Sponsored by the Office for History of Science and Technology (UC Berkeley)
And the History of Health Sciences Program (UCSF)
Alexander C.T. Geppert
Harvard University and Freie Universität Berlin
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Flying Saucers from Outer Space: European Astrofuturism in the Twentieth Century
For much of the twentieth century outer space has constituted one of the major sites of utopian thinking. Yet how exactly did the idea of spaceflight develop into a central element of the project of Western modernity? In what way have European conceptions of the cosmos and extraterrestrial life been affected by the continuous exploration of space? And where, in fact, is outer space? This paper will focus on three contrasting, yet interwoven, cases to analyze the cultural imagination and societal impact of outer space in twentieth-century Europe: science popularizer Willy Ley’s transnational media activities in the late 1940s, UFO sightings in West Germany in the 1950s, and Hermann Oberth’s proposal for a gigantic space mirror in the 1960s. These are but three instances of scientific and popular debates with elements of the same widely-shared belief system, sometimes labeled ‘Astrofuturism’: the future was destined to take place in outer space. In addition, they were all characterized by a strong, yet all too often hidden, connection to religion, transcendental beliefs, and the spiritual beyond. Both features, the obvious utopian/futuristic strand and the underlying spiritual/religious component, must be made central categories when contributing to the so-called Histoire du temps présent by historicizing outer space and the European space effort.
4:00PM
Monday, April 28, 2008
140 Barrows Hall
UC Berkeley
Co-Sponsored by the Institute of European Studies.
Office for History of Science and Technology, 543 Stephens Hall #2350
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2350
tel: (510) 642-4581, e-mail: ohst@berkeley.edu
