[Stephane Leduc (1853-1939), from medicine to synthetic biology].
At the beginning of the XXth century, Stéphane Leduc (1853-1939), physician and biologist in Nantes (France), believed that he created a new discipline: the synthetic biology. Using his own works on diffusion and osmotic growths, he considered that the structures obtained by him were very closed to living beings. In 1907, his conclusions were strongly criticized and his papers were refused by the Académie des Sciences de Paris, because they questioned spontaneous generations. This paper relates Leduc's experimental works and conclusions and as well analyses his analogical method.
Tirard
Stéphane
S
Centre François Viète d'épistémologie et d'histoire des sciences, Faculté des sciences et des techniques, Université de Nantes - 2, rue de la Houssinière, 44000 Nantes. stephane.tirard@univ-nantes.fr
D000047:Academies and Institutes / Q000266:history; D001695:Biology / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D034462:Dissent and Disputes / Q000266:history*; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century