The Hans Reichenbach collection

Hans Reichenbach was born in Hamburg on 26 September 1891. He studied engineering, mathematics, physics and philosophy under scientists such as May Planck, David Hilbert, Ernst Cassirer and Alois Riehl. In 1915, he received his doctorate from the philosophical faculty at the University of Erlangen and earned his habilitation (post-doctoral qualification) in Stuttgart in 1920. From 1920 to 1926, he lectured at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. In 1926, he was made a professor of philosophy and physics (a. o. Prof.) at the University of Berlin (at the instigation of Albert Einstein), where he stayed until 1933. Having lost his position there, he accepted a professorship at the University of Istanbul. Five years later, in 1938, he emigrated to the United States. He held the chair of philosophy at the University of California in Los Angeles until is death on 9 April 1953.

Hand Reichenbach is considered one of the main advocates of logical empiricism. His most influential works discussed issues related to the philosophy of space and time. Another focus of Reichenbach’s work was on the semantics of science and confirmation theory.

Microfilm copy, 27 rolls. There is a rough, unpublished catalogue and index of persons.