Research at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus is dedicated to the history and philosophy of the natural sciences and it uses a wide range of methods. With a focus on historical epistemology, it combines historical, philosophical, cultural and social-scientific analyses of knowledge and science from the 18th to the 21st century. We are interested in the specific culture of the natural sciences – their theories, practices, instruments and objects – as well as in the role of science in modern culture and societies.
Research fields at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus include the history and philosophy of the life sciences, science and technology studies, the history of philosophy and science as well as the perspectives of cultural and gender studies on knowledge and society.
In our projects we pursue topical issues in the history of science: from natural science and the philosophy of nature in the 18th century, through the reciprocal relationship between philosophy, science and anthropology in the 19th and early 20th century up to modern genetics and cloning research in the 21st century; from the tense relations between science, politics, religion and society up to global knowledge transfers, material cultures of scientific practice and the history of objects. Further research topics are 19th and 20th century discourses on race and gender.
Management: Christina Brandt
Editing: Anna Klassen
DFG-Projekt, Teilprojekt 7 in der Forschungsgruppe "Kooperation und Konkurrenz in den Wissenschaften"
Kooperation und Konkurrenz in den Wissenschaften, Teilprojekt 7External link
Network: History of Bioethics and Medical Ethics in Germany External link
Network staff : Lukas Alex (Münster), Anna Klassen, Anna Maria Schmift (Duisburg-Essen), Matthias Schütz (München)
Anthropologische Epistemologie. Zwischen Philosophie und Lebenswissenschaften im 20. Jahrhundert
Dissertation project: Julia Gruevska
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Links/ Cooperation Partners
“Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919): Letters edition‟ is a long-term project funded by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences. It is supervised by the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences and located at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. The project consists of two modules, a 25-volume print edition (Ernst Haeckel: Selected correspondence. Historical-critical edition. Stuttgart 2017 ff.) and a complete online edition. The online edition of letters presented on this platform will provide all of Haeckel's correspondence (with full texts and metadata) by 2037.
Ernst Haeckel als Botaniker – Rekonstruktion und Kontextualisierung
(DFG BA 2121/1-1; Laufzeit vom 1.10.2020-30.09.2023)
Project directors: Dr. Thomas Bach und Prof. Dr. Frank Hellwig
Editor: Dipl. Biol. Elisabeth Müller
Theodor Swann’s Unpublished Work: Studies on the Relationship between Biology, Religion and Politics in the 19th Century
Project Manager: Dr. Florence Vienne
Hardly any 19th century natural scientist is so well-known and also so unknown as Theodor Schwann (1810-1882). Textbooks and history books remind us of his discovery of cells as the basic unit of plants and animals. Alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution, cell theory is one of the foundations of the biological sciences. However, while the many and diverse facets of Darwin the natural scientist have long since been researched on the basis of his Nachlass manuscripts, Schwann’s life and work remains largely unexplored. His extensive unpublished work has hitherto remained largely unknown. This includes experimental and scientific records, personal diaries as well as drafts and the manuscripts of his lectures. He kept a diary as a young assistant to the physiologist Johannes Müller (1801-1858) in Berlin in the 1830s and as a university lecturer in Leuven and Liège from 1839 up to the 1870s. His records document his work on the genesis of his 1838 cell theory but also its later further developments. They provide insights into the metaphysical and theological questions that shaped his worldview and scientific outlook from his youth up to his death. Like the botanist Jakob Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881) and the zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), Schwann left behind a body of work that is an expression of a profound scientific and cultural transformation. Using the example of the three biologists, we can explore the reciprocal relations between the emergence of a cellular cell-based understanding of the living organism and the religious and political upheavals of the 19th century.
The botanist and cell theorist Matthias J. Schleiden (1804-1881) lived and worked in Jena between 1839 and 1862. Here he met the philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fries (17763-1843), an important figure for him, and wrote his main work Grundzüge der wissenschaftlichen Botanik [Basic Features of Scientific Botany] (1842/43) as well as polemics against Naturphilosophie and materialism. He lectured on botany and anthropology at the university and gave popular scientific talks. From1850 to 1862 he was director of the botanical garden. In addition to his scientific activity, he was politically active in the revolutionary year 1848. In this history of science workshop, students and scholars explore the different facets of Schleiden’s life and work in Jena. The findings will be incorporated into a publication that uses the example of Schleiden to shed new light onthe relationships between natural science, philosophy and politics in the 19th century. The goal is to present the book publication to a larger audience at the Ernst-Haeckel-Haus.
Contact: Dr. Florence Vienne
Innovation through Knowledge Circulation. Research Technologies as Knowledge-Bearers in Circulation Processes in and between Innovation Cultures
DFG-Projekt
PD Dr. Christian Forstner
City Communication Space: Sites in the History of Physics in Jena
A Guide to the History of Physics for Jena
PD Dr. Christian Forstner
