Zur Position von Mathematik und Mathematiker/innen in der Industrieforschung vor 1945 (2007)
Tobies, Renate (Author)
NTM: Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Technik und Medizin
Volume: 15
Pages: 241--270
Publication date: 2007
Language: German
The paper considers the status of mathematics and mathematicians in German industrial labs from the 1920s. As an example, we take the use of statistical methods in the electrical engineering company Osram in Berlin. In the United States, the former employee and member of a special mathematical research department of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Walter Andrew Shewhart (1891--1967), is regarded as the father of statistical quality control. Although the first textbook on applications of mathematical statistics to problems of mass production was published in Germany in 1927, Germany was nevertheless generally considered as conservative in using statistical methods until 1945. In the past we have known little about whether and how these methods were actually applied in German industry before 1945. The present analysis is based on laboratory reports and other sources. It shows that in this field of research there was a close cooperation between industry and university, which was cut off in the mid 1930s due to the Nazi regime. Furthermore, we discovered that female researchers -- such as Iris Runge (1888--1966) in the Osram company -- could as individuals play a decisive role as mathematical consultants. The position of Runge will be described and compared with the position of mathematical researchers in other industrial labs.
...MoreDescription Discussion of the relationship between university and industry and the role of women researchers after 1920, focusing on the use of statistics in quality control.
Similar Citations
Book
Charles E. McClelland;
(2016)
Berlin, the Mother of All Research Universities: 1860–1918
Book
Renate Tobies;
Helmut Neunzert;
(2012)
Iris Runge: A Life at the Crossroads of Mathematics, Science, and Industry
Article
McLarty, Colin;
(2005)
Poor Taste as a Bright Character Trait: Emmy Noether and the Independent Social Democratic Party
Article
Borroni, Claudio Giovanni;
(2009)
Understanding Karl Pearson's Influence on Italian Statistics in the Early 20th Century
Chapter
Claire G. Jones;
(2018)
‘All Your Dreadful Scientific Things’: Women, Science and Education in the Years Around 1900
Book
Goschler, Constantin;
(2000)
Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit in Berlin, 1870-1930
Chapter
Nikolay Milkov;
(2013)
Carl Hempel: Whose Philosopher?
Chapter
(2013)
Dubislav and Bolzano
Chapter
Burchardt, Lothar;
(2005)
The School of Oriental Languages at the University of Berlin---Forging the Cadres of German Imperialism?
Book
Timm, Annette;
(2010)
The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin
Chapter
Erich H. Reck;
(2013)
Hempel, Carnap, and the Covering Law Model
Book
Biro, Matthew;
(2009)
The Dada Cyborg: Visions of the New Human in Weimar Berlin
Article
Katherine Boyce-Jacino;
(2017)
Space and Spectacle in the Berlin Planetarium, 1926–1930
Chapter
Andreas Kamlah;
(2013)
Everybody Has the Right to Do What He Wants: Hans Reichenbach’s Volitionism and Its Historical Roots
Chapter
Flavia Padovani;
(2013)
Genidentity and Topology of Time: Kurt Lewin and Hans Reichenbach
Chapter
Temilo Zantwijk;
(2013)
“Demonstrations”, Not “Deductions”: Walter Dubislav on Transcendental Arguments
Chapter
Christian Thiel;
(2013)
Dubislav and Classical Monadic Quantificational Logic
Chapter
Volker Peckhaus;
(2013)
The Third Man: Kurt Grelling and the Berlin Group
Chapter
Michael Stöltzner;
(2013)
Did Reichenbach Anticipate Quantum Mechanical Indeterminism?
Chapter
Arkadiusz Chrudzimski;
(2013)
Gestalt, Equivalency, and Functional Dependency: Kurt Grelling’s Formal Ontology
Be the first to comment!