A Study Of Pasteur's Declinism Of French Science In The 19th Century

19th-century French science was a star-studded affair.After the Revolution,France was the first country in Europe to establish a unique system of science and technology.This highly centralization system greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the scientific community at that time:talents,scientific discoveries and technological inventions mushroomed,made French science the center of world scientific activity.Not long after,however,the French scientist Pasteur warned the French authorities that science in his country was in relative decline.Today,a century and a half later,we are under a scientific and technological blockade in the United States,which exposes many hidden problems in the current scientific and technological system and scientific research environment,considering special historical or social circumstances,success is mostly one-time and cannot be replicated,but failure is always for the same reason repeated and repeated.In the face of the current predicament,we think it is necessary to start with the theory of French decline in Pasteur and analyze the phenomenon of the relative decline of French science in the 19th century,to find out the common causes of the decline of science and provide beneficial enlightenment for the development of our country' s science.Based on the sociology of science and the analysis of the system of science and technology in France in the 19th century,a book published in the 1870s by the scientist Pasteur,called Quelques réflexions sur la science en France was explored.First of all,we have a systematic review of the reconstruction of the scientific and technological system after the French Revolution,including the establishment of universities,the reform of Napoleon and the reconstruction of various academic organizations,this paper sums up the reasons for the prosperity of French science in the first half of the 19th century,lists the scientific achievements,and establishes a basic framework for analyzing the French science and technology system in the 19th century.We believe that in the late 18th century,in the form of domestic and foreign aggression in France,this set of scientific and technological system with centralization characteristics was the best solution at that time,and it mobilized the enthusiasm of the academic circle to the maximum through administrative means,it made French science burst into considerable vitality in the alternation of the old and the new,but this kind of system that grew up quickly also laid a hidden danger for the relative decline in the future.Secondly,we analyze Pasteur 's theory of the decline of French science from three aspects:writing background,writing content and Pasteur's thought of science and technology.Pasteur's checkered academic record left him dissatisfied with the scientific environment in which his patriotic fervor was fueled by the French defeat in 1870,and his fear of his country's decline led to the birth of reflections.In the article,he gave his opinions on the laboratory environment in France at that time,the state of Professor's research funding and the government's attitude towards scientific research,he argues that the frequent changes in power in France have led the French government to focus only on practical engineering skills and ignore research on fundamental science theory,resulting in a deteriorating scientific environment,a gradual brain drain and,ultimately,a talent gap,comparisons with the glory days of Napoléon and the growing power of Prussia suggest that French science is in relative decline.In addition,we can also see that Pasteur shows his positivism view of science,attaches importance to the education and training of talents,dialectical view of the relationship between science and technology and the spirit of selfless science.Thirdly,by combining historical materials,we evaluate Pasteur's reflections,and point out its inevitable historical and class limitations while summing up its significance in the history of science,on this basis,the author discusses the social factors and the internal factors of the scientific community that lead to the relative decline of French science.On the one hand,Reflections sounded an alarm for the French scientific cause,to a certain extent,promoted the reform process of the existing French educational system,showing that the author began to think as a scientist and participated in the construction of the scientific system,it reflects the social consciousness as a scientist,and also indicates that scientists begin to pay attention to the practical application of theory.On the other hand,in the face of the French 19 relative decline of science,this complex issue of scientific sociology,in Pasteur's discourse,the essence of the French higher education system,the French administrative system of science,the influence of political activities on French science and the problems within the scientific community are not fully understood.The relative decline of science in France in the 19th century is the inevitable result of its scientific and technological system not adapting to the needs of scientific development.Finally,we draw two inspirations from the reflection,which are the necessity of the existence of the scientific declinism and the need of the scientific and technological system to adapt to the current scientific development stage and demand.Declinism refers to the argument that a society or an institution is in decline,which is essentially an externalized product of a sense of crisis,which is what we in the scientific community have been lacking,the periodic declinism will provide a stark warning and incentive to halt and reverse what it calls decline.At the same time,to make the system of science and technology adapt to the current stage of scientific development and needs,the mechanism of talent cultivation and discovery needs to be further improved,and the trend of emphasizing technology over basic research must be reversed,it is urgent to purify academic atmosphere and norm.