Théodore Mann. Savoir et pouvoir: Un théoricien du climat à l'Académie de Bruxelles au XVIIIe siècle
Ouvrage auteur unique
| Résumé : | This book examines the scientific career and intellectual contributions of Théodore Mann, an eighteenth-century scholar associated with the Academy of Brussels. Well before the emergence of modern climate science, Mann developed an original reflection on climatic change and argued as early as the 1770s that the Earth was gradually warming. He sought to assess the respective roles of natural and human causes in these transformations.Mann also took part in the scientific debates surrounding the search for the Northwest Passage, conducting experiments on the freezing of seawater in order to better understand Arctic conditions. His work further addressed the environmental consequences of certain fishing practices, which he criticized for their destructive effects on marine ecosystems and biodiversity.The book reconstructs Mann’s intellectual trajectory and analyses his extensive body of writings, highlighting his contributions to the study of climate, natural resources, and population dynamics. In doing so, it situates Mann’s ideas within the broader scientific and political debates of the Enlightenment and shows how some of his reflections anticipated later demographic theories associated with Thomas Malthus. |
