Presentations

2007

“From Science to Technoscience: The Formation of the Disciplinary Identity of Chemistry in the 19th Century”, 6th International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, 28 August - 1 September 2007.

“Evidence-based Philosophy of Science”, 1st Biennal Conference of the Society for the Philosophy of Science and Engineering Practice, Twente University, Netherlands, 23-25 August 2007

“The Impact of Nanotechnologies on Developing Countries”, Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Technology, Charleston, SC, USA, 8-11 July 2007.

“Social and Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies”, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, 22 June 2007.

"Social and Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies“, University of Sofia, Bulgaria, 22 May 2007.

“From Nano-Convergence to NBIC-Convergence: ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’”, Workshop on Deliberating Future Technologies, University of Basel, Switzerland, 5 May 2007.

“Social and Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies”, Technical University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 18 April 2007.

“The Notion of Nature in Chemistry”, Technical University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 17 April 2007.

“The Impact of Nanotechnologies on Developing Countries”, 8th Asian Bio-Ethics Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 19 March 2007.

“Social and Ethical Issues of Nanotechnologies”, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia, 5 March 2007.

“Cultural Diversity in Nanotechnology Ethics”, Department of Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia, 28 February 2007.

“Cultural Diversity in Nanotechnology Ethics”, Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 9 February 2007.

2006

“Stuff and Form: An Anti-metaphysical Analysis”, Workshop on Stuff: The Nature of Chemical Substances, University of Leuven, Belgium, 26 July 2006 .

“‘Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology’: Meanings, Interest Groups and Social Dynamics”, Workshop on Visions of Nanotechnology, Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen, Germany, 24 June 2006.

“The Dynamics of Nanotechnology Visions”, Twente University, Netherlands, 4 May 2006.

“Philosophy and Ethics of Emerging Technologies”, Technical University Eindhoven, Netherlands, 3 May 2006.

“Metaphysical Orientation and its Price: The Notion of Nature in Nanotechnology Reports”, Workshop on The Challenge of Nanotechnology to Ontology, Ethics, and Society, University of Padova, Italy, 10 March 2006.

2005

"From the phenomenological form of crystals to the mathematical theory of symmetry: a history of the crystallographic concept of form”, Form als Prinzip, Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, 15-16 December 2005

“Identifying Ethical Issues of Nanotechnology Amidst the Nano Hype”, UNESCO Expert Group on Nanotechnology and Ethics, UNESCO, Paris, France, 5-7 December, 2005.

“Communicating 'Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology'”, Nano-Workshop, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, 4 November 2005.

“Realism and Atomism in 19th-Century Chemistry”, 2nd Annual German-American Frontiers of Humanities Symposium, University of Hamburg, Germany, 20-23 October 2005.

“Providing Metaphysical Sense and Orientation: Nature-Chemistry Relations in the Popular Historiography of Chemistry”, Chemistry, Technology and Society (5th European Conference on the History of Chemistry), Lisbon, Portugal, 6-10 September 2005.

“Self-Assembly versus Atom-by-Atom-Manipulation: Conflicting Technological Paradigms in Nanotechnology”, 9th International Symposium on the Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA, 7-11 August 2005.

“Cultural Conditions for Perceiving Ethical Issues of Nanotechnology”, German-Chinese Symposium on Ethics of Science and Technology, Dalian, China, 17-22 July 2005.

“Identifying Ethical Issues of Nanotechnology Amidst the Nano Hype”, UNESCO Expert Group on Nanotechnology and Ethics, UNESCO, Paris, France, 5-6 July, 2005.

“Making Molecules Look Like Machines”, Imaging NanoSpace, ZIF, University of Bielefeld, Germany, 11-14 May 2005.

“Visionary Alliances in the American Debate on ‘Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology’”, Institute for Science and Technology Studies (IWT), University of Bielefeld, Germany, 9 May 2005.

“Interdisciplinarity in Nanoscale Research”, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, 18 April 2005.

“Visionary Alliances in the American Debate on ‘Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology’”, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe, Germany, 11 April 2005.

“The Visual Image of Chemistry”, Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 23 March 2005 (with Tami Spector).

“The Twisted History of Supramolecular Chemistry: Or, why relabeling supramolecular chemistry ‘nano’ is both justified and welcome”, Nano Before There Was Nano: Historical Perspectives on the Constituent Communities of Nanotechnology, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 18-19 March 2005.

