Jürgen Renn (born 11 July 1956 in

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel. History Known earliest from 1186, the county of Mo ...

, West Germany) is a German historian of science, and since 1994 Director at the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowledg ...

in Berlin.

Short biography

Renn studied physics at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

and at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. In 1987 he received his Ph.D in

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The '' Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developme ...

from the Technical University of Berlin. Between 1986 and 1992 he worked as co-editor of the "Collected Papers of Albert Einstein" at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Between 1991 and 1996 he co-directed with Peter Damerow the "Arbeitsstelle Albert Einstein" at the

Max Planck Institute for Human Development The Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung) is an internationally renowned social science research organization. Located in Berlin, it was initiated in 1961 and officially began operations in 1963 ...

in Berlin. In 1993/94 he was visiting professor at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and at the ETH Zurich. Since its founding in 1994 Renn is a Director at the

(MPIWG) in Berlin. Renn holds an honorary professorship for the history of science at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

and at the

. Since 1998 he is Adjunct Professor for philosophy and physics at

. He is a member of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

, the International Academy for the History of Science, and serves on the executive boards of Berlin's

German Universities Excellence Initiative The Excellence Initiative of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the German Research Foundation (DFG) aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scholars at universities, to deepen cooperatio ...

'Topoi' and the Berliner Antike-Kolleg. His writings include ''The Formative Years of Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's Princeton Lectures'' (with

Hanoch Gutfreund use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...

, 2017) and ''The Road to Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's "The Foundation of General Relativity", Featuring the Original Manuscript of Einstein's Masterpiece'' (with Hanoch Gutfreund, Princeton University Press, 2017), and ''Einstein on Einstein: Autobiographical and Scientific Reflections'' (with Hanoch Gutfreund, Princeton University Press, 2020).

Scholarly activities

Research and fields of study

Renn's research projects focus on long-term developments of knowledge while taking into account processes of globalization. His research projects have dealt with the historical development of

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to object ...

from antiquity until the 20th century. In this context Renn also investigates the origins of mechanics in China, the transformation of ancient knowledge, and the exchange of knowledge between

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and China in the early modern period. A main focus of Renn's research is the history of modern

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, investigating the origin and development of

general theory of relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric scientific theory, theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current descr ...

, and of

quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...

in particular. Renn has written about the

Anthropocene The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. , neither the International Commissio ...

in relation to the history of knowledge and science.

Digitalization and open access

Since the emergence of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...

, Renn has advocated for free access to historical sources. In 1992 he launched an initiative with Peter Damerow and

Paolo Galluzzi Paolo Galluzzi (born 1942, Florence, Italy) is an Italian historian of science. Biography He has been director of the Museo Galileo – Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence, Italy since 1982. He held the chair of History of Science ...

to create a freely accessible “Galileo-Einstein Electronic Archive” online. With support from the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

, he later founded the ECHO-Initiative (European Cultural Heritage Online) to promote the study of historical sources online. Renn is one of the initiators of the

Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities is an international statement on open access and access to knowledge. It emerged from a conference on open access hosted in the Harnack House in Berlin by the Max ...

and launched the publishing platform Edition Open Access together with other colleagues from the Max Planck Society.

Exhibitions

Renn has organized several exhibitions in the area of the history of science, technology, and culture. He has co-organized several exhibitions, including: * 2005: ''Albert Einstein – Chief Engineer of the Universe'' in the course of the

World Year of Physics 2005 The year 2005 was named the World Year of Physics, also known as Einstein Year, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's " Miracle Year", in which he published four landmark papers, and the subsequent advances in the field of p ...

, Kronprinzenpalais (Berlin) * 2008: ''Max-Planck – Revolutionär wider Willen'',

German Museum of Technology (German Museum of Technology) in Berlin, Germany is a museum of science and technology, and exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The museum's main emphasis originally was on rail transport, but today it also features e ...

(Berlin) * 2010: ''Weltwissen – 300 Jahre Wissenschaften in Berlin'',

Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition building in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstra� ...

(Berlin) * 2013: ''Archimedes. Art and Invention Science'',

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums ( Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pal ...

(Rome)

Awards and fellowships

* 1988: Fellow, Fritz Thyssen Stiftung, Berlin * 1988: Fellow,

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche The National Research Council (Italian: ''Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR'') is the largest research council in Italy. As a public organisation, its remit is to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome. ...

, Rome * 1988–1989: Fellow,

Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is model ...

