- Dominique Raynaud
Université Grenoble Alpes
UFR SHS
CS 40700
38058 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France)
dominique.raynaud [at] univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
Dominique Raynaud
Université Grenoble Alpes, Mha (Ensag), Faculty Member
- I am currently associate professor at University Grenoble Alpes. My area of specialization is the history of science ... moreI am currently associate professor at University Grenoble Alpes. My area of specialization is the history of science (geometry, optics, perspective) and technology (architecture, engineering) with general interests in philosophy and sociology of science.edit
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific... more
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific analysis of the camera obscura. On the Shape of the Eclipse includes pioneering research on the conditions of formation of the image, in a time deemed to be committed to aniconism. It also provides an early attempt to merge the two branches of Ancient optics—the theory of light and theory of vision.
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today.
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today.
Research Interests:
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific... more
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific analysis of the camera obscura. On the Shape of the Eclipse includes pioneering research on the conditions of formation of the image, in a time deemed to be committed to aniconism. It also provides an early attempt to merge the two branches of Ancient optics—the theory of light and theory of vision.
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today
Research Interests:
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific... more
261 pp. Springer (Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics) – This book provides the critical edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s On the Shape of the Eclipse with English translation and commentary, which records the first scientific analysis of the camera obscura. On the Shape of the Eclipse includes pioneering research on the conditions of formation of the image, in a time deemed to be committed to aniconism. It also provides an early attempt to merge the two branches of Ancient optics—the theory of light and theory of vision.
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today
What perhaps most strongly characterizes this treatise is the close interaction of a geometric analysis of light and experimental reasoning. Ibn al-Haytham conducted his experiments in a systematic way by varying all that could be changed: the shape and size of the aperture, the focal length of the camera obscura, the distance and shape of the celestial bodies. This way, he achieved a thorough understanding. This work represents a decisive step in both the history of optics and the application of the experimental method that was just as efficient in medieval Islam as today
Research Interests:
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – This book explores the interrelationship between optics, vision and perspective before the Classical Age, examining binocularity in particular. The author shows how binocular vision was one of the key... more
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – This book explores the interrelationship between optics, vision and perspective before the Classical Age, examining binocularity in particular. The author shows how binocular vision was one of the key juncture points between the three concepts. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the concept of Perspectiva – the Latin word for optics – encompassed many areas of enquiry that had been viewed since antiquity as interconnected, but which afterwards were separated: optics was incorporated into the field of physics (i.e., physical and geometrical optics), vision came to be regarded as the sum of various psycho-physiological mechanisms involved in the way the eye operates (i.e., physiological optics and psychology of vision) and the word 'perspective' was reserved for the mathematical representation of the external world (i.e., linear perspective). The author shows how this division, which emerged as a result of the spread of the sciences in classical Europe, turns out to be an anachronism if we confront certain facts from the immediately preceding periods. It is essential to take into account the way medieval scholars posed the problem – which included all facets of the Latin word perspectiva – when exploring the events of this period. This book will appeal to a broad readership, from philosophers and historians of science, to those working in geometry, optics, ophthalmology and architecture.
Research Interests:
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – This book explores the interrelationship between optics, vision and perspective before the Classical Age, examining binocularity in particular. The author shows how binocular vision was one of the key... more
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – This book explores the interrelationship between optics, vision and perspective before the Classical Age, examining binocularity in particular. The author shows how binocular vision was one of the key juncture points between the three concepts. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the concept of Perspectiva – the Latin word for optics – encompassed many areas of enquiry that had been viewed since antiquity as interconnected, but which afterwards were separated: optics was incorporated into the field of physics (i.e., physical and geometrical optics), vision came to be regarded as the sum of various psycho-physiological mechanisms involved in the way the eye operates (i.e., physiological optics and psychology of vision) and the word 'perspective' was reserved for the mathematical representation of the external world (i.e., linear perspective). The author shows how this division, which emerged as a result of the spread of the sciences in classical Europe, turns out to be an anachronism if we confront certain facts from the immediately preceding periods. It is essential to take into account the way medieval scholars posed the problem – which included all facets of the Latin word perspectiva – when exploring the events of this period. This book will appeal to a broad readership, from philosophers and historians of science, to those working in geometry, optics, ophthalmology and architecture.
Research Interests:
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – Early modern physiological optics introduced the concept of correspondence to the study of the conditions for the fusion of binocular images. The formulation of this concept has been ascribed to Christiaan... more
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – Early modern physiological optics introduced the concept of correspondence to the study of the conditions for the fusion of binocular images. The formulation of this concept has been ascribed to Christiaan Huygens (in a work published posthumously in 1704) and to an experiment often attributed to Christoph Scheiner (1619). Here it will be shown that Scheiner's experiment in fact had already been conceptualized, first in antiquity by Ptolemy (90-168 AD), then in the Middle Ages by Ibn al-Haytham (Latinized as Alhacen) (d. after 1040). The extent of the latter's knowledge of the mechanisms of binocular vision will be analyzed. It will be explained why Ibn al-Haytham, who was a mathematician but addressed this problem as an experimentalist, succeeded in discovering the theoretical horopter (the locus of points in space that yields single vision) and yet failed to recognize that it could be described as a circular plane around the viewer's head, credit for which must instead go to Vieth (1818) and Müller (1826). Through his experimental studies, Ibn al-Haytham established the notion of corresponding points, explored what the cases of homonymous (direct) and heteronymous (crossed) diplopia reveal about the mechanisms of vision, and prepared the ground for the discovery by Panum of the fusional area. The influence on Western science of al-Haytham's pioneering treatise Kitāb al-manāẓir (Book of Optics) is examined, beginning with his successors in the Latin-speaking world, and in particular Italy.
Research Interests:
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – Perspective reconstructions are not always reliable. Proof lies in the variety of interpretations that have been proposed for the same work. A rational method for reducing the number of interpretations by... more
297 pp. Springer (Archimedes) – Perspective reconstructions are not always reliable. Proof lies in the variety of interpretations that have been proposed for the same work. A rational method for reducing the number of interpretations by decreasing the number of errors in the reconstruction will be presented here. It consists on the one hand of following a rigorous protocol and on the other hand of proceeding with an error calculation that allows one to choose the perspective scheme that minimizes the error. The method will be applied to a fresco by the fourteenth-century artist Giusto de' Menabuoi, which presents two principal vanishing points that can be defined with a very small error (4-7 mm in situ). The two vanishing points coincide with elements in the architectural framework and since they are separated by a distance that is thirty times greater than the error, this fresco can be used to formulate a robust hypothesis on how to implement the principles of binocular vision.
Research Interests:
257 pp. Bardwell Press – Why did linear perspective rise in Trecento-Quattrocento Central Italy rather than in any other cultural context? This book provides new insight into the question of the early Italian pioneership in perspective,... more
257 pp. Bardwell Press – Why did linear perspective rise in Trecento-Quattrocento Central Italy rather than in any other cultural context? This book provides new insight into the question of the early Italian pioneership in perspective, building on the fact that many references to optics are found in Renaissance perspective treatises. The fact that most of the medieval optical manuscripts were written by masters suggests a closer look at the functioning of medieval universities (studia generalia). An in-depth study of recruitment highlights the exceptional mobility of master and lectors throughout Europe.It is shown that, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the nearer a university was to Central Italy, the more cosmopolitan it was. Through the masters' mobility, knowledge circulating in the network preferentially flowed into Central Italy.
This study combines a broad spectrum of methods, ranging from the biography of university staff to textual parallels inquiry, from cross-cultural comparisons to advanced network analysis and modelling.
This study combines a broad spectrum of methods, ranging from the biography of university staff to textual parallels inquiry, from cross-cultural comparisons to advanced network analysis and modelling.
Research Interests: Optics, Social Networks, Sociology of Knowledge, History of Perspective in Painting, History of Science, and 10 moreDiffusion of Innovations, History of Universities, Social Network Analysis (SNA), History of Art, Sociology of Science, Cultural Intermediaries, Linear Perspective, History of optics, Knowledge Diffusion, and Scientific Historical Sources
650 pp. Wayenborgh-Kugler (Hirschberg History of Ophthalmology 16) – This book is a continuation of the research on the representation of the eye initiated by Prof. Ludwig Choulant (University of Dresden) and Prof. Hugo Magnus (University... more
650 pp. Wayenborgh-Kugler (Hirschberg History of Ophthalmology 16) – This book is a continuation of the research on the representation of the eye initiated by Prof. Ludwig Choulant (University of Dresden) and Prof. Hugo Magnus (University of Breslau) at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The aim of the book is to provide all those who need information on how the eye was conceived in a given historical context, with clear and concise iconographic and lexicographic data. The first section contains about 700 images of the eye (first handwritten, then printed) distributed among 450 authors. Each record reproduces the figures of the eye with their own specific anatomical terminology. The second section provides a cluster analysis of the eye figures: the result is a dendrogram, which accounts for the main types of representation of the eye found in the history of ocular anatomy. The work is complemented by a 40-page Index of Concepts containing all the anatomical terms found in the book.
Research Interests:
650 pp. Wayenborgh-Kugler (Hirschberg History of Ophthalmology 16) – This book is a continuation of the research on the representation of the eye initiated by Prof. Ludwig Choulant (University of Dresden) and Prof. Hugo Magnus (University... more
650 pp. Wayenborgh-Kugler (Hirschberg History of Ophthalmology 16) – This book is a continuation of the research on the representation of the eye initiated by Prof. Ludwig Choulant (University of Dresden) and Prof. Hugo Magnus (University of Breslau) at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The aim of the book is to provide all those who need information on how the eye was conceived in a given historical context, with clear and concise iconographic and lexicographic data. The first section contains about 700 images of the eye (first handwritten, then printed) distributed among 450 authors. Each record reproduces the figures of the eye with their own specific anatomical terminology. The second section provides a cluster analysis of the eye figures: the result is a dendrogram, which accounts for the main types of representation of the eye found in the history of ocular anatomy. The work is complemented by a 40-page Index of Concepts containing all the anatomical terms found in the book.
Research Interests:
482 pp. ACMRS (Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies) – To students and practitioners of anamorphic art, the name of Jean-François Niceron is more than preeminent; it has become iconic. La Perspective Curieuse was first published in... more
482 pp. ACMRS (Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies) – To students and practitioners of anamorphic art, the name of Jean-François Niceron is more than preeminent; it has become iconic. La Perspective Curieuse was first published in 1638. An augmented version was then translated into Latin by Mersenne in 1646. A newly amended and augmented version was retranslated into French by Roberval in 1652. This book is an English translation of the 1652 text, with reference to the 1638 and 1646 versions.
Considering the continued high reputation of the book, the mathematics have been checked for correctness and consistency, and the authors have provided a full commentary, pointing out the most difficult turns of the 17th-century French, the respective contributions of Niceron, Mersenne and Roberval, and explaining Niceron's greatest insights and weaknesses.
Considering the continued high reputation of the book, the mathematics have been checked for correctness and consistency, and the authors have provided a full commentary, pointing out the most difficult turns of the 17th-century French, the respective contributions of Niceron, Mersenne and Roberval, and explaining Niceron's greatest insights and weaknesses.
Research Interests:
482 pp. ACMRS (Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies) – To students and practitioners of anamorphic art, the name of Jean-François Niceron is more than preeminent; it has become iconic. La Perspective Curieuse was first published in... more
482 pp. ACMRS (Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies) – To students and practitioners of anamorphic art, the name of Jean-François Niceron is more than preeminent; it has become iconic. La Perspective Curieuse was first published in 1638. An augmented version was then translated into Latin by Mersenne in 1646. A newly amended and augmented version was retranslated into French by Roberval in 1652. This book is an English translation of the 1652 text, with reference to the 1638 and 1646 versions.
Considering the continued high reputation of the book, the mathematics have been checked for correctness and consistency, and the authors have provided a full commentary, pointing out the most difficult turns of the 17th-century French, the respective contributions of Niceron, Mersenne and Roberval, and explaining Niceron's greatest insights and weaknesses.
Considering the continued high reputation of the book, the mathematics have been checked for correctness and consistency, and the authors have provided a full commentary, pointing out the most difficult turns of the 17th-century French, the respective contributions of Niceron, Mersenne and Roberval, and explaining Niceron's greatest insights and weaknesses.
Research Interests:
Ce livre est un livre d’épistémologie de la sociologie. L’objectif est d’appliquer des méthodes analytiques pour clarifier le vocabulaire, expliciter des relations non-apparentes entre concepts, dégager la portée d’une méthode, ou... more
Ce livre est un livre d’épistémologie de la sociologie. L’objectif est d’appliquer des méthodes analytiques pour clarifier le vocabulaire, expliciter des relations non-apparentes entre concepts, dégager la portée d’une méthode, ou souligner les incohérences d’un programme de recherche.
Les questions épineuses ne sont pas écartéees: Comment clarifier des notions confuses? Peut-on mathématiser les concepts sociologiques? Peut-on pratiquer la sociologie comme on pratique les sciences naturelles? Quelle est la place du déterminisme?
Chaque question est examinée à la fois dans sa structure logique et sur des cas concrets. La mathématisation est étudiée sur les mécanismes agrégatifs et sur les modèles de diffusion des innovations. La sociologie expérimentale – généralement méconnue dans la sociologie française – est étudiée sur des programmes de relogement, la diffusion de l’information, ou la genèse de la solidarité sociale.
Le livre aborde frontalement la question du déterminisme, du naturalisme, du matérialisme et du scientisme, réputés intenables en sociologie. L’enquête montre que leur rejet résulte généralement de confusions conceptuelles. Une fois écartées, peu d’obstacles s’opposent à leur emploi en sociologie.
L’objet de ce livre est la sociologie fondamentale: ensemble des mécanismes qui structurent la production des connaissances sociologiques de base à partir de concepts, programmes ou principes, c’est-à-dire tout ce qui ne relève pas de l’expérience immédiate du terrain et des mondes sociaux.
Les questions épineuses ne sont pas écartéees: Comment clarifier des notions confuses? Peut-on mathématiser les concepts sociologiques? Peut-on pratiquer la sociologie comme on pratique les sciences naturelles? Quelle est la place du déterminisme?
Chaque question est examinée à la fois dans sa structure logique et sur des cas concrets. La mathématisation est étudiée sur les mécanismes agrégatifs et sur les modèles de diffusion des innovations. La sociologie expérimentale – généralement méconnue dans la sociologie française – est étudiée sur des programmes de relogement, la diffusion de l’information, ou la genèse de la solidarité sociale.
Le livre aborde frontalement la question du déterminisme, du naturalisme, du matérialisme et du scientisme, réputés intenables en sociologie. L’enquête montre que leur rejet résulte généralement de confusions conceptuelles. Une fois écartées, peu d’obstacles s’opposent à leur emploi en sociologie.
L’objet de ce livre est la sociologie fondamentale: ensemble des mécanismes qui structurent la production des connaissances sociologiques de base à partir de concepts, programmes ou principes, c’est-à-dire tout ce qui ne relève pas de l’expérience immédiate du terrain et des mondes sociaux.