“The Visual Image of Science”, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 16 March 2005.

“Ethics in the Age of Fundamentalism: Vacillating Between Nano-Salvation and Nano-Armageddon”, Nano-Ethics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA, 2-6 March 2005.

“Chemistry in Art: A Virtual Exhibition”, Aethetics of Science, ZIF, University of Bielefeld, Germany, 17-19 February 2005.

“Experimental versus Theoretical Part/Whole Relations in Chemistry”, Annual Conference of the Société de philosophie des sciences, Paris, France, 21-22 January 2005.

“Interdisciplinarity and Multidisciplinarity in Nanoscale Research”, Nanotechnology in Science, Economy and Society, University of Marburg, Germany, 13-15 January 2005.

“The History of the Notion of Nature in Chemistry”, University of Hamburg, Germany, 12 January 2005.

2004

“Techno-Scientism as Religion: Transhumanism”, University of Darmstadt, Germany, 3 November 2004.

“Teaching Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology to Engineering Students”, International Conference on Engineering Education, University of Florida, Gainesville FL, USA, 16-21 October 2004 (with Rosalyn Berne).

“The Visual Image of Chemistry”, The Public Image of Chemistry, Conference of the IUHPS/DHS Commission on the History of Modern Chemistry, Paris, France, 17-18 September 2004 (with Tami Spector).

“The History of the Notion of Nature in Chemistry”, University of Darmstadt, Germany, 15 June 2004.

“Philosophical Topics of Chemistry”, University of Sofia, Bulgaria, 28 May 2004.

“Interdisciplinarity in Nanoscale Research”, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 14 April 2004.

“Ethics of Chemical Synthesis”, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 24 March 2004.

“The Aesthetic Origin of Nanotechnology in Supramolecular Chemistry: Gestalt Switch in Molecular Image Perception”, Imaging and Imagining NanoScience and Engineering”, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 3-7 March 2004.

“Ethics of Chemical Synthesis”, Department of Philosophy, University of San Francisco, USA, 6 February 2004.

“Interdisciplinarity in Nanoscale Research”, Department of Chemistry, University of San Francisco, USA, 5 February 2004.

2003

“Patterns of Interdisciplinarity in Nanoscale Research”, Nanoelectronics Symposium, Nanocenter, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 21 November 2003 (poster presentation).

“Multidisciplinarity, Interdisciplinarity, and Patterns of Collaborations in Nanoscale Research”, Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science (4S), Atlanta, GA, USA, 16-19 October, 2003.

“Interdisciplinary Issues of Nanoscale Research, II”, Discovering the Nanoscale II, University of Darmstadt, Germany, 9-12 October 2003.

“Zeitbewußtsein, Ökologie und Ethik”, University of Darmstadt, Germany, 10 July 2003.

“Interdisciplinarity versus Reductionism: An Analysis of Four Debates in the Life Sciences”, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 15 April 2003.

“Interdisciplinary Issues of Nanoscale Research, I”, Discovering the Nanoscale I, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, 20-23 March 2003.

2002

“Natural versus Chemical: A Conceptual Clarification”, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 4 December 2002.

“Philosophy of Chemistry: From Infancy towards Maturity”, Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry, Washington DC, USA, 4-8 August 2002 (opening lecture, invited)

“Concepts of Nature in Modern Drug Research”, Technology – System – Responsibility, University of Cottbus, Germany, 10-13 July 2002 (invited).

“Interdisciplinarity and Reductionism in the Life Sciences: A Comparison of Four Controversies”, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 3 July 2002.

“Natural versus Chemical: A Conceptual Clarification”, University of Darmstadt, Germany, 18 June 2002.

“Ethics of Technology”, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 27 March 2002.

2001

“Ethics of Chemical Synthesis”, Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry, Loughborough, U.K., 6-9 August 2001 (invited).

2000

“The Impact of Instrumentation on Chemical Species Identity”, From the Test-Tube to the Autoanalyzer: The Development of Chemical Instrumentation in the 20th Century, Workshop of the International Commission for the History of Modern Chemistry, Science Museum, London, U.K., 10-12 August 2000 (invited).

