Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker

Professor of Philosophy, University of Hamburg

The Relevance of Science

In his series of lectures, Weizsäcker presents an account of the history of scientific civilisation. His analysis does not rely on sociology, economics, or politics, but on the examination of the truth of science, focusing on its meanings, limitations, and ambiguities. Discussing the two roots of traditional Christian views on creation, the Platonic and the biblical, he explains their connection and modern transformation. He also gives an account of mythology, surveying cosmogonical myths and their relationship to science.

Biography

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker was born on 28 June 1912 in Kiel, Germany. A physicist and philosopher, he was a member of Heisenberg’s team during the Second World War. From 1939 to 1942, he worked on the German nuclear weapons programme as a member of the ‘Uranium Club’. Professor of Theoretical Physics in Strasbourg, his laboratory was captured by American forces in 1944, and he was interned the following year. Repatriated in 1946, he was made Director of Theoretical Physics at the Max Planck Institute. In 1957, he became Professor of Philosophy at Hamburg, retiring in 1969.

Awarded the Max Planck Medal in 1957 and the Erasmus Prize in 1969, he founded and directed the Max Planck Institute for Social Science in Starnberg in 1970. He belonged to the group of eighteen physicists who declared their disapproval of nuclear weapons. Notable publications include Zum Weltbild der Physik (1943), Geschichte der Natur (1948), Die Tragweite der Wissenschaft (1964), Die Einheit der Natur (1971), Fragen zur Weltpolitik (1975), Die Zukunft des Friedens in Europa (1990), and Zeit und Wissen (1992).

Published/Archival Resources

Published as The Relevance of Science.