A Booming Discipline Short of Discipline: (Social) Studies of Science in France

This commentary surveys some of the work currently in train in France that reflects on science — its history, its intellectual foundations and its impact. It attempts to impart some coherence to its map of this field, and to correct several Anglo-Saxon misunderstandings regarding the nature of this intellectual activity. It ends with an analysis of the origins of the radical differences in the approach to science in France and in the Anglo-Saxon world, and a plea for more attention to the French work.