Karin Tybjerg

karin.tybjerg@sund.ku.dk |

I am associate professor at Medical Museion – a position that combines research, curating and teaching.

My research projects are mainly concerned with the interface between physics and medical science and I am developing projects on medical imaging and on automation. I am moreover interested in the connections between museums, philosophy of science and science communication – between matter, spirit and science.

In my curatorial practices I attempt to navigate the the Scylla of the Science Centre and the Charybdis of the Cabinet. To include the specificity and tactile attractiveness of material objects with a pennant for conceptual thinking and a love of science.

I am also responsible for the philosophy of science part of the course in medical engineering (shared between Copenhagen University and the Danish Technical University).

My academic background is interdisciplinary and combines physics, history of science and philosophy of science: A B.Sc. in Physics and Philosophy at Kings College London followed by an M.Phil., a Ph.D. and a Junior Research Fellowship in History and Philosophy of Science at University of Cambridge, where I am still an affiliated researcher.

My research has centered around the relationship between practical and theoretical forms of knowledge: how does technical ability gain epistemic weight? In my Ph.D. I showed how the first century Greek mechanist Hero of Alexandria challenged mathematics and philosophy as privileged forms of knowledge and claimed that justice, tranquility and demonstrations were better achieved through technology. More recently i have worked on Tycho Brahe, Ole Rømer and 20th century precision measurement of the stars.

My curatorial experience is like old-fashioned hotel-training where I have done everything from top to bottom in exhibition making, collection management and museum organization. I have worked as Head of Department of Astronomy at Kroppedal Museum and as Head of the Ethnographic Collection and Danish Modern History at the National Museum of Denmark.