Book to Note

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent. Faut-il avoir peur de la chimie? [Must we fear chemistry?] Paris : Les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 2005. 290 pp. €20.

Reviewed by Christopher P. Munden

Of all the modern sciences chemistry is the most feared. The chemical community and its representatives point to the undeniable benefits that chemistry has bestowed on human civilization and see its poor reputation as a problem of image, curable with the right marketing. To Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, the origins of this fear lie in the very nature of the science. Chemistry challenges the divisions that serve as cultural reference marks in our society: between “natural” and “artificial,” between “science” and “technology,” between “academic” and “corporate.” Bensaude-Vincent’s choice of words and examples can be combative, and the real-world ramifications of her ideas are underdeveloped, but she nonetheless raises important issues worthy of consideration. The identification of chemistry with the artificial is not an irrational belief of an ignorant public; humankind’s identification with and love of nature is, well, natural; we all enjoy the sound of a babbling stream or the panoramic views from a mountaintop. To Bensaude-Vincent, a chemical community more attuned to the cultural resonance of its practices and more willing to engage with the great ecological and environmental issues of its day might find itself in little need of an image makeover.