Research Interests:
312 pp. Éditions Matériologiques – Est-il vrai que la science et la technologie forment un tout ? Qu’elles sont unies par des liens constants et nécessaires? Est-il vrai que le raisonnement technologique prend toujours place dans un... more
312 pp. Éditions Matériologiques – Est-il vrai que la science et la technologie forment un tout ? Qu’elles sont unies par des liens constants et nécessaires? Est-il vrai que le raisonnement technologique prend toujours place dans un contexte industriel ? Que les bio- et nanotechnologies forment la part essentielle des technologies contemporaines? Que l’application définit adéquatement la relation entre la science et la technologie? Dans ce livre, Dominique Raynaud examine les limites de chacune de ces idées. Il dresse un panorama complet des problèmes que pose la technologie au moyen d’une étude détaillée des aspects cognitifs, ergologiques, professionnels et juridiques de la relation entre la science et la technologie et met à nu la fiction utilitariste de la prétendue «technoscience». Tout aussi éloigné de l’apologie que de la critique radicale, ce livre défend une perspective empirique et analytique dans l’étude de la technologie.
Research Interests:
384 pp. Editorial Laetoli – ¿Es cierto que la ciencia y la tecnología forman un todo? ¿Están unidas por vínculos constantes y necesarios? ¿Hay razonamiento tecnológico sólo en el ámbito industrial? ¿Las bio y nanotecnologías constituyen... more
384 pp. Editorial Laetoli – ¿Es cierto que la ciencia y la tecnología forman un todo? ¿Están unidas por vínculos constantes y necesarios? ¿Hay razonamiento tecnológico sólo en el ámbito industrial? ¿Las bio y nanotecnologías constituyen la parte esencial de las tecnologías actuales? ¿La noción de aplicación absorbe todas las relaciones posibles entre la ciencia y la tecnología? Dominique Raynaud muestra en este libro, prologado por Mario Bunge, los límites de cada una de estas ideas. Ofrece un panorama completo de los problemas planteados por la tecnología por medio de un estudio detallado de los aspectos cognitivos, ergológicos, profesionales y legales de las relaciones entre ciencia y tecnología, y pone al desnudo la ficción utilitaria de la supuesta "tecnociencia". Tan lejos de la apología como de la crítica radical, este libro aspira a renovar el estudio de la tecnología desde una perspectiva empírica y analítica.
Research Interests:
144 pp. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté – Geometria practica est le titre de nombreux traités mathématiques rédigés du Moyen Âge à la fin de l'époque classique. Branche peu étudiée par l'histoire des sciences et des techniques, à... more
144 pp. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté – Geometria practica est le titre de nombreux traités mathématiques rédigés du Moyen Âge à la fin de l'époque classique. Branche peu étudiée par l'histoire des sciences et des techniques, à la marge des mathématiques savantes et des traditions techniques, la géométrie pratique pose des questions historiographiques et épistémologiques propre. Cet ouvrage collectif vise à élucider certains de ces problèmes comme le rapport à l'utilité, l'importance des solutions approchées ou la limite de la mathématisation. Il montre la place qui revient aux instruments de mesure, de relevé ou de tracé, et étudie les modalités de l’enseignement de la géométrie aux praticiens.
Avec les contributions de Samuel Gessner, Eberhard Knobloch, Jorge Galindo Diaz, Joël Sakarovitch et Dominique Raynaud.
Avec les contributions de Samuel Gessner, Eberhard Knobloch, Jorge Galindo Diaz, Joël Sakarovitch et Dominique Raynaud.
Research Interests:
240 pp. Presses universitaires de France – Ce livre souhaite montrer, par une comparaison des concepts et des méthodes de la sociologie avec ceux des sciences naturelles, que beaucoup des critères avancés pour doter la sociologie d’un... more
240 pp. Presses universitaires de France – Ce livre souhaite montrer, par une comparaison des concepts et des méthodes de la sociologie avec ceux des sciences naturelles, que beaucoup des critères avancés pour doter la sociologie d’un statut épistémologique spécial — et, pour tout dire, souvent dérogatoire — ont un caractère douteux.
Éléments d’un discours identitaire partiellement dérivés du Methodenstreit allemand, ces critères — réalisme des théories sociologiques, multiplicité et irréductibilité des paradigmes sociologiques, langage, concepts et programmes inclarifiables, statut logique hors norme des concepts sociologiques, historicité des faits sociaux, inexistence de lois, impossibilité du raisonnement expérimental — ne résistent pas à l’examen critique. Par bien des aspects, la sociologie apparaît être une science ordinaire, ni mieux, ni plus mal lotie que les autres.
Éléments d’un discours identitaire partiellement dérivés du Methodenstreit allemand, ces critères — réalisme des théories sociologiques, multiplicité et irréductibilité des paradigmes sociologiques, langage, concepts et programmes inclarifiables, statut logique hors norme des concepts sociologiques, historicité des faits sociaux, inexistence de lois, impossibilité du raisonnement expérimental — ne résistent pas à l’examen critique. Par bien des aspects, la sociologie apparaît être une science ordinaire, ni mieux, ni plus mal lotie que les autres.
Research Interests:
320 pp. Routledge (Transaction) – In Scientific Controversies, Dominique Raynaud shows how organized debates in the sciences help us establish or verify our knowledge of the world. If debates focus on form, scientific controversies are... more
320 pp. Routledge (Transaction) – In Scientific Controversies, Dominique Raynaud shows how organized debates in the sciences help us establish or verify our knowledge of the world. If debates focus on form, scientific controversies are akin to public debates that can be understood within the framework of theories of conflict. If they focus on content, then such controversies have to do with a specific activity and address the nature of science itself. Understanding the major focus of a scientific controversy is a first step toward understanding these debates and assessing their merits.
Controversies of unique socio-historic context, disciplines, and characteristics are examined: Pasteur’s germ theory and Pouchet’s theory of spontaneous generation; vitalism advocated at Montpellier versus experimental medicine in Paris; the science of optics about the propagation of visual rays; the origins of relativism (the Duhem-Quine problem). Touching on the work of Boudon, Popper, and others, Raynaud puts forward an incrementalist theory about the advancement of science through scientific controversies.
The debates Raynaud has selected share in common their pivotal importance to the history of the sciences. By understanding the role of controversy, we better understand the functioning of science and the stakes of the contemporary scientific debates.
Controversies of unique socio-historic context, disciplines, and characteristics are examined: Pasteur’s germ theory and Pouchet’s theory of spontaneous generation; vitalism advocated at Montpellier versus experimental medicine in Paris; the science of optics about the propagation of visual rays; the origins of relativism (the Duhem-Quine problem). Touching on the work of Boudon, Popper, and others, Raynaud puts forward an incrementalist theory about the advancement of science through scientific controversies.
The debates Raynaud has selected share in common their pivotal importance to the history of the sciences. By understanding the role of controversy, we better understand the functioning of science and the stakes of the contemporary scientific debates.
Research Interests: Microbiology, Optics, History of Medicine, History of Science, Sociology of Science, and 13 moreHistory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Medicine, Robert Grosseteste, Incremental Innovation, Vitalism, Controversy, Scientific Controversies, Scientific Progress, Experimental Medicine, Roger Bacon, Félix-Archimède Pouchet, Louis Pasteur, and John Peckham
428 pp. Éditions Matériologiques – Brisant l’image idéale de la science consensuelle, les controverses scientifiques sont aujourd’hui devenues un sujet privilégié de la sociologie et de l’histoire des sciences. Elles sont par ailleurs... more
428 pp. Éditions Matériologiques – Brisant l’image idéale de la science consensuelle, les controverses scientifiques sont aujourd’hui devenues un sujet privilégié de la sociologie et de l’histoire des sciences. Elles sont par ailleurs impliquées au cœur des débats sur les méthodes des sciences sociales. Si l’analyse des controverses scientifiques doit beaucoup aux approches inaugurées par les courants relativistes et constructivistes des années 1970-1980, ce livre montre que les études contemporaines ont tout à gagner à réintroduire ce qui a été le principal tabou des trente dernières années: la vérité.
Cette conclusion n’est pas le résultat d’une méditation abstraite sur le destin de la sociologie et de l’histoire des sciences. C’est le résultat d’études de cas, portant sur des disciplines telles que la biologie (la thèse des générations spontanées, débattue entre Pasteur et Pouchet), de la médecine (le vitalisme opposé à la médecine expérimentale naissante), de la stéréotomie (les « Guerres perspectives » qui ont agité le Paris des années 1640), de la perspective (la mathématisation de la perspective dans l’Italie du 16e siècle) ou de l’optique (la question de l’intromission, discutée à Oxford). De querelles médiévales à des disputes plus récentes, ces études suivent un même fil conducteur : interroger les rôles de la rationalité, des conventions et des croyances collectives dans la construction des théories scientifiques.
L’auteur défend une théorie incrémentaliste du progrès scientifique: pour autant qu’il suive des règles, le débat est un moyen pratique de tester la robustesse d’une théorie et de départager les théories rivales. Le fait que les débats soient souvent marqués par la passion et les émotions est sans intérêt ; l’important est que ces échanges réglés puissent, par la production d’arguments publics, s’approcher de la vérité. C’est une façon de répondre à la question : Pourquoi l’activité scientifique est-elle conflictuelle?
Cette conclusion n’est pas le résultat d’une méditation abstraite sur le destin de la sociologie et de l’histoire des sciences. C’est le résultat d’études de cas, portant sur des disciplines telles que la biologie (la thèse des générations spontanées, débattue entre Pasteur et Pouchet), de la médecine (le vitalisme opposé à la médecine expérimentale naissante), de la stéréotomie (les « Guerres perspectives » qui ont agité le Paris des années 1640), de la perspective (la mathématisation de la perspective dans l’Italie du 16e siècle) ou de l’optique (la question de l’intromission, discutée à Oxford). De querelles médiévales à des disputes plus récentes, ces études suivent un même fil conducteur : interroger les rôles de la rationalité, des conventions et des croyances collectives dans la construction des théories scientifiques.
L’auteur défend une théorie incrémentaliste du progrès scientifique: pour autant qu’il suive des règles, le débat est un moyen pratique de tester la robustesse d’une théorie et de départager les théories rivales. Le fait que les débats soient souvent marqués par la passion et les émotions est sans intérêt ; l’important est que ces échanges réglés puissent, par la production d’arguments publics, s’approcher de la vérité. C’est une façon de répondre à la question : Pourquoi l’activité scientifique est-elle conflictuelle?
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Voir réédition 2018
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402 pp. Presses universitaires de France – L’étude de la perspective a longtemps souffert d’un a priori dommageable : celui qui consiste à en faire un système culturel "inventé" à la Renaissance, ou, tout au moins, coupé de ses sources... more
402 pp. Presses universitaires de France – L’étude de la perspective a longtemps souffert d’un a priori dommageable : celui qui consiste à en faire un système culturel "inventé" à la Renaissance, ou, tout au moins, coupé de ses sources médiévales. Depuis une quinzaine d’années, nombre de recherches se sont attachées à montrer ce que devait la perspective aux connaissances du passé, en postulant tour-à-tour son origine dans l’optique, l’ars metrica, la statique, la géographie ou l’astronomie… Ce livre montre qu’il n’est point besoin de convoquer l’ensemble de ces sources et défend la thèse d’un courant de diffusion prépondérant, qui va de l’optique élaborée à Oxford au XIIIe siècle, vers les premières représentations picturales italiennes obéissant aux règles de la perspective linéaire.
Ce livre délaisse le regard classique que portent l’histoire de l’art et l’esthétique sur la perspective, pour s’intéresser essentiellement au réseau des hommes qui ont rendu possible l’avènement de la perspectiva artificialis en diffusant l’optique d’Oxford. Au croisement de l’histoire et de la sociologie des sciences, cette enquête tente de comprendre les raisons politiques et religieuses qui ont déterminé cette transmission culturelle, tout autant, d’ailleurs, que celles qui ont voulu effacer le passé médiéval de la perspective en créant de toutes pièces un "mythe de la perspective".
Ce livre délaisse le regard classique que portent l’histoire de l’art et l’esthétique sur la perspective, pour s’intéresser essentiellement au réseau des hommes qui ont rendu possible l’avènement de la perspectiva artificialis en diffusant l’optique d’Oxford. Au croisement de l’histoire et de la sociologie des sciences, cette enquête tente de comprendre les raisons politiques et religieuses qui ont déterminé cette transmission culturelle, tout autant, d’ailleurs, que celles qui ont voulu effacer le passé médiéval de la perspective en créant de toutes pièces un "mythe de la perspective".
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240 pp. L'Harmattan – Définir, à partir des traces graphiques d'un projet, les actions de conception et les motivations de l'architecte à les entreprendre, voilà l'objectif de l'enquête. Quel est le rôle de la représentation dans le... more
240 pp. L'Harmattan – Définir, à partir des traces graphiques d'un projet, les actions de conception et les motivations de l'architecte à les entreprendre, voilà l'objectif de l'enquête. Quel est le rôle de la représentation dans le développement de l'idée architecturale ? Comment se transforme-t-elle tout au long du projet ? En fonction de quoi l'architecte décide-t-il d'altérer ou de maintenir une représentation ? Telles sont les questions que ces essais tentent de résoudre en s'appuyant sur les concepts de représentation, d'inférence, de modèle et d'échelle, et en portant une attention particulière au rôle que jouent les schèmes dans la conception architecturale.
Les conclusions sont tirées d'études de cas qui portent sur des projets de l'Atelier Zô, Scarpa, Le Corbusier, Pei.
Les conclusions sont tirées d'études de cas qui portent sur des projets de l'Atelier Zô, Scarpa, Le Corbusier, Pei.
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164 pp. Éditions Parenthèses – "Toute forme a été imaginée avant d'être construite". Cette formule classique, qui met en relief l'un des traits essentiels de la pratique architecturale, soulève plusieurs questions. D'où viennent les... more
164 pp. Éditions Parenthèses – "Toute forme a été imaginée avant d'être construite". Cette formule classique, qui met en relief l'un des traits essentiels de la pratique architecturale, soulève plusieurs questions. D'où viennent les images-mères du projet? Sont-elles encore identifiables une fois construites? Existe-t-il des procédés réguliers dans l'imagination des formes architecturales? Cette enquête tente de résoudre ces problèmes par la reconnaissance de schèmes dynamiques de l'imagination. Si le processus de conception architecturale altère les images-mères au points que certains ont pu identifier une "non figurativité" de l'architecture, les schèmes dynamiques sont perceptibles de la première esquisse à l'édifice construit. La démonstration, au croisement de l'anthropologie des représentations et de l'architecturologie, adopte le principe d'une analyse comparée. Etayée par une sélection d'édifices couvrant toute l'extension historique et géographique, elle offre tout à la fois une lecture cohérente des premiers moments du projet architectural et une réflexion de portée générale sur l'imagination des formes.