* 1992: Visiting scholar at the Forschungsschwerpunkt "Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Wissenschaftstheorie" der Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Neuvorhaben der Max Planck Society Berlin * 1998:

Pirelli Internetional Award The Pirelli Internetional Award was first offered in 1996, as the first international multimedia competition for the communication of science & technology conducted entirely on the internet. Since then, annual awards have been granted to the best m ...

* 2011: Premio Anassilaos International * 2014: Premio Internazionale "Marco & Alberto Ippolito", Sezione cultura * 2014: Francis-Bacon-Award * 2014: Max Planck Communitas Award * 2014: Neuenschwander Prize * 2018: Commandino Medal * 2023:

Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics The Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics is an award given each year since 2005 jointly by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics for "''outstanding scholarly achievements in the history of physics''". The prize ...

Selected publications

Books

The Road to Relativity
''The Road to Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's "The Foundation of General Relativity"]. Princeton:

, 2015 (with Hanoch Gutfreund).
''Relativity: the Special and the General Theory, 100th Anniversary Edition''
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015 (with Hanoch Gutfreund). * ''Wissensgeschichte der Architektur''. Vol. 1

vol. 2

vol. 3

Studies 3, 4, 5: Max Planck Research Library in the History and Development of Knowledge. Berlin, Edition Open Access, 2014 (with Wilhelm Osthues, Hermann Schlimme).

Berlin: Edition Open Access, 2012 (with Peter Damerow). * ttp://www.edition-open-access.de/studies/1/ ''The Globalization of Knowledge in History'' Berlin: Edition Open Access, 2012
''Boltzmann und das Ende des mechanistischen Weltbildes''
(Wiener Vorlesungen, Band 130). Wien: Picus Verlag, 2007.
''The Genesis of General Relativity''
4 Vols. (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 250): vol. 1 and 2 (Einstein's Zurich Notebooks), vol. 3 (Gravitation in the twilight of classical physics – between mechanics, field theory and astronomy), vol. 4 (Gravitation in the twilight of classical physics – the promise of mathematics). Dordrecht: Springer, 2007.
''Positioning the History of Science''
(Boston Studies in the Philosophie of Science, vol. 248). Dordrecht: Springer, 2007 (with Kostas Gavroglu).
''Albert Einstein – Ingenieur des Universums''
3 Vols. Berlin: Wiley-VCH, 2006
''Auf den Schultern von Riesen und Zwergen: Einsteins unvollendete Revolution''
Berlin: Wiley-VCH, 2006.

Articles and book chapters

"From the History of Science to the History of Knowledge – and Back,"
in ''Centaurus'' 57(1), 2015: 35–53. * "Einstein’s Copernican Revolution," i
''The Cambridge Companion to Einstein''
edited by Michel Janssen und Christoph Lehner, 38–71. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (with Robert Rynasiewicz).
"The Globalization of Knowledge in History and its Normative Challenges,"
in ''Rechtsgeschichte/Legal History'' 2014 (22):52–60. * "Beyond Editions: Historical Sources in the Digital Age," i
''Internationalität und Interdisziplinarität der Editionswissenschaft''
edited by Michael Stolz, and Yen-Chun Chen, 9–28. editio / Beihefte 38. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014 * "Learning from Kushim about the Origin of Writing and Farming," in
''Grain , Vapor , Ray. Textures of the Anthropocene''
edited by Katrin Klingan, Ashkan Sepahvand, Christoph Rosol und Bernd M. Scherer, 241–259. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2015. * "Schrödinger and the Genesis of Wave Mechanics," in
''Erwin Schrödinger – 50 Years After''
edited by Wolfgang L. Reiter und Jakob Yngvason, 9–36. Zurich: European Mathematical Society, 2013. * "The Emergence of Statistical Mechanics," i
''The Oxford Handbook of the History of Physics''
edited by Jed Z. Buchwald und Robert Fox, 765–788. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (with Olivier Darrigol). * "The Transformation of Ancient Mechanics into a Mechanistic World View," i
''Transformationen antiker Wissenschaften''
edited by Georg Toepfer und Hartmut Böhme, 243–267
Transformationen der Antike
Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010 (with Peter Damerow).

References

Video

Video on Jürgen Renn's research (Latest Thinking)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renn, Jurgen Living people Historians of science 20th-century German historians 20th-century German physicists 1956 births 21st-century German physicists Studienstiftung alumni Free University of Berlin alumni Technical University of Berlin alumni Max Planck Institute directors Boston University faculty Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin