Ernest Braun

Ernest Brown ( born March 9, 1925 in Vienna) is a British- Czech- Austrian technology researchers.

Life

Ernst Braun was born on 9 March 1925 in Vienna as a citizen of Czechoslovakia and grew up in Czechoslovakia. He studied physics in Prague (1952 MSc, Dr. rer. ), A PhD in Solid State Physics, Bristol (1959 PhD), was a British citizen and used from then often the English version of his first name ( Ernest ). First, he conducted research in the industry, but then pursued a career academic. In 1967, Brown earned a reputation as a professor of physics at the Aston University in Birmingham. There, he founded and led from 1973, a research group in technology ( "Technology Policy Unit "). In the same year he founded with Bill Williams and Michael Gibbons an inter-university researcher and teacher group under the name of "Science in a Social Context" ( SISCON ). The Technology Policy Unit (TPU ) organized an interdisciplinary MSc course titled "Social Aspects of Science and Technology" and supervised several PhD students. Many former participants are now professors at UK universities. David Collingridge also worked on the TPU. Technology assessment was one of the research topics of the TPU. 1982/1983 Braun was a visiting professor at the Technical University of Vienna. At Aston University, he retired in 1984. According to a guest professor at the University of Vienna and various research activities he conducted research from 1985 to 1991 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he first established a Working Group Technology Assessment and from 1988 the Research Centre newly established Technology Assessment ( FTB ) initiated. From the FTB was 1994 ( under his successor, Gunther Tichy ), the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA ) out. Brown returned in 1991 returned to England and was even before his final retirement for some years a visiting professor at the Open University in Milton Keynes. Even during his retirement, he has written more books. Brown now lives in Austria; he is with the Viennese painter Doris Brown (born Luttenberger ) married and has two daughters.

Services

Brown is considered one of the first European Technikfolgenabschätzer In 1987 he was the initiator and founder of Technology Assessment in Austria. He wrote several books and numerous articles. His best-known books are probably " Futile Progress" (1995) and "Technology in Context " (1998). His last book was published in summer 2010: "From Need to Greed The Changing Role of Technology in Society. ".

Writings

• With Stuart McDonald: Revolution in Miniature. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1978, ISBN 0-521-21815-2.
• Wayward Technology. Printer, London 1984, ISBN 0-86187-288-6.
• Futile Progress, Earthscan, London, 1995, ISBN 1-85383-243- X.
• Technology in Context, Routledge, London, 1998, ISBN 0-415-18342-1.
• From Need to Greed, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna, 2010, ISBN 978-3-7001-6916-1.