SPRINGER BRIEFS ON PIONEERS IN SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 21 Ulrich Bartosch Editor Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: Pioneer of Physics, Philosophy, Religion, Politics and Peace Research 123 SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice Volume 21 Series editor Hans Günter Brauch, Mosbach, Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10970 http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_PSP.htm http://afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_PSP_C.F.v._Weizsaecker.htm Ulrich Bartosch Editor Carl Friedrich von ä Weizs cker: Pioneer of Physics, Philosophy, Religion, Politics and Peace Research 123 Editor Ulrich Bartosch Faculty ofSocial Work CatholicUniversity ofEichstätt-Ingolstadt Eichstaett, Bayern Germany Acknowledgment:ThecoverphotographwastakenbyGünterMurrin1997whogranted permissionforitsuseinthisvolume.Privatephotoarchivesoftheeditor.Awebsiteonthis book with additional information on Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, including links to videosandaselectionofthecoversofhismajorbooksisat:http://afes-press-books.de/html/ SpringerBriefs_PSP_C.F.v._Weizsaecker.htm ISSN 2194-3125 ISSN 2194-3133 (electronic) SpringerBriefs onPioneers inScience and Practice ISBN 978-3-319-13445-1 ISBN 978-3-319-13446-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-13446-8 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015932847 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon ©TheAuthor(s)2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Copyediting:PDDr.HansGünterBrauch,AFES-PRESSe.V.,Mosbach,Germany Translator:Ms.AnneHentschel,Stuttgart LanguageEditingofsometexts:Mr.MichaelHeadon,ColwynBay,Wales,UK Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerInternationalPublishingAGSwitzerlandispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia (www.springer.com) To the memory of my father, Johannes Bartosch (1925–2011) A painting of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker as a boy (Signed “E. Sebald 1924”). Property of ElisabethvonWeizsäckerwhograntedpermission.SourceU.Bartosch ä Other Books on Carl Friedrich von Weizs cker Published in this Book Series by Springer (cid:129) Michael Drieschner (Ed.): Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: Major Texts in Physics. Springer Briefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice No. 22. Subseries Texts and Protocols No. 10 (Cham–Heidelberg–Dordrecht–London–New York: Springer-Verlag, 2015). (cid:129) Michael Drieschner (Ed.): Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: Major Texts in Phi- losophy. Springer Briefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice No. 23. Subseries Texts and Protocols No. 11 (Cham–Heidelberg–Dordrecht–London–New York: Springer-Verlag, 2015). (cid:129) Konrad Raiser (Ed.): Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: Major Texts in Religion. SpringerBriefsonPioneersinScienceandPracticeNo.24.SubseriesTextsand Protocols No. 12 (Cham–Heidelberg–Dordrecht–London–New York: Springer- Verlag, 2015). (cid:129) Ulrich Bartosch (Ed.): Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: Major Texts on Politics andPeaceResearch.SpringerBriefsonPioneersinScienceandPracticeNo.25. Subseries Texts and Protocols No. 13 (Cham–Heidelberg–Dordrecht–London– New York: Springer-Verlag, 2015). (cid:129) SeethewebsiteonthefivebookswithtextsbyCarlFriedrichvonWeizsäckerat: http://afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_PSP_C.F.v._Weizsaecker.htm. vii CarlFriedrichvonWeizsäckerin2002inEichstättattheageof90years.SourceC.Bartosch Preface A Circular Walk Around Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker’s Writings Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker has been called a polymath. He ranked close to Alexander von Humboldt,1 probably the last scholar of all the contemporary sci- ences and arts at the same high level. True, this was impossible for anyone of the twentieth century to achieve. But one can say that Weizsäcker was in communi- cation and discourse with the sciences and arts of his time. He was a physicist by training, a philosopher by deep affinity and academic professorship and a peace researcher through a sense of obligation. This demonstrates his wide range of expertise,addedtobywidespreadinterestsinnearlyallareasofhumanknowledge andwisdom.Inparticular,theexperienceandtruthofreligionwasthelodestoneby whichheorientedhimself.Andhewroteremarkablepaperswhichshowedhowhis theological knowledge and thinking informed his philosophy and political thinking.2 This series of volumes includes some of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker’s selected major contributions to physics (PSP-22), philosophy (PSP-23), religion (PSP-24), andpoliticsandpeace research(PSP-25).Althoughseveralofhisworks havebeentranslatedintoEnglish,Weizsäcker’sworkisnotmuchreferredtointhe English-language discourse. During his lifetime he was in contact with wise and important thinkers and policymakers from around the world. His correspondents included the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger, Gopi Krishna and Joseph Rotblat, to namebutfour.ButitwasonlyintheGerman-speakingcommunitythathereached aneminentpositionasapersonofimmenseinfluenceonpublicopinion.Forseveral 1 SeeReimarLüst:“C.F.vonWeizsäckerandTheKaiserWilhelm/MaxPlanckSociety”,in:Lutz Castell and Ottfried Ischebeck (Eds.): Time, Quantum and Information: dedicated to C.F. von Weizsäckerincommemoration ofhis90thbirthday(Berlin–Heidelberg:Springer-Verlag, 2003): 17–23. 2 Seealsoat:http://afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_PSP_C.F.v._Weizsaecker.htm. ix