Science in France in the Revolutionary Era

Thomas Bugge, Danish Astronomer Royal, spent six months in France in 1798-99 as hiscountry's delegate to the International Commission on the Metric System, and while there he made aclose study of the postrevolutionary scientific and cultural scene. Written up in the form of"letters," these observations were later published as Travels in the French Republic. The presentwork includes much of this material, some published in English for the first time, the restunavailable except in a scarce English edition of 1801. The editor's principle of selection has beento include, among others, those sections that relate in particular to the institutions of science inFrance, and he provides a commentary introducing each section.The institutions of modern science,and their relation to the state, were to a considerable extent developed or perfected in the Franceof the First Republic. The conference on the metric system mentioned earlier might be described asthe world's first international scientific meeting. Specialized technical schools were beingestablished in numerous fields as whole new technologies were developed. The government, for thefirst time in history, had begun to support science financially on a large scale and to employscientists engaged in both military research and "pure" pursuits. Some prominent men of science heldpositions as ministers of state, while others were highly influential advisers to the government.And in many other ways science matured in this period, taking on the institutional form it retainsto this day. There are a number of reasons why the state supported sci- ence so lavishly, among themits desire to expiate for the early excesses of the Revolution, marked by the disbanding of theAcademie des sciences and the execution of Lavoisier. Also, science had proved its worth to themilitary: the work of such men as Monge, Fourcroy, de Morveau, and Berthollet in directing themanufacture of gunpowder and cannon helped stave off an invasion by foreign armies in 1793-94.Amongthe institutions of which Bugge gives a detailed account are the Ecole normale, the ecolescentrales, the Ecole poly technique; schools for public service including the naval schools, theEcole d'artillerie, and the Ecole des mines; the schools of medicine and pha~acy; the Collegede France; the Military Hospital for Instruction, and other medical institutions; the NationalInstitute; the National Observatory and the Board of Longitude; the School of Military Ballooning;the Conservatoire des arts et metiers. Bugge also had interesting comments on the Louvre and theBibliotheque Nationale.Other concerns taken up by Bugge and reprinted here are state expenditures onscientific and allied institutions for the year 1799, instruments and instrument makers, steamengines, powder factories, the metric system, and revolutionary festivals.

T. Nikki Cesare is TDR's Managing Editor and a PhD candidate in the Department ofPerformance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts/NYU. She is also a performing double bassistspecializing in contemporary music, and is currently working with the Chicago and NewYork--based International Contemporary Ensemble.