The Dowsing Craze in Modern Germany

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00273
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01080:Sociology of science, history of science and technology-related
• Research Institution: Chiba Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Hamano Shiho 千葉工業大学, 創造工学部, 教授 (90550666)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 境界科学 / 文化史 / 近代ドイツ / ダウジング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted a survey of primary source on dowsing, which was popular in Germany from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, focusing on the journals of dowsing research organizations of the time. Dowsing, which had been practiced since ancient times, attracted attention at the end of the 19th century because of the practical problem of water shortages in urban areas, but its purpose diversified as it became linked to growing awareness of preventive medicine and research on prehistoric heritage by Nazi Germany. Through this research, we have been able to reveal the whole picture of a case study of how border science (Grenzwissenschaft) gained support and was transformed against the backdrop of the social conditions of a certain period and region

Free Research Field

文化史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、ある時代・地域における社会の状況を背景として、境界科学（Grenzwissenschaft / border science）がどのように支持を集め、どのように変質していくかという一事例の全貌を明らかにした。文化史的な観点からの境界科学の研究は、文化史においても科学史においても取り組んでいる研究者が少ないテーマであり、その点において本研究は先駆的であると考える。また、境界科学の事例は現代社会においても多数存在し、その中には陰謀論などと結びついて社会を不安に陥れるものも少なくないので、その実態を解明することには十分な社会的意義があると考える。