-
20Bio-Informed Emerging Technologies and Their Relation to the Sustainability Aims of BiomimicryEnvironmental Values 28 (5): 551-571. 2019.Synthetic biology, materials chemistry and soft robotics are fast becoming leading disciplines within the field of practices which look to nature for inspiration and opportunities. In this article I discuss how these molecular-scale practices fit within the existing trends of bio-informed design defined at the macro level, that is, bionics, biomimetics and more specifically biomimicry. Based on the metaphysical views underlying bio-informed design practices, I argue that none of them currently f…Read more
-
19La chimie: Un statut toujours problématique dans la classification du savoirRevue de Synthèse 115 (1-2): 135-148. 1994.La chimie conquiert le statut de science académique au cours du siècle des Lumières et jouit d’un très grand prestige intellectuel et social au XIXe siècle. Cette promotion se répercute-t-elle dans les classifications du savoir? En comparant deux textes consacrés à la philosophie de la chimie dans des ouvrages à vocation encyclopédique – l’article « Chymie » de l’Encyclopédie de Diderot rédigé en 1753 par G.-F. Venel et les leçons sur la chimie dans le Cours de philosophie positive d’Auguste Com…Read more
-
19The Chemists' Style of ThinkingBerichte Zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 32 (4): 365-378. 2009.Der Denkstil der Chemiker. Der Aufsatz diskutiert die Tragfähigkeit des Begriffes “Denkstil”, wie er von Alistair Crombie eingeführt und Ian Hacking aufgegriffen wurde, für das Verständnis dessen, wie das Fach Chemie historisch seine Identität ausgeprägt hat. Obwohl weder Crombie noch Hacking den Begriff “Denkstil” in Bezug auf einzelne Disziplinen verwendet haben, erscheint im Fall der Chemie seine Anwendung besonders vielversprechend, weil er hier hilft, ein zentrales Problem zu thematisieren …Read more
-
19Popular Science and Politics in Interwar FranceScience in Context 26 (3): 459-471. 2013.ArgumentThe interwar period in France is characterized by intense activity to disseminate science in society through various media: magazines, conferences, book series, encyclopedias, radio, exhibitions, and museums. In this context, the scientific community developed significant attempts to disseminate science in close alliance with the State. This paper presents three ambitious projects conducted in the 1930s which targeted different audiences and engaged the social sciences along with the nat…Read more
-
18Toward a Philosophy of TechnosciencesIn Bernadette Bensaude Vincent, Xavier Guchet & Sacha Loeve (eds.), French Philosophy of Technology: Classical Readings and Contemporary Approaches, Springer Verlag. pp. 169-186. 2018.The term “technoscience” gained philosophical significance in the 1970s but it aroused ambivalent views. On the one hand, several scholars have used it to shed light on specific features of recent scientific research, especially with regard to emerging technologies that blur boundaries ; on the other hand, as a matter of fact “technoscience” did not prompt great interest among philosophers. In the French area, a depreciative meaning prevails: “technoscience” means the contamination of science by…Read more
-
17L'éther, Élement Chimique: Un Essai Malheureux De Mendéléev?British Journal for the History of Science 15 (2): 183-188. 1982.
-
17Reconceptualizing chemical elements through the construction of the periodic systemCentaurus 61 (4): 299-310. 2019.
-
17L'évolution de la complémentarité dans les textes de Bohr (1927-1939)Revue d'Histoire des Sciences 38 (3): 231-250. 1985.
-
17« La chimie n’a pas de territoire assigné »Hermès: La Revue Cognition, communication, politique 67 (3). 2013.
-
16
-
15Two Cultures of Nanotechnology?Hyle 10 (2). 2004.Although many active scientists deplore the publicity about Drexler's futuristic scenario, I will argue that the controversies it has generated are very useful, at least in one respect. They help clarify the metaphysical assumptions underlying nanotechnologies, which may prove very helpful for understanding their public and cultural impact. Both Drexler and his opponents take inspiration from living systems, which they both describe as machines. However there is a striking contrast in their resp…Read more
-
15L’astronomie populaire, priorité philosophique et projet politiqueRevue de Synthèse 112 (1): 49-59. 1991.
-
14Une mythologie révolutionnaire dans la chimie FrançaiseAnnals of Science 40 (2): 189-196. 1983.The French chemists of the nineteenth century insisted that the ‘rupture lavoisienne’ had marked the advent of a new world. In their view, Lavoisier not only overthrew the theory of phlogiston, he also established the science of chemistry. In the conceptual gap between notions of ‘revolution’ and ‘foundation’ an origin-myth was created. The cult of Lavoisier that developed can be interpreted as a projection of political interests and national pride. By coincidence, the Traité élémentaire appeare…Read more
-
13Eaux et mesures. Éclairages sur l'itinéraire intellectuel du jeune Lavoisier/Water and measuring: Views on the intellectual itinerary of the young LavoisierRevue d'Histoire des Sciences 48 (1): 49-70. 1995.
-
13Book review: Marco Beretta (ed.): "Lavoisier in Perspective", München 2005 (review)Hyle 11 (2). 2005.
-
12Das Konzept von Werkstoffen in historischer PerspektiveNTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin 19 (1): 107-123. 2011.In diesem Beitrag lege ich dar, dass in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts das Konzept von Werkstoffen (materials) als charakteristischer ontologischer Typus eines neuen Forschungs- und Wissenschaftsstils aufkam. Das soll nicht heißen, dass Werkstoffe niemals zuvor wissenschaftlich bearbeitet worden wären. Zweifellos hatten sich zahlreiche wissenschaftliche Disziplinen mit den Eigenschaften einer ganzen Reihe von Werkstoffen befasst. Doch wurden dabei Werkstoffe nicht als generische, also a…Read more
-
12Between History and Memory: Centennial and Bicentennial Images of LavoisierIsis 87 (3): 481-499. 1996.
-
12An interview with Christophe Vieu, directeur de recherche at LAAS, Toulouse, 8 December 2017 (review)Philosophia Scientiae 23 161-164. 2019.Plongé au cœur des nanos, Christophe Vieu souligne la diversité des secteurs touchés par l’approche nano. À l’idée d’une convergence des secteurs scientifiques, il oppose l’image d’une espèce invasive. Il se sent de ce fait investi d’une responsabilité de l’ensemble des technosciences.
-
11Introduction. Nanotechnoscience: The End of the BeginningPhilosophia Scientiae 23 5-17. 2019.Is there still room at the bottom? The question providing the theme for the present issue of Philosophia Scientiæ is, of course, adapted from Richard Feynman’s well-known speech at the 1959 meeting of the American Physical Society. On this occasion he attracted physicists’ attention to the vast potential of working at the scale of the nanometre if not the ångström, using the catchy title: “Plenty of Room at the Bottom” [Feynman 1959]. This hookline from a famous Nobel laureate physicist serve...
-
11François Dagognet: philosophe, épistémologue (edited book)Éditions Matériologiques. 2019.François Dagognet (1924-2015) nous a laissé une oeuvre immense et foisonnante : près de soixante-dix ouvrages, sur les thèmes les plus divers, de l'épistémologie à l'art contemporain, de la politique au droit, de l'argent à la morale, de la peau au trouble, sans oublier le paysage, ou l'agronomie, les déchets ou les musées, parmi bien d'autres sujets. Sa curiosité universelle et inassouvie égalait, voire dépassait, celle de son maître Bachelard. Montrer comment Dagognet a illustré…Read more