Hat Energie Geschichte?

In the organizer's words:

At first glance, energy is a natural fact that is not subject to the same social changes as other economic variables: While the price on our electricity bill fluctuates depending on social events, energy consumption itself remains unaffected. The energy capacity of the new gas-fired power plants planned by the German government is easy to predict; the cost at which they will ultimately be built is not. Energy appears to be a natural variable and limit of the economy. At second glance, however, it is not clear in what sense energy is 'natural': humans have no natural sense of energy - the things we call energies today are phenomenologically far too different to be experienced as the same (think of a waterfall, solar radiation and a lump of coal). Furthermore, human societies have long warmed themselves, fed themselves and moved around without being able to subsume all these activities under a quantified concept of work. So there is also a historical moment in energy: how is it that societies are beginning to understand their environment in terms of the ability to work?

In her lecture, Junior Professor Dr. Daniela Ruß will examine the historical connection between global economic emancipation and the development of an energy economy.

More information on the event series and booking can also be found at: https://www.uni-leipzig.de/transfer/wissen-vermitteln/seniorenakademie/kolleg