Chemins de fer et autoroutes, ou la recherche de l’infini : essai sur la geometrie de la vie quotidienne

The railroad represents the first great attempt to free people from the tyranny of the places that used to tie them to their land and to confine them to the small reality of their place of birth. The railroad gave rise to one of the first greatest geographic networks, developing a multiplicity of possible connections and thus creating an infinite number of relations. Highways take such development a step further. Networks give rise to a geometry which favours points and lines while disregarding surfaces: our way of inhabiting is therefore conditioned by the mobility of people, of things and capital. It might now be time to rethink the meaning of our roots based on the interactions that the modern industrial society bequeathed to us.