In defense of the use of the French language in scientific communication, 1965-1985: National and international deliberations and an ingeniously clever takeoff on the theme by R. B. Woodward

Gal, Joseph

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127886 Copy

Description

Title

In defense of the use of the French language in scientific communication, 1965-1985: National and international deliberations and an ingeniously clever takeoff on the theme by R. B. Woodward

Author(s)

Gal, Joseph

Issue Date

2014-03-15

Keyword(s)

• History
• Chemistry
• Review defense use french language scientific communication national international

Abstract

A review. For many decades, French scientists, the French Academie des Sciences, and the government of France have been concerned about the declining use of French within the scientific milieu and the trend toward English as the universally-accepted language to communicate science. This trend is discussed with a focus on the issues most vigorously debated in the time period 1965-1985, including the reduced use of French in international scientific communication resulting from the dominance of English. A summary of the merging of national-chem.-society journals into international journals is also presented. A set of previously unpublished documents from 1965 written by the late Robert Burns Woodward-actually a linguistic twist on La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, that addresses the French-English debate-and his letter and enclosures to Jean-Marie Lehn are included and discussed.

Publisher

Division of the History of Chemistry

ISSN

1053-4385

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

article

Language

eng

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127886

DOI

https://doi.org/10.70359/bhc2014v039p073

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Copyright 2014 Division of the History of Chemistry

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