or
impeded scientific research. The zoo was and is a multifunctional
space serving different constituencies, such as scientists of
different disciplines, artists, breeders, and the general public. This
collection of articles argues that despite or even because of its
hybrid character, the zoo generated knowledge about exotic
animals in often unexpected ways. This Special Issue conceives of
“science at the zoo” as a an “impure,” yet very rich epistemic
constellation with its very own dynamic, tensions, and
contradictions.
The first part of this introduction provides a historical overview of
the topic. Synthesizing the existing secondary literature, it
addresses the major themes of science at the zoo: the debate
among scientists about the pros and cons of research conducted in
and outside the cages; the gap between the promise of doing
research at the zoo and the actual practices; and the emergence of
new fields of knowledge such as zoo veterinary medicine, zoo
biology, and conservation science.
The introduction's second part draws out the common topics that
connect the eight articles of this Special Issue: the multiplicity of spaces interacting with the zoo; the broad range of historical
actors, including academics, animal traders, and zoo keepers; the
changing roles of the zoo-going public; and the negotiation of
authority and epistemic hierarchies in producing knowledge about
zoo animals. The large numbers of zoos and the long temporal
range these articles cover bring the constant evolution of “science
at the zoo”—and hence its intrinsic historical dimension—to the
fore.
the 19th and 20th centuries? This question cannot be answered
with a simple yes or no. Rather, this Special Issue suggests, we
need to reconstruct how the concrete conditions of the zoo as an
institution influenced, enabled, triggered, facilitated, obstructed, or
impeded scientific research. The zoo was and is a multifunctional
space serving different constituencies, such as scientists of
different disciplines, artists, breeders, and the general public. This
collection of articles argues that despite or even because of its
hybrid character, the zoo generated knowledge about exotic
animals in often unexpected ways. This Special Issue conceives of
“science at the zoo” as a an “impure,” yet very rich epistemic
constellation with its very own dynamic, tensions, and
contradictions.
The first part of this introduction provides a historical overview of
the topic. Synthesizing the existing secondary literature, it
addresses the major themes of science at the zoo: the debate
among scientists about the pros and cons of research conducted in
and outside the cages; the gap between the promise of doing
research at the zoo and the actual practices; and the emergence of
new fields of knowledge such as zoo veterinary medicine, zoo
biology, and conservation science.
The introduction's second part draws out the common topics that
connect the eight articles of this Special Issue: the multiplicity of spaces interacting with the zoo; the broad range of historical
actors, including academics, animal traders, and zoo keepers; the
changing roles of the zoo-going public; and the negotiation of
authority and epistemic hierarchies in producing knowledge about
zoo animals. The large numbers of zoos and the long temporal
range these articles cover bring the constant evolution of “science
at the zoo”—and hence its intrinsic historical dimension—to the
fore.
Research Interests:
Under the directorship of Clemente Onelli (1904-1924), the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos Aires became a major public attraction and gained an international reputation for its innovations in animal keeping and as a supplier of Latin American... more
Under the directorship of Clemente
Onelli (1904-1924), the Jardín Zoológico
de Buenos Aires became a major public
attraction and gained an international
reputation for its innovations in
animal keeping and as a supplier of
Latin American fauna. It was a hybrid
institution that combined the tasks of
public instruction, zoological research,
and acclimatization of useful animals,
and also served as a symbol of national
pride. Despite its seemingly peripheral
geographical location, the institution was
firmly integrated in the global network
of zoological gardens. This paper utilizes
a transnational perspective to tease
out the numerous, multidirectional
exchanges of animals and knowledge
between the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos
Aires and Northern metropolises.
Onelli (1904-1924), the Jardín Zoológico
de Buenos Aires became a major public
attraction and gained an international
reputation for its innovations in
animal keeping and as a supplier of
Latin American fauna. It was a hybrid
institution that combined the tasks of
public instruction, zoological research,
and acclimatization of useful animals,
and also served as a symbol of national
pride. Despite its seemingly peripheral
geographical location, the institution was
firmly integrated in the global network
of zoological gardens. This paper utilizes
a transnational perspective to tease
out the numerous, multidirectional
exchanges of animals and knowledge
between the Jardín Zoológico de Buenos
Aires and Northern metropolises.
Research Interests:
Much of the historical work in recent decades has been devoted to “decentering.” Historians of all walks of life have shifted their attention to regions and social groups that are supposedly located at the “margins”, be it geo-... more
Much of the historical work in recent decades has been devoted to “decentering.” Historians of all walks of life have shifted their attention to regions and social groups that are supposedly located at the “margins”, be it geo-
graphically or socially. The post-colonial critique of a Western vision of the world as it was voiced in anthropology, history, literary criticism and neigh-
boring disciplines has substantially questioned an often tacitly assumed dichotomy of center-periphery relationships.The imperative was, and is, not to
reproduce the historical power relations and cultural stereotypes in scholarly work. Analyzing so called emerging cities in Eastern Europe, recent urban
historiography makes clear that a look at the micro-level of the cities themselves could help us to move beyond this supposed center-periphery dichotomy. These cities developed their own dynamics and came to have a certain “life of their own,” resulting less from the relationship to the imperial center than from a vivid interurban exchange and network. This introduction will hence explain why the category “periphery” in our specific context—emerging cities in Eastern Europe—needs to be seriously questioned.
graphically or socially. The post-colonial critique of a Western vision of the world as it was voiced in anthropology, history, literary criticism and neigh-
boring disciplines has substantially questioned an often tacitly assumed dichotomy of center-periphery relationships.The imperative was, and is, not to
reproduce the historical power relations and cultural stereotypes in scholarly work. Analyzing so called emerging cities in Eastern Europe, recent urban
historiography makes clear that a look at the micro-level of the cities themselves could help us to move beyond this supposed center-periphery dichotomy. These cities developed their own dynamics and came to have a certain “life of their own,” resulting less from the relationship to the imperial center than from a vivid interurban exchange and network. This introduction will hence explain why the category “periphery” in our specific context—emerging cities in Eastern Europe—needs to be seriously questioned.
Research Interests:
In May 1911 a seemingly spectacular discovery from the ‘Devil’s Cave’ near Steinau, east of Frankfurt caught the attention of German anthropologists. Soon a debate ensued whether the skull was prehistoric or of a rather more recent age.... more
In May 1911 a seemingly spectacular discovery from the ‘Devil’s Cave’ near Steinau, east of Frankfurt caught the attention of German anthropologists. Soon a debate ensued whether the skull was prehistoric or of a rather more recent age. This controversy nearly exclusively unfolded in the newspapers. It was too brief to materialize in scholarly publications because after 2 months it was revealed that the skull
had been ‘planted’ by a prankster. This case shows that the press served as a ‘meta-medium’ for scholarly disputes, but also points to the crucial material dimension of newspaper articles. The actors wrote many articles themselves but they also observed the press systematically, cut out articles, compiled them, cited them in their letters, glued them into their diaries and passed them on. The newspaper articles were the fuel
of the debate and the raw material of knowledge in themaking. In the Steinau hoax German anthropologists found themselves in a contradictory position: they were quick to dismiss the press as sensationalist, while at the same time they used the newspapers to voice their own interpretation of the discovery.
had been ‘planted’ by a prankster. This case shows that the press served as a ‘meta-medium’ for scholarly disputes, but also points to the crucial material dimension of newspaper articles. The actors wrote many articles themselves but they also observed the press systematically, cut out articles, compiled them, cited them in their letters, glued them into their diaries and passed them on. The newspaper articles were the fuel
of the debate and the raw material of knowledge in themaking. In the Steinau hoax German anthropologists found themselves in a contradictory position: they were quick to dismiss the press as sensationalist, while at the same time they used the newspapers to voice their own interpretation of the discovery.
Research Interests:
Within the STEP research agenda there has never been an explicit focus on the city as a central place for knowledge production. Scholars of the urban history of science tend to concentrate on the metropolis and have not looked in any... more
Within the STEP research agenda there has never been an explicit
focus on the city as a central place for knowledge production. Scholars
of the urban history of science tend to concentrate on the metropolis and
have not looked in any systematic way at the scientific culture in “peripheral” urban contexts. To fill this gap, this essay proposes to focus on: (1) the role of science, technology and medicine in everyday life and the experiences of the citizens; (2) the plurality of the often conflicting notions of urban modernity; (3) the complex networks of interurban connections between the “peripheries.”
focus on the city as a central place for knowledge production. Scholars
of the urban history of science tend to concentrate on the metropolis and
have not looked in any systematic way at the scientific culture in “peripheral” urban contexts. To fill this gap, this essay proposes to focus on: (1) the role of science, technology and medicine in everyday life and the experiences of the citizens; (2) the plurality of the often conflicting notions of urban modernity; (3) the complex networks of interurban connections between the “peripheries.”
