Ernst Homburg (E.) - Maastricht University

Dr Ernst Homburg (E.)

Expertise

Ernst Homburg is professor of History of Science and Technology at the University of Maastricht. After his chemistry studies in Amsterdam, he graduated in history at the University of Nijmegen with a dissertation on the rise of the German chemical profession, 1790-1850. He was one of the editors of two book series on the History of Technology in the Netherlands in the 19th resp. the 20th century, and one of the chemistry editors of the 8-volume New Dictionary of Scientific Biography (Thomson Gale, 2007). His most recent books are on the history of one of the largest European fertiliser companies: Groeien door kunstmest: DSM Agro 1929-2004 (Hilversum: Verloren 2004) and on the 150 years old history of a Belgium-based chemistry major: Solvay: History of a Multinational Family Firm (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), together with Kenneth Bertrams and Nicolas Coupain.

Professional career history

Name: Ernst Homburg
Date of Birth: 2 August 1952
Place of Birth: Venlo, The Netherlands
Nationality: Dutch
Married to: Marijke Ruiter, psychologist
Present adress: Parallelweg 9, 6245 JL Eijsden, The Netherlands

Education

1964-1969 Protestant Lyceum, Eindhoven.

1969 (June) final exams (cum laude).

1969-1978 studied Chemistry, with Philosophy, Mathematics, and Science & Society at the Free University in Amsterdam, and at the Municipal University of Amsterdam. (also took part in the four semester course in the History of Science given by Professor R. Hooykaas, and in the one semester course in the History of Science by Professor M. Jammer).

1978 (October) Drs. (= M.Sc.) in Chemistry, with Mathematics and Science & Society, Municipal University, Amsterdam, with an M.Sc. thesis on the Disproportionation of Propene (Dept. of Chemical Engineering, research in Heterogeneous Catalysis) (cum laude).

1993 (20 January) Dr. in History, University of Nijmegen on a disseration on: ‘Chemiker’ by Occupation: The Rise of the Industrial Chemist and Polytechnic Education in Germany (1790-1850) (in Dutch) (supervisor: Dr. P.M.M. Klep, Professor of Economic and Social History, University of Nijmegen).

Professional Career

1972 and teaching assistant and laboratory assistant at the Chemical Laboratory of the Free
1975-1978 University, Amsterdam (departments of Organic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry).

1978-1979 assistant professor Pharmacy & Society (50%), and Mathematics (50%), at the Department of Pharmacy, at the University of Groningen.

1979-1983 research fellow in the History of Science in the Chemistry Department of the University of Nijmegen (research on the history of the dye industry in the 19th century, supervisor Dr. W.J. Hornix).

1984-1993 assistant professor Chemistry & Society in the Chemistry Department of the University of Nijmegen.

1989-1993 (also) part-time assistant professor History of Technology in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Technical University at Eindhoven.

1993-2001 assistant professor History of Technology in the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Maastricht.

2002-present professor History of Science and Technology in the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Maastricht, on a personal chair instituted by the Stichting Historie der Techniek (SHT) (Foundation for the History of Technology).

Services to the Profession

1976-1978 student member of the National Council for Chemical Research and Education (Academische Raad, Sectie Scheikunde)

1980 co-organiser of a Summer School on Science & Society, at the International School of Philosophy, Leusden, The Netherlands

1981-1986 member of a national study group on the Science of Science (Groep Wetenschapsonderzoekers, SISWO, Amsterdam).

1982-1988 member of a national study group on the History of Technology (Landelijke Werkgroep Techniekgeschiedenis).

1989-2003 co-editor of two book series on the History of Technology of the Netherlands; one on the 19th century (6 volumes), and one on the 20th century (7 volumes). The 13th and last volume appeared in November 2003.

1992-1995 member of the Council of the Dutch History of Science Society, GeWiNa.

1993-1997 member of the Steering Committee of a project of the European Science Foundation on the History of Chemistry 1789-1939, and one of the organisers of a series of workshops on Strategies of Chemical Industrialisation (1789-1850; 1850-1914; 1900-1939).

1995-1998 President of the Dutch History of Science Society, GeWiNa.

1995 co-organisor of the 13th Benelux-Conference on the History of Science, 5-7 October, Echternach, Luxemburg.

1996-present member of the Council of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry

1997 (historical) expert at the Court of Justice at Rotterdam in the case Kingdom of the Netherlands vs. Wed. Hondorff, Block & Braat (white lead pollution).

