Academie Des Sciences Research Articles

Escape Classroom: The Leblanc Process—An Educational “Escape Game”

An “escape game” activity is proposed to increase stimulation, team group skills, and adaptability in the chemistry classroom. The students follow in the footsteps of Nicolas Leblanc, a young French chemist, who took part in a contest launched by the French Academy of Sciences in 1775 to produce industrial soda ash. By means of scientific puzzles, such as using the periodic table, balancing a reaction, drawing up a flowsheet, or performing simple mole calculations, students will access combinations of numbers that allow them to open mechanisms present in the room that give them access to other enigmas. Following a precise sequence (controlled by the teacher present in the room), the students will thus advance in groups by retracing the development of one of the first industrial processes in the world. Escaping from the room is not the end of the activity: a debriefing will highlight the key elements of the construction of this process and will indicate the resources for further research, notably on the en...

Beginnings of a new science. D'Alembert's Traité de dynamique and the French Royal Academy of Sciences around 1740

D'Alembert began on the scientific European scene with the publication of his first book: the Traite de dynamique (1743). Dynamics is born in the 1730's and with the Traite D'Alembert became one of the main protagonists of that new science. Unfortunately, historians have neither manuscripts nor letters at their disposal, which could inform about the circumstances in which this book was written. The present article aims to precise those circumstances and to give essential characteristics of D'Alembert's dynamics, in particular in the light of the works led by his colleagues of the French Royal Academy of Sciences. In reading D'Alembert's ideas about causality and the proofs of some mechanical principles, in searching how he could have known some mechanical problems which appeared in the Academy around 1740, and in analyzing how he solved them, it's possible to sketch hypothesis about the formation of the young man. They involve exchanges or competition with his colleagues who probably made him discover some mechanical problems. But D'Alembert published in 1743 the first book exclusively dedicated to that science with an original and specific approach which he kept during all his scientific career, an approach that allowed him to write that his work had nothing in common with that of the others.

Style and Substance in Rococo Science

Rococo art and Enlightenment science, both of which flourished in Paris from 1710 to 1740, appear to have embodied two different sets of values. But the stylistic differences between them dissolve in their common concern with making and manipulating substances. Scientists at the Paris Academy of Science, especially René Réaumur and Charles Dufay, experimented on many of the same substances that artists used, often exploiting the same properties. Studying style and substance together brings out the connections between art and science and shows the value of respecting these two disciplines when writing their history.

From Huygens' waves to Einstein's photons: Weird light

From Huygens to Kastler, the members of the Académie des sciences have played an important role in the development and/or the thorough understanding of the models of light. This has paved the way to modern Quantum Optics. De Huygens à Kastler, les membres de l'Académie des sciences ont joué un rôle important dans le développement et/ou la compréhension profonde des modèles de la lumière. Ils ont ainsi permis l'émergence de l'optique quantique moderne.

The birth of wave mechanics (1923–1926)

Abstract In 1923, in three articles published in the Comptes Rendus of the Academie des Sciences , Louis de Broglie proposed the concept of wave–particle duality. Physicists from many countries seized upon this idea. In particular, Schrodinger developed de Broglie's qualitative idea by writing down the equation that the wave must satisfy in the non-relativistic approximation. A relativistic version of this equation was proposed in 1926 by several scientists, and other ones found a solution to the Schrodinger equation as an expansion in powers of the Planck constant.

La medida de América: de la observación métrica ilustrada española al empirismo razonado humboldtiano

La ciencia ilustrada en su vertiente colonial se obsesionó en tomar las medidas del territorio y en objetivar sus observaciones científicas, usando un arsenal cada vez mayor de instrumentos científicos, lo que en el caso español se tradujo en el envío de innumerables expediciones marítimas y terrestres encargadas de esta difícil misión, en la que ya estaban embarcadas otras potencias como Inglaterra y Francia. De hecho, algunas de las primeras experiencias en este sentido se hicieron de la mano de los científicos franceses, casi siempre por encargo de la Académie des Sciences de Paris, una institución de prestigio con experiencia en el uso de instrumentos científicos. En el cambio de siglo, Alexander von Humboldt siguió obsesionado por el uso de sus instrumentos científicos en el estudio de la Naturaleza, aunque se planteaba otras cuestiones más generales sobre el equilibrio natural y las relaciones globales que unían a los seres organizados con la naturaleza inanimada, guiado por un empirismo razonado característico de la ciencia humboldtiana, determinada por la medición y la sensibilidad subjetiva, en un momento clave del paso de la Ilustración al Romanticismo.

Peer review as conflict

I read with interest Melinda Baldwin’s article “In referees we trust?” on the historical development of peer review (Physics Today, February 2017, page 44). She is not the first to suggest that William Whewell should be considered the inventor of peer review. I did not take the trouble to respond to Alex Csiszar’s comment to that effect in Nature last year,11. A. Csiszar, Nature 532, 306 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/532306a but I now see that this curious idea could become entrenched just by being repeated. It is important to distinguish between explicitly establishing the idea of peer review and more or less systematically applying it.Although Baldwin writes that Henry Oldenburg “rarely consulted outside opinions,” the Council Minutes of 1 March 1665 explicitly note “that the Philosophical Transactions, to be composed by Mr Oldenburg, be printed on the first Monday of every month, if he have sufficient matter for it, and that the tract be licensed by the Council of the Society, being first reviewed by some of the members of the same.”22. M. B. Hall, Henry Oldenburg: Shaping the Royal Society, Oxford U. Press (2002), p. 84. It made sense that the Royal Society did not want to see printed opinions that could bring shame on its reputation. Every book was to be checked by members before being given any imprimatur. Hence in June 1664, the council decided that “in case Mr Hooke’s microscopical observations should be printed by order of the society, they might be perused and examined by some members of the society.”33. M. Biagioli, Emergences 12, 11 (2002), p. 29. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045722022000003435In any case, one did not have to wait as late as the 1830s to see peer review of scientific papers at work, since already in the 1760s the Paris Academy of Sciences had its own publication committee that reviewed papers and made explicit comments before publication. It even often required authors to cite previous work on a given subject as a condition of publication. For example, a corresponding member of the Academy, Pierre-Toussaint Navier, who submitted a paper on the dissolution of mercury in acid, was asked by the members of the committee to “add the citations mentioned in the referee’s report.”44. J. E. McClellan III, Specialist Control: The Publications Committee of the Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris), 1700–1793, American Philosophical Society (2003), p. 33.As for Max Planck, he did not like, as editor, to reject papers from colleagues and much preferred to suggest ways to render them publishable. Baldwin should have mentioned the work of Lewis Pyenson, who studied in detail how Planck handled his task as editor of Annalen der Physik.55. L. Pyenson, Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 17, 176 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.200710267The mechanism of peer review evolved over centuries, obviously, and became very formal only in the middle of the 20th century. But before promoting Whewell as the inventor of that practice, historians would do well to extend research beyond the British islands. Also, there were many scientific organizations and journals in Europe before the 1830s.ReferencesSection:ChooseTop of pageReferences <<CITING ARTICLES1. A. Csiszar, Nature 532, 306 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/532306a, Google ScholarCrossref, ISI2. M. B. Hall, Henry Oldenburg: Shaping the Royal Society, Oxford U. Press (2002), p. 84. Google Scholar3. M. Biagioli, Emergences 12, 11 (2002), p. 29. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045722022000003435, Google ScholarCrossref4. J. E. McClellan III, Specialist Control: The Publications Committee of the Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris), 1700–1793, American Philosophical Society (2003), p. 33. Google Scholar5. L. Pyenson, Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 17, 176 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.200710267, Google ScholarCrossref, ISI© 2017 American Institute of Physics.

Blurring the Boundaries: Integrating Techniques of Land Surveying on the Qing’s Mongolian Frontier

This article focuses on the role of spatial dynamics in effectuating the integration of two different sets of land surveying techniques. During the later stages of the Qing-Zunghar wars of the 1690s, the Kangxi emperor (r. 1661-1722) repeatedly asked French Jesuit missionaries, who had been sent to China in 1685 under the patronage of the French King Louis XIV, to join his imperial campaigns targeting the Khalkha-Mongolian borderlands. In the shadow of these imperial journeys, missionaries systematically determined latitudes with Paris-made instruments while Qing officials measured road distances all along the way with graduated ropes. A next step in the evolution of imperial cartographic practice came after the Qing- Zunghar wars had come to an end, when an all-out effort was launched by the emperor to integrate the newly conquered Khalkha Mongols and their lands into the Qing polity. As part of the effort, missionaries were asked to produce a map of the new frontier by integrating European and East Asian practices, which led to the discovery of a technical incompatibility. In 1702, the problem was solved by the precise measurement of the terrestrial degree and, immediately after, the restandardization of the Qing’s most basic unit of length, the chi 尺. Thus, I argue that the turn of the eighteenth century saw the crystallization of a new or hybrid Qing cartographic practice, driven by the need to explore the new Khalkha frontier. More concretely, I show how selected techniques as developed by the French Academy of Sciences were gradually absorbed into a pre-existing framework of Qing land surveying, a process that was shaped and facilitated by exchanges in via throughout the vast Mongolian frontier.