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This article aims to contribute to the methods of the sociology of science through an empirical study of determinations of the velocity of light made between 1676 and 1983. Far from being constructed and deconstructed at pleasure, values... more
This article aims to contribute to the methods of the sociology of science through an empirical study of determinations of the velocity of light made between 1676 and 1983. Far from being constructed and deconstructed at pleasure, values for c have undergone a unidirectional and irreversible trend in the process of their revision. Competing measurement methods remained in the running as long as they produced an uncertainty less than, or equal to, the best value known. The analysis of “entrances” and “exits” of different methods on the research front makes clear the nature of scientific competition, which is a form of “redistributive emulation” that has little in common with political rivalry or economic competition. By achieving results that differ from constructivism on the themes of literary inscription, the games of construction/deconstruction, negotiation, and persuasion, this article outlines an internalist sociology of science, which aims at exploring all the different aspects that make science, science.
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In view of the progress made in recent decades in the fields of stemmatology and the analysis of geometric diagrams, the present article explores the possibility of establishing the stemma codicum of a handwritten tradition from geometric... more
In view of the progress made in recent decades in the fields of stemmatology and the analysis of geometric diagrams, the present article explores the possibility of establishing the stemma codicum of a handwritten tradition from geometric diagrams alone. This exploratory method is tested on Ibn al-Haytham’s Epistle on the Shape of the Eclipse, because this work has not yet been issued in a critical edition. Separate stemmata were constructed on the basis of the diagrams and the text, and a comparison showed no major differences. The greater reliability of a stemma codicum constructed on the basis of the diagrams rather than the text of a mathematical work is discussed and preliminary conclusions are drawn.
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This chapter is an exploration of the optical sources used by Leonardo da Vinci on his research on shadows. As most sources of the Renaissance were available in Arabic and Latin, the focus is mainly on translation and knowledge... more
This chapter is an exploration of the optical sources used by Leonardo da Vinci on his research on shadows. As most sources of the Renaissance were available in Arabic and Latin, the focus is mainly on translation and knowledge transmission. Leonardo research in light and shade is well known in architecture and art history, because shadow is directly involved in the rendering of the volume and depth. Leonardo is also well known to historians of optics, because he provided one of the very first studies of the "penumbra"—well before Maurolico (1521) and Kepler (1604). However there is evidence that Leonardo used external sources for the geometrical analysis of the penumbra. This chapter reviews the medieval optical sources he could use to compose his notes. A careful study of Leonardo’s notes reveals that they were probably translated from a scholastic disputation on optics, akin to the works of the late 14th century Parisian school. Information is provided for future identification of this treatise.
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Johannes Müller, noto con il nome latino di Regiomontano (1436–1476), nacque a Unfinden, vicino a Königsberg, il 6 giugno 1436. Studiò matematica e astronomia a Lipsia prima di andare a Vienna per seguire le lezioni di Georg von Peurbach.... more
Johannes Müller, noto con il nome latino di Regiomontano (1436–1476), nacque a Unfinden, vicino a Königsberg, il 6 giugno 1436. Studiò matematica e astronomia a Lipsia prima di andare a Vienna per seguire le lezioni di Georg von Peurbach. Dopo la morte di questo, nel 1461, andò a Roma dove divenne amico del cardinale Basilio Bessarione, legato del Papa presso la Repubblica di Venezia. Imparando il greco con Bessarione, Regiomontano si interessò alle opere matematiche dell'antichità. Fu anche un'epoca in cui viaggiò nel nord d'Italia. Regiomontano e Bessarione lasciano Roma nel luglio del 1463 per incontrarsi con l'astronomo ferrarese Giovanni Bianchini. Il progetto è abbandonato a causa della pestilenza che infuria a Ferrara. I due amici si recano a Venezia, dove rimangono fino all'autunno 1464. Regiomontano mantiene lì una corrispondenza con Giovanni Bianchini e Jacob von Speyer, astronomo del Duca di Urbino. Visita Milano nel dicembre del 1463, pro certo negocio. Nel mese di aprile-maggio 1464, dà un corso di astronomia a Padova, in cui parla delle sezioni coniche. Prevede che le Coniche di Apollonio di Perga-un'opera sconosciuta all'epoca-verranno ammirate quando tradotte dal greco al latino (Folkerts 1996: 93). La permanenza nell'Italia settentrionale termina nell'agosto del 1464, quando Bessarione viene richiamato a Roma per l'elezione del nuovo papa. Coinvolto in una controversia con Giorgio di Trebizonda, Regiomontano si allontana da Roma per stabilirsi a Norimberga nel 1471. Tornerà lì solo nel 1475, dove muore il 6 luglio 1476 (Zinner 1990). Negli anni precedenti, completata la stesura del De triangulis omnimodis (1464), un trattato di trigonometria accompagnato da una tabella di seni e tangenti, Regiomontano si era interessato delle sezioni coniche. Fece una copia del De speculi comburentibus-traduzione latina di Gerardo da Cremona della Maqāla fī al-marāyā al-muḥriqa bi-al-quṭū' d'Alhacen-a cui aggiunge il suo proprio De speculis comburentibus, che è piuttosto una rielaborazione dell'anonima Speculi almukefi compositio. Queste due opere sono conservate nello stesso manoscritto autografo di Regiomontano (Wien, ÖNB, Cod. 5258, ca. 1462).
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Si presume che Erazm Ciołek Witelo (Vitelion, Vitellio, Vitello, Vitulio, ecc., ca. 1230–dopo 1278) sia nato a Legnica, nella bassa Silesia, da padre tedesco e madre polacca, come suggerito dalla dedica dei Perspectivae libri decem a... more
Si presume che Erazm Ciołek Witelo (Vitelion, Vitellio, Vitello, Vitulio, ecc., ca. 1230–dopo 1278) sia nato a Legnica, nella bassa Silesia, da padre tedesco e madre polacca, come suggerito dalla dedica dei Perspectivae libri decem a Guglielmo di Moerbeke (Veritatis amatori fratri Guilielmo de Morbeka, Witelo filius thuringorum et polonorum eterne...) Witelo si laureò presso la facoltà degli arti di Parigi negli anni 1250, prima di studiare diritto canonico a Padova tra il 1262 e il 1268. Nel 1268–9, si unì alla corte di Viterbo, dove fece amicizia con Guglielmo di Moerbeke, traduttore di varie opere dal greco al latino, come quelle di Aristotele o Proclo e, per quanti riguarda l’ottica, la Cattotrica di Erone di Alessandria (Vaticano, BAV, Ottob. lat. 1850). Witelo è stato in qualche modo aiutato o incoraggiato nel suo compito da Guglielmo di Moerbeke, a chi era dedicata l’opera (Paravicini Bagliani 1975; Burchardt 1988). Gli ultimi anni della vita di Witelo sono scarsamente conosciuti: alcuni elementi suggeriscono che tornò a insegnare a Legnica, che fu canonico della cattedrale di Wrocław, o prebendario di Wilkowice, prima di finire i suoi giorni all’abbazia premonstratense di Vicogne, nell’Hainaut (Unguru in Witelo 1997: 12–24; Witelo 1983: 13–18).
La Perspectiva di Witelo, molto probabilmente redatta tra il 1270 e il 1274 (non dopo il 1278, quando venne citata dalla Perspectiva communis di Pecham) è, insieme ai trattati di Grossatesta, Bacone e Pecham, una delle grandi opere dell’ottica medievale latina.
La Perspectiva di Witelo, molto probabilmente redatta tra il 1270 e il 1274 (non dopo il 1278, quando venne citata dalla Perspectiva communis di Pecham) è, insieme ai trattati di Grossatesta, Bacone e Pecham, una delle grandi opere dell’ottica medievale latina.
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Giovanni Pecham (Peccam, Peckam, Peckham), nato intorno al 1225 a Patcham (Sussex) entrò nell’ordine francescano (Ordo Fratrum Minorum) in una data sconosciuta intorno al 1250–6. Fu mandato allo studium di Parigi per studiare teologia... more
Giovanni Pecham (Peccam, Peckam, Peckham), nato intorno al 1225 a Patcham (Sussex) entrò nell’ordine francescano (Ordo Fratrum Minorum) in una data sconosciuta intorno al 1250–6. Fu mandato allo studium di Parigi per studiare teologia (1257–9). Pecham probabilmente rimase a Parigi fino al 1272, dove poté incontrare Ruggero Bacone, che risiedeva lì tra 1257 e 1267 o 1280 (Lindberg 1976: 117). Alla fine di questo periodo, divenne magister regens dello studium parigino (1269–71) prima di essere nominato l’undicesimo lettore a Oxford (1272–4). Alcuni anni dopo, ottene il carico di lettore presso il Sacro Palazzo (1277–9), poi tornò in Inghilterra, essendo nominato arcivescovo di Canterbury (1279–92) (Boureau 2002; Etzkorn 2011). Pecham, che probabilmente era
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Ruggero Bacone (ca. 1220-ca. 1292) nacque a Ilchester, nel Sommersetshire, in una data sconosciuta intorno al 1214, o più probabilmente 1220. Bacone ha studiato a Oxford (1234-42) prima di andare a Parigi, dove diviene maestro d'arte nel... more
Ruggero Bacone (ca. 1220-ca. 1292) nacque a Ilchester, nel Sommersetshire, in una data sconosciuta intorno al 1214, o più probabilmente 1220. Bacone ha studiato a Oxford (1234-42) prima di andare a Parigi, dove diviene maestro d'arte nel 1242 ed insegna subito dopo la filosofia di Aristotele. Ritornato a Oxford tra il 1248 e il 1251, abbandona la filosofia di «studio e commento» per dedicarsi allo studio della scienza sperimentale-una svolta decisiva che potrebbe essere spiegata dalla sua introduzione nell'ambiente di Roberto Grossatesta e del sue discepolo Adam de Marisco, magister regens dello studium di Oxford (vedi Oliver 2004). Dopo dieci anni di studi di matematica, ottica e astronomia, Bacone entrò nell'ordine francescano nel 1257 a Parigi, dove rimase fino al 1279. Ostacolato all'interno dell'ordine a causa della sua indipendenza di pensiero, chiese protezione al cardinale Guy de Foulques, nel frattempo eletto papa Clemente IV, che nel 1266 dimostrò interesse nella sua opera chiedendogli di inviare i suoi scritti. L'Opus tertium ci informa che, verso il 1267, un allievo di Bacone di nome Johannes [da Londra?] portò al papa l'Opus maius, l'Opus minus, il De multiplicatione specierum, il De speculis comburentibus nonché una lente ottica: «Puer vero Johannes portavit crystallinum sphericum ad experiendum» (Bacone ed. Brewer 1859: 111). Il poco tempo tra l'incarico e l'invio suggerisce che Bacone abbia iniziato a scrivere il suo lavoro molto prima, forse all'inizio degli anni 1260. La morte di Clemente IV nel 1268 pose fine alle sue speranze di vedere un rinnovamento del sapere umano mediante la scienza sperimentale. Il generale francescano Girolamo d'Ascoli ordinò persino che fosse posto sotto vigilanza verso il 1277-8, propter quasdam novitates suspectas. Ruggero Bacone tornò a Oxford intorno al 1280, dove morì nel 1292 o poco dopo (Lindberg 1983; Hackett 1997). L'ottica di Bacone è caratteristica delle dottrine del Medioevo latino: offre una sintesi del rinnovamento scientifico dovuto alle traduzioni dell'arabo-in particolare dall'ottica di Alhacen-e dell'impegno sperimentale promosso da Grossatesta a Oxford (Lindberg 1976: 107-116). Si nota anzitutto l'importanza del tema della multiplicatio specierum, destinata a diventare un topos dell'ottica del XIV secolo.
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Poco si sa circa la vita di Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī, conosciuto nel mondo latino come Alkindi. Secondo i bio-bibliografi arabi, sarebbe nato agli inizi del IX secolo a Kūfa, dove il padre serviva come governatore. Alcuni... more
Poco si sa circa la vita di Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī, conosciuto nel mondo latino come Alkindi. Secondo i bio-bibliografi arabi, sarebbe nato agli inizi del IX secolo a Kūfa, dove il padre serviva come governatore. Alcuni storici hanno sostenuto che al-Kindī avrebbe preso parte alla grande impresa di traduzione dal greco delle opere scientifiche guidata dal califfo al-Maʾmūn (regno tra 813-833) nella famosa Casa della Sapienza (bayt al-ḥikma), ma il bio-bibliografo più vicino alle fonti, Ibn al-Nadīm, inserisce al-Kindī dopo Tolomeo e Teone d'Alessandria, mentre i nomi dei sessanta traduttori della Casa della Sapienza appaiono in un'altra sezione del Fihrist.
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Tutto quello che sappiamo della vita di Ibn al-Haytham viene dai racconti dei quattro bio-bibliografi Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Qifṭī e Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (Sabra 1989, II: xix-xxiv; Rashed 1993: 1–19)… Ibn al-Haytham non morì... more
Tutto quello che sappiamo della vita di Ibn al-Haytham viene dai racconti dei quattro bio-bibliografi Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Qifṭī e Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (Sabra 1989, II: xix-xxiv; Rashed 1993: 1–19)… Ibn al-Haytham non morì nel 1039, come si scrive, ma dopo 432 dell’Egira (dal 11 settembre 1040 al 30 agosto 1041) perché Ibn al-Qifṭī afferma che «possedeva un volume (juzʾ) di geometria scritto dalla mano di Ibn al- Haytham e datato 432» (Ibn al-Qifṭī ed. Lippert 1903: 167).
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Una nota dello storico bizantino Giovanni Tzetzes ci permette di datare la nascita di Archimede, figlio dell'astronomo Fidia, circa 287 a.C. La tesi, sostenuta da Clagett, che avrebbe studiato ad Alessandria prima di tornare in Sicilia,... more
Una nota dello storico bizantino Giovanni Tzetzes ci permette di datare la nascita di Archimede, figlio dell'astronomo Fidia, circa 287 a.C. La tesi, sostenuta da Clagett, che avrebbe studiato ad Alessandria prima di tornare in Sicilia, deve essere abbandonata perché non ci sono prove che Eratostene, Conone e Dositeo, a cui Archimede dedica i suoi trattati, vivessero in Egitto.
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Este capítulo está dedicado a las fuentes ópticas de Leonardo da Vinci, que pueden haber contribuido a su conocimiento y a su pericia práctica de la perspectiva. Para estudiar las fuentes de Leonardo, aplicaré el "método de los... more
Este capítulo está dedicado a las fuentes ópticas de Leonardo da Vinci, que pueden haber contribuido a su conocimiento y a su pericia práctica de la perspectiva.
Para estudiar las fuentes de Leonardo, aplicaré el "método de los trazadores", un refinamiento del estudio de los paralelismos textuales que consiste en: 1/ establecer la comparación en palabras de baja frecuencia léxica; 2/ extender la contraposición de los textos emparentados al mayor número de textos posible. Consideraré tres casos: las fuentes vinculadas a un nombre de autor, las fuentes no vinculadas a un nombre de autor y las fuentes sin paralelismo textual.
