Short History(ies) of Humankind | How do we tell of our origins?
Short History(ies) of Humankind | How do we tell of our origins?
5 Sep, Tue, 7:00 pm
Discussion Series: The Power of Origin
FREE ADMISSION
Guests:
Susanne Wedlich is a freelance science journalist specializing in biology. At Riffreporter, she writes in the series Schleimwelten about "Pop Culture and Ecology. Das Buch vom Schleim" (2019) is published in the Naturkunden series by Matthes und Seitz Berlin.
Prof. Dr. Nils Güttler is a historian of science and researches and teaches at the University of Vienna. His books "The Cosmos. Maps and Their Users in 19th Century Plant Geography" (2014) and "After Nature. Environment and History at Frankfurt Airport" (2023) are published by Wallstein Verlag.
Moderator:
Dr. Solvejg Nitzke, literary scholar, Dresden University of Technology.
Grand narratives are booming. Yuval Harari's bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is perhaps the most prominent example of this trend. The story of humanity is told as continuous progress, with people still finding solutions to their problems. Harari's success speaks to the fact that he has struck a nerve with this kind of historical narrative. It conveys: Things will go on. In view of man-made global crises, this relieves the acute pressure to act. Is science allowed to use such narrative strategies to communicate its findings to the people? Who is allowed to pass off which stories as 'scientific' facts? How much narrative can history and science tolerate? The science journalist Susanne Wedlich and the historian of science Nils Güttler work in a dialogue between the disciplines and discuss which stories from the primordial slime to the superman are contained in the "little stories of mankind". What problems arise for science and its communication? How political is popular popscience? And how can you tell if a story is plausible?
