Director emerita Lorraine Daston in conversation with @histphilosophy.bsky.social on the first episode of “Pages of History.” They discuss the surprising parallels between #Philology & #Astronomy, & why philology is one of humanity’s oldest empirical sciences. 📜 🔗 https://bit.ly/4k4GP7K #HistSci
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
@mpiwg.bsky.social
An institute of the Max Planck Society, dedicated to the study of the history of science and of scientific thinking and practice as historical phenomena. 📍 Berlin, Germany 🔗 https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/data-protection-social-media
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"Pages of History" is a podcast by the Cluster of Excellence on Cross-Cultural Philology at the @lmu.de
Research Reels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 Postdoc Scholar Stefanie Rudolf presents her forthcoming article “Under the Sole: Rethinking Shoe Symbolism in Arabic and the Ancient Near East,” exploring how shoes have symbolized authority and social hierarchy across cultures. 👞 🔗 https://bit.ly/3WmnNjs
For our #ResearchReels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications!⚡️ To find more of our #ResearchReels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 https://buff.ly/S0JS6t2
International Max Planck Research School (#IMPRS) “Knowledge and Its Resources: Historical Reciprocities” Welcomes Its Fourth Cohort of Doctoral Students! 👏 The new doctoral students are Alejandra Borea de la Portilla, Felix Brieden, Tjark Nentwig, and Yuqi Zhang. 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/5yn3ucma
#ResearchReels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 Head of #DigitalHumanities Sarah Lang presents her article “(Doing) Computational History,” exploring #ComputationalMethods gaining traction among historians. She highlights the often-overlooked labor behind these approaches. 💻 🔗 https://bit.ly/4e0wFl5
For our #ResearchReels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications!⚡️ To find more of our #ResearchReels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 https://buff.ly/S0JS6t2
The #HistoricalMoments series begins with: 🧬 Copy-Paste Nature: Promises and Limits of Biomimicry, in collaboration with BBAW 📅 November 5, 18:00 📍 Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW), Berlin Join the conversation and find out more: 🔗 https://historicalmoments.org/
Our Institute’s Colloquium Program 2026–27 is now available online! This year, we will look at “Histories of Science That Lie Beneath” 🔍 📍 MPIWG 🔗 For the full program and information on registration, please check https://bit.ly/4hLkRp6 #HistSci #SciComm #EventSeries
New publication: "Gongchengshi Jialilüe 工程师伽利略," a #Chinese translation of Principal Investigator Matteo Valleriani's "Galileo Engineer." 🔭 Translated by Yu Yueyuan 俞月圆, the book seeks to reassemble the many faces of #Galilei in his identity as an engineer. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4zkTubg #HistSci #STS
#ResearchReels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 Research Scholar Jeffrey Kotyk presents his chapter “Zoroastrianism in the Chinese Imagination.” It explores how Chinese sources documented this Persian #Religion, its customs, and its place in China’s cultural landscape. 🔗 https://bit.ly/47L7Eqc
For our #ResearchReels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications! ⚡️ To find more of our #ResearchReels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 https://buff.ly/S0JS6t2
New #OpenAccess book by Postdoctoral Scholar Franziska M. Fröhlich: "Green Eating and Ecological Risk in #China: How the Authoritarian State Shapes Consumer Responsibility" 🌱 🔗 tinyurl.com/3rm79k29 #STS #FoodPolitics
#CfA: The MPIWG is offering First Research Article #Fellowships for 📑 doctoral students based at Asian, African, or Latin American institutions, to publish their first English article on 📚 history of science, technology, and medicine, or #STS 🗓️ Deadline: Jan 15, 2027 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3
Postdoctoral Scholar Zsuzsanna Ihar has been named by @tagesspiegel.de among Berlin’s top 100 researchers 2026! 👏 Based in Dept. KSCL, her research explores ecology, war, & the defence industry, which she also explores through her artistic practice. 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ba6puav9 (GER, paywall)
#ResearchReels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 Daniela Trinks introduces “The Association between Go Experience and Sustained Attention in Young Adults,” co-authored with Theresa Martinez Garcia. It examines the cognitive effects of “Go” experience. 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/4d49ds54 #Education #BoardGame
For our Research Reels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications! ⚡️ To find more of our Research Reels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 https://buff.ly/S0JS6t2
We're excited to welcome our new Journalist in Residence, Moira Donovan! @moiradonovan.bsky.social is a freelance journalist who will work on her project on #GeoEngineering, #ClimateModification, and #Society. 🌍📗 🔗 tinyurl.com/4pruvhk3
The Berlin History of Knowledge Course List (KVV) for winter semester 2026 is now available online! This list compiles all history of knowledge and sciences courses from @humboldtuni.bsky.social, @tuberlin.bsky.social, and @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. 🔗 tinyurl.com/ms9h5uyn #HistSci
#ResearchReels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 Elizabeth Hughes introduces "Biomedical Visions: #Epistemology, #Medicine, and Art Practice." The book explores artist-scientist collaborations in #Biomedicine's past and future. 🩻 🔗 https://bit.ly/4yjaPBd #HistSci #HistMed
For our Research Reels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications! ⚡️ To find more of our Research Reels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 https://buff.ly/S0JS6t2
Predoctoral alumna Jelena Große-Bley interviewed by Lea Sahay for Süddeutsche Zeitung. They discuss China's approach to climate change and its increasing impact on agriculture and food security. 🌾 🔗 tinyurl.com/5n7k27ee (GER) #China #EnvHum #STS
#ResearchReels: 1 publication—3 minutes🏅 What can photographs reveal that written records leave out?📸 Research Scholar Birgit Kolboske explores 60+ years of visual material from the @maxplanck.de archives in "Bilder einer Gesellschaft," offering a new perspective on its history. 🔗 buff.ly/TBGmUeU
For our #ResearchReels series, we invited scholars across the institute to pitch their recent publications! ⚡ To find more of our #ResearchReels or to learn more about our scholars and the MPIWG, visit our Mediathek: 🔗 buff.ly/S0JS6t2 #HistSci #SciComm
Postdoctoral Scholar Jacob Schmidt-Madsen in conversation with Adrija Roychowdhury for @indianexpress.com They discuss the cultural history of the #BoardGame "Snakes and Ladders," its spiritual origins in India, and appropriation by Europeans. 🎲 🔗 tinyurl.com/ydrh6nz3 #HistSci #AstralSciences
We are now on Instagram! 📣 Follow us to see what’s happening at our Institute—our people, research, events, news, and publications. You can find us over there @mpiwg.berlin 🔗 www.instagram.com/mpiwg.berlin/
#CfA: Applications for the MPIWG Fellowship Program close tomorrow 📢 This round, #Fellowships offer guest scholars research opportunities with Dept. AAK, ASTRA, or LMRG, access to the Institute’s Library, and participation in its academic and social life. 🗓️ Sept 15, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/37zmxkac
Das MPIWG sucht eine:n Sachbearbeiter:in im Sachgebiet #Bau & #TechnischeDienste 🗂️ Koordination im Bereich Bau & Technische Dienste 💻 Aktualisierung digitaler Infrastruktur 🦺 Mitarbeit an Arbeitssicherheit & Brandschutz 🗓️ Deadline: bis zur Besetzung 🔗 tinyurl.com/vtpnrbkk #JobBerlin
🏆 Congratulations to Postdoctoral Scholar Jacob Schmidt-Madsen on receiving the 2026 Chess Journalists of America Book of the Year #Award for "The Horta-Osório Collection of Antique Chess Sets, Volume 1: India," coauthored with leading chess experts and historians. ♟️ 🔗 tinyurl.com/ycke6nsa
New #OpenAccess book by Research Scholar Birgit Kolboske & Anne Huffschmid "Bilder einer Gesellschaft" draws on 70+ years of images from the @maxplanck.de, looking beyond labs and Nobel Prizes to the people, everyday life, and changing role of women in science. 📸 🔗 buff.ly/jlcYYJ7 #HistSci
New book by Director emerita Lorraine Daston: "Diversity: The History of a Wandering Value" 💐 "The long history of #Diversity as an #Aesthetic and economic value helps explain the recent rapid rise of diversity as a #Moral and political value." 🔗 tinyurl.com/yke6f86z #HistSci