1997-2007 member of the Executive Comittee of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC).

1997-present member of the Advisory Board of the Commission on the History of Modern Chemistry (International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science); since 2013 treasurer.

1998 co-organisor of the 14th Benelux-Conference on the History of Science, October, Mechelen, Belgium.

1998-2010 chairman of the Historical Group of the Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV).

1999 (historical) expert at the Court of Justice in Amsterdam in the case Amfert vs. DSM Agro (heavy metals pollution by sulphuric acid production).

1999-2004 member of the Editorial Board of NEHA Jaarboek voor Economische, Bedrijfs- en Techniekgeschiedenis.

2000-2010 book reviews editor of Ambix. The Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry.

2000-present member of the Editorial Board of Studies over de Sociaal-Economische Geschiedenis van Limburg.

2001 co-organisor (with Christoph Meinel) of a symposium on ‘Shifting Centers and Emerging Peripheries: Global Patterns in Twentieth Century Chemistry’, as part of the XXI. International Congress of the History of Science, Mexico City, 8-14 July 2001.

2001-2003 member of the Working Party on the History of Chemistry of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS).

2003 co-organisor and chairman of the International Programme Committee of the 4th. International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Budapest, 3-7 September 2003.

2003-2009 chairman of the Working Party on the History of Chemistry of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS; previously FECS).

2005-2010 co-editor of the Dutch history of science journal Gewina (since 2008 Studium).

2005-2007 co-editor and chair of the chemistry section of the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

2005 co-organisor (with Yasu Furukawa and Christoph Meinel) of a symposium on ‘Globalization and Diversity of Modern Chemistry and Chemical Technology’, as part of the XXII. International Congress of the History of Science, Beijing, 24-30 July 2005.

2005 co-organisor and chairman of the International Programme Committee of the 5th. International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Lisbon-Estoril, 6-10 September 2005.

2006-2008 member (2008 chairman) of the Ferguson Prize Committee of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) (on ‘Outstanding Reference Works in the History of Technology’).

2006 member of the International Programme Committee of the 33rd ICOHTEC Symposium on ‘Transforming Economies and Civilisations – The Role of Technology’, Leicester, 15-20 August 2006.

2006 co-organisor and chairman of the International Programme Committee of a conference on ‘History of the Food Chain: From Agriculture to Consumption and Waste’, Gödöllő, Hungary, 31 August-3 September 2006.

2007 co-organisor of the 6th. International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Leuven, 28 August-1 September 2007.

2008-2013 Member of supervisory committee of a PhD-project at the University of Ghent, Belgium on ‘Leo H. Baekeland and the Translation of Technology.’

2009-2013 Member of supervisory committee of twoPhD-projects at the University of Louvain, Belgium on ‘Engineering a New World. The Role of Engineers in Modern Society, 1815 – c. 1890.’

2009 co-organisor (with Jeffrey Johnson, Yasu Furukawa and Gabor Pallo) of a symposium on ‘Chemistry in the Aftermath of World Wars’, as part of the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Science, Budapest, 27 July – 2 August 2009.

2009 co-organisor of the 7th. International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Sopron, Hungary, 2 - 5 August 2009.

2011 Member of the Scientific Committee, of the international conference, ‘Engineer or engineers? Between expansion and fragmentation,’ Paris, 6-7 October 2011.

p.m. external examiner of theses at the Université Paris X, Nanterre, and at the universities of Ghent, Louvain, Nijmegen, Amsterdam, and Utrecht; external advisor on appointments to professorships at the universities of Bielefeld, Glasgow and Milton Keynes.

p.m. member of the supervising & reading committees of several book projects: 2003-2007, History of DSM Research; 2004-2006, Chlorine Transport Akzo Nobel; 2005-2013, Innovation project of BINT (Bedrijfsleven in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw); 2005-2008, Geschiedenis Oranje-Nassau Mijnen; 2008-2012, History of Unilever Research; 2012-2013, History of Friesland Campina R&D; 2013, History of NIZO.

Honours and fellowships

1993 senior research fellow at the Sidney M. Edelstein Center of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

1998-1999 fellow at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies, Wassenaar.

2002 fellow at the Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte in Berlin.
Honours

1993 senior research fellow at the Sidney M. Edelstein Center of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

1998-1999 fellow at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies, Wassenaar.