Ludic Science

Research projects are often considered under the aspect of concrete applicability only. However, history teaches us that since antiquity fundamental new findings have often been playfully (»ludic«) developed from the curiosity inherent to human beings. This book tells the story of inventions out of games a priori without the intention of producing something useful. A vase rubbing against the skin became the first electric capacitor, which was later used in a much smaller form in trillions of smartphones. A skillfully bent wire resulted in a patent for the first paper clip. An unsuccessful substitute for car-tire-rubber became the first marketed chewing gum ...

Autorentext
Mario Markus was born in Chile in 1944 as the son of German-Jewish refugees. He studied physics in Heidelberg, where he also obtained his doctorate in 1973. He then worked as a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund and as a professor at the university there. He has written numerous publications in international journals on self-organization in physical, biological and chemical systems and has written books on the fusion of science and art. Further information is available at www.mariomarkus.com.

Leseprobe
At present, research projects are increasingly or even exclusively funded or awarded prizes based on the aspect of concrete applicability. However, our history teaches us that, since ancient times, we humans have stumbled across fundamental new findings in a purposeless and almost playful way out of our inherent curiosity. Intention is a decisive criterion for me here: if the application is vanity or the pursuit of a kind of immortality, freedom from purpose is ruled out. This is often the basis for developments in imaging procedures. I would also include striving in sports, because the gain and the activity itself are difficult to separate. Research endeavours with a purposeless attitude are here called ludic (from the Latin ludus, the game), and are described in this book using various examples from the past. Some of these, such as the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, have not yet found application. Others, such as capacitors, are so fundamental that it is impossible to imagine technology without them. In his book Homo Ludens (1938), the Dutch art historian Johan Huizinga examines the role of play as a creative source in many areas of law, science, philosophy and art. Huizinga defines Play as an action or occupation voluntarily adopted and accompanied by a feeling of excitement and pleasure and an awareness of being different from ordinary life. According to Huizinga, play is the origin of all innovations, the place of origin of all great cultural formations. I agree with him on this, and also that culture is only initially played. I quote Huizinga further: In its games, the community expresses its interpretation of life and the world... This is not to be understood as meaning that play turns into culture, but rather that culture in its original phases has something playful about it, indeed that it is initially performed in the forms and mood of a game. For Huizinga, dance, poetry and abstract art are examples of games that do not transform into technology, i.e. exceptions. This book is intended as a supplement to Huizinga's thoughts, which are philosophical, i.e. humanistic, while the following describes scientific examples from history. For almost all examples, as Huizinga emphasized, only play made the emergence of innovations possible. This book shows that these innovations later mostly found their way into technology. In this context, an annual prize is to be awarded as part of a foundation set up by the author of this book. In the first instance, natural scientists of any age, education or nationality may apply. The work submitted should have no obvious technical or commercial application. From two equally good applications, the one that has been produced with the least financial and technical effort will be selected. The work should have been carried out in standard research institutions, such as universities and Max Planck Institutes, or at home. Information for application to the prize can be found in www.gdch.de/mariomarkus. I would like to thank Dr. Malte Schmick, (Max Planck Institute, Dortmund), Rainer Maria Gassen, as well as Dr. Ian Copestake for their careful factual corrections. For preparing the English manuscript and the prepress work I would like to thank the publisher Dr. Friedrich Pfeil and his coworker Dr. Maximilian Scheungrab.

Inhalt
Foreword 6 The Leiden Bottle 7 Mendel's Rules of Inheritance 8 Phosphorus 9 The Seebeck Effect 10 The Pacemaker 11 The Biro 12 The Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction 13 The Positron 14 The History of nuclear Fission 15 The Dream of an Arabian Prince 16 The Vacuum 18 Alfred Wegener's Game 19 The Voltaic Column 20 Chewing Gum 21 Ayahuasca: playing for Psychotherapy 22 Umami: The fifth Flavour 25 Viagra 26 The Paper Clip 26 Topology and Number Theory 27 Cicadas love prime Numbers 29 If even the unpredictability cannot be predicted 30 An Hourglass that doesn't need to be turned over 31 The Microwave Oven 32 Fleming's long Road to the Use of Penicillin 33 Electromagnetism 34 Radioactivity 35 Astrophysics and elementary Particle Physics 36 Chemical Elements 37 The Steam Engine 42 Fireworks 42 The Bubble Chamber 43 Shell and Snail Patterns 44 Cellulose Nitrate 46 The Ig Nobel Prize 47 Bibliography 48 Image Authors 52 Index 54 About the Author 56