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The Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain is ranked among the most important excavation sites in human origins research worldwide. The project boasts not only spectacular hominid fossils, among them the ‘oldest European’, but also a fully... more
The Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain is ranked among the most important excavation sites in human origins research worldwide. The project boasts not only spectacular hominid fossils, among them the ‘oldest European’, but also a fully fledged ‘popularization industry’. This article interprets this multimedia industry as a generator of different narratives about the researchers as well as about the prehistoric hominids of Atapuerca. It focuses on the popular works of the three co-directors of the project. Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell make deliberate use of a variety of narrative devices, resonant cultural references and strategies of scientific self-commodification. All three, in different ways, use the history of science and of their own research project to mark their place in the field of human origins research, drawing on mythical elements to tell the story of the rise of a humble Spanish team overcoming all odds to achieve universal acclaim. Furthermore, the co-directors make skilful use of palaeofiction – that of Björn Kurtén and Jean Auel, as well as writing their own – in order to tell gripping stories about compassion and solidarity in human prehistory. This mixture of nationalist and universalist narratives invites the Spanish audience to identify not just with ‘their ancestors’ but also with the scientists, as objects and subjects of research become conflated through popularization.
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Numerous studies have shown how closely nation-building accompanies research into human prehistory. While these studies primarily focus on the period before 1945, the example of the Spanish site Atapuerca demonstrates that the strong link... more
Numerous studies have shown how closely nation-building accompanies research into human prehistory. While these studies primarily focus on the period before 1945, the example of the Spanish site Atapuerca demonstrates that the strong link
between hominid fossils and national identity still exists in the twenty-first century.
The article argues that there are different ways of appropriating prehistoric human remains. One may distinguish the concept of ‘biological continuity’ in which the fossils represent some kind of ancestor from the concept of ‘scientific nationalism’.
The latter consists in the pride in the scholarly achievement and international recognition of ‘our own’ scientists. The Atapuerca project was crucial in overcoming the Spanish ‘inferiority complex’ with respect to scientific prowess. In Atapuerca we may even discern a third concept: the marketing of origins in order
to lure tourists to the site – nationalism enterprised-up. The Spanish researchers created a multifold ‘popularization industry’ and forged a close alliance with the national media. Thus, this article will try to explain how Atapuerca turned within less than ten years from a little known archaeological site to the – however imaginary – starting point of Spanish history at the turn of the millennium.
between hominid fossils and national identity still exists in the twenty-first century.
The article argues that there are different ways of appropriating prehistoric human remains. One may distinguish the concept of ‘biological continuity’ in which the fossils represent some kind of ancestor from the concept of ‘scientific nationalism’.
The latter consists in the pride in the scholarly achievement and international recognition of ‘our own’ scientists. The Atapuerca project was crucial in overcoming the Spanish ‘inferiority complex’ with respect to scientific prowess. In Atapuerca we may even discern a third concept: the marketing of origins in order
to lure tourists to the site – nationalism enterprised-up. The Spanish researchers created a multifold ‘popularization industry’ and forged a close alliance with the national media. Thus, this article will try to explain how Atapuerca turned within less than ten years from a little known archaeological site to the – however imaginary – starting point of Spanish history at the turn of the millennium.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In May 2013, the " 7th European Spring School of History on Science and Popularization " took a closer look at the roles television and science have played, and still play in our daily lives. The aim of the School was to contribute to the... more
In May 2013, the " 7th European Spring School of History on Science and Popularization " took a closer look at the roles television and science have played, and still play in our daily lives. The aim of the School was to contribute to the analysis of television as a particular space where the complex relationship between science and its publics unfolds. It was an invitation to explore and experience television as a major constituent of the production, circulation and appropriation of scientific, medical and technological knowledge. Notwithstanding the sweeping expansion of the internet in the last two decades, people still build a highly significant part of the symbolic framework of the social, economic, political and cultural fabric around television. Media and science are two sets of discourses and practices that play key roles in the construction and operation of contemporary societies. Science has been described as a form of communication (Secord, 2004; Topham, 2009), and media as a set of technology-mediated communication practices (Thompson, 1995; Couldry, 2004; Bräuchler & Postill,
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Eudald Carbonell is mainly known for being the co-director of the Atapuerca research project, a hominid site in Northern Spain that boasts the «oldest European». In the course of his career as an archaeologist, he has become a highly... more
Eudald Carbonell is mainly known for being the co-director of the Atapuerca research project, a hominid site in Northern Spain that boasts the «oldest European». In the course of his career as an archaeologist, he has become a highly visible figure not least because of his incessant attempts to communicate his ideas to the general public. In these last four decades, Carbonell has assumed a host of diverse roles: scientific but also social and political ones. The political and scientific context of Catalonia and Spain since the early 1970s proves crucial in this. Carbonell’s claim to belonging to a «peripheral» scientific community (be it Catalan or Spanish) is a central element in the construction of these roles. At the same time, Carbonell provides an instructive example of the «medialization» of science, transforming himself from an outsider into a celebrity and in the last consequence into a commodity.
Atapuerca is an important prehistoric site in northern Spain that yielded the oldest hominid fossils in Europe in 1994. Since 1998 the three co-directors of the research team have in sum (co-)authored more than twenty-five popular science... more
Atapuerca is an important prehistoric site in northern Spain that yielded the oldest hominid fossils in Europe in 1994. Since 1998 the three co-directors of the research team have in sum (co-)authored more than twenty-five popular science books, a boom without precedent in human-origins research. This paper will put forward three hypotheses. First, that these books were instrumental in achieving public recognition and financial support for the research project. Second, popular books on human origins serve as “enlarged battlefields” and as a meta-forum to expose new ideas to the scientific community. Third, the public visibility of these publications enables their authors to assume new roles that go well beyond their part as paleoanthropologists.
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“Scuffles, Scoops and Scams” – that means heated controversies, “great” discoveries and elaborate fraud. This special issue presents 6 case studies on the intrinsic relationship of prehistory and the daily press, covering the period from... more
“Scuffles, Scoops and Scams” – that means heated controversies, “great” discoveries and elaborate fraud. This special issue presents 6 case studies on the intrinsic relationship of prehistory and the daily press, covering the period from the 1870s to the end of the twentieth century. It shows that archaeologists and palaeontologists and the mass media have always used each other as resources. Public attention for often contentious scientific claims was traded for gripping and thus newsworthy stories about “our” origins. Written, read and collected by prehistorians, newspaper articles were the fuel of scientific debate. The current “medialization" of science has a long prehistory
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Special Issus, Dynamis 33/2 (2013)
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ed. by Eszter Gantner, Heidi Hein-Kircher and Oliver Hochadel Around 1900 cities in Southern and Eastern Europe were persistently labeled "backward." Allegedly, they had to follow the model of the metropolis such as London or Paris. Yet... more
ed. by Eszter Gantner, Heidi Hein-Kircher and Oliver Hochadel
Around 1900 cities in Southern and Eastern Europe were persistently labeled "backward." Allegedly, they had to follow the model of the metropolis such as London or Paris. Yet this volume shows that cities as diverse as Barcelona, Berdyansk, Budapest, Lviv, Milan, Moscow, Warsaw and Zagreb pursued their own agendas of modernization. Best practices with respect to urban planning and public health were gleaned from other cities. They were eclectic and innovative. This interurban perspective helps to overcome outdated notions of "center and periphery."
Around 1900 cities in Southern and Eastern Europe were persistently labeled "backward." Allegedly, they had to follow the model of the metropolis such as London or Paris. Yet this volume shows that cities as diverse as Barcelona, Berdyansk, Budapest, Lviv, Milan, Moscow, Warsaw and Zagreb pursued their own agendas of modernization. Best practices with respect to urban planning and public health were gleaned from other cities. They were eclectic and innovative. This interurban perspective helps to overcome outdated notions of "center and periphery."
Research Interests:
Around 1900, cities in Southern and Eastern Europe were persistently labeled “backward” and “delayed.” Allegedly, they had no alternative but to follow the role model of the metropolises, of London, Paris or Vienna. This edited volume... more
Around 1900, cities in Southern and Eastern Europe were persistently
labeled “backward” and “delayed.” Allegedly, they had no alternative
but to follow the role model of the metropolises, of London, Paris or
Vienna. This edited volume fundamentally questions this assumption.
It shows that cities as diverse as Barcelona, Berdyansk, Budapest, Lviv,
Milan, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw and Zagreb pursued their own agendas
of modernization. In order to solve their pressing problems with respect
to urban planning and public health, they searched for best practices
abroad. The solutions they gleaned from other cities were eclectic to fi t the
specifi c needs of a given urban space and were thus often innovative. This
applied urban knowledge was generated through interurban networks
and multi-directional exchanges. Yet in the period around 1900, this
transnational municipalism often clashed with the forging of urban and
national identities, highlighting the tensions between the universal and
the local.
This interurban perspective helps to overcome nationalist perspectives
in historiography as well as outdated notions of “center and periphery.”
This volume will appeal to scholars from a large number of disciplines,
including urban historians, historians of Eastern and Southern Europe,
historians of science and medicine, and scholars interested in transnational
connections.
labeled “backward” and “delayed.” Allegedly, they had no alternative
but to follow the role model of the metropolises, of London, Paris or
Vienna. This edited volume fundamentally questions this assumption.
It shows that cities as diverse as Barcelona, Berdyansk, Budapest, Lviv,
Milan, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw and Zagreb pursued their own agendas
of modernization. In order to solve their pressing problems with respect
to urban planning and public health, they searched for best practices
abroad. The solutions they gleaned from other cities were eclectic to fi t the
specifi c needs of a given urban space and were thus often innovative. This
applied urban knowledge was generated through interurban networks
and multi-directional exchanges. Yet in the period around 1900, this
transnational municipalism often clashed with the forging of urban and
national identities, highlighting the tensions between the universal and
the local.
