Günther Sandner – författare

Based on extensive archival research, this open access book provides a fresh perspective on the early history of Isotype and pictographic communication, with new information about largely unknown episodes throughout its development. The picture-script Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education), previously conceived as the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, evolved through numerous publications and exhibitions in the early 20th century. Christopher Burke and Günther Sandner trace how its development responded to differing cultural and political climates, through a period when the idea of a universal language – an artificial or planned language – was linked to ideas of internationality and democratic planning. This book explores in depth, for the first time, the early picture-statistical work carried out at Austrian institutions during a new era of visual education and communication during and after World War II. Examining the work of Isotype’s initiators – Otto Neurath, the founding director of The Social and Economic Museum of Vienna, the artist Gerd Arntz, and Marie Reidemeister, who performed the role of ‘transformer’, a prototype of the modern information designer – this book challenges existing conceptions of an enormously influential pictographic language. Richly illustrated throughout with over 60 examples of work by key figures, this book provides a comprehensive history of Isotype and offers critical reflections on its legacy within, and relevance to, contemporary design practice.The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Based on extensive archival research, this open access book provides a fresh perspective on the early history of Isotype and pictographic communication, with new information about largely unknown episodes throughout its development. The picture-script Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education), previously conceived as the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, evolved through numerous publications and exhibitions in the early 20th century. Christopher Burke and Günther Sandner trace how its development responded to differing cultural and political climates, through a period when the idea of a universal language – an artificial or planned language – was linked to ideas of internationality and democratic planning. This book explores in depth, for the first time, the early picture-statistical work carried out at Austrian institutions during a new era of visual education and communication during and after World War II. Examining the work of Isotype’s initiators – Otto Neurath, the founding director of The Social and Economic Museum of Vienna, the artist Gerd Arntz, and Marie Reidemeister, who performed the role of ‘transformer’, a prototype of the modern information designer – this book challenges existing conceptions of an enormously influential pictographic language. Richly illustrated throughout with over 60 examples of work by key figures, this book provides a comprehensive history of Isotype and offers critical reflections on its legacy within, and relevance to, contemporary design practice.The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Günther Sandner provides a wide-ranging history of Otto Neurath (1882 to 1945) in the first comprehensive biography in English of the versatile economist, thinker, designer, director, socialist - and an individual now seen as a neglected genius. The book starts by exploring Neurath’s early life in Vienna where he developed his interest in the connection between economics and war, and the start of his long-running focus on social and political action. After his early studies he became a forerunner of the Vienna Circle and began travelling the Balkans to expand his understanding of how economic planning could improve people's standard of living, before himself being drafted into the First World War. His ideas around socialization garnered support, but never came to full fruition in practice. However, after the war, he and his future wife Marie Reidemeister developed the “Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics” - later renamed Isotype - as a form of visual empowerment and a method of sharing knowledge and data with the working class. When the German Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Otto Neurath and Marie Reidemeister made an adventurous escape on a lifeboat from the port of Scheveningen to England, where they settled and lived for the rest of their lives.A pioneer in many areas, from ecological economics to information design, this book is of interest to historians of the philosophy of science, designers, economists, information graphic artists, sociologists, architectural historians and those interested in political and intellectual history.

Günther Sandner provides a wide-ranging history of Otto Neurath (1882 to 1945) in the first comprehensive biography in English of the versatile economist, thinker, designer, director, socialist - and an individual now seen as a neglected genius. The book starts by exploring Neurath’s early life in Vienna where he developed his interest in the connection between economics and war, and the start of his long-running focus on social and political action. After his early studies he became a forerunner of the Vienna Circle and began travelling the Balkans to expand his understanding of how economic planning could improve people's standard of living, before himself being drafted into the First World War. His ideas around socialization garnered support, but never came to full fruition in practice. However, after the war, he and his future wife Marie Reidemeister developed the “Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics” - later renamed Isotype - as a form of visual empowerment and a method of sharing knowledge and data with the working class. When the German Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Otto Neurath and Marie Reidemeister made an adventurous escape on a lifeboat from the port of Scheveningen to England, where they settled and lived for the rest of their lives.A pioneer in many areas, from ecological economics to information design, this book is of interest to historians of the philosophy of science, designers, economists, information graphic artists, sociologists, architectural historians and those interested in political and intellectual history.

This open-access book is the first to investigate the roots of Logical Empiricism in the context of the Life Reform and the German Youth Movements. Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenbach are the key protagonists; they both belonged to the German Youth Movement and developed their early philosophical views in this setting. By combining scholarly essays with unpublished and hard to access manuscripts, letters, and articles, this volume recasts our understanding of the early years of Logical Empiricism.