Para estudiar las fuentes de Leonardo, aplicaré el "método de los trazadores", un refinamiento del estudio de los paralelismos textuales que consiste en: 1/ establecer la comparación en palabras de baja frecuencia léxica; 2/ extender la contraposición de los textos emparentados al mayor número de textos posible. Consideraré tres casos: las fuentes vinculadas a un nombre de autor, las fuentes no vinculadas a un nombre de autor y las fuentes sin paralelismo textual.
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A comparison of the manuscripts has shown that De li aspecti, the Italian version of Alhacen's De aspectibus, Vat. lat. 4595 (I), was copied from London, British Library, Royal 12.G.vii (L). The discovery of long omissions in L, not... more
A comparison of the manuscripts has shown that De li aspecti, the Italian version of Alhacen's De aspectibus, Vat. lat. 4595 (I), was copied from London, British Library, Royal 12.G.vii (L). The discovery of long omissions in L, not reproduced in I, disproves this conclusion. The error has two reasons: a sampling too small, the confusion between phenetic and cladistic approaches.
Une comparaison des manuscrits a montré que le De li aspecti, version italienne du De aspectibus d'Alhacen, Vat. lat. 4595 (I), était copié sur le London, British Library, Royal 12.G.vii (L). La découverte de longues omissions dans L, non reproduites par I, invalide cette conclusion. Deux raisons expliquent cette erreur : échantillonnage trop petit, confusion entre approches phénétique et cladistique.
Une comparaison des manuscrits a montré que le De li aspecti, version italienne du De aspectibus d'Alhacen, Vat. lat. 4595 (I), était copié sur le London, British Library, Royal 12.G.vii (L). La découverte de longues omissions dans L, non reproduites par I, invalide cette conclusion. Deux raisons expliquent cette erreur : échantillonnage trop petit, confusion entre approches phénétique et cladistique.
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Early modern physiological optics introduced the concept of correspondence through the study of the conditions for the fusion of binocular images. The formulation of this concept has traditionally been ascribed to Christiaan Huygens... more
Early modern physiological optics introduced the concept of correspondence through the study of the conditions for the fusion of binocular images. The formulation of this concept has traditionally been ascribed to Christiaan Huygens (1667) and to an experiment often attributed to Christoph Scheiner (1619). However, Scheiner’s experiment had already been conceptualized, first by Ptolemy (90–168 AD), then by Ibn al-Haytham (d. after 1040). The extent of the latter’s knowledge of the mechanisms of binocular vision is analyzed. It is explained why Ibn al-Haytham, who addressed this problem as an experimentalist, succeeded in discovering the theoretical horopter (the locus of points in space that yields single vision) and yet failed to recognize that the horizontal line of the horopter could be described as a circular plane around the viewer’s head, credit for which goes to Vieth (1818) and Müller (1826). Through his experiments, Ibn al-Haytham established the notion of corresponding points…
L’analisi dei paralleli testuali mediante «parole traccianti» consente precisare le idee di Werner, Björnbo, Vogl, Lindberg e Federici Vescovini sull’eredità latina di al-Kindi. Presa l’eredità nel senso lato di influenza, qualunque siano... more
L’analisi dei paralleli testuali mediante «parole traccianti» consente precisare le idee di Werner, Björnbo, Vogl, Lindberg e Federici Vescovini sull’eredità latina di al-Kindi. Presa l’eredità nel senso lato di influenza, qualunque siano gli intermediari di diffusione, si può affermare che al-Kindi ha influenzato lo sviluppo dell’ottica e della prospettiva nell’Europa medievale e rinascimentale. Presa l’eredità nel senso stretto di conoscenza diretta dell’ottica di al-Kindi, viene dimostrato che molti temi alkindiani furono conosciuti soltanto attraverso fonti secondarie.
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This article aims to test a new method of dating optico-astronomical manuscripts, using Ibn al-Haytham’s Epistle on the Shape of the Eclipse as the test case. This work is selected because of indications that its diagrams are based on... more
This article aims to test a new method of dating optico-astronomical manuscripts, using Ibn al-Haytham’s Epistle on the Shape of the Eclipse as the test case. This work is selected because of indications that its diagrams are based on reality. After clarifying the observation conditions, an astronomical ephemeris is applied to sift through the eclipses that occurred during Ibn al-Haytham’s life throughout the area he is believed to have sojourned. Next, the remaining eclipses are sorted by computing the image projection. The results show that Ibn al-Haytham’s Epistle is likely to have reported the partial solar eclipse of 28 Rajab A.H. 380/21 October 990 in Baṣra. Because this exercise is primarily the test of a new method, this finding should be regarded as a tentative outcome, pending further information.
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This article aims at contributing to the methods of the sociology of science, from an empirical study of the determinations of the velocity of light between 1676 and 1983. Far from being constructed and deconstructed at pleasure, the... more
This article aims at contributing to the methods of the sociology of science, from an empirical study of the determinations of the velocity of light between 1676 and 1983. Far from being constructed and deconstructed at pleasure, the values of c have undergone a tendentially unidirectional and irreversible process of revision. The competing methods remained in the running as long as they produced an uncertainty less than, or equal to, the best known value. The analysis of "entrances" and "exits" of the methods on the research front makes clear the nature of scientific competition, which is a form of "redistributive emulation" that owes nothing to political rivalry or economic competition. By achieving results that differ from constructivism on the themes of literary inscription, games of construction/deconstruction, negotiation, and persuasion, this article outlines a kind of internalist sociology of science, which
aims at exploring all aspects that make science science.
aims at exploring all aspects that make science science.
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The idea that linear perspective arose only in the West due to the strength of an unusual process of rationalization is denied by the fact that IXth century Islamic scholars had yet a thorough knowledge of the optical and geometrical... more
The idea that linear perspective arose only in the West due to the strength of an unusual process of rationalization is denied by the fact that IXth century Islamic scholars had yet a thorough knowledge of the optical and geometrical materials required in perspective. In addition, the process of rationalization was rarely so intense as in that time, because truth uniqueness and scientific communalism were core values of Medieval Islam. The puzzle is not a matter of less or more rationality, but a matter of axiological motives. First, Islamic disregard for perspective is the result of a value-set insofar painters were fearing the hadīths' prohibition, or wished to avoid pretentiousness of their name (muṣawwir). Second, Islamic art did not draw from Qurʿān and hadīth's precepts directly. Third, painters implemented axiological motives, to put iconic practice in accordance with aniconic leanings.
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Considered as an exact science, linear perspective started shortly before 1480, when Piero della Francesca demonstrated for the first time the decrease of apparent magnitudes on the basis of similar triangles. Although medieval and early... more
Considered as an exact science, linear perspective started shortly before 1480, when Piero della Francesca demonstrated for the first time the decrease of apparent magnitudes on the basis of similar triangles. Although medieval and early modern empirical research on perspective is lacking such demonstrative character, we show that it benefited from the influence of optics much earlier than is usually thought, since the first trials of central perspective, two point perspective, or written evidence of a knowledge of optics by practitioners appear at the interface between Duecento and Trecento.
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Leonardo’s research on the eye and vision has given rise to contrasting assessments, ranging from the apology of his explanation of how the eye works as a camera obscura to the most critical attitude. The negative judgments derive some of... more
Leonardo’s research on the eye and vision has given rise to contrasting assessments, ranging from the apology of his explanation of how the eye works as a camera obscura to the most critical attitude. The negative judgments derive some of their strength from the fact that the practice of anatomy and linear perspective are well documented in Leonardo. Thus one expects him to have had empirically based knowledge of the organs dissected, as well as comprehensive skills in optics. As we will see, none of these ideas is entirely right.
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The modern physiological optics introduces the notions related to the conditions of fusion of binocular images by the concept of correspondence, due to Christiaan Huygens (1704), and by an experiment attributed to Christoph Scheiner... more
The modern physiological optics introduces the notions related to the conditions of fusion of binocular images by the concept of correspondence, due to Christiaan Huygens (1704), and by an experiment attributed to Christoph Scheiner (1619). The conceptualization of this experiment dates, in fact, back to Ptolemy (90-168) and Ibn al-Haytham (d. after 1040). The present paper surveys Ibn al-Haytham's knowledge about the mechanisms of binocular vision. The article subsequently explains why Ibn al-Haytham, a mathematician, but here an experimenter, did not give the circular figure of the theoretical horopter, construction due to Gerhard Vieth (1818) and Johannes Müller (1826). But, on the other hand, it is clear that Ibn al-Haytham's experimental study puts in place the notion of corresponding points, the cases of homonymous and cross diplopia, and even prepares the discovery of Panum area.
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Questa nota documenta il funzionamento della tavoletta sperimentale costruita da Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) per studiare la visione binoculare, ed i risultati delle cinque esperimenti ideati da lui per evidenziare le condizioni di fusione... more
Questa nota documenta il funzionamento della tavoletta sperimentale costruita da Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) per studiare la visione binoculare, ed i risultati delle cinque esperimenti ideati da lui per evidenziare le condizioni di fusione delle quasi-immagini prodotta da entrambi gli occhi.
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This paper wonders why the Franciscan order took part in the diffusion of optics more than other medieval organisation, both religious and secular. First, clues of this social asymmetry are given. Then, an explanation is put forward: 1.... more
This paper wonders why the Franciscan order took part in the diffusion of optics more than other medieval organisation, both religious and secular. First, clues of this social asymmetry are given. Then, an explanation is put forward: 1. An initial asymmetry existed, by the fact that Grosseteste’s optics was known in the Franciscan studium of Oxford; 2. Since that date, optics spread among the order by a network effect; 3. The rivaltry between the mendicant orders and the homophilia that presided over their conventual libraries’ purchasing policy finally explains why other contemporary organizations, similarly structured, took a smaller interest into optics. In spite of an evident topical connection, this explanation deeply differs from the analysis that has been applied to the Puritans’ and Jesuits’ scientific activity in XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries classical Europe. It does not appeal to the heavy hypothesis of ethos in order to understand scientific development.
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The Mertonian sociology of knowledge admited that XVIIth century Puritan ethos favoured the use of experimental method. Recent works of sociology of scientific knowledge postulate either the continuity between scientific knowledge and... more
The Mertonian sociology of knowledge admited that XVIIth century Puritan ethos favoured the use of experimental method. Recent works of sociology of scientific knowledge postulate either the continuity between scientific knowledge and social beliefs or the causal determination of the first ones by the second. This paper analyses the reasons of XIIIth century flight of optics in the studium of Oxford. Focusing on the continuity between optics and metaphysics of light unfolded in Oxford, it goes away from both of those explanations. Let us name "photism" the set of these beliefs (valorization of optico-luminous phenomena, extension of optics' categories to other phenomena, connection of these categories to the spiritual experience). The study of Grosseteste, Bacon and Pecham's treatises shows that Oxonian photism did not admit the role of a medieval scientific ethos, the indistinction between optics and photism or a causal determination of optical contents by photism. Related to Schelling's "snow-ball effect", the guidance effect offers a convincing explanation of the interest into optics: it shows the influence of actor's cognitive resources on his judgment of interest.
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Il Commentario III di Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381-1455), conosciuto attraverso un manoscritto non autografo del Quattrocento (Firenze, B.N.C. II.I.33), è stato oggetto di numerose edizioni e studi critici. Dopo lo primo studio di Schlosser, la... more
Il Commentario III di Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381-1455), conosciuto attraverso un manoscritto non autografo del Quattrocento (Firenze, B.N.C. II.I.33), è stato oggetto di numerose edizioni e studi critici. Dopo lo primo studio di Schlosser, la ricerca delle fonti ha fatto notevoli progressi. L’edizione di Bergdolt costituisce oggi lo studio più accurato delle fonti: sembra che Lorenzo Ghiberti si sia servito soltanto dei testi di Vitruvio, Alhazen, Avicenna, Averroè, Bacone, Peckham et Witelo. Benché la maggior parte del testo sia dedicata all’ottica, l’authorship del Ghiberti è ormai ridotto a un centinaio di righe in cui non si trata mai d’ottica. Questo trattato è cosparso de irregolarità che danno piuttosto la sensazione di una “concatenazione” di testi. Varie ipotesi sono state avanzate per spiegare queste irregolarità lessicali e sintattiche (disordini legati all’afasia, redazione condotta sotta dettatura di un traduttore, effetto di un desiderio di mobilità sociale). Queste ipotesi spiegherebbero congiuntamente sia l’interesse palese di Ghiberti per l’ottica che le strane imperfezioni del Commentario III.
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This article studies the legacy in the West of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book on those Geometric Constructions which are Necessary for Craftsmen. Although two-thirds of the geometric constructions in the text also appear in Renaissance works, a joint... more
This article studies the legacy in the West of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book on those Geometric Constructions which are Necessary for Craftsmen. Although two-thirds of the geometric constructions in the text also appear in Renaissance works, a joint analysis of original solutions, diagram lettering and probability leads to a robust finding of independent discovery. The analysis shows that there is little chance that the similarities between the contents of Abū al-Wafāʾs Book and the works of Tartaglia, Marolois and Schwenter owe anything to historical transmission. The commentary written by Kamāl al-Dīn Ibn Yūnus seems to have had no Latin legacy either.
Research Interests: Architecture, History of Mathematics, History of Science, Diffusion of Innovations, History of Geometry, and 7 moreArchitectural Geometry, Cultural Intermediaries In The Early Modern Mediterranean, Cultural Intermediaries, Diagrams, History of Arabic Mathematics, Medieval translations from Arabic to Latin , and scientific diagrams
In Résolution des quatre principaux problèmes d’architecture (1673) then in Cours d’architecture (1683), the architect–mathematician Nicolas-François Blondel addresses one of the most famous architectural problems of all times, that of... more
In Résolution des quatre principaux problèmes d’architecture (1673) then in Cours d’architecture (1683), the architect–mathematician Nicolas-François Blondel addresses one of the most famous architectural problems of all times, that of the reduction in columns (entasis). The interest of the text lies in the variety of subjects that are linked to this issue. (1) The text is a response to the challenge launched by Curabelle in 1664 under the name Étrenne à tous les architectes; (2) Blondel mathematicizes the problem in the “style of the Ancients”; (3) The problem is refor- mulated and solved through the continuous drawing of the curve; (4) Blondel refutes the uniqueness of the curve by enumerating a variety of solutions (conchoid, spiral, parabola, ellipse, circle, hyperbola). This exuberance responds to an intention that does not coincide with the state of the art of mathematics at the end of the seven- teenth century, nor with the taste for geometry of the Ancients, nor with any peda- gogical project. This feature is explained by Blondel’s plan to found architecture on scientific bases. The reasons for his failure are analysed.