This interurban perspective helps to overcome nationalist perspectives
in historiography as well as outdated notions of “center and periphery.”
This volume will appeal to scholars from a large number of disciplines,
including urban historians, historians of Eastern and Southern Europe,
historians of science and medicine, and scholars interested in transnational
connections.
Research Interests:
This book tells ten urban histories of science from nine cities—Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Dublin (2 articles), Glasgow, Helsinki, Lisbon, and Naples—situated on the geographical margins of Europe and beyond. Ranging from... more
This book tells ten urban histories of science from nine cities—Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Dublin (2 articles), Glasgow, Helsinki, Lisbon, and Naples—situated on the geographical margins of Europe and beyond. Ranging from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, the contents of this volume debate why and how we should study the scientific culture of cities, often considered "peripheral" in terms of their production of knowledge. How were scientific practices, debates and innovations intertwined with the highly dynamic urban space around 1900? The authors analyze zoological gardens, research stations, observatories, and international exhibitions, along with hospitals, newspapers, backstreets, and private homes while also stressing the importance of concrete urban spaces for the production and appropriation of knowledge. They uncover the diversity of actors and urban publics ranging from engineers, scientists, architects, and physicians to journalists, tuberculosis patients, and fishermen. Looking at these nine cities around 1900 is like glancing at a prism that produces different and even conflicting notions of modernity. In their totality, the ten case studies help to overcome an outdated centre-periphery model. This volume is, thus, able to address far more intriguing historiographical questions. How do science, technology, and medicine shape the debates about modernity and national identity in the urban space? To what degree do cities and the heterogeneous elements they contain have agency? These urban histories show that science and the city are consistently and continuously co-constructing each other.
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Este libro trata de «saberes transatlánticos» que circularon entre Buenos Aires y Barcelona. Los diez artículos se hacen la misma pregunta: cómo el conocimiento –las teorías científicas y médicas, las ideas políticas y pedagógicas, las... more
Este libro trata de «saberes transatlánticos» que circularon entre Buenos Aires y Barcelona. Los diez artículos se hacen la misma pregunta: cómo el conocimiento –las teorías científicas y médicas, las ideas políticas y pedagógicas, las tendencias literarias, pero también las leyes– se desarrollaron, se usaron y se intercambiaron dentro y entre estas dos ciudades. La emergencia de los saberes modernos y las grandes transformaciones urbanas están unidas en un proceso dialéctico que los interpela de diversas maneras: estableciendo condiciones de posibilidad, alentando propuestas disruptivas, gestando redes por las que circulan nuevas ideas. El libro estudia un periodo, 1850-1940, en el que existieron conexiones de todo tipo entre Barcelona y Buenos Aires. Son objeto de análisis en el que lo relacional ocupa un lugar principal, ubicando a los distintos conjuntos de saberes dentro de una historia que se desplaza de lo urbano a lo interurbano. Bajo este propósito, se abordan cuestiones que se extienden desde la impronta de una intensa presencia catalana en el Río de la Plata, las historias cruzadas entre Barcelona y Buenos Aires y las estrategias desplegadas para normalizar la atención y exposición del cuerpo humano en la ciudad.
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The four decades between the two Universal Exhibitions of 1888 and 1929 were formative in the creation of modern Barcelona. Architecture and art blossomed in the work of Antoni Gaudi and many others. At the same time, social unrest tore... more
The four decades between the two Universal Exhibitions of 1888 and 1929 were formative in the creation of modern Barcelona. Architecture and art blossomed in the work of Antoni Gaudi and many others. At the same time, social unrest tore the city apart. Topics such as art nouveau and anarchism have attracted the attention of numerous historians. Yet the crucial role of science, technology and medicine in the cultural makeup of the city has been largely ignored. The ten articles of this book recover the richness and complexity of the scientific culture of end of the century Barcelona. The authors explore a broad range of topics: zoological gardens, natural history museums, amusement parks, new medical specialities, the scientific practices of anarchists and spiritists, the medical geography of the urban underworld, early mass media, domestic electricity and astronomical observatories. They pay attention to the agenda of the bourgeois elites but also to hitherto neglected actors: users of electric technologies and radio amateurs, patients in clinics and dispensaries, collectors and visitors of museums, working class audiences of public talks and female mediums. Science, technology and medicine served to exert social control but also to voice social critique. Barcelona: An urban history of science and modernity (1888-1929) shows that the city around 1900 was both a creator and facilitator of knowledge but also a space substantially transformed by the appropriation of this knowledge by its unruly citizens.
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The excavation in the Sierra de Atapuerca boasts the oldest European, the first act of cannibalism, the first burial gift, the largest accumulation of hominid fossils as well as the biggest project in human-origins research: world-wide.... more
The excavation in the Sierra de Atapuerca boasts the oldest European, the first act of cannibalism, the first burial gift, the largest accumulation of hominid fossils as well as the biggest project in human-origins research: world-wide. The Equipo de Investigación Atapuerca is not shy to trumpet their discoveries and achievements in the form of superlatives.
The leading scientists have built an enormous industry of popularization around their research project that includes dozens of popular science books, blogs, TV-documentaries, itinerant exhibitions, an archeological park and its own Museo de la evolución humana in Burgos, flanked by thousands of articles and programs in the Spanish media. In the public sphere Atapuerca was framed as a very “Spanish” project and soon came to represent a paradigm to overcome the alleged backwardness of Spanish science. The bottom line was: Spanish fossils belong to Spanish researchers.
Science popularization goes well beyond divulging knowledge to a supposedly ignorant public. The case of Atapuerca provides a fascinating example for the different uses of popularization. It serves to raise funds for more research, to “test” and to legitimize scientific claims outside the academic sphere and to acquire the status of a “public scientist”, endowed with an authority that goes well beyond his disciplinary expertise. At the same time the public – journalists, politicians and ideologues alike – appropriated the prestige of the Atapuerca project for their own agenda. Hence it is not only the sheer age of the fossils but also the nationalist framing of the discoveries that explains how Atapuerca could become within a few years the – however imaginary – new beginning of Spanish history.
The leading scientists have built an enormous industry of popularization around their research project that includes dozens of popular science books, blogs, TV-documentaries, itinerant exhibitions, an archeological park and its own Museo de la evolución humana in Burgos, flanked by thousands of articles and programs in the Spanish media. In the public sphere Atapuerca was framed as a very “Spanish” project and soon came to represent a paradigm to overcome the alleged backwardness of Spanish science. The bottom line was: Spanish fossils belong to Spanish researchers.
Science popularization goes well beyond divulging knowledge to a supposedly ignorant public. The case of Atapuerca provides a fascinating example for the different uses of popularization. It serves to raise funds for more research, to “test” and to legitimize scientific claims outside the academic sphere and to acquire the status of a “public scientist”, endowed with an authority that goes well beyond his disciplinary expertise. At the same time the public – journalists, politicians and ideologues alike – appropriated the prestige of the Atapuerca project for their own agenda. Hence it is not only the sheer age of the fossils but also the nationalist framing of the discoveries that explains how Atapuerca could become within a few years the – however imaginary – new beginning of Spanish history.
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In 2002 the world commemorated the 250th anniversary of the invention of the lightning rod. In 2006 the tricentenary of the birth of its inventor, Benjamin Franklin, was celebrated. In spite of this attention, the development and adoption... more
In 2002 the world commemorated the 250th anniversary of the invention of the
lightning rod. In 2006 the tricentenary of the birth of its inventor, Benjamin
Franklin, was celebrated. In spite of this attention, the development and adoption of
the lightning rod remain poorly understood, perhaps because it is so deeply
embedded in our culture that we overlook it. Playing with Fire reveals the complex
histories of the lightning rod in a multidisciplinary and multifaceted manner. To
reflect of the development of the “Franklin rod” is to understand how science and
technology have entered our world and changed it in profound ways.
lightning rod. In 2006 the tricentenary of the birth of its inventor, Benjamin
Franklin, was celebrated. In spite of this attention, the development and adoption of
the lightning rod remain poorly understood, perhaps because it is so deeply
embedded in our culture that we overlook it. Playing with Fire reveals the complex
histories of the lightning rod in a multidisciplinary and multifaceted manner. To
reflect of the development of the “Franklin rod” is to understand how science and
technology have entered our world and changed it in profound ways.
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Hasta la fecha, el libro de Miquel Molina, es el resumen más completo y mejor documentado del caso del «Negro de Banyoles».
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Review of: Florian Charvolin, André Micoud and Lynn K. Nyhart (eds.): Des sciences citoyennes? La question de l’amateur dans les sciences naturalistes. 2007
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"Die Urkräfte der Natur am eigenen Leib spüren (Rezension: Bollmann, Stefan. Der Atem der Welt: Johann Wolfgang Goethe und die Erfahrung der Natur)
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Lukas Rieppel 2019: Assembling the Dinosaur. Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle. Ilja Nieuwland 2019: American Dinosaur Abroad. A Cultural History of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus. Ina Heumann, Holger Stoecker, Marco... more
Lukas Rieppel 2019: Assembling the Dinosaur. Fossil Hunters,
Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle.
Ilja Nieuwland 2019: American Dinosaur Abroad. A Cultural History
of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus.
Ina Heumann, Holger Stoecker, Marco Tamborini und Mareike
Vennen (Hg.) 2018: Dinosaurierfragmente. Zur Geschichte
der Tendaguru-Expedition und ihrer Objekte,1906-2018.
Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle.
Ilja Nieuwland 2019: American Dinosaur Abroad. A Cultural History
of Carnegie’s Plaster Diplodocus.
Ina Heumann, Holger Stoecker, Marco Tamborini und Mareike
Vennen (Hg.) 2018: Dinosaurierfragmente. Zur Geschichte
der Tendaguru-Expedition und ihrer Objekte,1906-2018.
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Kulturgeschichte: Valentin Groebner folgt den Authentizitätsversprechen des Geschichtstourismus vom Mittelalter bis heute.
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La investigación científica en los zoos durante los últimos dos siglos ha oscilado entre las promesas incumplidas y la generación de conocimientos inesperados
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¿Para qué sirven los zoos? La vida del naturalista barcelonés Francesc Darder (1851-1918) invita a reflexionar cómo han cambiado profundamente nuestras ideas sobre cómo tratar a los animales.
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Taxidermista, veterinari, "aclimatador", divulgador i primer director del zoo de Barcelona: Francesc Darder (1851-1918) dedicà la seva vida als animals, movent-se entre el negoci, l'espectacle i la ciència.
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Eudald Carbonell s'ha transformat d'un arqueòleg 'perifèric' en un científic famós. Per tal de fer-ho, ha hagut d'assumir mitja dotzena de papers - i viure a través de les contradiccions inherents.
Das spanische Atapuerca steht für spektakuläre Fossilienfunde – und eine unhinterfragte Allianz von Paläoanthropologen und Medien.
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Sie ließen die Funken sprühen, »inflammable Luft« explodieren und projizierten gespenstische Bilder an die Wand. Mit spektakulären Demonstrationen haben die wissenschaftlichen Schausteller im 18. Jahrhundert die Wissenschaft unters Volk... more
Sie ließen die Funken sprühen, »inflammable Luft« explodieren und projizierten gespenstische Bilder an die Wand. Mit spektakulären Demonstrationen haben die wissenschaftlichen Schausteller im 18. Jahrhundert die Wissenschaft unters Volk gebracht. Als Fußtruppen der Aufklärung traten sie bei Hofe, in Gasthäusern oder auf dem Jahrmarkt auf, suchten Kom-merz und Unterricht zu verbinden und trugen damit ent-scheidend zur Popularität der Naturkunde bei.
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Aquest article intenta analitzar la figura del naturalista barceloní Francesc d’Assís Darder i Llimona (1851-1918) a través dels nombrosos projectes i iniciatives que impulsà sota el concepte de la història natural aplicada, és a dir, la... more
Aquest article intenta analitzar la figura del naturalista barceloní Francesc d’Assís Darder i Llimona (1851-1918) a través dels nombrosos projectes i iniciatives que impulsà sota el concepte de la història natural aplicada, és a dir, la idea d’explotar els animals i els seus productes d’una forma sistemàtica, amb l’ajuda de la ciència i la tecnologia. Aquesta història natural aplicada requeria no només tractar amb els animals pròpiament dits (manteniment, cria i cura, preparació i naturalització, compra i venda), sinó també amb un ampli ventall d’activitats que hi estaven relacionades, com l’edició i l’escriptura, l’exposició i la divulgació, les campanyes, així com la construcció de conillers, incubadores i aquaris per a peixos. Veurem com, amb el pas del temps, el que començà sent un negoci privat es va anar transformant, a finals de la dècada de 1870, en un seguit d’empreses més institucionals, com el Zoo de Barcelona (fundat el 1892) i la Festa del Peix (celebrada entre 1910-1915). L'article també posa de manifest diversos elements del patrimoni científic que existeixen en bona mesura gràcies a les iniciatives de Darder i que posar-los en valor implica necessàriament conèixer-ne la història.
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El proyecto de Atapuerca se puede describir como una industria de la popularización científica. El esfuerzo divulgativo de los investigadores y su estrecha colaboración con los medios de comunicación han convertido la Sierra de Atapuerca... more
El proyecto de Atapuerca se puede describir como una industria de la popularización científica. El esfuerzo divulgativo de los investigadores y su estrecha colaboración con los medios de comunicación han convertido la Sierra de Atapuerca en la nueva cuna de la historia de España.
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Thomas S. Kuhns The Structure of Scientific Revolutions gehört zu den einflussreichsten wissenschaftshistorischen Werken. Am Beispiel von vier Kontroversen aus der Paläoanthropologie zeigt dieser Artikel die Bandbreite der Rezeption... more
Thomas S. Kuhns The Structure of Scientific Revolutions gehört zu den einflussreichsten wissenschaftshistorischen Werken. Am Beispiel von vier Kontroversen aus der Paläoanthropologie zeigt dieser Artikel die Bandbreite der Rezeption Kuhns. Diese reicht von instrumenteller Vereinnahmung bis hin zur radikalen Selbstreflexion über das Funktionieren der eigenen Disziplin.
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L’any 1966 es va descobrir un goril·la blanc a la Guinea Equatorial espanyola. Batejat com a Floquet de Neu, va ser portat al Zoològic de Barcelona i es va convertir en una sensació mundial, atès que era l’únic exemplar albí. Famós a tot... more
L’any 1966 es va descobrir un goril·la blanc a la Guinea Equatorial espanyola. Batejat com a Floquet de Neu, va ser portat al Zoològic de Barcelona i es va convertir en una sensació mundial, atès que era l’únic exemplar albí. Famós a tot arreu, aviat es va transformar també en una icona de la ciutat. No obstant això, Floquet també exemplifica l’implacable explotació econòmica de la colònia espanyola.
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Aquest article intenta analitzar la figura del naturalista barceloní Francesc d’Assís Darder i Llimona (1851-1918) a través dels nombrosos projectes i iniciatives que impulsà sota el concepte de la història natural aplicada, és a dir, la... more
Aquest article intenta analitzar la figura del naturalista barceloní Francesc d’Assís Darder i Llimona (1851-1918) a través dels nombrosos projectes i iniciatives que impulsà sota el concepte de la història natural aplicada, és a dir, la idea d’explotar els animals i els seus productes d’una forma sistemàtica, amb l’ajuda de la ciència i la tecnologia. Aquesta història natural aplicada requeria no només tractar amb els animals pròpiament dits (manteniment, cria i cura, preparació i naturalització, compra i venda), sinó també amb un ampli ventall d’activitats que hi estaven relacionades, com l’edició i l’escriptura, l’exposició i la divulgació, les campanyes, així com la construcció de conillers, incubadores i aquaris per a peixos. Veurem com, amb el pas del temps, el que començà sent un negoci privat es va anar transformant, a finals de la dècada de 1870, en un seguit d’empreses més institucionals, com el Zoo de Barcelona (fundat el 1892) i la Festa del Peix (celebrada entre 1910-1915). L'article també posa de manifest diversos elements del patrimoni científic que existeixen en bona mesura gràcies a les iniciatives de Darder i que posar-los en valor implica necessàriament conèixer-ne la història.
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Atapuerca (Nordspanien) gilt als eine der wichtigsten Fundstellen in der Human-Origins-Research weltweit. Dieses Forschungsprojekt hat zwei Arten von Erzählungen hervorgebracht. Die erste betrifft den Gegenstand der Grabung, also wie... more
Atapuerca (Nordspanien) gilt als eine der wichtigsten Fundstellen in der Human-Origins-Research weltweit. Dieses Forschungsprojekt hat zwei Arten von Erzählungen hervorgebracht. Die erste betrifft den Gegenstand der Grabung, also wie lebten und entwickelten sich „unsere Vorfahren“, die „ersten Europäer“. Die zweite betrifft die Forscher selbst, die gerade in ihrer umfangreichen Popularisierungstätigkeit ihre eigene Geschichte schreiben. Atapuerca wird hier zur Parabel für die Überwindung der Rückständigkeit der spanischen Wissenschaft.
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ed. Thomas Brandstetter, Dirk Rupnow and Christina Wessely (Wien: Löcker,), .
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Erkenntnisgewinn im stillen Elfenbeinturm? Das gehört theoretisch der Vergangenheit an: Die Wissenschaft braucht die Ressourcen, die Geselligkeit und die Unruhe der Stadt
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Entrevistes a habitants de la terra de tots colors que tenen molt a dir. Avui, Patricia Soley-Beltran conversa amb l'historiador de la ciència i divulgador Oliver Hochadel sobre el seu llibre El mito de Atapuerca. Orígenes, ciencia,... more
Entrevistes a habitants de la terra de tots colors que tenen molt a dir. Avui, Patricia Soley-Beltran conversa amb l'historiador de la ciència i divulgador Oliver Hochadel sobre el seu llibre El mito de Atapuerca. Orígenes, ciencia, divulgación. Edicions UAB, 2013.
En castellà!
En castellà!
