Bachelard et Brunschvicg la Logique Interne du Discours Scientifique

Bachelard is seen as sharing with Brunschvicg an “internalist” epistemology of mathematics and exact sciences. Brunschvicg’s notion of constructive idealism concurs with Bachelard’s surrationalism. Both philosophers defended the idea of an internal logic of scientific discourse which discloses the dialectics inherent in the dynamics of reason. The aim of philosophy is then to emphasize the genesis and progress of rationality in the historical development of science.     

Nouvelles antiquités qatabanites du British Museum

Thirty-five inscribed fragments in Qatabanian, probably from Timna' and currently held in the British Museum, are published here.     

Recherches sur la nuit vénitienne à la fin du moyen âge

An important conclusion emerges from an examination of Venetian public acts of the late middle ages: noclurnal supervision became, from the thirteenth century onward, a necessary and permanent pre-occupation of government. This calls for a study of the definition of night-time and of the administrative framework, which reveals an evolution from traditional structures to magistratures specifically charged with maintaining public order. A question arises: fear of the night is ancient and profound; why did the desire to control and master it emerge so late? It seems that the Republic feared real violence less than political violence in the widest sense of the term. Because the night represented a kind of freedom, it had to be brought under control. This found its place within the more general plan of regulating behaviour, a logical result of the constitution of the Venetian state.     

La ségrégation économique comme un phénomène complexe : une analyse spatio-temporelle du cas montréalais

Economic segregation, or residential inequalities based on income, is a complex spatial process. It is associated with structures which arise at certain scales and which evolve in time. In this paper, we analyse the evolution of economic segregation in Montréal from 1980 to 2000. This analysis is based on household's income and on their distribution within the residential space from four scales: households, census tracts, municipalities and some radio-concentric zones. Results confirm that the spatial organisation of economic segregation is scale dependent. More precisely, local inequalities are growing more rapidly but this trend does not prevent the consolidation of metropolitan-sized clusters. Moreover, results confirm that Montréal's economic segregation follows North American trends like the growth of economic disparities (spatial or not) or the fact that the enrichment of central and ex-urban neighbourhoods is compensated by the impoverishment of inner-ring suburbs.     

Entre industrie et tourisme: L'évolution du paysage baieriverain à Saguenay,Québec

Between industry and tourism: The evolving landscape of La Baie in Saguenay, Québec La Baie is a borough of the newly amalgamated city of Saguenay, which is defined by its past industrial and maritime development. This area encompassing the Ha! Ha! Bay is characterized by a lush natural landscape, contrasting sharply with the haphazardly built environment and urban fabric. The demolition of the Port‐Alfred pulp and paper mill and the cruise ship terminal project offer the possibility to improve and harmonize this former municipality's landscape. In this article, we will discuss the evolution of the borough's landscape patterns through glimpses of the maritime and tourist tradition, industrial base and the design of downtown commercial space.     

La théorie des éléments de Christophorus Clavius et l'idée du globe terraqué

Christophorus Clavius' Theory of the Elements and the Idea of the Terraqueous Globe. The need to reconcile Aristotle's theory of elementary spheres with the evidence of earth above sea level – the so‐called ‘terra firma’ – induced an important conceptual shift. As a consequence anti‐Aristotelian arguments were brought to the fore in order to be incorporated into the very same Aristotelian tradition. The German Jesuit Christophorus Clavius played a momentous role in this process. He introduced the idea of the terraqueous globe into the Scholastic cosmology, modifying the logical frame of Aristotelian physics. The present work analyses Clavius' theory as well as the procedures he considers to reach his purpose. He used a combinatorial approach to study the relations occurring between the four elements – earth, water, air and fire – and analysed their relations from a physical perspective, proposing a possible structure of the sublunary world.     

Le classement des villes dans l'économie du savoir : une analyse intégrée des régions urbaines canadiennes et américaines

Des comparaisons entre villes canadiennes et américaines doivent se faire avec prudence. L'obstacle principal reste la comparabilité des séries statistiques. Nous proposons une analyse intégrée de l'ensemble des 90 régions métropolitaines nord-américaines de 500 000 habitants et plus, dont neuf canadiennes. Suite à une revue de divers classements, nous situons les 90 régions urbaines sur sept indicateurs, dont des variables portant sur le capital humain et le secteur tertiaire intensif en savoir, suivi d'une analyse de corrélation mettant en relation les indicateurs pour trois univers de villes (sans et avec des villes canadiennes). Nos résultats confirment le bon positionnement sur plusieurs indicateurs de métropoles américaines comme San Francisco-Silicon Valley et Boston, mais aussi de villes comme Raleigh (research triangle) et Austin, connues pour leurs activités de recherche. Les villes canadiennes se classent plutôt bien, notamment les cinq plus grandes. Cependant, c'est moins vrai pour des villes comme Winnipeg ou Hamilton. L'analyse de corrélation fait ressortir la relation positive entre dotation en capital humain et poids du tertiaire intensif en savoir, mais ne révèle aucune relation significative avec l'indicateur de qualité de vie.