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In this article, we publish the critical edition of Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii, with English translation and commentary. The mathematician and astronomer Andalò di Negro (Genoa ca. 1260–Naples 1334) presumably redacted... more
In this article, we publish the critical edition of Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii, with English translation and commentary. The mathematician and astronomer Andalò di Negro (Genoa ca. 1260–Naples 1334) presumably redacted this treatise on the astrolabe in the 1330s, while residing at the court of King Robert of Naples. The present edition has three purposes: first, to make available a text missing from the previous compilations of works by Andalò di Negro; second, to revise a privately circulated edition of the text (Cesari 1984a); and third, to help disseminating one of the rare Latin texts presenting the principles of the stereographic projection which underlie the construction of the astrolabe.
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This article is a study of geometric constructions. We consider, as an illustration, the methods used for dividing the straight line into n equal parts (n-section). Architects and practicioners of classical Europe had at their disposal a... more
This article is a study of geometric constructions. We consider, as an illustration, the methods used for dividing the straight line into n equal parts (n-section). Architects and practicioners of classical Europe had at their disposal a broad range of geometric constructions: ancient ones were edited and translated, whereas new solutions were constantly published. The wide variety and reasons for selection of these geometric constructions are puzzling: the most widespread construction was not the simplest one. This article wonders why so many constructions were used to solve the same problem and why tedious methods were used. It is argued that the practical conditions and scale at which the problem was tackled could account for such diversity.
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This article studies an anonymous fragment on the conic sections that appear in the Codex Atlanticus, fols. 611rb/915ra. Arguments are put forward to assemble these two folios. Their comparison with the Latin texts available before 1500... more
This article studies an anonymous fragment on the conic sections that appear in the Codex Atlanticus, fols. 611rb/915ra. Arguments are put forward to assemble these two folios. Their comparison with the Latin texts available before 1500 shows that they derive from the De speculis comburentibus of Alhacen and the De speculis comburentibus of Regiomontanus, joined together in the latter's autograph manuscript (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 5258). Having identified the sources, and discussed their mathematics, the issue of their transmission is targeted. It is shown that these notes were written by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, through whom they reached the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
Research Interests: Optics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Medieval History, History of Mathematics, and 10 moreMedieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, History of Science, Diffusion of Innovations, History of Physics, Sociology of Science, Leonardo da Vinci, Regiomontanus, Transmission of Knowledge, and Conic Sections
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The perfect compass, used by al-Qūhī, al-Sijzī and his successors for the continuous drawing of conic sections, reappeared after a long eclipse in the works of Renaissance mathematicians like Francesco Barozzi in Venice. The resurgence of... more
The perfect compass, used by al-Qūhī, al-Sijzī and his successors for the continuous drawing of conic sections, reappeared after a long eclipse in the works of Renaissance mathematicians like Francesco Barozzi in Venice. The resurgence of this instrument seems to have depended on its interest to solve new optico-perspective problems. Having reviewed the various instruments designed for the drawing of conic sections, the article is focused on the sole conic compass. Theoretical and empirical applications are detailed. Contrarily to the common thesis of an independant discovery, various elements suggest a direct descent between the birkār al-tāmm of the Arabic mathematical tradition and the Italian conic compass. Then we present the most probable transmission hypothesis involving: 1° Ibn Yûnus and his disciples of Mosul, 2° Sultan Malik al-Kāmil in Damas, 3° Master Theodore and Frederick II at the court of Sicily, 4° Andalò di Negro in Naples, 5° Lorenzo della Volpaia, Vinci, Sangallo and Michelangelo in Florence, 6° Ausonio, Contarini, Thiene and Barozzi in Venice.
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Nous étudions les méthodes de construction des polygones réguliers proposées par quatre auteurs du XVIIe siècle : deux ingénieurs, Ambroise Bachot et Antoine de Ville, un érudit, Scaliger, et un mathématicien, François Viète. Certaines de... more
Nous étudions les méthodes de construction des polygones réguliers proposées par quatre auteurs du XVIIe siècle : deux ingénieurs, Ambroise Bachot et Antoine de Ville, un érudit, Scaliger, et un mathématicien, François Viète. Certaines de ces méthodes se distinguent de la recherche de solutions exactes, typiques de la géométrie pure. Elles visent des solutions générales et approchées qui s’avèrent plus utiles aux ingénieurs, moins sensibles à l’exactitude mathématique qu’à des méthodes faciles à mémoriser et rapides à mettre en œuvre. La comparaison montre que les solutions de l’ingénieur et du mathématicien diffèrent quant aux connaissances mobilisées, quant au sens donné à la notion d’approximation et quant à ce que constitue une approximation acceptable. L’art des fortifications a impulsé une nouvelle approche des méthodes de construction des polygones réguliers. Cette approche échappe au canon des mathématiques pures non par ignorance, mais en connaissance des erreurs tolérées dans les constructions géométriques.
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Durant l’époque moderne, la géométrie pratique se distingue par quelques caractères fondamentaux qui font son unité. Les contenus transmis sont stables, et le nom même de géométrie pratique fait l’objet d’un usage codifié. Aujourd’hui, la... more
Durant l’époque moderne, la géométrie pratique se distingue par quelques caractères fondamentaux qui font son unité. Les contenus transmis sont stables, et le nom même de géométrie pratique fait l’objet d’un usage codifié. Aujourd’hui, la géométrie pratique est une science fossile, à l’instar d’autres sciences, telles que le De ponderibus ou la Gnomonica. Une approche lexicologique montre que le syntagme géométrie pratique s’effondre à partir de 1875 et disparaît définitivement dans les premières années du XXe siècle. Cette disparition semble due à deux mouvements concommitants : 1° l’absorption des contenus de cette science dans de nouveaux corps de connaissances spécialisés, tels que la Géodésie, la Topographie ou la Stéréotomie ; 2° la captation du terme de géométrie pratique par l’enseignement primaire et secondaire, avec le sens dévoyé de « premiers éléments de géométrie élémentaire pour la vie quotidienne ». Il est rappelé en quoi ces caractères font de la géométrie pratique une science fossile d’un genre spécial.
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Philibert de l’Orme (ca. 1510–1570) est l’un des maillons de la transformation de l’art du trait en stéréotomie. On a dit que cette transformation était le développement d’une tradition médiévale ou qu’elle avait bénéficié des apports de... more
Philibert de l’Orme (ca. 1510–1570) est l’un des maillons de la transformation de l’art du trait en stéréotomie. On a dit que cette transformation était le développement d’une tradition médiévale ou qu’elle avait bénéficié des apports de la géométrie savante. L’étude des constructions géométriques décrites dans le traité de Philibert de l’Orme révèle une source inédite, distincte tant de la géométrie savante que des routines de chantier. Ces constructions géométriques, en particulier la méthode de division d’un segment en n parties égales, dérivent de la géometrie pratique, « science fossile » florissante à l’époque classique, mais disparue depuis. Le déclin de cette discipline explique pourquoi cette source n’a pas été identifiée jusqu’à présent.
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Nous donnons ici une nouvelle édition du texte et nous établissons trois résultats: 1) Le traité sur la quadrature des lunules doit être définitivement retiré à Alberti; 2) Il s'agit d'une version corrompue de la première quadrature... more
Nous donnons ici une nouvelle édition du texte et nous établissons trois résultats: 1) Le traité sur la quadrature des lunules doit être définitivement retiré à Alberti; 2) Il s'agit d'une version corrompue de la première quadrature d'Hippocrate de Chio tirée du commentaire de Simplicius sur la Physique d'Aristote; 3) Le commentaire a été traduit du grec à l'arabe, de l'arabe au latin et du latin à l'italien, cette dernière version ayant été établie par (ou d'après) le traducteur italien de la Perspectiva d'Ibn al-Haytham et du De crepusculis d'Ibn Mu‘âdh. L'intérêt de l'opuscule tient donc davantage à ses aspects socio-historiques qu'à ses aspects proprement mathématiques: il constitue une pièce du mythe renaissant, tout en posant des problèmes classiques de transmission des connaissances scientifiques.
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Neste capítulo, apresentarei os resultados de um estudo recente, relativo à difusão da ótica nas universidades europeias dos séculos XIII e XIV. Os resultados deste estudo são dependentes de um método geral que pode facilmente ser... more
Neste capítulo, apresentarei os resultados de um estudo recente, relativo à difusão da ótica nas universidades europeias dos séculos XIII e XIV. Os resultados deste estudo são dependentes de um método geral que pode facilmente ser transferido para outras regiões e épocas. Em primeiro lugar, vou introduzir o tema da relação entre ótica e perspectiva. Em segundo lugar, vou explicar o método utilizado para estudar a mobilidade acadêmica dos professores na Idade Média. Enfim, vou discutir a possível aplicação deste método ao contexto brasileiro.
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La “prospettiva”, come sistema di rappresentazione, deriva il suo nome dalla parola perspectiva che designava l’ottica nel Medioevo latino. Questo collegamento dipende dal fatto che alcuni dei princìpi della prospettiva provengono dalle... more
La “prospettiva”, come sistema di rappresentazione, deriva il suo nome dalla parola perspectiva che designava l’ottica nel Medioevo latino. Questo collegamento dipende dal fatto che alcuni dei princìpi della prospettiva provengono dalle teorie della visione. Tra i due insiemi, esistono sia rapporti di continuità che di discontinuità. La continuità è stabilita dallo studio dei parallelismi testuali. Tuttavia due biforcazioni notevoli hanno segnato l’evoluzione successiva della perspectiva artificialis. Oltre il rapporto fra scienza e tecnica che le caratterizza, la perspectiva medievale era tricefala (optica, catoptrica, dioptrica), mentre la prospettiva sarà uno studio della visione diretta; la perspectiva presupponeva la visione binoculare, mentre la prospettiva lineare adotterà la visione monoculare.
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The present paper discusses some new findings on the topic of Masaccio's Trinity fresco pers- pective reconstruction. Some scholars have tried to reduce the fresco's anomalies with the help of photogramme- trical reproductions and... more
The present paper discusses some new findings on the topic of Masaccio's Trinity fresco pers- pective reconstruction. Some scholars have tried to reduce the fresco's anomalies with the help of photogramme- trical reproductions and computer analysis. On this basis, it has been argued that Masaccio used the normal case of costruzione legittima. It is very likely that Masaccio took the lines of the plane joining the abaci of the capi- tals as a guide for drawing the vanishing lines of the coffered vault. However, in doing so, he followed an erro- neous method of construction disregarded till now. The aberrations thus discovered strongly support the view that Masaccio's Trinity fresco is not a model of linear perspective. The thesis that Masaccio designed the fresco with the help of a ground plan and elevations is dubious, and the search for the distance point is condemned to remain an unending problem.
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This paper examines the hypothesis that early perspective paintings were drawn arithmetically, without vanishing points. The best argument for this hypothesis is that the division of two parallel lines by straight lines intersecting each... more
This paper examines the hypothesis that early perspective paintings were drawn arithmetically, without vanishing points. The best argument for this hypothesis is that the division of two parallel lines by straight lines intersecting each other at the vanishing point (geometrical method) is equivalent to the division of those parallel lines in proportional parts (arithmetical method). If an arithmetical method had been used, then the vanishing points exhibited ex post should be purely fortuitous. But the lack of multiples and submultiples of measurement units, the absence of proportionality ratios, the length of the operating series, and the correspondence of vanishing points to visible loci of the painting offer sound objections to this hypothesis. The use of optics and geometrical method is more probative–though it does not mean that painters were using concepts of linear perspective, which would be an anachronism.
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La contribution traite de l'apport de la perspective linéaire à la conception de l'espace en montrant qu'elle n'a guère contribué à l'instauration d'un espace homogène et unitaire. L'histoire de la perspective est en effet hautement... more
La contribution traite de l'apport de la perspective linéaire à la conception de l'espace en montrant qu'elle n'a guère contribué à l'instauration d'un espace homogène et unitaire. L'histoire de la perspective est en effet hautement conjecturale, à cause des incertitudes qui touchent à son développement et à cause de la multiplicité des systèmes perspectifs qui ont été mis en oeuvre. Ces variations paraissent résulter des connaissances optico-géométriques mobilisées par les acteurs.
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The concept of aerial perspective has been used for the first time by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). This article studies its dependence on Ptolemy’s Optica and overall on the optical tradition inaugurated by Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitāb... more
The concept of aerial perspective has been used for the first time by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). This article studies its dependence on Ptolemy’s Optica and overall on the optical tradition inaugurated by Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitāb al-Manāẓir (d. after 1040). This treatise, that was accessible through several Latin and Italian manuscripts, and was the source of many Medieval commentaries, offers a general theory of visual perception emancipated from the case of the moon illusion, in which physical and psychological factors are closely combined. Atmospheric extinction (not refraction, which is sometimes confused with) affects the conjectured size of remote objects. This phenomenon is also the core source for a pictorial rendering of depth, that is based onto a principle different from the diminution of size.
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Panofsky and White hypothezised that "axial constructions" result from a projective system in which object’s measurements are taken on an projection circle, before being moved to the picture plane (i.e. synthetic perspective). Although... more
Panofsky and White hypothezised that "axial constructions" result from a projective system in which object’s measurements are taken on an projection circle, before being moved to the picture plane (i.e. synthetic perspective). Although this construction has been yet criticized regarding painter’s ability to apply it, the idea of using synthetic perspective regularly reappears for it never has been examined in detail. But from a mathematical point of view, this system is simply impossible because, in a synthetic perspective, three vanishing lines taken on the same side of the axis cannot be parallel nor admit a convergence point. The falsification of Panofsky-White’s conjecture puts and end to a long series of contradictory judgements on this problem, and opens the way to a radical reinterpretation of axial constructions.
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From Panofsky, it is usually considered that vanishing axis compositions result from the rules of curvilinear perspective. This article disproves this evidence. It is shown that a lot of vanishing axis compositions can find support on the... more
From Panofsky, it is usually considered that vanishing axis compositions result from the rules of curvilinear perspective. This article disproves this evidence. It is shown that a lot of vanishing axis compositions can find support on the principles of binocular vision (I) exposed in medieval optics, rather than on any type of linear (II) or curvilinear perspective (III). The comparison of these three hypotheses shows that only the first one fits well with a set of medieval and renaissance paintings, while avoiding inconsistencies arising—and not yet satisfactorily explained—in the framework of linear or curvilinear perspective.
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This paper examines the question of error in perspective from the viewpoint of the painter—not the spectator. This distinction significantly modifies the way in which perspective is approached. The perspective is judged in terms of the... more
This paper examines the question of error in perspective from the viewpoint of the painter—not the spectator. This distinction significantly modifies the way in which perspective is approached. The perspective is judged in terms of the methods used by its creator, that is, in terms of the means that the painter or architect has at his disposal to achieve specific goals. One thus discovers the reasons that lie behind the three main types of error in perspective: "accidental errors" (type I), "ad hoc errors" (type II) and "systematic errors" (type III).
