Tilmann Wesolowski: Der wissenschaftspublizistische Wettlauf um die Standardisierung der technischen Terminologie. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Verwissenschaftlichung der Technik

This paper analyzes the example of the publishers Oldenbourg and the publication of the ‘Illustrierte Technische Wörterbücher’ (ITW), a multilingual dictionary which competed with a similar project that the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) had already initiated. Its willingness to challenge the vast and well-funded VDI with this project - and to tackle the immense difficulties associated with the dictionary itself, which pioneered the standardization of technical terminology across six languages - indicates that for Oldenbourg, this project was of paramount importance to its reputation. The decision to take the challange and publish the ITW was the starting point of Alfred Schlomann’s career as well as the foundation of Oldenbourgs reputation as a premier publishing house and pioneered the standardization of technical terminology.

The example shows that the publishers’ decisions had been of paramount importance not only for scientists’ careers and as gatekeeper of the scientific community but can also influence the development of science.

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