Digitalisation and Online-Edition of the correspondance of Abraham Gottlob Werner

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Helmuth Albrecht; Dr. Thomas Burch
• Subject Area: History of Science
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 355579665

The project aims at the digitalization and edition of the correspondence of Abraham Gottlob Werner, who played a central role in the formation of geo-sciences around 1800. As the research depends mainly on the unpublished papers of Werner the online-edition will provide a new material basis for research easy to access. With this the project will substantially contribute to the history of geo-sciences. It highlights the importance of the exchange of letters in the formation of modern natural sciences and humanities. The letters will be made accessible by personnel, geographical and contextual indices and linked to the Gemeinsamen Normdatei der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek (GND). A special feature of the project will be its focus on the minerals often added to the correspondence. Many of them are still present in the geo-scientific collections of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Linking their database with the online-edition will open up the opportunity to connect the letters and their objects again. The technical solutions for the online-edition will be provided by the Trier Center for Digital Humanities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants