The physicist. A tale in two acts.
Item
Book title
The physicist. A tale in two acts.
Peter Debye and the Leipzig Physics Institute, International Science in Germany, 1926-1936
Author
Piel, Helen
Contributor
Homburg, Ernst
Description
Master Thesis for the research master Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht University.
Place of publication
Year of publication
2016
Language
Abstract
Peter Debye (1884-1966) was director of the Physics Institute in Leipzig (1927-1936). As such he operated as a science organiser and heterogeneous engineer on three different sites of encounter: a local one, a trans-local one, and one that went beyond academia and dealt, inter alia, with expectations towards physics. In order to create a major research centre for (modern) physics, he made material and organisational adjustments to the Institute in order to raise the standards and create a space for knowledge generation. He also made use of an extensive network of contacts with national and international physicists, physical chemists, and chemists. By drawing
international scientists to Leipzig and by being responsible for the publication of the Leipziger Vortragswochen as well as the Physikalische Zeitschrift, Debye made major contributions to the internationalisation and delocalisation of locally produced science. The paper also shows, however, that Debye as a scientists and as a science organiser was tied to and indeed dependent on things beyond his control like the national economy. In order to secure funding and his position at Leipzig, he needed the support of politics – in his case the Ministry of Education – as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Leipzig. Thus while he may not have been involved in party politics, science politics return throughout this thesis in the form of funding and expectations.
international scientists to Leipzig and by being responsible for the publication of the Leipziger Vortragswochen as well as the Physikalische Zeitschrift, Debye made major contributions to the internationalisation and delocalisation of locally produced science. The paper also shows, however, that Debye as a scientists and as a science organiser was tied to and indeed dependent on things beyond his control like the national economy. In order to secure funding and his position at Leipzig, he needed the support of politics – in his case the Ministry of Education – as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Leipzig. Thus while he may not have been involved in party politics, science politics return throughout this thesis in the form of funding and expectations.
Keywords
Peter Debye
Leipzig University
Leipzig Physics Institute
Internationalisation and politicisation of science
Heterogeneous engineering
Sites of encounter
Knowledge production and knowledge exchange
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Identifier
ark:/27364/d1OXXnh