Mitteleuropäische Forschungslandschaft im Vergleich: Die Prager (deutsche) und die Wiener Chemie im Lichte ihrer Dissertationen aus den Jahren 1882 bis 1945.

Authors

  • Jiří Pešek Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague
  • David Šaman Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic

Abstract

Central European Centers of Research Compared: Prague (German) and Vienna Chemistry as Reflected in Their Dissertations in 1882-1945.

This paper deals with the history of two important Central European centers of German academic research in an era that was marked by drastic political events and turning points. The
authors focus on one of the more prominent disciplines – chemistry – by using a comparative approach: analyzing the respective PhD dissertations (a total of 2,208) with regard to their frequency and scientific focus, the study shows the evolution of the departments of chemistry at the University of Vienna and the (German) University of Prague. Apart from the institutional development and the progressive diversification of the various sub-disciplines of chemistry,
special attention is also paid to the social dimension of university history: based on the lists of PhD students the authors examine their regional provenance and assess the characteristics of two “minority” groups – women and foreigners – among the students of chemistry.

Keywords: history of science, chemistry, German University of Prague, University of Vienna, dissertations

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Published

2012-01-30

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Articles