Otto Mayr (2 November 1930 – 10 February 2025) was a German

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, historian of technology, curator, author and director of the National Museum of History and Technology in Washington D.C. and the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

in Munich. He was particularly known for his work on "The origins of feedback control" and "Authority, liberty, & automatic machinery in early modern Europe."

Background

Mayr was born in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

as son of Otto Mayr and Dorothea (Grunau) Mayr. He obtained his engineering diploma in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

in 1956.Horst Kliemann, John C. Dove. ''Who's who in Germany ''. Vol. 1, 1992. p. 1192. Mayr died on 10 February 2025, at the age of 94.

Career

After his graduation in 1956, he had started his career as research assistant at the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Heat Power Laboratory for a year. From 1957 to 1960 he worked at the Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm Sulzer Ltd. In 1960, Mayr returned to the US, where he worked another two years at the Control Instruments Division of Taylor Instruments Companies in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. From 1962 to 1965 he was lecturer and later assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

. In 1964 he obtained his Master of Science at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

. From 1965 to 1968, he returned to Munich, Germany, where he was appointed research assistant at the

at its research institute for science and technology history. In 1968 he obtained his PhD from the

for a thesis about the early history of technical regulations. After his graduation in 1968, Mayr returned to the United States, where he was appointed curator at the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution, and chairman of the Department of History of Science and Technology. In 1983, he returned to Munich to become general director of the Deutsches Museum, where he served until his retirement in 1992.

Awards

In 1988, Mayr was awarded the first-class merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and in 1992 he received the Leonardo da Vinci Medal from the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT).

Selected publications

* Otto Mayr (Editor) ''Philosophers and Machines'', 1975, * Otto Mayr, et al. (eds.), ''Yankee Enterprise: The Rise of the American System of Manufactures,'' 1981. * Mayr, Otto. ''Authority, liberty, & automatic machinery in early modern Europe.'' No. 8. Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 1986. **(''Uhrwerk und Waage: Autorität, Freiheit und technische Systeme in der frühen Neuzeit.'' translated into German by Friedrich Griese, Beck, München, 1987) ;Articles, a selection * Mayr, Otto. "The origins of feedback control." ''Scientific American'' 223.4 (1970): 110–119. * Mayr, Otto. "Adam Smith and the concept of the feedback system: Economic thought and technology in 18th-century Britain." ''Technology and culture'' (1971): 1-22. (Explanation of simultaneous emergence of feedback systems in technology and economic thought in 18th century Britain) * Mayr, Otto. "Maxwell and the origins of cybernetics." ''Isis'' 62.4 (1971): 425–444. * Mayr, Otto. "The science-technology relationship as a historiographic problem." ''Technology and Culture'' 17.4 (1976): 663–673.

References

External links

Dr. Otto - Deutsches Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayr, Otto 1930 births 2025 deaths German mechanical engineers 20th-century German historians Historians of technology Technical University of Munich alumni University of Rochester alumni Writers from Essen Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Engineers from Essen German curators