Rozhovor s astronomem Lubošem Perkem. Rozbor generačního vědomí
Interview with the Astronomer Luboš Perek. Analysis of Generational Conciousness

Summary/Abstract: The study presents the scientific life of the world-famous Czech astronomer LubošPerek (1919–2020) and the factors that led to his career: Perek’s family background, his education(studies interrupted by the Second World War) and, last but not least, his experiencesduring his internship in the Netherlands in 1948–1949. The study places Perek’s studies andthe beginning of his career in the contemporary context of the development of naturalsciences and university education in the Czech lands. It presents the methodological possibilitiesof writing the history of universities from below, i.e. through the eyes of the students,using research on generational consciousness. The editorial part of the paper consists of twointerviews with Luboš Perek from 2015 and 2020, focusing on his studies and the early yearsof his scientific career. Based on these interviews, the author compares the application of theoral history method in the form of a life story with the findings from an additional interview.Researching generational consciousness and the history of universities from below helps toclarify the sense of belonging among peers, including the younger generation who startedstudying in 1945. The application of the analysis of generational consciousness in the researchof the history of science (in this case history of astronomy) shows that it is essential not tounderestimate the difference between the cultural and communicative memory of scientists.

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