Klaus Hentschel
Klaus Hentschel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 4, 1961 Bad Nauheim, Germany |
| Residence | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Hamburg |
| Known for | History of Science, Ritzian Relativity |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | History of Science, History of Physics |
Klaus Hentschel (born 4 April 1961 in Bad Nauheim, Germany) is a German historian of science and professor at the University of Stuttgart, where he heads the Section for the History of Science and Technology (GNT). His research spans the history of physics, optics and spectroscopy, relativity, scientific instrumentation, and the visual and mental cultures of science.
Biography
Hentschel studied at the University of Hamburg, where he earned a master's degree in philosophy in 1985, a diploma in physics in 1987, and a doctorate in philosophy in 1989. His dissertation examined the philosophical interpretations of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.
From 1991 to 1996 he was an assistant professor at the University of Göttingen, and in 1995–1996 he held a fellowship at the Dibner Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He subsequently held visiting and research positions at Göttingen, MIT, Hamburg, the University of Bern, and Stuttgart. Since 2006 he has been professor at the University of Stuttgart, directing its Section for the History of Science and Technology.
Work
Hentschel's scholarship covers the history of modern physics, the reception and interpretation of relativity theory, spectroscopy and the mapping of spectra, scientific photography and instrumentation, and the role of visual representation and mental models in the sciences. His book The Einstein Tower studied the interplay of architecture, astrophysics, and the experimental testing of general relativity at the Potsdam solar observatory. In Mapping the Spectrum he analyzed the techniques and practices used to record and represent optical spectra. His later work Photons: The History and Mental Models of Light Quanta traced the changing conceptions of the light quantum. He has also written on physics under National Socialism and on the visual cultures of science and technology.
Honors
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize (1992)
- Paul Bunge Prize (1993)
- Georg Uschmann Prize (1999)
- Neu-Whitrow Prize (2017)
Books
- The Einstein Tower: An Intertexture of Dynamic Construction, Relativity Theory, and Astronomy (1992; English translation 1997)
- Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources (1996; expanded edition 2011)
- Mapping the Spectrum: Techniques of Visual Representation in Research and Teaching (2002)
- The Mental Aftermath: The Mentality of German Physicists 1945–1949 (2007)
- Visual Cultures of Science and Technology: A Comparative History (2014)
- Photons: The History and Mental Models of Light Quanta (2018)
External links
- Klaus Hentschel on Wikipedia