Member
- Illi (German Philology)
- Lubkoll (German Philology)
- Mecke (Physics)
Research goal
The working group focuses on the so-called “Sattelzeit” between 1750 and 1830 (Kosellek). In this period the differentiation of academic disciplines begins (cf. R. Stichweh, Die Entstehung des modernen Systems wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen, 1984), but at the same time there is still a relatively close exchange between physics, other natural sciences and philosophy (cf. O. Breidbach, Physik um 1800, published in 2011). In this period knowledge is also popularised and, for the first time, a productive and purposeful exchange between literature and physics can develop (Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Brentano, Hoffmann and others).
With regards to the field of physics, the extension of experimental investigations from mechanics and optics to thermal, electro-magnetic and chemical phenomena forms the central issues in this period. The development of numerous measuring instruments for a quantitative acquisition of previously intuitively grasped data and relations leads to the substitution of a descriptive narrative account of natural processes by an experimental mathematical one. The consequent decomposition of the phenomena into quantitatively measurable variables results in an increasing rejection of the natural sciences by formerly scientifically oriented literary authors and to the development of the “two cultures”. The working group concentrates on the following research goals: a) the identification and investigation of central thematic fields, relevant for the processes of interaction between physics and literature, b) the exploration of research fields negotiated both in the emerging discipline of physics and other neighbouring sciences (chemistry, mathematics) around 1800, fields which are also addressed in literary texts of the time, c) an interdisciplinary, exemplary analysis of relevant key passages in contemporary scientific treatises and literary texts. This analysis will combine metaphorological, rhetorical and narratological levels of analysis within the framework of the history of knowledge.