Erich Weidenhammer

Erich Weidenhammer received his PhD in 2014 from the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. His research explored the role that Eighteenth Century British experimentation into contagious disease played in laying the conceptual groundwork for the Chemical Revolution.

While writing his thesis, Erich, along with several other graduate students, revived an effort to catalogue and safeguard artifacts related to the ongoing history of research at the University of Toronto. He is currently the curator of the University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection (utsic.utoronto.ca). This collection, and others like it, are inspired by the idea that artifacts, like texts, are indispensable sources of evidence into the cultures of science, medicine, and technology.

Erich is especially interested in various approaches that seek to reenact historical experiments and experiences, especially those involving recreated materials and artifacts.