Jürgen Renn
Director (Since 1994)
Dr., Professor, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Jürgen Renn and his group undertake research on the structural changes in systems of knowledge. Their aim is to develop a theoretical understanding of knowledge evolution, taking into account its epistemic, social, and material dimensions. As groundwork for such a theoretical approach to the history of knowledge, he has been studying some of the great transformations of systems of physical knowledge, such as the origin of theoretical science in antiquity, the emergence of classical mechanics in the early modern period, and the revolutions of modern physics in the early twentieth century. In addition to this longitudinal perspective on the evolution of knowledge, he and his collaborators have developed a transversal approach, studying dissemination and transformation processes of knowledge across cultural boundaries, as well as processes of globalization and the historical origins and co-evolutionary dynamics leading into the Anthropocene.
An early pioneer of the Digital Humanities and the Open Access Movement, he is a co-initiator of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities launched by the MPG in 2003 and, together with his colleagues, has created the Edition Open Access platform for open access publication. He has also been responsible for numerous major exhibitions on the history of science, from Albert Einstein—Chief Engineer of the Universe to Archimede. Arte e scienza dell’invenzione.
Jürgen Renn is honorary professor for History of Science at both the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Freie Universität Berlin. He has taught at Boston University, at the ETH in Zurich, and at the University of Tel Aviv. He has held visiting positions in Vienna, Bergamo, Pavia, and at CalTech. He is a member of the Leopoldina as well as of further national and international scientific and editorial boards. In 2011 he won the Premio Anassilaos International. In 2014, he won the ESHS Neuenschwander Prize and the Premio Internazionale Marco & Alberto Ippolito and was awarded the Max Planck Communitas Award and the Francis Bacon Award. From 2017–2019, Jürgen Renn served as Chairperson of the Humanities Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society. His most recent publication is The Evolution of Knowledge: Rethinking Science for the Anthropocene (2020, Princeton University Press).
Projects
Anthropocene Curriculum
Anthropocene Knowledge: Earth History in the Making
Atlas of Innovations
Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD)
BIFOLD - BZML
History and Foundations of Quantum Field Theory
IV. Knowledge in and of the Anthropocene
Leonardo's Intellectual Cosmos
Albert Einstein—Chief Engineer of the Universe (Exhibition 2005)
Continuity and Epistemic Developments of Astronomical Knowledge in the Longue Durée: The Sphaera-tradition
Convivencia. Iberian to Global Dynamics (500–1750)
Development of Mechanical Knowledge in China
Early Modern Mechanics: Benedetti
Knowledge as a Fellow Traveler
Knowledge of Astronomy and the Invention of the Telescope: International Year of Astronomy 2009
The Emergence and Expansion of Preclassical Mechanics
Selected Media
Feature Stories
Selected Books
News & Press
Institute Events
Book Launch
- Institute Event
POSTPONED: Science, (Anti-)Communism and Diplomacy. The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs in the Early Cold War
MORESymposium
How Do New Concepts Emerge? On New Knowledge, Old Patterns of Thought, and Structural Changes
MORE500th Anniversary Event
Leonardo da Vinci. An Inquisitive Man: Technologist, Scientist, and Artist
MORESymposium
- Institute Event
Freunde der offenen Gesellschaft
MORELecture
Wie entsteht die moderne Wissenschaft / Wie entstehen wissenschaftliche Disziplinen?
MOREExternal/Cooperation Event
- Institute Event
Comenius-Garten: Eröffnung der Werkstatt mit Gewächshaus
MOREWorkshop
- Institute Event
Political Epistemology I
MOREWorkshop
Opening New Windows on the Cosmos: Astrophysics and Astronomy in the History of the Max Planck Society
MOREPresentations, Talks, & Teaching Activities
CIS, Bologna
Princeton, Princeton University Press
Amsterdam, “Zeeman Lecture”
Gargnano, “X Seminario sulla scienza antica e la sua tradizione”
Venedig, Universita Ca’ Foscari
Rostock, Tagung der GUW
Berlin, Campus Talks im Roten Salon
Berlin, Futurium “Visionen für die Wissenschaft”
The Anthropocene: Challenging the Disciplines, Universität Wien
Wozu Wissenschaftsgeschichte? Ziele und Wege, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Symposium of the Max Planck Society, Havana Cuba
Berlin, IASS, Ehrensymposium für Klaus Töpfer, “Demokratie und Nachhaltigkeit”
FU Berlin, ABV Modul Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft, Vorlesung zu Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Bergamo, Universität Bergamo
Bologna, Università degli Studi di Bologna
Lausanne,“Quand le droit rencontre la relativité Soirée Albert Einstein”
Hannover, Seventh International Conference on Integrated History and Philosophy of Science: The Evolution of Knowledge
Colloque « Einstein au Collège de France »
University of Urbino
Symposium at the Harnack Haus, Berlin