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This contribution aims at reducing the number of ex post reconstructions that can be drawn from the same perspective view when operators follow empirical methods. Reconstruction errors can be reduced by rational methods. They consist... more
This contribution aims at reducing the number of ex post reconstructions that can be drawn from the same perspective view when operators follow empirical methods. Reconstruction errors can be reduced by rational methods. They consist firstly to follow a strict working protocol, secondly to perform calculations making it possible to choose the minimum error. This method is applied as an illustration to a Paduan fourteenth-century fresco by Giusto de’ Menabuoi. The analysis reveals the existence of two central vanishing points defined with a low margin of error. Incidentally, this refutes Andrés de Mesa Gisbert’s hypothesis that the painters of the fourteenth century did not use any vanishing points to compose their works.
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In the Due regole della prospettiva pratica , Vignola and Danti criticize an heterodox system of perspective with two vanishing points. The working drawings of thirty medieval pictures fitting with this definition reveal that these... more
In the Due regole della prospettiva pratica , Vignola and Danti criticize an heterodox system of perspective with two vanishing points. The working drawings of thirty medieval pictures fitting with this definition reveal that these pictures do not meet any type of known perspective system. In particular, they defy the rules of the "synthetic perspective" (Panofsky, White) and those of the "bifocal perspective" (Parronchi). Arguments are put forward to recognize an application of the principles of binocular vision appearing in medieval optical treatises (Ibn al-Haytham and his Latin commentators). Under this hypothesis, the reconstruction of ground plans from perspective views leads to spatial results, both consistent and conform to contemporaneous architectural models. These facts suggest that binocular vision was applied to perspective representation in the Middle Ages.
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Dans ce chapitre, nous nous interrogeons sur les méthodes de construction géométrique des proto-perspectives antérieures au Quattrocento. La comparaison des séries opératoires peut servir de critère pour départager les hypothèses... more
Dans ce chapitre, nous nous interrogeons sur les méthodes de construction géométrique des proto-perspectives antérieures au Quattrocento. La comparaison des séries opératoires peut servir de critère pour départager les hypothèses constructives. Dans le cas examiné, elle donne un avantage à la méthode géométrique instrumentale qui présente une nette supériorité du point de vue : 1° de la correspondance empirique ; 2° de la simplicité opératoire – ou du "minimalisme conceptuel" réclamé par White ; 3° de la longueur procédurale, puisque la méthode géométrique instrumentale est plus rapide que les deux autres. Elle requiert presque trois fois moins de macro-opérations et deux fois moins d'opérations élémentaires que la méthode arithmétique (13 < 34 n.m.m.o. ; 63 < 111 n.m.o.e.).
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In the Quattrocento and Cinquecento the rise of linear perspective caused many polemics which opposed the supporters of an artificial geometrisation of sight to those who were praising the qualities of the drawing according to nature, or... more
In the Quattrocento and Cinquecento the rise of linear perspective caused many polemics which opposed the supporters of an artificial geometrisation of sight to those who were praising the qualities of the drawing according to nature, or were invoking some arguments on a physiological basis. These debates can be grouped according to the four alternatives that form their central concerns: restricted vs. broad field of vision; ocular immobility vs. mobility; curvilinear vs. planar picture; monocular vs. binocular vision. By retaining the first terms of these four alternatives, the history of perspective eliminated many heterodox constructions. From the viewpoint of mathematisation the interest of these debates is that they succeeded, rather than preceded, the adoption of a perspective system defined by the intersection of the visual pyramid. Tus the history of linear perspective constitutes a genuine case of a posteriori justification, or, put differently, it gives us a case of upside down mathematisation.
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La contribution approfondit trois questions méthodologiques liées aux réseaux de diffusion de la perspective. Le premier point porte sur les éléments qui doivent être réunis, quant aux preuves de lecture et quant au sens donné aux... more
La contribution approfondit trois questions méthodologiques liées aux réseaux de diffusion de la perspective. Le premier point porte sur les éléments qui doivent être réunis, quant aux preuves de lecture et quant au sens donné aux textes-sources, avant de conclure à une appropriation intellectuelle. Le deuxième point concerne les méthodes d’identification des réseaux sociaux et propose une classification des figures du cosmopolitisme artistique. Le troisième point traite de la diffusion des connaissances le long de ces réseaux sociaux. La contribution montre l’intérêt que les historiens de la perspective pourraient tirer de l’introduction des méthodes de social network analysis.
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This paper compares the explanatory models in architecturology and analytic philosophy of action that both postulate the existence of wilful actions. This likeness questions to what extent architectural reference scales are identical to... more
This paper compares the explanatory models in architecturology and analytic philosophy of action that both postulate the existence of wilful actions. This likeness questions to what extent architectural reference scales are identical to reasons-to-act. It is shown that the scales are a subset of the reasons-to-act, and this result has two effects: 1. The reasons-to-act have greater explanatory power than the reference scales. 2. Reasons-to-act and reference scales are helpful for the ex post explanation of the design work. Hence the position of " dynamic design " advocated here, which involves abandoning the reasons-to-act to the designers and focusing on the description of design operations through action schemes.
Cet article compare les modèles explicatifs en architecturologie et en philosophie analytique de l’action, l’une et l’autre postulant l’existence d’actions finalisées. Cette similitude pose la question de l’identité des échelles de référence et des raisons d’agir. On montre que les échelles sont un sous-ensemble des raisons d’agir. Ce résultat a deux conséquences: 1° Le pouvoir explicatif des raisons d’agir est supérieur à celui des échelles de référence. 2° Raisons d’agir et échelles de référence ont un intérêt pour l’explication ex post du travail de conception. D’où l’orientation de l’«opératoire pur» défendue ici, qui consiste à abandonner les raisons d’agir aux concepteurs pour se concentrer sur la description des opérations de conception par des schèmes d’action.
Cet article compare les modèles explicatifs en architecturologie et en philosophie analytique de l’action, l’une et l’autre postulant l’existence d’actions finalisées. Cette similitude pose la question de l’identité des échelles de référence et des raisons d’agir. On montre que les échelles sont un sous-ensemble des raisons d’agir. Ce résultat a deux conséquences: 1° Le pouvoir explicatif des raisons d’agir est supérieur à celui des échelles de référence. 2° Raisons d’agir et échelles de référence ont un intérêt pour l’explication ex post du travail de conception. D’où l’orientation de l’«opératoire pur» défendue ici, qui consiste à abandonner les raisons d’agir aux concepteurs pour se concentrer sur la description des opérations de conception par des schèmes d’action.
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The study of architectural design bridges various approaches focusing on design sciences, cognitive psychology and architecturology. Architecturology aims to describe the full range of changes that appear during the design process. We are... more
The study of architectural design bridges various approaches focusing on design sciences, cognitive psychology and architecturology. Architecturology aims to describe the full range of changes that appear during the design process. We are able to describe, by means of scales, the operations by which an architect gives size to the building. This modelling seems adequate when the morphological model is not adulterated during the design process (as in some projects of Jørn Utzon or Alvar Aalto). In other cases—as in some projects by Philibert de l'Orme, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Norman Foster—changes of state adulterate the very pattern of the morphological model. Such changes can no longer be covered by scale operators. Taking up an idea by Herbert A. Simon, it is suggested that the description of these new transformations requires another class of operators. These could be called schemata, with the term understood as the prototypical actions that could be rendered by basic verbs as open, close, separate, bind, etc.
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This paper is a study of architectural design process. The explanation of an elementary change of state of the project is faced with two cases : (i) the change of state transforms the morphological model, in which case schema operator is... more
This paper is a study of architectural design process. The explanation of an elementary change of state of the project is faced with two cases : (i) the change of state transforms the morphological model, in which case schema operator is needed to describe the design operation (Raynaud, 1999); (ii) the change of state does not involve such a transformation and just consists in a size adjustment. The present paper examines the second case onto several examples (Gio Ponti, Sebastiano Serlio, Villard de Honnecourt). It is shown that schema operator is also required to describe the design operation in its entirety. But, since scale is regarded as a design operator by architecturology, the connection between schema and scale must be clarified. The reasons leading to the characterization of scale and schema as design co-operators are reviewed.
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The study of architectural design bridges various approaches focusing on design sciences, cognitive psychology and architecturology. Architecturology aims to describe the full range of changes that appear during the design process. We are... more
The study of architectural design bridges various approaches focusing on design sciences, cognitive psychology and architecturology. Architecturology aims to describe the full range of changes that appear during the design process. We are able to describe, by means of scales, the operations by which an architect gives size to the building. This modelling seems adequate when the morphological model is not adulterated during the design process (as in some projects of Jørn Utzon or Alvar Aalto). In other cases—as in some projects by Philibert de l'Orme, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Norman Foster—changes of state adulterate the very pattern of the morphological model. Such changes can no longer be covered by scale operators. Taking up an idea by Herbert A. Simon, it is suggested that the description of these new transformations requires another class of operators. These could be called schemata, with the term understood as the prototypical actions that could be rendered by basic verbs as open, close, separate, bind, etc.
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Cet article tente de clarifier les concepts de liberté et de contrainte à partir d’une étude de la conception architecturale, activité que les praticiens disent être un espace contraignant tout en parvenant à concevoir des solutions... more
Cet article tente de clarifier les concepts de liberté et de contrainte à partir d’une étude de la conception architecturale, activité que les praticiens disent être un espace contraignant tout en parvenant à concevoir des solutions inédites. L’étude vise des résultats factuels et théoriques. Factuels, car il apparaît que les difficultés de l’exercice professionnel ne résultent pas tant des contraintes que de la sur-responsabilisation et de la sous-faisabilité des études qu’elles induisent. Théoriques, car les faits plaident pour une révision fondamentale du rapport négatif par lequel se définissent habituellement la liberté et la contrainte. Ces faits sont par exemple que les interdictions sont moins contraignantes que les prescriptions et que certaines stratégies de "phagocytage" peuvent trouver la voie de la liberté dans le respect à la lettre d’une contrainte.
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Why are architects faced with a long-standing crisis of legitimacy in democratic countries, even though going to an architect is required by law in most of these countries? Design work and project management have now turned into a... more
Why are architects faced with a long-standing crisis of legitimacy in democratic countries, even though going to an architect is required by law in most of these countries? Design work and project management have now turned into a competitive partnership within an egalitarian trend. The crisis of the architectural profes- sion results from the undermining of architects' powers relative to other actors. This fact clearly evokes a Tocquevillian paradigm: in democratic societies, the passion for equality tends to abolish all status differences. This article analyzes the relevance of this paradigm, comparing the unexpected consequences professionals complain about to the features of egalitarism described by Tocqueville. Finally, the author raises the question as to why this egalitarian phenomenon affected architects only from the second half of the XXth century on.
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French architects’ "invisible crisis" between 1946-1973. French architects professional crisis is often said to result from the impact of two oil crises on the building trade. Several years of prosperity force to change this diagnosis. In... more
French architects’ "invisible crisis" between 1946-1973. French architects professional crisis is often said to result from the impact of two oil crises on the building trade. Several years of prosperity force to change this diagnosis. In spite of recent building records, French architects still claim to exercise a "disaster profession" that can be no more a sign of economic crisis. The two rival hypotheses, economic crisis vs. crisis of legitimacy, are tested during the Trente Glorieuses’ prosperous period. Architects’ testimonies of these years present all the warning signs of the current crisis. They describe the harmful consequences of design offices’ breaking into the market, and the independence claims of a growing number of actors.
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Recent studies have tried to transpose the results of the anthropology of science and techniques to architecture. They have pointed out that architectural projects tend to “drift” as, during the phase of design, the architect’s initial... more
Recent studies have tried to transpose the results of the anthropology of science and techniques to architecture. They have pointed out that architectural projects tend to “drift” as, during the phase of design, the architect’s initial choices are modified owing to formerly unknown or neglected factors. Further research has forced us to recognize that this phase entails negotiations, and to admit that professional skills, too, can change. But some of these studies – pushing results too far – have come up with questionable conclusions. The aforementioned drift does not turn a project into a wholly unpredictable process; and the emphasis laid on negotiations may hide other important social relations, such as constraints or the communication of information. Furthermore, skills are not arbitrarily interchangeable. The failure of the proposed transposition becomes even clearer by comparing architecture and industrial design. Building is a single act of production at a definite site that has its own constraints. These foreseeable constraints explain why design remains the hard core of the architect’s professional expertise, despite the increasing success of negotiated activities.
Résumé.
À la suite des travaux récents qui envisagent de transposer à l’architecture les résultats de l’anthropologie des sciences et techniques, on doit admettre l’existence de la dérive et d’une part de négociation dans la conception, et le caractère révisable des compétences professionnelles. Mais, en maximalisant ces conclusions, certains travaux parviennent à des résultats discutables. La dérive ne fait pas du projet un phénomène totalement imprévisible ; l’accent mis sur la négociation peut occulter d’autres rapports sociaux, comme la contrainte ou la communication d’informations ; les compétences des acteurs ne sont pas interchangeables à merci. L’échec de la transposition est ensuite explicité par une comparaison des situations de conception en architecture et dans l’industrie. Le fait que le bâtiment soit une production unique et située le soumet à des contraintes de site spécifiques. Connaissables ex ante, ces contraintes expliquent pourquoi la conception demeure le noyau dur de l’expertise professionnelle de l’architecte, et ce, en dépit du succès croissant rencontré par les activités négociées.
Résumé.
À la suite des travaux récents qui envisagent de transposer à l’architecture les résultats de l’anthropologie des sciences et techniques, on doit admettre l’existence de la dérive et d’une part de négociation dans la conception, et le caractère révisable des compétences professionnelles. Mais, en maximalisant ces conclusions, certains travaux parviennent à des résultats discutables. La dérive ne fait pas du projet un phénomène totalement imprévisible ; l’accent mis sur la négociation peut occulter d’autres rapports sociaux, comme la contrainte ou la communication d’informations ; les compétences des acteurs ne sont pas interchangeables à merci. L’échec de la transposition est ensuite explicité par une comparaison des situations de conception en architecture et dans l’industrie. Le fait que le bâtiment soit une production unique et située le soumet à des contraintes de site spécifiques. Connaissables ex ante, ces contraintes expliquent pourquoi la conception demeure le noyau dur de l’expertise professionnelle de l’architecte, et ce, en dépit du succès croissant rencontré par les activités négociées.
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El artículo trata de la situación específica de la arquitectura respecto a la semántica. Inicialmente pensada dentro del cuadro de la lingüística, la semántica ha sido aplicada a problemas donde no hay lenguaje en propio (semiótica). Sus... more
El artículo trata de la situación específica de la arquitectura respecto a la semántica. Inicialmente pensada dentro del cuadro de la lingüística, la semántica ha sido aplicada a problemas donde no hay lenguaje en propio (semiótica). Sus conceptos tienen que ser revisados para su aplicación a la arquitectura. Proponemos aquí el concepto de esquema dinámico de manera a aclarar la tesis de la semejanza semántica. A pesar de la gran variabilidad del significado arquitectónico según el contexto sociohistórico, clases de significados pueden ser distinguidas: pirámide para subir o para bajar; plantas en cruz para radiar, unir o cruzar, etc. Este cuadro lleva a conclusiones poco compatibles con la tesis de la comunicación en la arquitectura.
