Society for the History of Science
The Society for the History of Science (GWG) is a German society founded in 1965 to promote the history of science in all areas. They organize their own conferences (such as the annual conference) and send representatives to international conferences.
The company was founded on the occasion of Falls Mountain , of a dispute within the German Society for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology led (DGGMNT). There was dissatisfaction with the handling of the National Socialist entanglement in a phase when the history of science was trying to find broader acceptance within historical studies. In addition, the history of the humanities and social sciences, not just natural sciences, medicine and technology, should be treated in an interdisciplinary manner in the new society. The first conference took place in January 1965 with 24 participants under the direction of Karl Eduard Rothschuh . The speakers were the medical historian Heinrich Schipperges , the pharmaceutical historian Rudolf Schmitz , the mathematician Joachim Otto Fleckenstein (history of the natural sciences), Hans-Joachim Schoeps (for the history of ideas) and Erwin H. Ackerknecht (who gave a lecture on the history of science in the USA). The first regular symposium took place in October 1965 and by the end of the year there were 54 members. The symposia deal with special changing topics.
The society publishes the journal Reports on the History of Science , which is peer-reviewed and published quarterly by Wiley / VCH. The editorial office is based at the University of Lübeck (Institute for Medical History and Science Research).
A member is elected by secret ballot based on a proposal by two members. In contrast to the DGGMNT, the society consciously strives to select its members. The number of members is also limited to around 100.
In 2017 the GWG and the DGGMNT formed the Society for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology e. V. (GWMT) together.