Chalcogenide glasses and glass-ceramics: Transparent materials in the infrared for dual applications

Abstract In this paper are described the different research activities that led to the awarding of the Lamb prize by the French Academy of Sciences in order to promote research work on the national defense of France. This research concerns the development of infrared materials for night vision and the development of thermal imagers useful for defense, but also for civilian applications. The contribution has been particularly innovative in different sectors: broadening of chalcogenide glasses window of transparency, IR glass-ceramics with high thermomechanical properties, and the design of a new way of synthesis of these materials by a mechanical process.

135th birth anniversary of Alexander Fleming (The beginning of the era of antibiotics is dedicated)

В 1999 году журнал «Time» включил Александра Флеминга в список 100 героев и кумиров XX века, заявив, что «открытие Флеминга породило огромную фармацевтическую промышленность, производящую синтетические пенициллины, направленные на борьбу с некоторыми самыми древними заболеваниями человечества, в числе которых сифилис, гангрена и туберкулез». По некоторым оценкам антибиотики спасли свыше 200 миллионов человек, а их открытие прибавило примерно 20 лет к средней продолжительности жизни человека в развитых странах.Александр Флеминг родился 6 августа 1881 года. В 1906 году получил степень Бакалавра Медицины и Бакалавра Хирургии с отличием и стал членом Королевского колледжа хирургов. В 1908 году он получает степень магистра и бакалавра наук в Лондонском университете. В 1922 году Александр Флеминг открывает лизоцим. В1928 г. он становится профессором бактериологии. 7 марта 1929 года, А. Флеминг выделил и описал свойства пенициллина. 12 февраля 1941 года пенициллин был впервые применен для лечения человека. В 1943 году началось промышленное производство антибиотика.В 1944 году Флеминг был возведен в рыцарское достоинство. В 1945 году Нобелевская премия по физиологии и медицине была присуждена А.Флемингу, Х.У.Флори и Э.Б.Чейну «за открытие пенициллина и его целебного воздействия при различных инфекционных болезнях». В 1928–1946 годах А. Флеминг работал профессором микробиологии Лондонского университета, в 1947 возглавил Институт Райта–Флеминга, в 1951–1954 был ректором Эдинбургского университета.А. Флеминг был удостоен 25 почетных степеней, 26 медалей, 18 премий, 30 наград и почетного членства в 89 академиях наук и научных обществах, в том числе, Лондонского королевского общества (1943), Парижской академии наук (1946), Первый президент общества общей микробиологии.Александр Флеминг скончался от инфаркта миокарда 11 марта 1955 года. В 2009 году изображение Флеминга размещено на новой купюре в 5 фунтов стерлингов.

Iatrochemistry and the Evaluation of Mineral Waters in France, 1600-1750.

Existing literature on mineral springs in early modern France suggests that composition played a minor role in the evaluation of those springs. In fact it played a major role from at least the beginning of the seventeenth century. Composition was studied by a wide range of actors, from physicians in the provinces to chemists at the Paris Academy of Science, with a view to establishing the efficacy of particular springs against particular diseases. Iatrochemistry played a complex role in these evaluations. Followers of Paracelsus and van Helmont were among the first to perform chemical analyses on mineral waters. But there were physicians who studied composition without chemistry, or who used chemistry while opposing iatrochemistry. Conversely, there were iatrochemists who used chemistry to study mineral waters but not to evaluate them, and there were many chemists who gave at least as much weight to clinical experience as they did to composition.

