History of Science / Physics
Project: Transformation in the Historiography of Physics and Astronomy. Representation of Female Physicists and Astronomers in the Second Half of the 20th Century.
Supervisors: Volker Remmert / Anna Leuschner
Contact
cseidel@uni-wuppertal.de
+49-202-439-5823
Glanzstoffhaus
Kasinostraße 19–21
42103 Wuppertal
6th Floor, Room 22
Project Summary
The historiography of physics and astronomy changed in the course of the second half of the 20th century and provided important impulses for the history of science. At the same time, the women’s movement gave rise to women’s studies and history, which had an influence on the historiography of science and physics. Against this background, in my PhD project I am investigating the contentual, procedural and institutional transformations in the historiography of physics and astronomy written in English and German with regard to the representation of female physicists and astronomers in the second half of the 20th century.
Talks
- Seidel, C. (2025): „Vergessen, unterschätzt, wiederentdeckt. Lise Meitner in westdeutschen Lehrbüchern zwischen 1960 und 2020“. Epistemische Autorität(en). Wer, wie, was?
- Seidel, C. (2025): “Just Marie Curie? Female Nuclear Physicists in (West) German Physics Textbooks, Circa 1960 and 2020“. 5th International Conference on the History of Quantum Physics (HQ5), Salvador
- Seidel, C. (2025): Frauen beobachten oft besser, Männer machen Theorien daraus.‘ (‚Women often observe better, men theorise‘) – Representations of female scientists in school and university textbooks for physics in (West) Germany, ca. 1960–2020“. 6th AIP Early Career Conference for Historians of the Physical Sciences, Salvador
- Seidel, C. (2025): „Physikerinnen in der Geschichte der Physikgeschichtsschreibung“. 4. Aachener Nachwuchs-Workshop „Wissensgeschichte“: Wissen und Macht, Aachen
- Seidel, C. (2025): “(Un)Written Histories. Narratives of Female Physicists and Mathematicians in (West)German Textbooks”. May 12 Initiative: Celebrating Women in Mathematics, Wuppertal
Reviews
- Seidel C. Patrick Charbonneau, Michelle Frank, Magriet van der Heijden and Daniela Monaldi (eds.), Women in the History of Quantum Physics: Beyond Knabenphysik Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. Pp. 486. ISBN 978-1-009-53583-0. $49.99 (hardback). The British Journal for the History of Science. Published online 2025:1-2. doi:10.1017/S0007087425101799
Short Biography
- Since 2025: Ph.D. candidate in History of Physics at the University of Wuppertal
- 2021–2025: M.A. History and History of Science and Technology, University of Wuppertal
- 2017–2021: BA in Physics and History, University of Wuppertal
