2nd International Conference on the History of Physics
The 2nd International Conference on the History of Physics is organised in Pöllau, Austria, from 5-7 september 2016.
The Steering Committee welcomes you warmly to this second conference in a series that is organised on a worldwide basis. By bringing together historians of science, physicists, science museum staff, lecturers and teachers, as well as others interested in any aspect of the history of physics, it aims to raise the profile of the subject to its rightful place in physics education and research.
It is our firm belief that a study of the history of the subject can inspire and motivate today’s and future generations of physicists by informing them about the lives and work of great and influential scientists from previous generations and can also facilitate a better understanding of topics that present conceptual problems today just as they did to their discoverers. The main topic is “Invention, application and exploitation in the history of physics”.
The conference topic reflects the importance of history of physics, with the underlying thought that an extensive selection of themes on all aspects of physics history can provide a backdrop to wider discussions and exchange of related ideas. Submissions are invited and indeed a wide variety of concise reports will be presented orally and in the poster session.
Background
In June 2011, Peter M. Schuster, Chair EPS History Group, Denis Weaire, former Chair IOP History Group, and James Bennett of the Science Museum, Oxford, met in Lausanne and raised the possibility of launching a new series of conferences on the history of physics. The idea was inspired by the success in 2010 of the first European Symposium on the History of Physics organised by Peter M. Schuster and held in Pöllau, Austria. The inaugural conference, held at Trinity College Cambridge on September 4–5, 2014, featured eight invited speakers, fifteen contributed talks and thirty poster presentations.