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Un boticario bromista escondió en una cueva alemana en 1911 un cráneo de un chimpancé tiroteado en Camerún, que fue confundido con un niño neandertal. La burla sentó los cimientos para la farsa del Hombre de Piltdown un año después. De... more
Un boticario bromista escondió en una cueva alemana en 1911 un cráneo de un chimpancé tiroteado en Camerún, que fue confundido con un niño neandertal. La burla sentó los cimientos para la farsa del Hombre de Piltdown un año después. De Manuel Ansede
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in 1876, the first gorilla arrived in Europe ... and went on to Berlin
Diferents investigadors de la Institució Milà i Fontanals venen desenvolupant recerques sobre ciutats on s’analitza la relació entre allò local i allò global des de la perspectiva de la glocalització. Les seves aproximacions des de... more
Diferents investigadors de la Institució Milà i Fontanals venen desenvolupant recerques sobre ciutats on s’analitza la relació entre allò local i allò global des de la perspectiva de la glocalització. Les seves aproximacions des de l’antropologia, la història de la ciència, els estudis medievals, la musicologia i l’arqueologia, mostren que la inserció de ciutats en un marc global es va desenvolupar en períodes històrics molt diferents i en contextos socioculturals molt variats.
Aquesta activitat tindrà lloc mitjançant GO TO MEETING. L’enllaç al cicle és:
https://www.gotomeet.me/lcalvo4/ciutats-en-un-món-glocal
Si vol rebre certificat d’assistència, ha de solicitar-ho indicant “Certificat Món Glocal” i proporcionant les seves dades personals, enviant un correu electrònico a yaixela@imf.csic.es
Este es un evento que se llevará a cabo a través de GO TO MEETING. El enlace del ciclo es:
https://www.gotomeet.me/lcalvo4/ciutats-en-un-món-glocal
Si desea recibir certificado de asistencia, debe solicitarlo indicando “Certificat Món Glocal” e incluyendo sus datos personales, enviando un correo electrónico a yaixela@imf.csic.es
El cicle presentarà aquests treballs per tal de donar a conèixer la recerca de la IMF-CSIC en aquest àmbit, i d’afavorir l’intercanvi conceptual i metodològic entre diferents estudis de cas. Es debatrà sobre com entenem i utilitzem conceptes com xarxa, centre i perifèria, circulació, homogeneïtzació i apropiació. L’objectiu final és facilitar una millor comprensió del món que ens envolta, lligant històries locals i nacionals amb processos globals, per tal de prendre consciència del llarg procés que ha suposat la glocalització en diferents contextos històrics, geogràfics i culturals, aprofitant la multidisciplinarietat de la nostra institució.
Aquesta activitat tindrà lloc mitjançant GO TO MEETING. L’enllaç al cicle és:
https://www.gotomeet.me/lcalvo4/ciutats-en-un-món-glocal
Si vol rebre certificat d’assistència, ha de solicitar-ho indicant “Certificat Món Glocal” i proporcionant les seves dades personals, enviant un correu electrònico a yaixela@imf.csic.es
Este es un evento que se llevará a cabo a través de GO TO MEETING. El enlace del ciclo es:
https://www.gotomeet.me/lcalvo4/ciutats-en-un-món-glocal
Si desea recibir certificado de asistencia, debe solicitarlo indicando “Certificat Món Glocal” e incluyendo sus datos personales, enviando un correo electrónico a yaixela@imf.csic.es
El cicle presentarà aquests treballs per tal de donar a conèixer la recerca de la IMF-CSIC en aquest àmbit, i d’afavorir l’intercanvi conceptual i metodològic entre diferents estudis de cas. Es debatrà sobre com entenem i utilitzem conceptes com xarxa, centre i perifèria, circulació, homogeneïtzació i apropiació. L’objectiu final és facilitar una millor comprensió del món que ens envolta, lligant històries locals i nacionals amb processos globals, per tal de prendre consciència del llarg procés que ha suposat la glocalització en diferents contextos històrics, geogràfics i culturals, aprofitant la multidisciplinarietat de la nostra institució.
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Hablamos de mi libro El mito de Atapuerca. Orígenes, ciencia, divulgación; Bellaterra: Edicions UAB, 2013.
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Oliver Hochadel entrevista a la periodista científica mexicana Amapola Nava. ¿Cómo escribió su artículo premiado ‘Células madre, entre la estafa y la ciencia‘? ¿Y que define un periodismo científico de excelencia? Parte de la edición de... more
Oliver Hochadel entrevista a la periodista científica mexicana Amapola Nava. ¿Cómo escribió su artículo premiado ‘Células madre, entre la estafa y la ciencia‘? ¿Y que define un periodismo científico de excelencia? Parte de la edición de PerCientEx 2020.
https://percientex.net/2019/12/24/nueva-edicion-percientex-2020/
https://percientex.net/2019/12/24/nueva-edicion-percientex-2020/
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This paper argues in favor of a longue durée perspective for the history of science popularization. Only by looking at the last three centuries as one large unit we will be able to identify some striking continuities in the history of... more
This paper argues in favor of a longue durée perspective for the history of science popularization. Only by looking at the last three centuries as one large unit we will be able to identify some striking continuities in the history of science popularization since the Enlightenment.
These continuities are 1.) the constant tension between entertainment and education, 2.) the rhetoric about science being “in”, fascinating the public at large, or rather science being “out” for having become incomprehensible, and 3.) the fierce competition of scientific practitioners for audiences and its flipside, the policing of the popularizers.
This longue durée perspective comes at a cost. Historicizing– in this article presented no in any systematic way but in the form of an essay – might enrich our present discussions about how to popularize science. The edutainment of the twenty-first century is the descendant of the rational recreation of the Enlightenment.
These continuities are 1.) the constant tension between entertainment and education, 2.) the rhetoric about science being “in”, fascinating the public at large, or rather science being “out” for having become incomprehensible, and 3.) the fierce competition of scientific practitioners for audiences and its flipside, the policing of the popularizers.
This longue durée perspective comes at a cost. Historicizing– in this article presented no in any systematic way but in the form of an essay – might enrich our present discussions about how to popularize science. The edutainment of the twenty-first century is the descendant of the rational recreation of the Enlightenment.
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Charla al Ateneu Barcelonés L'apropiació nacionalista de fòssils humans té una llarga tradició. El projecte científic d'Atapuerca ha passat per aquest procés en convertir-se, segons la cultura popular, en el nou origen de la història... more
Charla al Ateneu Barcelonés
L'apropiació nacionalista de fòssils humans té una llarga tradició. El projecte científic d'Atapuerca ha passat per aquest procés en convertir-se, segons la cultura popular, en el nou origen de la història d'Espanya. Els responsables científics han aixecat al voltant del jaciment una indústria de divulgació i, gràcies a l'estreta aliança amb els mitjans de comunicació, el projecte s'ha concebut des del principi com un projecte molt "espanyol".
L'apropiació nacionalista de fòssils humans té una llarga tradició. El projecte científic d'Atapuerca ha passat per aquest procés en convertir-se, segons la cultura popular, en el nou origen de la història d'Espanya. Els responsables científics han aixecat al voltant del jaciment una indústria de divulgació i, gràcies a l'estreta aliança amb els mitjans de comunicació, el projecte s'ha concebut des del principi com un projecte molt "espanyol".
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“Science and the city” has become a trending topic in recent historiography, both in history of science, technology and medicine (STM) as well as in Urban Studies. So far there has been a strong focus on the metropolis and their... more
“Science and the city” has become a trending topic in recent historiography, both in history of science, technology and medicine (STM) as well as in Urban Studies. So far there has been a strong focus on the metropolis and their multifaceted scientific culture. Yet what about “peripheral cities” in Eastern and Southern Europe? Are they only smaller copies of London, Paris and Berlin? What is to be gained from studying the scientific culture of “non-metropolitan” cities? So far these cities have been described as being on the receiving end. Knowledge in STM, blue prints for scientific institutions, urban models and other practices were created and tested in the metropolis and then passed on. This postulates a transfer from the center to the periphery and hence a clear epistemological hierarchy.
The double workshop, organised in Germany by the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe (Germany) and in Spain by the Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC), and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, would like to question this assumption.
The double workshop, organised in Germany by the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe (Germany) and in Spain by the Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC), and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, would like to question this assumption.
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Darwin war nicht nur der Begründer der Evolutionstheorie und damit der wichtigste Biologe der Geschichte, sondern auch eine komplexe Persönlichkeit. 23 dieser Facetten sind hier aufgelistet, von Agnostiker bis Zoobesucher.
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Ignoranz hat viele Gesichter und Ursachen, sagt Robert Proctor. Der US-Wissenschaftshistoriker hat mit dem Nichtwissen ein neues und fruchtbares Forschungsfeld erschlossen. Ein Porträt.
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Us recordem que el proper dijous, 24 de novembre, a les 18:00h tindrà lloc la tercera sessió del Cicle de conferències d’història urbana de la ciencia “La ciutat dels prodigis científics (1888-1929)”. Lloc: Museu d’Història de Barcelona,... more
Us recordem que el proper dijous, 24 de novembre, a les 18:00h tindrà lloc la tercera sessió del Cicle de conferències d’història urbana de la ciencia “La ciutat dels prodigis científics (1888-1929)”.
Lloc: Museu d’Història de Barcelona, plaça del Rei, sala Martí l’Humà.
Dijous, 24 de novembre - La ciència al parc de la Ciutadella
a les 18.00h
Mamuts i balenes: divulgació científica al parc
Laura Valls i Oliver Hochadel
a les 19.15h
Un museu ple d’objectes: les col·leccions del Martorell
José Pardo-Tomás i Ferran Aragon
Lloc: Museu d’Història de Barcelona, plaça del Rei, sala Martí l’Humà.
Dijous, 24 de novembre - La ciència al parc de la Ciutadella
a les 18.00h
Mamuts i balenes: divulgació científica al parc
Laura Valls i Oliver Hochadel
a les 19.15h
Un museu ple d’objectes: les col·leccions del Martorell
José Pardo-Tomás i Ferran Aragon
Research Interests:
PROGRAMA DE ACTIVIDADES Jueves 13 (Mañana) 9:00 Recepción y Palabras de Bienvenida 9:15 Bloque 1: Hacia una historia urbana cruzada Coordinador: ÁLVARO GIRÓN OLIVER HOCHADEL: ¿Cómo escribir la historia urbana de la ciencia?... more
PROGRAMA DE ACTIVIDADES
Jueves 13 (Mañana)
9:00 Recepción y Palabras de Bienvenida
9:15
Bloque 1: Hacia una historia urbana cruzada
Coordinador: ÁLVARO GIRÓN
OLIVER HOCHADEL: ¿Cómo escribir la historia urbana de la ciencia?
GUSTAVO VALLEJO: Imágenes de una modernidad periférica: Barcelona en la cultura científica argentina del cambio del siglo XIX al XX
MARÍA JOSÉ BETANCOR: Historias cruzadas de tres ciudades. Víctor Grau-Bassas (1846-1917): un canario catalán en el Museo de La Plata
11:15
Coffee Break
11:45
Bloque 2: Anarquismo y educación racionalista
Coordinador: MARISA ADRIANA MIRANDA
ÁLVARO GIRÓN: De redes informales e historias cruzadas: Londres-París-Barcelona-Buenos Aires, y la gestión libertaria del conocimiento científico (ca.1890-ca.1914)
ADRIÁN ASCOLANI: La Escuela Moderna y las bibliotecas racionalistas.
Desde Barcelona a los puertos y campos de Argentina (1910-1930)
MARGARITA PIERINI: El fusilamiento de Francisco Ferrer: su repercusión en la prensa de Buenos Aires
13:45
Almuerzo libre
Jueves 13 (Tarde)
15:15
Bloque 3: Catalanes en la cultura letrada argentina
Coordinadora: Karina Vasquez
HUGO E. BIAGINI: El catalán Casimiro Prieto Valdés: la red intercontinental del Almanaque Sudamericano en el Buenos Aires del cambio del siglo XIX al XX
SAÚL CASAS: La revista Ressorgiment y la militancia nacionalista catalana en Buenos Aires (1920-1930)
16:35
Coffee Break
17:00 OSVALDO GRACIANO: Un Humanista en la ciudad científica. Las conferencias de Eugenio D’Ors en La Plata. 1921
KARINA VASQUEZ: Ortega y Gasset y Eugenio D´Ors en la Argentina de los años veinte: una “nueva biblioteca” para una “nueva generación”
Viernes 14
9:00
Bloque 4: “Mala vida”, medicalización y orden social
Coordinador: Oliver Hochadel
RICARDO CAMPOS: Ciencia y derecho contra delincuencia. La lucha contra la “mala vida” en Buenos Aires y Barcelona (1900-1950)
MARISA ADRIANA MIRANDA: La prostituta y su prole: el “hijo de puta” en el dispositivo sanitario antivenéreo (Buenos Aires y Barcelona, 1850-1940)
ALFONS ZARZOSO & JOSÉ PARDO-TOMÁS: En la Facultad y en la Feria: circulación y exhibición de modelos de ceras anatómicas en Barcelona, 1888-1936
11:00
Coffee Break
11:30
DIEGO ARMUS: En los comienzos de la medicalización de la ciudad. Buenos Aires 1870-1930.
ANA MARÍA TALAK: Psicotecnia en Buenos y Barcelona (1910-1940): tecnología psi y orden social.
12:50
Balance y lineamientos de actividades futuras
13:30
Almuerzo de camaradería
Jueves 13 (Mañana)
9:00 Recepción y Palabras de Bienvenida
9:15
Bloque 1: Hacia una historia urbana cruzada
Coordinador: ÁLVARO GIRÓN
OLIVER HOCHADEL: ¿Cómo escribir la historia urbana de la ciencia?
GUSTAVO VALLEJO: Imágenes de una modernidad periférica: Barcelona en la cultura científica argentina del cambio del siglo XIX al XX
MARÍA JOSÉ BETANCOR: Historias cruzadas de tres ciudades. Víctor Grau-Bassas (1846-1917): un canario catalán en el Museo de La Plata
11:15
Coffee Break
11:45
Bloque 2: Anarquismo y educación racionalista
Coordinador: MARISA ADRIANA MIRANDA
ÁLVARO GIRÓN: De redes informales e historias cruzadas: Londres-París-Barcelona-Buenos Aires, y la gestión libertaria del conocimiento científico (ca.1890-ca.1914)
ADRIÁN ASCOLANI: La Escuela Moderna y las bibliotecas racionalistas.
Desde Barcelona a los puertos y campos de Argentina (1910-1930)
MARGARITA PIERINI: El fusilamiento de Francisco Ferrer: su repercusión en la prensa de Buenos Aires
13:45
Almuerzo libre
Jueves 13 (Tarde)
15:15
Bloque 3: Catalanes en la cultura letrada argentina
Coordinadora: Karina Vasquez
HUGO E. BIAGINI: El catalán Casimiro Prieto Valdés: la red intercontinental del Almanaque Sudamericano en el Buenos Aires del cambio del siglo XIX al XX
SAÚL CASAS: La revista Ressorgiment y la militancia nacionalista catalana en Buenos Aires (1920-1930)
16:35
Coffee Break
17:00 OSVALDO GRACIANO: Un Humanista en la ciudad científica. Las conferencias de Eugenio D’Ors en La Plata. 1921
KARINA VASQUEZ: Ortega y Gasset y Eugenio D´Ors en la Argentina de los años veinte: una “nueva biblioteca” para una “nueva generación”
Viernes 14
9:00
Bloque 4: “Mala vida”, medicalización y orden social
Coordinador: Oliver Hochadel
RICARDO CAMPOS: Ciencia y derecho contra delincuencia. La lucha contra la “mala vida” en Buenos Aires y Barcelona (1900-1950)
MARISA ADRIANA MIRANDA: La prostituta y su prole: el “hijo de puta” en el dispositivo sanitario antivenéreo (Buenos Aires y Barcelona, 1850-1940)
ALFONS ZARZOSO & JOSÉ PARDO-TOMÁS: En la Facultad y en la Feria: circulación y exhibición de modelos de ceras anatómicas en Barcelona, 1888-1936
11:00
Coffee Break
11:30
DIEGO ARMUS: En los comienzos de la medicalización de la ciudad. Buenos Aires 1870-1930.
ANA MARÍA TALAK: Psicotecnia en Buenos y Barcelona (1910-1940): tecnología psi y orden social.
12:50
Balance y lineamientos de actividades futuras
13:30
Almuerzo de camaradería
Research Interests:
PROGRAMME INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “Urban Peripheries?” Emerging Cities in Europe’s South and East, 1850-1945 September 26 & 27, 2016 / Rèsidencia d’Investigadors, Carrer Hospital 64, 08001 Barcelona MONDAY, September 26, 2016 9:00-... more
PROGRAMME INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
“Urban Peripheries?” Emerging Cities in Europe’s South and East, 1850-1945
September 26 & 27, 2016 / Rèsidencia d’Investigadors, Carrer Hospital 64, 08001 Barcelona
MONDAY, September 26, 2016
9:00- 9:15 Welcome Address from the Organizers
SECTION I | The Interurban Exchange on Urban Planning
Chair: Eszter Gantner
9:15-10:00 Anna Mazanik (Central European University, Budapest): Learning from Smaller Towns: Foreign Models of Urban Reforms in Moscow, 1870-1917
10:00-10:45 Cathleen M. Giustino (Auburn University): Urban Planning and Historic Prague: Reception of and Resistance to Knowledge
Transfer in East-Central Europe before and after World War I
10:45-11:30 Goran Hutinec (University of Zagreb): Post-Habsburg Transfer of Knowledge as a Driving Force in Urban Modernisation of
Southeast Europe – the Zagreb Example
11.30-12:00 Coffee Break
SECTION II | Technology Transfer between “Peripheries” Chair: Ned Somerville
12:00-12:45 Harald R. Stühlinger (ETH Zürich): The Book and the Manhole Cover. An Unwritten History on Urban Infrastructure
12:45-13:30 Igor Lyman (Berdyansk State Pedagogical University): The Interchange of Modernization Experiences: “Russian” Port Cities on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
13:30-15:30 Lunch
15:30-16:15 Barry Stiefel (College of Charleston): In the Driver’s Seat of Modern Urbanization: A Case Study of Barcelona and Automotive Industry Development in the Emerging Cities of Southern Europe, c.1900-1950 (per Skype)
SECTION III | Curing and Controlling: Public Urban Health
Chair: Miquel Carandell
16:15-17:00 Alfons Zarzoso (Museu d’Història de la Medicina de Catalunya): A New Medicine for the Insane in a Modern and Industrial Barcelona
17:00-17:30 Coffee Break
17:30-18:15 Sean Brady (Trinity College Dublin): Neither Insular nor Peripheral: Sicily’s Urban Elites during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19
18:15-19:00 Christine Krüger (Universität Gießen): Commentary
TUESDAY, September 27, 2016
9:00- 9.45 Clara Maddalena Frysztacka (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/O.): Urban Poverty: A Symptom of Urban Modernity in the European Peripheries?