L’acquisition en France d’une cire anatomique pour Pierre le Grand: autour d’un traité et de ses suites

During his second tour of Europe, whose 300th anniversary is celebrated in 2017, Peter I visited Paris. He visited the main landmarks of the city, especially those related to his interest in the natural sciences and technology. For instance, he repeatedly visited the Royal Botanical Garden. There, he became acquainted with the renowned doctor, professor of anatomy, and member of the Paris Academy of Sciences Joseph-Guichard Duverney (1648–1730). He was well known in Europe, had a lot of connections with other scientists, and was famous for his wax anatomical models and ‘anatomical demonstrations’ (public lectures in anatomy). Among others, Duverney communicated with Robert Areskine, a physician of Scottish descent at Peter’s court. Peter ordered an anatomical model for his collection in the Kunstkamera, which proves the interest the tsar had in Duverney’s talents. Areskine represented Peter the Great in the purchase. The anatomical model of a human brain and skull is still kept in the Kunstkamera collection. However, until recently there was no information on how it was made. Referring to a previously unpublished document from the National Archive of France and other French and Russian sources (including archival ones), this article reconstructs the story of the model’s creation and provides new historical data that helps us to understand Peter’s initial idea after meeting Duverney and the changes the project underwent while it was being implemented.

Accomplishments of Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat: The first woman member of the French Academy of Sciences

Comptes Rendus Chimie - In Press.Proof corrected by the author Available online since jeudi 13 octobre 2016

Spotlight on…Pascale Cossart.

#### Biographical summary I was educated as a chemist at the University of Lille, France. After a Master of Science at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, I arrived at the Pasteur Institute in 1971, where I am still…I only interrupted this long period for 3 months in 1973 for the birth of my first daughter, 1 year to teach biochemistry in Laos in 1974 and during which my second daughter was born; my third daughter was born while I was a post doc in 1979. I am now the head of the Bacteria-Cell Interactions Unit in the Department of Cell Biology and Infection. I have just published a book entitled ‘La nouvelle Microbiology’ edited by Odile Jacob, Francois Jacob's daughter. I have also been elected Secretaire perpetuel at the Academie des Sciences since January 2016. 1. My current research is addressing the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying how an intracellular pathogen is behaving during life in different environments, in particular during the switch from saprophytism to virulence. We take as a model the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes . Our research has an impact in infection biology but also in cell biology and in fundamental biology, in particular RNA biology. 2. I cannot say that I had decided to have a career in microbiology. I was educated as a pure chemist in Lille. I obtained a Master degree in chemistry and started to be interested in biochemistry. I then moved to the States and at Georgetown University obtained a Master degree in chemistry/biochemistry. I then came back to France and was advised to go to the Pasteur Institute, which seemed as one of the best research places in France. At Pasteur, a succession of …

Low Permeability Media: A Research Frontier

This thematic dossier collects eight scientific papers corresponding to presentations made during two international conferences dedicated to the study of low permeability media held in Paris within six months of each other. The first conference, “The Challenge of Studying Low Permeability Materials: Laboratory, in situ (field) and numerical methods”, was organised in December 2014 by the University of Cergy-Pontoise (Geosciences and Environment Cergy Research Laboratory) under the aegis of CFMR (Rock Mechanics French Committee) and GIS Geosciences franciliennes. The second, LowPerm2015 “Low permeability media and nanoporous materials from characterisation to modeling: Can we do it better?”, was organised by IFP Energies nouvelles in June 2015 under the aegis of the French “Academie des Sciences”. An attractive and explicit title is key to the success of a conference. It sets the scene and lets possible participants know exactly what matter will be discussed. But subtitles may be as important as titles, because they may stimulate participants by confronting them with a collective challenge. Devoted to characterisation, transport properties and multiscale modeling of low to very low permeability media and nanoporous materials, LowPerm2015 was leaving very little ambiguity about the matter to be discussed. Its subtitle – Can we do better? – was a mild way of stressing that there are several areas where we should be totally unsatisfied about our present state of knowledge, and where progress is urgently needed. One of these areas is the recovery of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. There is no question that the gas and oil shale revolution has deeply changed the global energy landscape, but its long term sustainability is questionable in spite of the tremendous magnitude of the resource due to an unacceptably low rate of recovery. With close to seventy five percent of the gas and ninety five percent of the oil left in place on average, the exploitation of self-sourced organic rich shale reservoirs is one of the least efficient industrial operations. Among the main reasons for this are our poor knowledge of the complex nanoporous void space in which the hydrocarbons are trapped, and our very limited understanding of their release and transport mechanisms, particularly in multiphase conditions. Just imagine what the future would be if, thanks to improved understanding, we could switch from ninety five percent left in place to ninety five percent recovery!

