Call for applications 

International Laboratory for the History of Science on "THE MATERIAL CULTURE
OF CALCULATION"

to be held from June 19 to June 26, 1999  at the Max Planck Institute for the
History of Science, Berlin

*** Background ***

The International Laboratory for the History of Science is a joint project of
the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Cambridge MA,
the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, the Cohn Center,
Tel-Aviv University, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence,
and the Center for the History of Science, University of Athens. It brings
together junior and senior scholars for seven to ten days each year to
confront a focused and novel research topic through hands-on contact with
instruments, techniques, as well as the study of texts. Approximately a dozen
fellows meet with five or six senior scholars, experts in the topic to be
dealt with in the particular year, for an intensive seminar under the
sponsorship of one of the five participating institutions. The unity of the
International Laboratory is one of approach rather than of theme: a
workbench-like emphasis on the concrete sources of past scientific experience,
whether embedded in objects, mediated by techniques, or displayed in words and
images.

The goals of the International Laboratory for the History of Science are: (1)
to expand the preparation of younger scholars in the history of science and
related fields by exposure to sources and methods not ordinarily included in
graduate training; (2) to introduce techniques and perspectives from other
disciplines (e.g. archaeology, cognitive science, art history) as they
intersect with problems in the history of science; (3) to promote interactions
of junior and senior scholars around a focused topic across national
boundaries; and 
(4) to stimulate research on new areas in the history of science by
concentrating scholarly attention on them by means of the seminars. 

The first International Laboratory for the History of Science took place in
June 1998. It was organized by the Dibner Institute for the History of Science
and Technology, Cambridge (MA) and worked on "Hidden Entities and the Devices
that Manipulate them in the 18th and 19th Centuries". The second Laboratory
will be hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in
Berlin, Germany. Junior scholars of all nationalities are herewith invited to
apply for participation.

*** The Material Culture of Calculation ***

The second meeting of the International Laboratory will examine the historical
development of ethnomathematics and of abstract arithmetic from
proto-arithmetical practices in rural communities to sophisticated
arithmetical techniques used by ancient, medieval and early modern
administrators and merchants. For each level of historical achievements the
work will be focused on the relation between material tools and operations by
means of which calculations were actually performed, on the one hand, and the
cognitive preconditions and outcomes of their application in the institutional
contexts of economy and public administration, on the other hand. Arithmetical
techniques will be studied in particular, that are known from 

- the Far East,
- Mesopotamia before and after the invention of the sexagesimal positional
system,
- Europe during the transition from the use of Roman numerals to the
introduction of the Indo-Arabic decimal positional system, and
- pre-Columbian cultures before and in the sequel of cultural exchange with
European colonizers. 

In some cases, the theoretical consequences of these technologies were
far-reaching. Nevertheless, the manipulations and tricks of the trade which
were once second nature to the communities of calculators have been largely
submerged in the history of exact sciences. The very fact that such techniques
were second nature to the experts who wielded them renders them effectively
invisible, especially to historians who have grown up with different
techniques for solving the same class of problems. There is a need for a
hands-on excavation of these arithmetical techniques in close conjunction with
careful examination of primary texts that document their former practice as
well as of devices and techniques still used today by indigenous people in
various cultures. At this meeting of the International Laboratory for the
History of Science, the preconditions and implications of arithmetical
techniques to be studied will be explored by actually practicing them and
comparing the outcomes. 

*** Host Institution of the second meeting:
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

*** Organizers:
Ubiratan D'Ambrosio and Peter Damerow 

*** Dates:
arrival: Saturday, June 19, 1999; departure: Sunday, June 26, 1999

*** Location:
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Wilhelmstr. 44, 10117 Berlin,
Germany

*** Language:
the working language of the Laboratory will be English.

*** Senior Scholars:
Ubiratan D'Ambrosio (University of Campinas), Michael Closs (University of
Ottawa), Peter Damerow (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science),
Robert K. Englund (University of California at Los Angeles), Menso Folkerts
(University of Munchen), Joran Friberg (University of Goteborg), Frank Swetz
(Pennstate University)

*** Expenses:
The Institute will cover the costs for travel, food and lodging.

*** Applications:
Applications are open to scholars from all nationalities. As a rule,
applicants should have doctorates not older than seven years. Exceptions are
possible, but will need special justification. The following items are
requested for application: 

- a brief explanation why they want to attend and how the theme of the meeting
fits into their previous and planned work,
- one or more names and addresses of persons who are willing to write a letter
of recommendation,
- CV and publication list. 

Applications should be sent to: Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science, International Laboratory, Wilhelmstr. 44, 10117 Berlin, Germany 

NOT LATER THAN JANUARY 31, 1999.




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