9.45-10:30 Celia Miralles Buil (Université de Lyon): “Central” Speech, “Peripheral” Practices: how did Barcelona Health Agents use the European Interurban Network between 1931 and 1936?
SECTION IV | How to build a Modern City: Avant-Garde Architecture in the “Periphery”
Chair: Álvaro Girón
10:30-11:15 Eszter Gantner (Herder Institute, Marburg): Travelling Architecture: Géza Maróti between Budapest, Milan, Mexico City and Detroit
11.15-11.45 Coffee Break
11:45-12:30 Tamara Bjažic Klarin (Institute for Art History, Zagreb): Shaping the City – International Competitions as a Platform for Knowledge Exchange
12:30-13:15 Lucila Mallart (University of Nottingham): Visuality in Architecture: Seeing the City from Barcelona to Bucharest in the Interwar Period
13:15-14:00 Heidi Hein-Kircher (Herder Institute, Marburg), Oliver Hochadel (IMF-CSIC, Barcelona): Commentary and Final Discussion
End of Conference
The organizers are most grateful to the Fritz-Thyssen-Foundation for their generous support to host this workshop.
Organizers: Oliver Hochadel (Institució Milà i Fontanals, CSIC, Barcelona),
Eszter Gantner and Heidi Hein-Kircher (Herder Institute for Historical Research on East
Central Europe, Marburg, Germany)
Note: All the papers have been pre-circulated. The speakers will only give a brief summary of about 10-15 minutes. The rest of the 45 minutes allotted to each paper will be dedicated to the discussion. If you are interested in reading the papers please contact
oliver.hochadel@imf.csic.es
“Urban Peripheries?” Emerging Cities in Europe’s South and East, 1850-1945
September 26 & 27, 2016 / Rèsidencia d’Investigadors, Carrer Hospital 64, 08001 Barcelona
MONDAY, September 26, 2016
9:00- 9:15 Welcome Address from the Organizers
SECTION I | The Interurban Exchange on Urban Planning
Chair: Eszter Gantner
9:15-10:00 Anna Mazanik (Central European University, Budapest): Learning from Smaller Towns: Foreign Models of Urban Reforms in Moscow, 1870-1917
10:00-10:45 Cathleen M. Giustino (Auburn University): Urban Planning and Historic Prague: Reception of and Resistance to Knowledge
Transfer in East-Central Europe before and after World War I
10:45-11:30 Goran Hutinec (University of Zagreb): Post-Habsburg Transfer of Knowledge as a Driving Force in Urban Modernisation of
Southeast Europe – the Zagreb Example
11.30-12:00 Coffee Break
SECTION II | Technology Transfer between “Peripheries” Chair: Ned Somerville
12:00-12:45 Harald R. Stühlinger (ETH Zürich): The Book and the Manhole Cover. An Unwritten History on Urban Infrastructure
12:45-13:30 Igor Lyman (Berdyansk State Pedagogical University): The Interchange of Modernization Experiences: “Russian” Port Cities on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
13:30-15:30 Lunch
15:30-16:15 Barry Stiefel (College of Charleston): In the Driver’s Seat of Modern Urbanization: A Case Study of Barcelona and Automotive Industry Development in the Emerging Cities of Southern Europe, c.1900-1950 (per Skype)
SECTION III | Curing and Controlling: Public Urban Health
Chair: Miquel Carandell
16:15-17:00 Alfons Zarzoso (Museu d’Història de la Medicina de Catalunya): A New Medicine for the Insane in a Modern and Industrial Barcelona
17:00-17:30 Coffee Break
17:30-18:15 Sean Brady (Trinity College Dublin): Neither Insular nor Peripheral: Sicily’s Urban Elites during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19
18:15-19:00 Christine Krüger (Universität Gießen): Commentary
TUESDAY, September 27, 2016
9:00- 9.45 Clara Maddalena Frysztacka (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/O.): Urban Poverty: A Symptom of Urban Modernity in the European Peripheries?
9.45-10:30 Celia Miralles Buil (Université de Lyon): “Central” Speech, “Peripheral” Practices: how did Barcelona Health Agents use the European Interurban Network between 1931 and 1936?
SECTION IV | How to build a Modern City: Avant-Garde Architecture in the “Periphery”
Chair: Álvaro Girón
10:30-11:15 Eszter Gantner (Herder Institute, Marburg): Travelling Architecture: Géza Maróti between Budapest, Milan, Mexico City and Detroit
11.15-11.45 Coffee Break
11:45-12:30 Tamara Bjažic Klarin (Institute for Art History, Zagreb): Shaping the City – International Competitions as a Platform for Knowledge Exchange
12:30-13:15 Lucila Mallart (University of Nottingham): Visuality in Architecture: Seeing the City from Barcelona to Bucharest in the Interwar Period
13:15-14:00 Heidi Hein-Kircher (Herder Institute, Marburg), Oliver Hochadel (IMF-CSIC, Barcelona): Commentary and Final Discussion
End of Conference
The organizers are most grateful to the Fritz-Thyssen-Foundation for their generous support to host this workshop.
Organizers: Oliver Hochadel (Institució Milà i Fontanals, CSIC, Barcelona),
Eszter Gantner and Heidi Hein-Kircher (Herder Institute for Historical Research on East
Central Europe, Marburg, Germany)
Note: All the papers have been pre-circulated. The speakers will only give a brief summary of about 10-15 minutes. The rest of the 45 minutes allotted to each paper will be dedicated to the discussion. If you are interested in reading the papers please contact
oliver.hochadel@imf.csic.es
Research Interests:
The Indian elephant Avi, born around 1875, spent the first part of his life in the private collection of animals of the wealthy Barcelonese banker Luis Martí-Codolar. In 1892, Martí-Codolar sold his collection to the city of Barcelona. It... more
The Indian elephant Avi, born around 1875, spent the first part of his life in the private collection of animals of the wealthy Barcelonese banker Luis Martí-Codolar. In 1892, Martí-Codolar sold his collection to the city of Barcelona. It became the nucleus of the Barcelona zoo. Soon Avi became the most popular animal of the new zoo drawing large crowds. There are numerous photos of the pachyderm, many of them showing him in “interaction” with the visitors. Avi also figured in a number of caricatures in the Barcelonese press often in conjunction with political criticism. Avi died in May 1914 leaving yet his second career was only about to begin. The taxidermist Luis Soler i Pujol was commissioned to mount the skeleton of the elephant as well as his hide. For the remainder of the twentieth century Avi’s remains were exhibited in the Natural History Museum of Catalonia.
This paper will use Avi’s biography, alive and dead, to explore the cultures of natural history of fin-de-siècle Barcelona and beyond. Martí-Codolar’s collection and the early Barcelona zoo were dedicated to the project of acclimatization, or “applied” natural history. Yet soon Avi converted from a useful into a spectacular animal. As skeleton and hide Avi represented the visual (and static) pedagogy of natural history museums, literally fading away in the course of the twentieth century. Due to the numerous traces Avi left in different media and the collective memory of the Barcelonese he also represents a form of popular natural history.
This paper will discuss how this elephant was reconfigured, renamed, relocated, repaired and remembered. Avi was more than just an object of knowledge. He oscillated between zoos and natural history museums, between entertainment and education, between exotic animal, “emblem of Barcelona”, “friend of children” and not least as an “exemplary Catalan”, well behaved and patient.
paper read at: JOINT MEETING of ESHHS & CHEIRON Barcelona, Spain, June 27-July 1, 2016
This paper will use Avi’s biography, alive and dead, to explore the cultures of natural history of fin-de-siècle Barcelona and beyond. Martí-Codolar’s collection and the early Barcelona zoo were dedicated to the project of acclimatization, or “applied” natural history. Yet soon Avi converted from a useful into a spectacular animal. As skeleton and hide Avi represented the visual (and static) pedagogy of natural history museums, literally fading away in the course of the twentieth century. Due to the numerous traces Avi left in different media and the collective memory of the Barcelonese he also represents a form of popular natural history.
This paper will discuss how this elephant was reconfigured, renamed, relocated, repaired and remembered. Avi was more than just an object of knowledge. He oscillated between zoos and natural history museums, between entertainment and education, between exotic animal, “emblem of Barcelona”, “friend of children” and not least as an “exemplary Catalan”, well behaved and patient.
paper read at: JOINT MEETING of ESHHS & CHEIRON Barcelona, Spain, June 27-July 1, 2016
Research Interests:
Lugar: llibreria Documenta, Carrer de Pau Claris, 144, 08009 Barcelona Fecha: 1 de Junio, a las 19 horas ciclo "Divulgar al Carrer" En esta sesión queremos aproximarnos al que hasta ahora es el proyecto de investigación prehistórico mas... more
Lugar: llibreria Documenta, Carrer de Pau Claris, 144, 08009 Barcelona
Fecha: 1 de Junio, a las 19 horas
ciclo "Divulgar al Carrer"
En esta sesión queremos aproximarnos al que hasta ahora es el proyecto de investigación prehistórico mas famoso de España: Atapuerca. Desde hace mas de veinte años sus hallazgos de fósiles humanos producen grandes titulares. La relación de los arqueólogos y paleoantropólogos con los medios de comunicación es casi simbiótica. Los investigadores proclaman no solo haber encontrado al primer europeo, sino también el primer caso de canibalismo, el primer asesinato, el primer entierro y el primer acto simbólico conocido en la historia de la humanidad. En este sentido, Atapuerca puede considerarse una máquina de producir relatos sobre nuestros orígenes y, a la vez, un fenómeno que define el ser humano. ¿Somos violentos y territoriales por naturaleza? O bien, ¿solidarios y compasivos? En esta ocasión vamos a analizar cómo la divulgación científica concurre de forma significativa en la legitimación de las afirmaciones del equipo de investigación de Atapuerca; cómo la ciencia necesita al público.
Fecha: 1 de Junio, a las 19 horas
ciclo "Divulgar al Carrer"
En esta sesión queremos aproximarnos al que hasta ahora es el proyecto de investigación prehistórico mas famoso de España: Atapuerca. Desde hace mas de veinte años sus hallazgos de fósiles humanos producen grandes titulares. La relación de los arqueólogos y paleoantropólogos con los medios de comunicación es casi simbiótica. Los investigadores proclaman no solo haber encontrado al primer europeo, sino también el primer caso de canibalismo, el primer asesinato, el primer entierro y el primer acto simbólico conocido en la historia de la humanidad. En este sentido, Atapuerca puede considerarse una máquina de producir relatos sobre nuestros orígenes y, a la vez, un fenómeno que define el ser humano. ¿Somos violentos y territoriales por naturaleza? O bien, ¿solidarios y compasivos? En esta ocasión vamos a analizar cómo la divulgación científica concurre de forma significativa en la legitimación de las afirmaciones del equipo de investigación de Atapuerca; cómo la ciencia necesita al público.
Research Interests:
Lloc: Biblioteca de la Sagrada Familia. c/ Provença, 480. 08025 Barcelona Hora: 19.00 Arthur Conan Doyle escrigué molt més que novel·les de Sherlock Holmes. El món perdut és una curiosa mescla de novel·la de ciència-ficció i d’història... more
Lloc: Biblioteca de la Sagrada Familia. c/ Provença, 480. 08025 Barcelona
Hora: 19.00
Arthur Conan Doyle escrigué molt més que novel·les de Sherlock Holmes. El món perdut és una curiosa mescla de novel·la de ciència-ficció i d’història d’aventures. L’acció se situa a un altiplà d’Amèrica del Sud on un equip d'exploradors anglesos troba dinosaures vius i altres animals -suposadament- extingits. Com si amb els iguanodonts i estegosaures no n’hi hagués prou, l’equip d’intrusos blancs també s’endinsa a una tribu d’humans d’aspecte simiesc (ape men). La novel·la resulta molt suggeridora en els elements que utilitza perquè recull tots els ingredients que la paleontologia i la teoria de l'evolució podien oferir a principis del segle XX. A més, en el viatge de tornada, un dels investigadors s’emporta un pterosaure a Anglaterra, que acaba escapant-se. I, doncs, l’impacte de la novel·la també es pot rastrejar en obres posteriors, des de King Kong a Jurassic Park. Però, El món perdut és molt més que això. Dos dels seus personatges principals són un periodista i un biòleg excèntric. Conan Doyle reflexiona sobre la relació entre la ciència i els mitjans de comunicació: són interdependents. El diari proporciona el finançament per a l'expedició i l'investigador aporta la notícia sensacional que la premsa anhela desesperadament. Per tant, els mitjans de comunicació apareixen com a participants actius en la construcció del coneixement i no com a mers reporters del descobriment científic.
Hora: 19.00
Arthur Conan Doyle escrigué molt més que novel·les de Sherlock Holmes. El món perdut és una curiosa mescla de novel·la de ciència-ficció i d’història d’aventures. L’acció se situa a un altiplà d’Amèrica del Sud on un equip d'exploradors anglesos troba dinosaures vius i altres animals -suposadament- extingits. Com si amb els iguanodonts i estegosaures no n’hi hagués prou, l’equip d’intrusos blancs també s’endinsa a una tribu d’humans d’aspecte simiesc (ape men). La novel·la resulta molt suggeridora en els elements que utilitza perquè recull tots els ingredients que la paleontologia i la teoria de l'evolució podien oferir a principis del segle XX. A més, en el viatge de tornada, un dels investigadors s’emporta un pterosaure a Anglaterra, que acaba escapant-se. I, doncs, l’impacte de la novel·la també es pot rastrejar en obres posteriors, des de King Kong a Jurassic Park. Però, El món perdut és molt més que això. Dos dels seus personatges principals són un periodista i un biòleg excèntric. Conan Doyle reflexiona sobre la relació entre la ciència i els mitjans de comunicació: són interdependents. El diari proporciona el finançament per a l'expedició i l'investigador aporta la notícia sensacional que la premsa anhela desesperadament. Per tant, els mitjans de comunicació apareixen com a participants actius en la construcció del coneixement i no com a mers reporters del descobriment científic.
Research Interests:
Dia 18 de novembre Segon cicle de conferències sobre el Parc de la Ciutadella, al Pati Llimona Totes les xerrades seran a la Sala de Conferències del Pati Llimona, Carrer Regomir, nº 3, a les 19.30 H. Organitza: SOS Monuments... more
Dia 18 de novembre
Segon cicle de conferències sobre el Parc de la Ciutadella, al Pati Llimona
Totes les xerrades seran a la Sala de Conferències del Pati Llimona, Carrer Regomir, nº 3, a les 19.30 H.
Organitza: SOS Monuments
http://patillimona.net
Segon cicle de conferències sobre el Parc de la Ciutadella, al Pati Llimona
Totes les xerrades seran a la Sala de Conferències del Pati Llimona, Carrer Regomir, nº 3, a les 19.30 H.
Organitza: SOS Monuments
http://patillimona.net
Research Interests:
The new series Cultural Dynamics of Science (CDS) at Brill aims to contribute to ongoing efforts in the history of science to understand the relations between the production, communication, consumption and use of knowledge without having... more
The new series Cultural Dynamics of Science (CDS) at Brill aims to contribute to ongoing efforts in the history of science to understand the relations between the production, communication, consumption and use of knowledge without having recourse to the traditional equation of popularization with notions such as 'diffusion' and 'simplification'. The same goes for the distinctions they imply between expert knowledge and practices, on one side, and lay communities and understanding on the other. Focused on the period from the Enlightenment to the present, CDS intends instead to consider the various ways in which tensions and exchanges among the different actors involved have historically fed the productive circulation of knowledge. Sensitivity to specific contexts, epistemologies, spaces and networks, in which material production merges with knowledge production, is therefore paramount. CDS also aims to contribute to recent efforts in the history of science to move across fields traditionally studied by different scholarly disciplines, and to evolve into more inclusive, interdisciplinary cultural studies. It is further committed to a geographically expansive scope of coverage, focusing on the transnational and transcultural character of the scientific endeavour. While the series aims foremost at the publication of well-written scholarly monographs, carefully integrated collections of essays will also be welcome.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Jan Marot: "Ausgrabung zwischen Medien, Mythen und Minderwertigkeitskomplexen." Der Standard, 08.05. 2013.
Research Interests:
Carandell Baruzzi, Miquel. "Review of Oliver Hochadel, El mito de Atapuerca. Orígenes, ciencia, divulgación." Actes d'Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica (Nova Època) 6 (2014): 3-5.
Research Interests:
En la primera parte hablaremos con el Historiador de la Ciencia y científico titular de la Institución Milá y Fontanals del CSIC Oliver Hochade, sobre cómo el yacimiento de Atapuerca se ha convertido en lo que es hoy en día.
Gustave Loisel (1864-1933) is known as the first historian of zoological gardens. His Histoire des ménageries (1912), still a work of reference today, actually emanated from extensive journeys in the years between 1906 and 1910 as an... more
Gustave Loisel (1864-1933) is known as the first historian of zoological gardens. His Histoire des ménageries (1912), still a work of reference today, actually emanated from extensive journeys in the years between 1906 and 1910 as an envoy of the French state. This article focuses on Loisel’s “field research” in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. He found a number of zoological institutions in Stockholm, Breslau (Wrocław), Budapest and Tsarist Russia exemplary – and suggested to his French superiors to take notice with respect to the planned reforms of the Paris zoo. Loisel’s interests were comprehensive: he had his eyes set on organizational and economical issues, on zoo architecture and as well as on animal keeping, i.e. how to breed, feed and acclimatize them best. In fact, analysing Loisel’s voluminous work, zoological gardens may best be understood as an interurban and transnational institution in which “best practices” were intensely discussed not only on a European but on a global scale. The constant exchange of best practice models through visits, letters and publications was by no means unidirectional. This article illustrates that the so-called “periphery” could provide ideas and blueprints considered worth of emulation for the “centre”, in this case Paris.
Research Interests:
Is a television programme the format least suited to the communication of complex scientific ideas? Clara Florensa, Oliver Hochadel and Carlos Tabernero discuss a conference that brought TV producers and theorists together to engage... more
Is a television programme the format least suited to the communication of complex scientific ideas? Clara Florensa, Oliver Hochadel and Carlos Tabernero discuss a conference that brought TV producers and theorists together to engage constructively on the topic. Simplification, trivialization and even distortion are the accusations regularly levied against science on screen. But this view misinterprets communication as a top-down process, when in reality, audiences are interacting with the material in a number of different ways. Academics should consider the narrative strategies for their research and foster enriching dialogues with media professionals.