Experimental Systems and Spaces of Knowledge

The research activities of the department revolve around the practical, conceptual, and cultural conditions of scientifc innovation and the historical dynamics of scientifc change. Current research centers on the area of the life sciences from the 18th to the 20th century, with a focus on (1) history and epistemology of experimentation, (2) history of objects and spaces of knowledge, and (3) formation of concepts and uses of theory. The three main actual projects are (I) Experimentalization of Life, (II) A Cultural History of Heredity, and (III) Knowledge in the Making: Drawing and Writing as Research Techniques.