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Recension de Chadoin, O., Être architecte. Les vertus de l'indétermination. De la sociologie d'une profession à la sociologie du travail professionnel. Limoges: Pulim, 2006. L'ouvrage décline l'étude du «travail professionnel», défini... more
Recension de Chadoin, O., Être architecte. Les vertus de l'indétermination. De la sociologie d'une profession à la sociologie du travail professionnel. Limoges: Pulim, 2006. L'ouvrage décline l'étude du «travail professionnel», défini comme «activité des [architectes] pour maintenir et faire valoir leur expertise face aux autres professions de la maîtrise d'oeuvre» (p. 30), sur les trois plans du projet, de la maîtrise d'oeuvre, des marchés.
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Despite the enthusiasm generated by social constructionism in the study of scientific debates, this contribution shows that – down to their praxeological dimension – the study of scientific controversies can benefit from sources ignored... more
Despite the enthusiasm generated by social constructionism in the study of scientific debates, this contribution shows that – down to their praxeological dimension – the study of scientific controversies can benefit from sources ignored in today sociological literature. The contribution discloses these sources from the works of Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (ca. 1250–ca. 1302), who is the first author to have offered etiquettes of investigation and debate (ādāb al-baḥth wa-al-munāẓara). Consequences are drawn towards constructivist epistemology.
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Contemporary sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is defined by its relativist trend. Its programme often calls for the support of philosophers, such as Duhem, Quine, and Wittgenstein. A critical re- reading of several key texts shows... more
Contemporary sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is defined by its relativist trend. Its programme often calls for the support of philosophers, such as Duhem, Quine, and Wittgenstein. A critical re- reading of several key texts shows that the main principles of relativism are only derivable with difficulty. Although Duhem propounded the thesis of the underdetermination of theory by evidence, he favoured a correspondence-consistency theory of truth: he never said that social beliefs and interests “fill the lack” of the underdetermined theory. Quine took up Duhem’s view but his idea of a selective revision of hypotheses, as well as the incompatibility between holism and conventionalism, openly challenges the principles of relativism. When reading Wittgenstein’s work, which is not presented in book form but as a tree, we must avoid picking aphorisms that credit any text-excising. Mathematical conventions are not anthropological objects because, when he examines the “language-games,” he had in mind the functioning of the natural language, not any scientific formal languages. Therefore “language-game” should be rendered as “well-defined, explicit and compulsory rules of communication”—a far less attractive formula for relativism. In terms of contents, there doesn’t exist a real continuity between the epistemologies of Duhem, Quine and Wittgenstein, and the works of the SSK. Thus we are entitled to wonder whether such prestigious references don’t simply further the purpose of self-legitimising the programme.
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The controversy between Pasteur and Pouchet on spontaneous generation (1859-1864) has received great interest in the sociology of scientific knowledge. This paper shows that some statements were shifted by Pennetier’s biased version... more
The controversy between Pasteur and Pouchet on spontaneous generation (1859-1864) has received great interest in the sociology of scientific knowledge. This paper shows that some statements were shifted by Pennetier’s biased version (1907). The study of the correspondence between Pouchet and the members of the Académie des Sciences reveals that Pouchet was on intimate terms with many members of this institution, and also that the two commissions appointed in 1862 and 1864 did not collude with any Pastorian lobby. The discovery of Pou- chet’s forgery leads to a quite different estimate of this controversy. Pouchet’s defeat can be explained by his repeated retreats in front of the commissions, his dogmatic faith in heterogeny, lobbying by the press, and an immoderate need for glory. Beyond the lack of replies to the rationale against heterogeny, such a transgression of the norms of scientific ethos seems to have been a source of irritation among the Academicians.
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Cet article se propose de tester le principe d'une analyse sociologique des contenus scientifiques reliée à un examen des normes de rationalité. Dans la deuxième moitié du XIIIe siècle, est apparu une contro- verse sur l'extramission vs.... more
Cet article se propose de tester le principe d'une analyse sociologique des contenus scientifiques reliée à un examen des normes de rationalité. Dans la deuxième moitié du XIIIe siècle, est apparu une contro- verse sur l'extramission vs. l'intromission des rayons visuels, à laquelle prirent part Grossesteste, Bacon et Pecham. L'analyse des acceptions du mot vérité à cette époque montre que les arguments d'autorité faisaient partie des normes de rationalité. Or, en suivant l'autorité de Saint Augustin, les savants franciscains auraient dû soutenir l'intromission, ce qu'ils ne firent pas. L'étude de cette controverse échappe donc au programme d'une sociologie des sciences relativiste. Elle incite à limiter l'analyse des contenus aux seules failles logiques, axiomes et postulats, et rend ainsi cette analyse congruente avec les normes anhistoriques de la rationalité.
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L'analyse de la controverse qui éclata entre les écoles de médecine de Paris et de Montpellier (1817-1852) montre que des intérêts professionnels, mais aussi des facteurs philosophiques et politiques, conditionèrent la crispation de... more
L'analyse de la controverse qui éclata entre les écoles de médecine de Paris et de Montpellier (1817-1852) montre que des intérêts professionnels, mais aussi des facteurs philosophiques et politiques, conditionèrent la crispation de l'école de Montpellier sur ses positions sans affecter le contenu des théories médicales. Le règlement de la controverse fut étranger à une négociation sociale de la vérité, et tourna à la faveur de ceux qui eurent la productivité scientifique la plus élevée. Cette controverse, qui échappe aux principes du programme relativiste en sociologie des sciences, montre que certaines études peuvent s'être méprises sur le sens d'une détermination sociale des contenus scientifiques.
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I submit that, in order to fulfill its fundamental aspiration to be a science, sociology must reconnect – beyond classical sociologists – with the authors of prior generations who prepared its emergence. They are Condorcet, Laplace,... more
I submit that, in order to fulfill its fundamental aspiration to be a science, sociology must reconnect – beyond classical sociologists – with the authors of prior generations who prepared its emergence. They are Condorcet, Laplace, Poisson, Arago, Quetelet and Verhulst, all of whom predate the creation of the word “sociology” by Auguste Comte. I show that these authors had a scientific project for sociology, and that in its embryonic stage this science has been silenced by the official sociology established by Auguste Comte and his successors. This chapter reviews the ideas of these authors, revisits the aversion of the founder of sociology to his predecessors, and tries to draw consequences for the pursuit and further development of scientific sociology.
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Diffusion of innovations and knowledge is in most cases accounted for by the logistic model. Fieldwork research however constantly report that empirical data utterly deviate from this mathematical function. This chapter scrutinizes... more
Diffusion of innovations and knowledge is in most cases accounted for by the logistic model. Fieldwork research however constantly report that empirical data utterly deviate from this mathematical function. This chapter scrutinizes network forcing of diffusion process. The departure of empirical data from the logistic function is explained by social network discreteness, heterogeneity and anisotropy. New indices are proposed. Results are illustrated by empirical data from an original study of knowledge diffusion in the medieval academic network.
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In this chapter, I discuss the "common mind thesis" that social integrates have mind of their own—a thesis which is built on a kind of aggregation paradox named doctrinal paradox. External analysis objects its very name: there is no... more
In this chapter, I discuss the "common mind thesis" that social integrates have mind of their own—a thesis which is built on a kind of aggregation paradox named doctrinal paradox. External analysis objects its very name: there is no paradox, but non-commutativity of the function composition involved in the aggregation process (Part I). Internal analysis shows that the doctrinal paradox works only when premises are separable. However premises turn out to be hardly separable in the examples cited in the literature (Part II). As the doctrinal paradox is sometimes considered as an argument of holism, its flaws questions the thesis that groups have minds of their own.
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A wide range of paradigms is often taken as a sign of the prescientific status of a discipline. That’s why this paper focuses on the reduction of sociological paradigms. It is shown that, beyond the differences, Simmel’s formal sociology... more
A wide range of paradigms is often taken as a sign of the prescientific status of a discipline. That’s why this paper focuses on the reduction of sociological paradigms. It is shown that, beyond the differences, Simmel’s formal sociology and Weber’s comprehensive sociology are reduceable to the common paradigm of nominalist sociology, the axiomatisation of which is introduced here. Moreover, the paradigms’ reduction accentuates the continuity between all the programmes that claim one or the other of those legacies (actionnism, strategical analysis, relationism, practical interactionnism, network sociology). Such differences don’t result from incommensurability; they are due to the fact that these research programmes focuse on different facets of the same paradigm.
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Séminaire Epistémologie comparée de l'expérimentation dans les sciences de la nature et dans les sciences humaines et sociales, MISHA, Strasbourg, 6 novembre 2018.
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Abstract: Unlike the physical sciences, sociology is frequently described as an interpretative non-experimental science. Comparative epistemology sheds new light on this claim. 1. Experimentation is not a constant character of the... more
Abstract: Unlike the physical sciences, sociology is frequently described as an interpretative non-experimental science. Comparative epistemology sheds new light on this claim. 1. Experimentation is not a constant character of the physical sciences; 2. Experimental hypothetical-deductive reasoning, including the test of predictions, is also practicable in sociology. The argument is developed by a detailed step-wise comparison of the prediction of light ray deviation within the Sun's gravitational field made in 1919 (physics) and the prediction of 8% cosmopolitanism of Cambridge University between 1250 and 1350 (sociology). Extensive analysis of regent masters' prosopographic notes yields the result of 9.5 percent cosmopolitanism, which is close to the theoretical prediction.
Au contraire des sciences physiques, la sociologie est souvent dé-crite comme une science interprétative et non-expérimentale. L'épistémologie apporte un éclairage nouveau sur cette position : 1) L'expérimentation n'est pas un trait constant des sciences physiques ; 2) Le raisonnement expérimental (hypothético-déductif, incluant le test d'une prédiction) est également applicable en sociologie. L'argument est développé en comparant en détail le test de la prédiction d'une déviation des rayons lumineux dans un champ de gravitation effectué en 1919 (physique) et le test de la prédiction d'un taux de cosmopolitisme de 8 % de l'université de Cambridge dans la période 1250-1350 (sociologie). Le dépouillement des notices prosopographiques des maîtres régents donne un résultat de 9,5 % proche de la prédiction théorique initiale.
Au contraire des sciences physiques, la sociologie est souvent dé-crite comme une science interprétative et non-expérimentale. L'épistémologie apporte un éclairage nouveau sur cette position : 1) L'expérimentation n'est pas un trait constant des sciences physiques ; 2) Le raisonnement expérimental (hypothético-déductif, incluant le test d'une prédiction) est également applicable en sociologie. L'argument est développé en comparant en détail le test de la prédiction d'une déviation des rayons lumineux dans un champ de gravitation effectué en 1919 (physique) et le test de la prédiction d'un taux de cosmopolitisme de 8 % de l'université de Cambridge dans la période 1250-1350 (sociologie). Le dépouillement des notices prosopographiques des maîtres régents donne un résultat de 9,5 % proche de la prédiction théorique initiale.
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La sociologie classique a échoué dans son projet naturaliste parce que le naturalisme qu’elle avait en vue était un naturalisme déterministe causal, modèle dominant des sciences naturelles du XIXe siècle. La question reste posée de savoir... more
La sociologie classique a échoué dans son projet naturaliste parce que le naturalisme qu’elle avait en vue était un naturalisme déterministe causal, modèle dominant des sciences naturelles du XIXe siècle. La question reste posée de savoir si la sociologie pourrait développer des formes de naturalisme probabiliste avec plus de succès. La contribution examine quelques résultats récents obtenus par la physique statistique des phénomènes sociaux. On propose la critique analytique de deux types de travaux : ceux de Barabási sur les graphes aléatoires et de Newman sur la centralité d’intermédiarité définie à partir de marches aléatoires; ceux de Sznajd et Sznajd-Weron qui tentent d’appliquer le modèle de Ising à la formation des opinions collectives.
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1. Beaucoup de travaux d’épistémologie contemporaine tentent de spécifier la sociologie par un ensemble de caractères distinctifs dérivés de l’historicité et de l’intentionnalité des sujets humains. 2. Ces caractères doivent être... more
1. Beaucoup de travaux d’épistémologie contemporaine tentent de spécifier la sociologie par un ensemble de caractères distinctifs dérivés de l’historicité et de l’intentionnalité des sujets humains. 2. Ces caractères doivent être abandonnés, ou réécrits, s’ils rentrent en contradiction avec des avancées scientifiques fondées. 3. Des avancées scientifiques sont fondées si elles ont un caractère de nouveauté, de robustesse et de disciplinarité. 4. La physique statistique exotique parvient à des résultats nouveaux. 5. Elle parvient à des résultats robustes. 6. Elle parvient à des résultats sociologiques. 7. La physique statistique exotique ne tire pas de l’historicité et de l’intentionnalité des sujets humains, une épistémologie spéciale : elle emploie des méthodes scientifiques ordinaires, des lois et des concepts analytiques quantitatifs. 8. Par conséquent, les caractères distinctifs de la sociologie doivent être réécrits sur un mode déflationniste, et critiqués quant à leur déductibilité de l’historicité et de l’intentionnalité.
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This article aims at clarifying sociological definitions with the help of an original tool, the logical table of contingency, which has characteristics in common with both the statistical table of contingency and Carroll's bilateral... more
This article aims at clarifying sociological definitions with the help of an original tool, the logical table of contingency, which has characteristics in common with both the statistical table of contingency and Carroll's bilateral diagram. The unclear notion of ghetto is taken as a test-case. Successive tables of contingency are applied to various defining properties and various sociohistorical situations. Cladistic methods are then used to make the relationships between all ghetto-like situations explicit.
Cet article vise à préciser les définitions sociologiques à l'aide d'un outil nouveau, la table logique de contingence, qui a des points communs à la fois avec le tableau de contingence statistique et le diagramme bilatéral de Carroll. L'approche est testée sur la notion imprécise de ghetto. Plusieurs tables de contingence sont appliquées tour à tour à différentes propriétés définitionnelles et à différentes situations sociohistoriques. Des méthodes cladistiques sont ensuite utilisés pour formaliser les relations entre toutes les situations apparentées aux ghettos.
Cet article vise à préciser les définitions sociologiques à l'aide d'un outil nouveau, la table logique de contingence, qui a des points communs à la fois avec le tableau de contingence statistique et le diagramme bilatéral de Carroll. L'approche est testée sur la notion imprécise de ghetto. Plusieurs tables de contingence sont appliquées tour à tour à différentes propriétés définitionnelles et à différentes situations sociohistoriques. Des méthodes cladistiques sont ensuite utilisés pour formaliser les relations entre toutes les situations apparentées aux ghettos.
