Extract from the introduction (transcript)
I'd like to start with a few words of introduction to tell you what I think about the often conflicting relations between science and society. The idea for this colloquium came from the observation that science, whose inventions have played an essential role in improving the living conditions of mankind, particularly over the last century, whether we think of the extension of life expectancy, the control of epidemics, the development of agriculture to feed a population that was for a long time in exponential growth, or the extraordinary evolution of means of transport, communication and information. Despite all its spectacular results, or perhaps paradoxically because of them, science often arouses the public's mistrust or even distrust. In fact, the aim of science is to establish facts, describe phenomena and explain them through theories, which in turn enable us to predict and understand other facts. In this way, we gradually extend the scope of our knowledge and our means of influencing the world. In this phase of development, science is essentially driven by curiosity, by scientists' insatiable need to understand nature. Once this fundamental knowledge has been acquired, the baton is passed to other agents of society, public or private, who decide whether or not to exploit a given discovery. To regulate its use on the basis of economic considerations or ethical and moral principles, and sometimes on ideological grounds. In the 17th and 18th centuries, classical mechanics defined the notion of force. In the 19th century, thermodynamics defined the notions of heat, energy and mankind. Electromagnetism, which made it possible to understand the fundamental unity between electrical, magnetic and luminous phenomena. Based on these fundamental conceptual advances, which initially had no utilitarian purpose, the machines of the first industrial revolution were developed, revolutionizing living conditions in Western society. The steam engine, then the train, the automobile and the airplane, but also electricity, the telephone and radio. It was then the need to understand the phenomena of the microscopic world, again a purely curiosity-driven quest, that led to the emergence of quantum physics in the early 20th century. This understanding led to a second revolution, that of nuclear power, computers, lasers and the internet. The society we live in today, these examples from the past, show that the acquisition of knowledge produced by the sheer curiosity of scientists, has given mankind powerful means of action on the world. These new means have always led to upheavals, changes in habits and lifestyles, and have often given rise to questions, mistrust and resistance.
