Joachim Radkau is a German historian.

Life

Son of a Protestant priest, he studied history in Münster, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 (Freie Universität) and Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 from 1963 to 1968. He was influenced e.g. by Fritz Fischer

Fritz Fischer

Fritz Fischer was a German historian best known for his analysis of the causes of World War I. Fischer has been described by The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing as the most important German historian of the 20th century.-Biography:Fischer was born in Ludwigsstadt in Bavaria. His...

. His doctorate 1970 treated the role of German immigrants 1933-45 on Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

. From 1971 on he started to teach at Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the established universities...

.

1972 till 1974 Radkau wrote together with George W. F. Hallgarten

George W. F. Hallgarten

George W. F. Hallgarten, or Georg Wolfgang Felix Hallgarten was a German-born American historian....

 a synopsis of German industry and politics. His views about the role of Hermann Josef Abs

Hermann Josef Abs

Hermann Josef Abs was a German banker. He was a member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank from 1938 - 1945...

 in German negotiations with Israel lead to legal claim of Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...

.

Radkau received the venia legendi with a study about Rise and Crises of the German nuclear industry 1980. History of technology

History of technology

The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques, and is similar in many ways to the history of humanity. Background knowledge has enabled people to create new things, and conversely, many scientific endeavors have become possible through technologies which assist...

 and Environmental history

Environmental history

Environmental history, a branch of historiography, is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time. In contrast to other historical disciplines, it emphasizes the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs. Environmental historians study how humans both shape their...

 are favorite topics of Radkau. Besides forestry and the role of environmental protection in the German history, including the Third Reich, Radkau researched as well the relation between Nervosität (Anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...

) and technical development in the German Empire, adding biographical studies about Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...

 and Max Weber

Max Weber

Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...

. His recent book about Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment, gained international attention.

Selected publications

• Die deutsche Emigration in den USA. Ihr Einfluß auf die amerikanische Europapolitik 1933-1945. Düsseldorf 1971, ISBN 3-571-09190-6
• Zus. mit George W. F. Hallgarten: Deutsche Industrie und Politik von Bismarck bis heute. Frankfurt/Köln 1974, ISBN 3-499-17450-2
• Zus. mit Imanuel Geiss
  Imanuel Geiss
  Imanuel Geiss is a German historian.- Life :Imanuel Geiss was born as the youngest of 5 children to a working class family affected by the economic crisis. The unemployed father had to raise the children alone as the mother suffered from Meningitis...
  
   (Hrsg.): Imperialismus im 20. Jahrhundert. Gedenkschrift für George W. F. Hallgarten
  George W. F. Hallgarten
  George W. F. Hallgarten, or Georg Wolfgang Felix Hallgarten was a German-born American historian....
  
  . München 1976, ISBN 3-406-06464-7
• Aufstieg und Krise der deutschen Atomwirtschaft 1945-1975. Verdrängte Alternativen in der Kerntechnik und der Ursprung der nuklearen Kontroverse. Reinbek 1983, ISBN 3-499-17756-0
• Zus. mit Ingrid Schäfer: Holz - Ein Naturstoff in der Technikgeschichte. Reinbek 1987, ISBN 3-499-17728-5
• Technik in Deutschland. Vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Frankfurt/M. 1989, ISBN 3-518-11536-7
• Das Zeitalter der Nervosität. Deutschland zwischen Bismarck und Hitler. München 1998, ISBN 3-446-19310-3
• Natur und Macht. Eine Weltgeschichte der Umwelt. München 2000, ISBN 3-406-48655-X
• Nature and Power: A Global History of the Environment. By Joachim Radkau. Publications of the German Historical Institute Series. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008
• Mensch und Natur in der Geschichte. Leipzig 2002 (Politische Weltkunde, Arbeitsbuch für die Sekundarstufe II)
• Max Weber
  Max Weber
  Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
  
  . Die Leidenschaft des Denkens. München 2005, ISBN 3-446-20675-2

External links