Olaf Breidbach

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Olaf Breidbach (born November 8, 1957 in Monheim am Rhein ; † July 22, 2014 in Jena ) was a German philosopher , biologist and historian of science with a focus on the history of brain research , the theory of the history of science, systems theory, and scientific culture 1800, questions of the popularization of science and the perception of science as well as natural philosophy.

education

After attending the Altenberg-Blecher ( Odenthal ) elementary school and the Freiherr vom Stein -Gymnasium in Leverkusen , Breidbach studied art history , philosophy , biology and paleontology at the University of Bonn . In 1982, he was with a thesis on The Organic in Hegel's thought to Dr. phil. and in 1984 with a thesis on the biology of the house billy goat for Dr. rer. nat. PhD . 1985–1987 he worked as a Liebig scholarship holder at the Institute for Developmental Physiology at the University of Cologne on the metamorphosis of the beetle brain , and in 1987 he set up a working group on neuronal development at the University of Bonn. 1988–1994 he was a member of the SPP “Structure and Dynamics of Neuronal Structures” of the DFG . In 1989 he qualified as a professor in zoology , in 1990 he received the research award of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for a project on neuroinformatics and work on issues relating to the development and evolution of the nervous system . In 1994 he was a research assistant at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bochum , subject area neural networks , structural dynamics and structural evolution.

function

Since 1995 Olaf Breidbach has held the chair for the history of natural sciences at the University of Jena, director of the institute for the history of medicine, natural sciences and technology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and director of the " Ernst-Haeckel-Haus " museum and head of the Theoretical Biology department at the University's Biological-Pharmaceutical Faculty. 1999–2002 he was also director of the theory laboratory - research center for structural dynamics and structural evolution. 1995–2005 he was a liaison professor of the German National Academic Foundation, 1998–2007 board member and 2007–2010 spokesperson for the special research area “ Weimar - Jena . Culture around 1800 ”, since 2004 member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina as well as corresponding member of the mathematical / physical class of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen . Breidbach was also a member of the advisory board of the Central European Institute for Philosophy (SIF) in Prague. Since 2013 he has been a full member of the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig.

Editorships

  • Theory in Biosciences (Springer, Heidelberg), Journal for European Scientific Culture (Steiner, Stuttgart), Neural Aesthetics (Springer, Vienna), the Ernst Haeckel House Studies series. Monographs on the History of Biosciences and Medicine (VWB, Berlin), the Scientific Culture series around 1900 (Steiner, Stuttgart),
  • Co-editor of the series Theory of Biosciences (VWB, Berlin), Science and Religion (LIT, Stuttgart) and the edition program Biosciences of the Historia Scientiarum (Olms, Hildesheim),
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Yearbook for the History and Theory of Biology (VWB, Berlin); Cultural poetics (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht); Scientia poetica (Max Niemeyer), Rudolstädter Naturhistorische Schriften (Hahndruck Kranichfeld); Estetica (Associazione Italiana per gli Studi di Estetica), Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology (Universitätsverlag Göttingen); arte e critica (Mimesis, Milan) and the book series Theatrum scientiarum (de Gruyter). Archives for the Philosophy and History of Soft Computing : Member of the Editorial Board.

Publications (selection)

Single publications
  • The organic in Hegel's thought. Study of natural philosophy and biology around 1800 . Wurzburg 1982.
  • The conclusion by analogy in the natural sciences or the fiction of the real. Remarks on the mysticism of the inductive . Frankfurt am Main 1987.
  • Expeditions inside the head. Of nerve cells, mind and soul . Stuttgart 1993.
  • The materialization of the ego. On the history of brain research in the 19th and 20th centuries . Frankfurt am Main 1997.
  • Interpretations. On the philosophical dimension of internal representation . Weilerswist 2001.
  • Goethe's doctrine of metamorphosis . Munich 2005.
  • New orders of knowledge. How cultural knowledge emerges from information and news. Frankfurt am Main 2008.
  • Goethe's understanding of nature. Munich 2011.
  • Radical historicization. Cultural self-insurance in post-Darwinism. Berlin 2011.
  • Neural aesthetics. On the morpho-logic of looking. Munich 2013.
  • History of Natural Sciences , Volume I: The Ancient World , Berlin 2015.
Community publications
  • with Federico Vercellone: Thinking outlook. On the approach of a morphology of the immediate . Munich 2011.
  • with Kerrin Klinger and Matthias Müller: Camera Obscura. The darkroom in its historical development . Stuttgart 2013.
Editions
  • with Ernst Florey : The brain - organ of the soul? On the history of ideas in neurobiology . Berlin 1993.
  • with Paul Ziche: Natural sciences around 1800. Scientific culture in Jena-Weimar . Weimar 2001.
  • with Federico Vercellone: Concepts of Morphology. Mimesis Edizioni. Milano, Udine 2008.
  • with Peter Heering, Matthias Müller and Heiko Weber: Experimental history of science . Munich 2010.
  • with Hartmut Rosa : Laboratory Enlightenment. Munich 2010.
  • with Kerrin Klinger and André Karliczek: nature in the box. Photograph, silhouette, drawing and self-printing of nature around 1800 . Jena 2010.
  • with Roswitha Burwick: Physics around 1800. Art, science or philosophy? , Munich 2012.
  • Materials volume "Dynamic Physics" . Munich 2013.
  • with Klaus Manger and Georg Schmidt : Weimar-Jena event. Culture around 1800 . Paderborn 2015.

literature

  • Thomas Bach: [Obituary for] Olaf Breidbach (1957–2014) . In: Sudhoff's archive . Journal for the History of Science 98, No. 2, 2014, pp. 131–139.
  • Steffen Siegel: On the death of Olaf Breidbach - a master of unexpected connections. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , online edition of July 30, 2014.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steffen Siegel: On the death of Olaf Breidbach - A master of unexpected connections . In: FAZ.net , July 30, 2014, accessed on July 30, 2014.
  2. ^ Foundation scholarship fund of the Verband der Chemischen Industrie e. V.
personal data
SURNAME Breidbach, Olaf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German science historian and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Monheim am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 2014
Place of death Jena