The linear no-threshold theory: Readers weigh in

The linear no-threshold theory: Readers weigh in

Low-dose radiation exposure should not be feared

Low-dose radiation exposure should not be feared

Measuring the New World: Enlightenment Science and South America

Prior to 1735, South America was largely terra incognita to many Europeans. But that year, the Paris Academy of Sciences sent a joint French and Spanish mission to the Spanish American province of Quito (in present-day Ecuador) to study the curvature of the Earth at the Equator - an expedition that would put South America on the map and in the minds of Europeans for centuries to come. Equipped with quadrants and telescopes, the mission's participants referred to the transfer of scientific knowledge from Europe to the Andes as a sacred fire passing mysteriously through European astronomical instruments to curious observers in South America.By looking at the social and material traces of this expedition, Measuring the New World examines the transatlantic flow of knowledge in reverse - from West to East. Through ephemeral monuments and geographical maps, from the Andes to the Amazon River, the book explores how the social and cultural worlds of South America contributed to the production of European scientific knowledge during the Enlightenment. Neil Safier uses the notebooks of traveling philosophers, including Charles-Marie de La Condamine and others, as well as maps and specimens from the expedition, to place this particular scientific endeavor in the larger context of early modern print culture and the emerging intellectual category of scientist as author.

Cluster Preface: Resurgence of Synthetic Aromatic Chemistry

Victor Snieckus was born in Lithuania and fled with his parents to Germany during World War II. He obtained the B.Sc. at the University of Alberta, graduate degrees at University of California, Berkeley (D. S. Noyce) and University of Oregon (V. Boekelheide), and carried out postdoctoral studies at NRC Ottawa (O. E. Edwards). He taught at the University of Waterloo until 1998, then moved to Queen’s University, Kingston as the inaugural Bader Chair of Organic Chemistry. He continues fundamental research as Bader Chair Emeritus as well as Director of Snieckus Innovations, an institute for the synthesis of small molecules for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. He is a recipient of the ACS Cope Scholar Award, Arfvedson-Schlenk Preis of the GDCh, CSC Bernard Belleau and Alfred Bader Awards, is a Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Laureate, and is a Royal Society of Canada Fellow. He infrequently plays hockey and wishes he had not given up the clarinet. Paul Knochel was born 1955 in Strasbourg (France). He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Strasbourg (France) and his Ph.D at the ETH Zurich with Prof. D. Seebach. He spent four years at the CNRS at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris with Prof. J.-F. Normant and one year of post-doctoral studies at Princeton University in the laboratory of Prof. M. F. Semmelhack. In 1987, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1991, he became Full Professor at this University and in 1992, he moved to Philipps-University at Marburg (Germany) as C4-Professor in Organic Chemistry. In 1999, he moved to the Chemistry Department of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich (Germany). His research interests include the development of novel organometallic reagents and methods for use in organic synthesis, asymmetric catalysis and natural product synthesis. Prof. Knochel received many distinguished prices as e.g. the Berthelot Medal of the Academie des Sciences (Paris), the IUPAC Thieme Prize, the Otto-Bayer-Prize, the Leibniz-Prize (1.500.000 Euro), the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, Karl-Ziegler-Prize, the Nagoya Gold Medal, the H. C. Brown Award and Paul Karrer gold medal. He is member of the Academie des Sciences (France), the Bavarian Academy of Science, the German Academy of Sciences Leopodina, and the Center for Advanced Studies.

International Congress on Targeting Ebola 28–29 May 2015, Pasteur Institute, Paris

The International Congress on Targeting Ebola 2015 was held on 28–29 May 2015 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris ( www.targeting-ebola.com). The meeting was organised in partnership with the COPED of the French Academy of Sciences, the French Task Force Group for Ebola, the Pasteur Institute and the Task Force for Infectious Diseases. Publication of a summary of the meeting by the organisers is anticipated in an open-access journal. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the main discussion points during the meeting. This meeting brought together more than 300 experts in the field of ebola virus disease (EVD) from Europe, Africa, Asia and the US to discuss advances in combatting the virus. Their expertise encompassed infectious diseases, basic science, epidemiology, anthropology, virology, immunology, and included representatives from industry (both diagnostics and therapeutics), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), funding agencies such as the Gates Foundation and Fondation Merieux, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting aimed to cover diverse topics including viral pathogenesis, virus–host interactions, epidemiology, cultural aspects of the disease, diagnostic tools, treatment protocols, vaccines and operational research.