Séminaire – Histoire et philosophie de la physique

Friedrich Steinle (Technische Universität Berlin)

« Color in the eighteenth century : Clashes between physics, practice, and mathematics. »
Knowledge about colour has been developed and used in all culture for millennia. To study the history of such knowledge requires a broad approach that encompasses a variety of forms of knowledge, of communities, and of modes and medias of transmission. Colour knowledge thus provides a significant case for studying the necessity, the merits and the limits of history of science. In my talk, I shall focus on 18th century Europe, a period in which different approaches to colour (physical theory, painter’s practices, and mathematical schemes) expanded their knowledge claims and came into conflict and sometimes fierce clash. These conflicts originated in different epistemic frameworks and practical goals, pursued in different groups of colour researchers. Studying their history is highly instructive for both enlightenment colour history and the historiographical challenges in doing history of knowledge.

Marvin Bolt (Technische Universität Berlin)

« Exploring telescope material culture : rewriting a popular mythology about lenses. »
When telescopes appear in a history of astronomy, one theme predictably arises : that lenses introduce colors into observations due to a defect that we associate with the term chromatic aberration. In particular, such histories draw attention to the correction of this defect via the invention of the achromatic lens (c. 1750). These narratives usually begin with a famous experiment by Isaac Newton and his erroneous conclusion, make note of a virtually unknown lawyer, Chester Moor Hall (who fixed Newton’s mistake and inadvertently revealed his ingenious solution), and inevitably point to the triumphal, patented accomplishment by John Dollond.
A story significantly different from the familiar, almost mythological tale emerges from the consideration of a simple question : what does « achromatic » mean ? By examining the material culture of surviving telescopes, we can suggest how “achromatic” lenses were first produced using simple algebra and already well-known experimental methods, and (just as significantly) how they were marketed. As we shall see, there was no such thing as an achromatic lens, and yet, there were, are, and will continue to be many stories about this innovation.

Lieu : Salle Malevitch 483A – bâtiment Condorcet