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The Program in History and Philosophy of Science presents:

By Andreas Daum
German Historical Institute, Washington D.C.

After the revolution of 1848 Germany witnessed a sudden increase in efforts to spread knowledge about the natural sciences in the public sphere. These efforts were intensified by democratic and liberal members of the bourgeois society. For them, popularization of science was a continuation of their quest for a civil society freed of state and church restrictions. The popularizers were, however, not identical with those empirical scientists who simultaneously climbed up the academic success ladder. Instead, they primarily acted outside the state-wide research institutions and established a complimentary arena of public expertise and amateur science. By scrutinizing this arena, which has been largely neglected by historians, we gain new perspectives on the history of science and bourgeois culture in Germany during the 19th century.

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