“The Role of Nature in Conceiving and Judging Chemical Manipulation of Matter”, Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry, Poznan, Poland, 7-10 August 2000 (invited).

“Why do Chemists Perform Experiments?”, Symposium on the Philosophy of Chemistry, London School of Economics, Center for Philosophy of the Natural and Social Sciences, London, UK, 13 May 2000 (invited).

“Coping with the Growth of Knowledge: Challenges to the Chemical Information Management”, European Media Lab, University of Heidelberg, Germany, 17 April 2000.

1999

“Ethics of Chemical Research”, University of Freiburg, Germany, 26 October 1999.

1998

“Philosophical De-materialization of the World”, Materiality, Immateriality, and Archeology of Materials, Workshop of the Lucerna Foundation, University of Luzern, Switzerland, 28-30 September 1998 (invited).

“Epistemology of Material Properties”, Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston/MA, USA, 10-17 August 1998.

“Population Dynamics in the Chemical Zoo: Dynamics, Aims, and Methods of Synthetic Chemistry”, University of Bielefeld, Germany, 20 January 1998.

1997

“Aesthetic Potentials of Chemical Products: Substances, Molecules and Molecular Models”, College at Holzen, Germany, 12 December 1997.

“On Striving for Pleasure”, Third International Congress of the Society for Analytical Philosophy (GAP 3), University of Munic, Germany, 15-18 September 1997.

“Problems of Physical Reduction: the Chemical Core of Chemistry”, Technical University of Munich, Germany, 17 June 1997.

“Challenging Standard Distinctions between Science and Technology: The Case of Preparative Chemistry”, Advances in the Philosophy of Technology, Annual Conference of the Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany, 20-24 May 1997 (invited).

“Aesthetic Potentials of Chemical Products: Substances, Molecules and Molecular Models”, The Deviation via Art, Workshop of the Program ‘Chemistry and Humanities’ of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Wolfenbüttel Library, Germany, 1-2 March 1997 (invited).

“Population Dynamics in the Chemical Zoo. Dynamics, Aims, and Methods of Synthetic Chemistry”, University of Heidelberg, Germany, 5 February 1997.

1996

“Chemistry’s Change of the Material World: Philosophical Challenges”, 17th German Congress for Philosophy, University of Leipzig, Germany, 23-27 September 1996.

“Physical Chemistry - Neither Fish nor Fowl?”, Third Erlenmeyer-Colloquy for the Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Germany, 16-17 September 1996 (invited).

1995

“How to do Descriptive Methodology? Meta-methodological Reflections on the Investigation of Methodological Pecularities of Scientific Disciplines”, Annual Conference of the German-Hungarian Society for Philosophy, Fellbach, Germany, 20-21 November 1995, (invited).

“Zeitbewußtsein und Ökologie”, Zeit für Kinder, Kinderaktionstage Karlsruhe, Volkshochschule Karlsruhe, Germany, 28 September 1995 (invited).

“Peculiarities of Chemistry”, Tenth International Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Florence, Italy, 19-25 August 1995.

“Problems of Physical Reduction: the Chemical Core of Chemistry”, International Workshop on Chemistry and Reduction, University of Konstanz, Germany, 15-17 June 1995 (invited).

1994

“Philosophical Reflections on the Notion of Time”, Colloquy on Body - Art - Velocity, Artaque Karlsruhe, Germany, 8 December 1994 (invited).

“On the Semiotics of the Chemical Sign Language: Representation of Dynamical Relations by Static Means”, Second Erlenmeyer-Colloquy on Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Germany, 11-12 November 1994 (invited).

“On the Environmental Relevance of a Philosophy of Substances”, International Conference on Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 16-17 April 1994.

“Philosophical De-materialization of the World”, International Conference on Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 16-17 April 1994.

1993

“The Role of Experiments in Chemistry”, First Erlenmeyer-Colloquy on Philosophy of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Germany, November 1993 (invited).

“Environmental Chemistry for Engineers: A transdisciplinary approach”, Conference of the Schools of Engineering of the Co-operative Universities of Baden-Württemberg, Co-operative University of Karlsruhe, Germany, October 1993 (invited).

“Experimentalism in Chemistry”, Workshop on Philosophy of Chemistry, Technical University of Coburg, Germany, 19 June 1993 (invited).