Alumna Journalist in Residence Adrija Roychowdhury writes in The @indianexpress.com about old and new contenders in the century-old race to decipher the "Indus Valley Script" 🔍 The article is based on the project she pursued at the MPIWG April–May 2026. 🔗 tinyurl.com/3szx2u8s #HistSci #Epigraphy
Lise Meitner Research Group "China in the Global System of Science" is looking to hire a Student/Graduate Assistant to support: 📚 research 📋 event support 🖍️ editorial work (German/English/Chinese) 📊 data visualization 🗓️ Deadline: Sep 15, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3 #STS #Sinology #China
Congratulations to Research Scholar Lachlan Summers & Alumna Gloria Maritza Gómez Revuelta, who won the 2026 Ronald Rainger Early Career Award in History of the Earth & #EnvironmentalSciences from historyscience.bsky.social, for "Negotiating the 'Geo' of #ColdWar #Geopolitics" 🌎🙌 🔗 buff.ly/QrxGSrZ
#CfA: Summer Academies "Science Imagines Its Future" (Berlin, June 2027 and 2028) for early career researchers. Organized by Lorraine Daston, Erika Milam, and David Kaiser. 🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/ntc64jvu #HistSci #STS #Balzan
The "Visualization of the Heavens" database has launched to the public 🌌 The platform provides around 3000 objects related to #Astronomy and starscapes originating in Eurasia and North Africa from 4000 BCE until 1700 CE. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2cnnd92j #HistSci #OpenAccess #DigiHum
Dept. "Artifacts, Action, Knowledge" is looking to hire a Graduate Assistant to support: 🖍️ copy-editing English-language academic texts 🗂️ maintaining reference databases 📚 researching and summarizing literature 🗓️ Deadline: Aug 21, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3 #HistSci #STS
Our #DigitalHumanities team is looking to hire a Student Assistant with a focus on #MachineLearning or #DataScience 👩🏾💻👨🏻💻🧑🏼💻 #Archiving #Coding #Visualization 🗓️ Deadline: Aug 23, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3
#CfA: Dept. “Knowledge Systems and Collective Life” is looking to hire a new Student Assistant to support 📚 the department’s research activities 🖍️ the management and annotation of research materials 📋 the organization of scholarly events 🗓️ Deadline: Aug 21, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3 #HistSci
📸 What did it take to make a #Photograph in the 19th century? The #IMPRS Predocs Jonathan Haid, Megan Briers, and Lena Kasten organized a workshop to reveal new insights into the fragility, skill, and experimentation behind early photographic practices. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2j9kz5d4 #HistSci
#CfA: Research Group "China in the Global System of Science" is hiring a Predoctoral Scholar for the project "Scientific Empire: #Infrastructure Control & Ideational Binding in China’s International Big Science Projects," funded by @dfg.de unit FOR 5913/1. 🛰️ 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3 #HistSci #SciPol
Join us at this year’s @eshhs.bsky.social/HSS Joint Meeting! We'll be hosting an exhibition stand, and several scholars are organizing panels, chairing sessions, and presenting their research. 📍 Edinburgh, Scotland 📆 Jul 12-16, 2026 🔗 buff.ly/2GvcFc9 #HistSci #HistSTM #ESHS-HSS
#CfA: The Max Planck–NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding is appointing two Postdoctoral Scholars with a PhD in 🖼️ #MuseumStudies, 🏛️ #LegalHistory, 🔬 #ScienceStudies, 🦉 #HistSci ... or another related humanities field. 🗓️ Deadline: Aug 10, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3
Postdoctoral Scholar @chanelle.bsky.social is a participating artist at #BiennaleGherdëina 10, (Future) Paradise Gardens 🗻 The installation "Test Pit" bridges her established artistic practice with her current research at the MPIWG. 🗓️ May 31–Sept. 13, 2026 📍 Val Gardena 🔗 tinyurl.com/2s4dsvkn
#CfA: New fellowships in Dept. "Knowledge Systems and Collective Life" for researchers working on 📊 politics and practices of #Data, 📚️ histories of #Knowledge and collective life in Africa, or 🍂 #Environmental knowledge in times of crisis 🗓️ Deadline: Sep 15, 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/mu5tend3 #HistSci