Franz Strunz (Born November 15, 1875 in Eger; Dead 28 March 1953 Vienna) was an Austrian historian of science.
Strunz was the son of Consistorial and studied from 1897 at the Technical University of Dresden and from 1899 at the University of Berlin science, philosophy and theology, and in 1901 in Berlin doctorate (contributions to the development history of the stoichiometric research: a critique of inductive science). In Berlin he was a student of Hans Heinrich Landolt, Wilhelm Dilthey and in Dresden by Ernst von Meyer. After that he was from 1901 to 1904 scientific assistant at the Kaiser Wilhelm Library in Berlin and Poznan and habilitated in 1905 at the Technical University Brno and again in 1906 at the Technical University of Vienna. In 1914 he was Professor at the Technical University of Vienna and 1920 Associate Professor of History of Science at the Technical University of Vienna. He had also there a lectureship in theory and practice of Volksbildung. It was established in 1940 member of the NSDAP, but was later expelled for unknown reasons again.
He was in his time as a major expert Paracelsus and dealt with history of natural science in the Middle Ages, history of alchemy and astrology.
He was a founder of the Urania in Vienna and from 1910 to 1938 whose scientific director.
In 1950 he was awarded the City of Vienna Prize for Popular Education. In 1906 he became a member of the Leopoldina.
1987 Strunz street was named after him in the 22nd district of Vienna Donaustadt.
He got also revisions of the history of alchemy of Karl Christoph Schmieder (Munich: Barth 1927) and chemistry in antiquity and the Middle Ages by Marcellin Berthelot (Vienna 1909).
Franz Strunz Bibliography:
- Theophrastus Paracelsus, his life and personality, a contribution to the intellectual history of the Renaissance, Leipzig: Eugen Diederichs 1903 Archive - History of science in the Middle Ages. shown in plan view, Stuttgart: Enke 1910 reprint Hildesheim: Gerstenberg 1972 - Nature observation and nature in ancient times, a history of development of ancient science, Hamburg, Leipzig, 1904, reprint - Zentralantiquariat der DDR 1971 Archive - The chemistry in classical antiquity, 1905 - About the history and the beginnings of chemistry, 1906 - Johann Baptist van Helmont (1577-1644): a contribution to the history of science, Vienna 1907 Archive - Contributions and sketches the history of science, 1909 - The past of scientific research: a contribution to the history of the human mind, Jena 1913 - Goethe as a naturalist, National Education in Vienna Urania 1917 - Albertus Magnus, wisdom and natural science in the Middle Ages, Vienna 1926 - Paracelsus, Leipzig: Hassel 1924th - Theophrastus von Hohenheim called Paracelsus, in: German Art in Language and Literature, Volume 3, Kohlhammer 1942 S. 97-146 - Astrology, alchemy, mysticism: A Contribution to the History of Science, Munich 1928 - Publisher: Paracelsus, volume Paramirum and Opus Paramirum, Jena: Eugen Diederichs 1904 - Publisher: Paracelsus, The Book Paragranum, Leipzig: Diederichs 1903 - Alchemy, in: Religion Past and Present, 3rd Edition, Volume 1, Tubingen 1957
