World Ice Theory

This project deals with the manifold connections and interactions of the so-called "world ice theory" (Welteislehre) or "glacial cosmogony" (Glazialkosmogonie) with academic science, technology, the public sphere, religion and politics from its invention in 1894 until 1945. The theory was "discovered" by Hanns Hörbiger (1860-1931), a mechanical engineer who also developed an innovative instrument, a frictionless and low-mass steel valve for bellows, compressors and pumps, in the same year, which remains today the basis for the success of the company he founded, Hoerbiger International. From the 1920s onward the "world ice theory" was not only a highly controversial explanation for the emergence and development of the universe, which ultimately failed to be recognized by academic astronomers, geologists and physicists. Despite this lack of expert recognition, it became a popular movement which fascinated thousands of people, especially in Austria and Germany and appears to have given them a world view not provided by classical natural scientific explanatory models. This enthusiasm was due mainly to the fact that the popularisers of "glacial cosmogony" proclaimed their theory of the origins of the world as "the truth" and placed the ideas they propagated within a model that brought together geology, astronomy, biology, meteorology, and technology, as well as the sciences of culture and thus appeared to give coherent meaning to a fragmented world. The project investigates the scientific content, the world-view and organisational aspects of the enterprise called "world ice theory". Comprehensive study of the scientific debates of the period will provide more exact knowledge of the academic landscape; use of large amounts of previously unknown archival material that has only recently become accessible will show how the proponents of "world ice theory" tried to make contact with the academic world, and also how they worked systematically to recruit support and combat opposition. The institutionalisation and professionalism of both supporters and opponents of the theory suggests that conventional distinctions between science and pseudoscience must be questioned in this case, at least at the organisational level. Study of this phenomenon, including the visual and linguistic aesthetics Hörbiger employed to increase the appeal of his theory, can provide important insights into the social, philosophical and ultimately political significance of the "world ice theory", as well as the popularisation of natural science and technology in the first half of the twentieth century.

This project deals with the manifold connections and interactions of the so-called "world ice theory" (Welteislehre) or "glacial cosmogony" (Glazialkosmogonie) with academic science, technology, the public sphere, religion and politics from its invention in 1894 until 1945. The theory was "discovered" by Hanns Hörbiger (1860-1931), a mechanical engineer who also developed an innovative instrument, a frictionless and low-mass steel valve for bellows, compressors and pumps, in the same year, which remains today the basis for the success of the company he founded, Hoerbiger International. From the 1920s onward the "world ice theory" was not only a highly controversial explanation for the emergence and development of the universe, which ultimately failed to be recognized by academic astronomers, geologists and physicists. Despite this lack of expert recognition, it became a popular movement which fascinated thousands of people, especially in Austria and Germany and appears to have given them a world view not provided by classical natural scientific explanatory models. This enthusiasm was due mainly to the fact that the popularisers of "glacial cosmogony" proclaimed their theory of the origins of the world as "the truth" and placed the ideas they propagated within a model that brought together geology, astronomy, biology, meteorology, and technology, as well as the sciences of culture and thus appeared to give coherent meaning to a fragmented world. The project investigates the scientific content, the world-view and organisational aspects of the enterprise called "world ice theory". Comprehensive study of the scientific debates of the period will provide more exact knowledge of the academic landscape; use of large amounts of previously unknown archival material that has only recently become accessible will show how the proponents of "world ice theory" tried to make contact with the academic world, and also how they worked systematically to recruit support and combat opposition. The institutionalisation and professionalism of both supporters and opponents of the theory suggests that conventional distinctions between science and pseudoscience must be questioned in this case, at least at the organisational level. Study of this phenomenon, including the visual and linguistic aesthetics Hörbiger employed to increase the appeal of his theory, can provide important insights into the social, philosophical and ultimately political significance of the "world ice theory", as well as the popularisation of natural science and technology in the first half of the twentieth century.