title: From Science to Industry: The Sites of Aluminium in France from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth Century.
abstract: This paper explores the history of the isolation and industrial production of aluminium in France, from the work of Henri Sainte-Claire Deville in the 1850s to the latter part of the twentieth century, focusing on the relationships between academic research and industrial exploitation. In particular, it identifies a culture and organisation of research and development, "learning-by-doing," that emerged in the French aluminium industry following the establishment of the first electrolytic production facilities in the late 1880s by Paul Héroult, who, along with the American Charles Hall, patented the electrolytic method of producing the metal. This French method of R&D was a product both of a scientific culture that saw a continuity between scientific research and industrial application, and of a state policy that, unlike in Germany or the United States, was late to recognise the importance of fostering, on a large scale, the relations between academic chemistry and industry. It was only after World War II that the French state came fully to recognise the importance of underpinning industry with scientific research. And it was only from the 1960s, in the face of intensifying global competition, the risks of pollution, and the cost of energy, that the major aluminium firm Pechiney et Cie was able to replace a culture of "learning-by-doing" by one that integrated fundamental science with the production process.
authors: Muriel
authors: M
authors: Le Roux
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000266:history*; D002616:Chemical Engineering / Q000266:history*; D002621:Chemistry / Q000266:history*; D003469:Culture; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000266:history*; D066192:Manufacturing Industry / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000535:Aluminum