What is black coal? What is it made of and where does it come from? What are its advantages and why? What was it used for and why not? In the 19th century, questions such as these increasingly came to the attention of scientists and miners. They were triggered by the rising economic value of hard coal, the increasing necessity of a secure supply, but also by the widespread use of hard coal. Nevertheless, little is known about how contemporaries in the age of industrialization viewed the materiality of this raw material. Using the example of three small areas of the German black coal mining industry, this book takes a look behind the scenes of industrialization and makes black coal, one of its most important raw materials, an actor in history.

edited by Martina Heßler

The love for cars, atomic euphoria, fear of machines, rage and frustration in dealing with computers: technology triggered diverse and sometimes violent emotions in the 19th and 20th centuries. Emotions related to technology influenced its development, its acceptance and its use. Now, a new edited volume by Martina Heßler deals with this important but often neglected topic in history. With contributions by Christopher Neumainer, Kevin Liggieri, Garbiele Gramelsberger oder Julia Zons.

The history of the data center Potsdam

In his newest paper, Kevin Liggieri shows the scientific-historical and technical-philosophical conditions of the in the 1960s favoured view on the emergence of “man-machine-interaction”. Either anthropological debates on the “whole” human being and the delineation from cybernetic ideas are the focus of this reappraisal. On this basis, the technical and philosophical conception of an “anthropotechnics” that was projected by the aviation doctor Heinz von Diringshofen around 1960 as well as its dissemination in technical-scientific and public space will be examined.

Fresh from the printing press: The book “Man as Pet. Breeding and Optimization in Philosophy and Literature” by our team member Kevin Liggieri was just published.

Fresh from the printing press: The new handbook on the Historical Anthropology of Technology by Martina Heßler and Kevin Liggieri was just published.