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Le contexte joue un rôle dans beaucoup d’explications sociologiques. Cependant : 1 / l’ « individu-en-contexte » est forgé sur le modèle « figure-sur-fond » de la Gestaltpsychologie dont le holisme est incompatible avec tous les... more
Le contexte joue un rôle dans beaucoup d’explications sociologiques. Cependant : 1 / l’ « individu-en-contexte » est forgé sur le modèle « figure-sur-fond » de la Gestaltpsychologie dont le holisme est incompatible avec tous les paradigmes individualistes ; 2 / contrairement au « fond » de la Gestalt, le « contexte » des sociologues est indéfini quant à l’échelle, quant aux limites et au contenu ; c’est pourquoi il ne peut être en position de sujet causal d’une expression bien formée : seuls les individus sont capables d’action ; 3 / dans ses aspects objectifs, le contexte est réductible au réseau social de l’individu ; 4 / dans ses aspects subjectifs, le contexte est réductible à une croyance de l’individu. La sociologie des sciences fournit l’exemple d’une telle réduction spontanée : l’action des chercheurs a d’abord été référée à la « communauté scientifique », puis aux « communautés autorégulées », aux « sous-communautés spécialisées », aux « collèges invisibles », enfin aux « réseaux de collaboration scientifique ». Il n’est pas indispensable de maintenir le concept de contexte sinon comme fiction ou façon de parler : les usages explicatifs sont illégitimes ; l’usage référentiel peut être évité.
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The new interest for the sociology of art seems to be linked to an attempt to settle a programme of "sociology of artworks", apart from the classical sociology of artistic production/reception. This programme, which is a second-hand... more
The new interest for the sociology of art seems to be linked to an attempt to settle a programme of "sociology of artworks", apart from the classical sociology of artistic production/reception. This programme, which is a second-hand theory of communication, assumes that it exists iconical and plastic codes. A study of the interpretations made on D. Buren stripes, and I. M. Pei pyramid at the Grand Louvre, falsifies the hypothesis of codes. The high variability of interpretations is then explained in the framework of the inferential model by Sperber and Wilson (1989). The absence of code, joined to the self-refuting features of other proposals, do question the prospects of this programme.
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Prefacio para el libro de Mario Bunge, Crítica de la nueva sociología de la ciencia.
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The Almagesti minor is the first volume of the "Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus" Text Series. With this book, Henry Zepeda offers us the critical edition, translation and commentary of this famous Latin abridgement of Ptolemy's Almagest,... more
The Almagesti minor is the first volume of the "Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus" Text Series. With this book, Henry Zepeda offers us the critical edition, translation and commentary of this famous Latin abridgement of Ptolemy's Almagest, Books I to VI.
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This short article explores how “partisan thinking” presents itself in the borderlands of science. As science conforms to an objectivity norm, and objectivity is incompatible with the partisan mindset, to discover a latent partisan notion... more
This short article explores how “partisan thinking” presents itself in the borderlands of science. As science conforms to an objectivity norm, and objectivity is incompatible with the partisan mindset, to discover a latent partisan notion
in scientific discourse is to lay bare a contradictio in adjecto. It follows that any partisan elements identified should be placed on the edges of, or even outside, the domain of science. The term “partisan thinking” is a close neighbor to ideology, and so I will briefly review the meaning of each word and explain how they might be distin- guished. I will then introduce two examples—the Anthropocene and the French concept of technique—that seem to me to illustrate the presence of partisan thinking in the realm of science and technology. By two very different routes, each of these ideas carries echoes of the Cold War, and this is clearly of interest to us in seeking to understand how they came to be formed and to pass into popular usage.
in scientific discourse is to lay bare a contradictio in adjecto. It follows that any partisan elements identified should be placed on the edges of, or even outside, the domain of science. The term “partisan thinking” is a close neighbor to ideology, and so I will briefly review the meaning of each word and explain how they might be distin- guished. I will then introduce two examples—the Anthropocene and the French concept of technique—that seem to me to illustrate the presence of partisan thinking in the realm of science and technology. By two very different routes, each of these ideas carries echoes of the Cold War, and this is clearly of interest to us in seeking to understand how they came to be formed and to pass into popular usage.
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Ce texte court est une exploration des manifestations de la « pensée partisane » aux marges de la science. La science répondant à une norme d'objectivité et l'objectivité étant incompatible avec l'esprit partisan, repérer la présence... more
Ce texte court est une exploration des manifestations de la « pensée partisane » aux marges de la science. La science répondant à une norme d'objectivité et l'objectivité étant incompatible avec l'esprit partisan, repérer la présence d'une pensée partisane en science revient à pointer une contradictio in adjecto. Par suite, les éléments partisans qui auront été identifiés devront être placés à la limite ou au-delà du domaine de la science. L'expression « pensée partisane » se trouvant dans le voisinage immédiat de l'idéologie, je rappellerai le sens de ces mots en indiquant sur quelle base on peut les distinguer. J'introduirai ensuite deux exemples – anthropocène et technique – qui me paraissent illustrer la pensée partisane dans le domaine des sciences et techniques. Par des voies très différentes, ces deux idées sont débitrices du contexte de la Guerre froide, ce qui n'est évidemment pas indifférent pour comprendre les mécanismes de leur formation et de leur diffusion.
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The term technoscience enjoys some popularity in the study of science (philosophy, sociology and history of science). The historical approach shows that the neologism was not invented by Bruno Latour (1987) or Gilbert Hottois (1977): it... more
The term technoscience enjoys some popularity in the study of science (philosophy, sociology and history of science). The historical approach shows that the neologism was not invented by Bruno Latour (1987) or Gilbert Hottois (1977): it dates back to the post-World War II years. The meanings of the word between 1946 and 1977 are reviewed.
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This note reviews seven objections made to the word technoscience since its introduction: the word has undefined scope; it is based on an unclear relationship; it does not describe a new phenomenon; it has an emotional content; it is... more
This note reviews seven objections made to the word technoscience since its introduction: the word has undefined scope; it is based on an unclear relationship; it does not describe a new phenomenon; it has an emotional content; it is little known to scientists; it is used by a narrow community; and the use of the word is declining. These objections lead to an alternative: the word should be either abandoned or redefined.
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Notwithstanding what the champions of post-truth may think, truth remains a key concept of scientific research. In this contribution, several theories of factual truth are evaluated with the help of a simple and straightforward tool,... more
Notwithstanding what the champions of post-truth may think, truth remains a key concept of scientific research. In this contribution, several theories of factual truth are evaluated with the help of a simple and straightforward tool, i.e., a logical table of contingency. Its application shows that most contemporary disconcerting theories of truth have critical flaws, and that, albeit imperfect, truth-as-correspondence is still the best theory of truth. Further criticism of correspondence as adaequatio, compliance and isomorphism suggests that correspondence-as-mapping constitutes a more acceptable theory. This contribution provides a definition and examples in the empirical sciences.
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Les définitions de la science proposées au siècle dernier (mathématisation, expérimentation, falsifiabilité, reproductibilité...) manquent un trait essentiel de la science pourtant déterminant sur le plan motivationnel: la science, c’est... more
Les définitions de la science proposées au siècle dernier (mathématisation, expérimentation, falsifiabilité, reproductibilité...) manquent un trait essentiel de la science pourtant déterminant sur le plan motivationnel: la science, c’est aussi inférer l’inconnu à partir du connu.
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La conclusion de ce petit livre s'ouvre sur une citation de Zeev Sternhell qui assigne Kraus, Wittgenstein et von Wright à une position qui n'est pas celle de l'habituel pessimisme conservateur: ils se seraient opposés à l'hypocrisie de... more
La conclusion de ce petit livre s'ouvre sur une citation de Zeev Sternhell qui assigne Kraus, Wittgenstein et von Wright à une position qui n'est pas celle de l'habituel pessimisme conservateur: ils se seraient opposés à l'hypocrisie de cette idéologie. Selon Bouveresse, en dissipant l'illusio, la critique du progrès peut contribuer au progrès.
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El cientificismo (scientisme) se ha convertido actualmente en una lacra o un insulto. Nuestra tendencia espontánea es la de apartarnos para evitar ser insultados. Pero es evidente que el cientificismo es atacado a menudo por confundir el... more
El cientificismo (scientisme) se ha convertido actualmente en una lacra o un insulto. Nuestra tendencia espontánea es la de apartarnos para evitar ser insultados. Pero es evidente que el cientificismo es atacado a menudo por confundir el conocimiento científico y su uso tecnológico; entre modo de producción de los conocimientos y conocimientos adquiridos, etc. Si se adopta una definición rigurosa del cientificismo como esta: “El cientificismo es la tesis según la cual la mejor manera de conocer el mundo real es conocerlo empleando métodos científicos”, no está claro qué reproches podría sufrir, salvo por parte de los seguidores de la astrología, las flores de Bach o la logorrea posmoderna.
El cientificismo metodológico no tiene nada vergonzoso que deba esconderse.
El cientificismo metodológico no tiene nada vergonzoso que deba esconderse.
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Determinism is the thesis that the events comply with laws, i.e. constant relations by which the same causes produce the same effects. There is no consensus over determinism.
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The article examines the inflation in the number of authors that now affects several disciplines such as particle physics and biomedical sciences. Deepening the example of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at CERN, which discovered the... more
The article examines the inflation in the number of authors that now affects several disciplines such as particle physics and biomedical sciences. Deepening the example of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at CERN, which discovered the Higgs boson in 2012, the article details the signing procedures in this field, reviews the factors responsible for the inflation in the number of authors, asks whether this inflation has caused the emergence of novel phenomena, characterizes these novelties, and specifies the time and number thresholds at which they appeared. The article concludes that the inflation in the number of authors in particle physics is an emergent (not additive) process, proved, in particular, by the normative activity engaged in the field.
Résumé
L'article étudie l'inflation du nombre de coauteurs qui touche aujourd'hui plusieurs disciplines comme la physique des particules et les sciences biomédicales. Approfondissant l'exemple des collaborations ATLAS et CMS du CERN qui ont découvert expérimentalement le boson de Higgs en 2012, l'article précise les modalités de signature dans ce champ, étudie les facteurs responsables de l'inflation du nombre de signataires, se demande si cette inflation a provoqué l'apparition de phénomènes inédits, caractérise ces nouveautés, et précise le seuil temporel et numérique auquel elles sont apparues. L'article conclut que l'inflation du nombre d'auteurs en physique des particules est un phénomène émergent (non additif), visible notamment à l'activité normative engagée au sein de ce champ.
Résumé
L'article étudie l'inflation du nombre de coauteurs qui touche aujourd'hui plusieurs disciplines comme la physique des particules et les sciences biomédicales. Approfondissant l'exemple des collaborations ATLAS et CMS du CERN qui ont découvert expérimentalement le boson de Higgs en 2012, l'article précise les modalités de signature dans ce champ, étudie les facteurs responsables de l'inflation du nombre de signataires, se demande si cette inflation a provoqué l'apparition de phénomènes inédits, caractérise ces nouveautés, et précise le seuil temporel et numérique auquel elles sont apparues. L'article conclut que l'inflation du nombre d'auteurs en physique des particules est un phénomène émergent (non additif), visible notamment à l'activité normative engagée au sein de ce champ.
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The discovery of the Higgs boson is one of the most significant advances of particle physics in recent years. It led to the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 to Englert and Higgs for the theory explaining the origin of the particle... more
The discovery of the Higgs boson is one of the most significant advances of particle physics in recent years. It led to the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 to Englert and Higgs for the theory explaining the origin of the particle mass. The Nobel Prize cannot conceal the fact that the results about the new particle have been achieved by the experimental physicists of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, who are among the largest international collaboration of scientists in the world (2898 and 2932 physicists, respectively). This article is dedicated to the study of the organization and operation of the ATLAS and CMS international collaborations. The disparities between countries, structure of collaborative networks, physicists' cooperative vs. competitive preferences, and emerging properties of research work in large scientific collaborations are reviewed.
Научные коллаборативные сети в физике элементарных частиц: социологическое исследование коллабораций ATLAS и CMS.
Аннотация. Одним из наиболее значительных достижений в области физики элементарных частиц за последние годы стало открытие бозона Хиггса. Это привело к тому, что в 2013 году Нобелевскую премию по физике получили Энглерт и Хиггс за их теорию, объясняющую происхождение массы частиц. Однако Нобелевская премия не может скрыть тот факт, что результаты о новой частице были получены физиками-экспериментаторами коллабораций ATLAS и CMS, которые являются одними из крупнейших международных коллабораций ученых в мире (2898 и 2932 физика соответственно). Эта статья посвящена изучению организации и функционирования международных коллабораций ATLAS и CMS. В работе рассматриваются вопросы неравенства между странами, структуры научных коллаборативных сетей, кооперативных или конкурентных предпочтений физиков, а также новых свойств научно-исследовательской работы; возникающих в крупных научных коллаборациях. Ключевые слова. ATLAS, CMS, физика элементарных частиц, научные коллаборативные сети.
Научные коллаборативные сети в физике элементарных частиц: социологическое исследование коллабораций ATLAS и CMS.
Аннотация. Одним из наиболее значительных достижений в области физики элементарных частиц за последние годы стало открытие бозона Хиггса. Это привело к тому, что в 2013 году Нобелевскую премию по физике получили Энглерт и Хиггс за их теорию, объясняющую происхождение массы частиц. Однако Нобелевская премия не может скрыть тот факт, что результаты о новой частице были получены физиками-экспериментаторами коллабораций ATLAS и CMS, которые являются одними из крупнейших международных коллабораций ученых в мире (2898 и 2932 физика соответственно). Эта статья посвящена изучению организации и функционирования международных коллабораций ATLAS и CMS. В работе рассматриваются вопросы неравенства между странами, структуры научных коллаборативных сетей, кооперативных или конкурентных предпочтений физиков, а также новых свойств научно-исследовательской работы; возникающих в крупных научных коллаборациях. Ключевые слова. ATLAS, CMS, физика элементарных частиц, научные коллаборативные сети.
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Context plays a role in many variants of the sociological explanation. Nevertheless: 1 / "Individual-in-context" is a copy of Gestalttheorie’s "figure-on-background", whose holism is incompatible with all individualistic paradigms; 2 /... more
Context plays a role in many variants of the sociological explanation. Nevertheless: 1 / "Individual-in-context" is a copy of Gestalttheorie’s "figure-on-background", whose holism is incompatible with all individualistic paradigms; 2 / Contrarily to Gestalt’s concept of background, "sociological context" is undefined as for scale, limits and content. This is why context cannot be causal subject of a well-formed statement: individuals only are able of action; 3 / In regard to its objective aspects, context is reduceable to the social network of the individual; 4 / In regard to its subjective aspects, context is reduceable to a belief of the individual. Sociology of science gives us such a case of a spontaneous reduction: the scientists’ action has been first refered to the "scientific community", then to "self-regulated communities", then to "specialized sub-communities" or "invisible colleges", and finally to "networks of scientific collaboration". Consequently, it is not necessary to maintain the concept of context, except as a fiction or a way-to-speak: explanatory uses are ill-founded; referential use is avoidable.
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Engagé dans une tradition remontant au Traité d'optique d'Alhacen, l'homme pour qui la peinture était une “cosa mentale” a partagé avec le penseur arabe indépendance d'esprit et souci de l'expérience. – Entretien par Jérôme Skalski.
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O De compositione astrolabii de Andalò di Negro. Apresentação da edição em curso. Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, 4 de Outubro 2018.