Johannes Weyer
Johannes Weyer (*1956) received his PhD in sociology and political science from Marburg university and became a full professor in sociology, specifically in the fields of science and technology, at the University of Bielefeld.
Weyer's research focuses on technology assessment and acceptance, risk management in organizations, governance of complex systems, agent-based modeling and simulation of socio-technical systems, network analysis, human-machine interaction and autonomous technical systems, innovation management in highly automated socio-technical systems, and the emergence and termination of socio-technical systems. His work has been applied in the fields of aviation and aerospace, road transportation, energy systems, and the chemical industry.
Weyer has written many books and research articles, but also several free-to-read essays on sociological topics, including the role of theory in practical situations, the complexity of society, the use of online conference platforms, the peer review process for sociological journals, the lack of modelers in German sociology, the impact of electric bikes on the environment, the Tocqueville Paradox and its relevance to contemporary Germany, the chaotic response to COVID-19, the ineffectiveness of system theory in addressing pandemics, the acceleration of patterns in digital real-time society, and the agency of mussels (!) in relation to German sociology. Some of his essays also address the potential for sociological research in the exploration of the solar system.