Iris Runge: A Life at the Crossroads of Mathematics, Science, and Industry

by Renate Tobies

This book concerns the origins of mathematical problem solving at the internationally active Osram and Telefunken Corporations during the golden years of broadcasting and electron tube research. The woman scientist Iris Runge, who received an interdisciplinary education at the University of Göttingen, was long employed as the sole mathematical authority at these companies in Berlin. It will be shown how mathematical connections were made between statistics and quality control, and between physical-chemical models and the actual problems of mass production. The organization of industrial laboratories, the relationship between theoretical and experimental work, and the role of mathematicians in these settings will also be explained. By investigating the social, economic, and political conditions that unfolded from the time of the German Empire until the end of the Second World War, the book hopes to build a bridge between specialized fields mathematics and engineering and the general culture of a particular era. It hopes, furthermore, to build a bridge between the history of science and industry, on the one hand, and the fields of Gender and Women s Studies on the other. Finally, by examining the life and work of numerous industrial researchers, insight will be offered into the conditions that enabled a woman to achieve a prominent professional position during a time when women were typically excluded from the scientific workforce.

442 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Experience and opportunities formed in Iris Runge a person quoted herein as saying, “New and significant findings are nearly always made when a successful bridge has been built between two or more branches of science that have hitherto been kept apart. The established methods and conclusions of one individual field will often result in unexpected applications when adopted by another, and these new applications will often, in turn, lead to the development of novel and fruitful methods of research.” This reads very much like one of Klein’s memos.

This work in a detailed and even dry fashion explores the organization of industrial laboratories down to department staff lists and the working relationship between theoretical and experimental concerns in a corporation active internationally and getting veer more military contracts. This microscopic focus cannot completely remove the sensation of impending calamity of the 1930s. We see the joy in her work that came back into Iris’ letters after World War I evaporate as a Nazi government comes into existence and feel her progressive, liberal activism may become a liability for her. Surprisingly, and thankfully, the research lab offers a surprising continuity of experience for its staff; a sort of intellectual ark protected from the raging European war. Only to the extent necessary to discuss activities inside the facilities does this work investigate the socio-economic and political realities of the Second World War. However, among the appendices is a lengthy, multi-page letter from Iris dated to May, 1945 and covering the privation in defeated Berlin, the lengths she needed for protection from rapacious Russian soldiers, and the kindnesses shown to German army soldiers as countrymen.

[See my full review at MAA Reviews]