Published annually since the 2005/2006 academic year, the English-language Collège de France Newsletter (formerly The Letter of the Collège de France) is an anthology of translated articles selected from the two or three yearly issues of La Lettre du Collège de France, which was launched in January 2001. Both the French and English publications mirror the life of the institution, its inaugural lectures, lectures and seminars, and include information and announcements relating to the Collège de France’s Chairs and professors: interviews with professors, in-depth analyses of current debates, reviews of the institution’s and its professors’ publications and activities, as well as institutional fact-sheets. The Collège de France Newsletter is but one of the means through which the Collège de France dissemin- ates teaching and research throughout the world. It is also available on www.college-de-france.fr. Most art icles included in this issue were first published in nos. 36 and 37 (Academic year 2012/2013). 3 S T N TE Editorial ............................................................................................................................. 07 ON Serge HAROCHE C INAUGURAL LECTURES Alain SUPIOT .................................................................................................................. 08 The Social State and Globalization: A Legal Analysis of Forms of Solidarity Gérard BERRY ................................................................................................................. 09 The Informatics of Time and Events Jean DALIBARD ............................................................................................................. 10 Atoms and Radiation Edith HEARD................................................................................................................... 11 Epigenetics and Cellular Memory ANNUAL CHAIRS Dominique KEROUEDAN ........................................................................................... 12 Knowledge against Poverty, “The Geopolitics of Global Health” Tony CRAGG .................................................................................................................... 13 Artistic Creation, “Sculpture and Language” Yves BRÉCHET ............................................................................................................... 14 Technological Innovation – Liliane Bettencourt, “The Science of Materials: from Materials Discovered by Chance to Made-to-Measure Materials” Anny CAZENAVE ............................................................................................................ 15 Sustainable Development – Environment, Energy and Society, “Studying the Earth and the Environment from Space” OFFICIAL VISIT French President François Hollande at the Collège de France ....................... 16 CHAIRS “Ultracold Quantum Matter” Project (UQUAM) ................................................. 22 Jean DALIBARD Nanostructured Porous Quartz Films for Electronics: ..................................... 23 Another Success for Soft Chemistry Clément SANCHEZ Developing Two New Cobalt-Based Materials ..................................................... 24 Marc FONTECAVE Hydrogen Technology: A New Process to Exploit Enzymes as Catalysts ........ 25 Marc FONTECAVE The Welfare State and Globalization: ..................................................................... 26 A Legal Analysis of Forms of Solidarity Alain SUPIOT The Alfred Wegener Medal ......................................................................................... 27 Édouard BARD Human Brain Project .................................................................................................... 28 Jean-Pierre CHANGEUX and Stanislas DEHAENE “We can’t undo what our parents ............................................................................ 30 have given us in terms of our genes” Edith HEARD Being British at the Académie française .............................................................. 32 Michael EDWARDS Divine Anger and Repentance................................................................................... 34 Thomas RÖMER Remembering Proust ..................................................................................................... 36 Antoine COMPAGNON Metaphysics and Philosophy of Knowledge ......................................................... 38 Claudine TIERCELIN Cognitive Sciences and Education .......................................................................... 39 Stanislas DEHAENE 4 S T N TE ANNUAL CHAIRS Foreign Policy and Global Health Diplomacy ...................................................... 40 ON C Dominique KEROUEDAN Rising Sea Levels and Coastal Impacts ................................................................ 41 Anny CAZENAVE AUTUMN SYMPOSIUM 2013 Science and Democracy .............................................................................................. 42 INTERNATIONAL The Vandals in North Africa – ................................................................................... 48 Heirs or Precipitators of the Decline of the Romanitas? Konrad VÖSSING Hamóthen, Contingency and Progression in Poetic Creation ............................. 50 Jesper SVENBRO The Zoroastrian Long Liturgy ..................................................................................... 51 Alberto CANTERA The Correspondence between ................................................................................... 52 Saint-John Perse and Calouste Gulbenkia Vasco GRAÇA MOURA Unearthing the Chinese Classics ............................................................................. 53 Edward L. SHAUGHNESSY Paleoclimatology and Ancient Israel. ..................................................................... 54 Two Examples: David and the Exile Bob BECKING How Hearing Happens ................................................................................................. 55 Albert James HUDSPETH SPECIAL REPORT Claude Bernard (1813-1878) .................................................................................. 56 TRIBUTES Yves Laporte .................................................................................................................... 64 Alain BERTHOZ, Jacques GLOWINSKI and Alain PROCHIANTZ Gilles Veinstein ............................................................................................................... 66 Henry LAURENS FACULTY FACTS AND DATA 2012/2013 Professors ......................................................................................................................... 68 Emeritus Professors ...................................................................................................... 69 Institutes and Resident Research Teams ............................................................. 70 COSS (Committee on Scientific and Strategic Orientation) ............................... 72 International Highlights .............................................................................................. 73 Visiting Professors ......................................................................................................... 76 Publications ..................................................................................................................... 78 Libraries and Archives ................................................................................................. 80 New Digital Resources ................................................................................................. 84 Other Events .................................................................................................................... 89 5 L IA OR IT D E Reflections on Science and Democracy Unquestionable scientific and technological advances for protection and security. Cautious attitudes can impede have played a crucial role in improving humanity’s scientific progress when they are excessive, but they can also facilitate them when they lead to intelligent and appropriate living conditions, especially over the last century – normative policies. be it longer life-spans, the control of epidemics, the Finally, it is crucial for the media, be it radio, television or the development of agriculture to feed a global population press, to contribute more fully to the debate. By arousing less that has been growing exponentially for a long time, fear and devoting more time to scientific culture and infor- mation, they could convey a vigilant but more positive view of or the extraordinary evolution of means of transport, science. When positions on an issue diverge, science must be communication and information. presented and supported with justified arguments, rather than being staged as a show consisting of sterile fight-debates. A Yet, despite these developments – and despite researchers’ high-quality presen tation of science in the media is required if constant endeavour to provide new solutions to the challenges public debate on technological issues is to be more informed of the future – responding to climate change, developing new and not limited, as is all too often the case, to highlighting ill- energy technology and new therapeutics –, more than ever, founded or unfounded opinions. science arouses the public’s suspicion, if not its mistrust. This year, the autumn symposium “Science and Democracy”, This stems largely from a lack of understanding of the scientific organized by the Collège de France, was devoted to these prob- approach.