Icone social AHP

Jonathan SIMON


Jonathan Simon has been at the Université de Lorraine and a member of the Archives Poincaré since September 2016. Trained in chemistry and philosophy of science at King's College London and the LSE he went on to earn a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Pittsburgh. He teaches philosophy of science, Darwinism and Hobbes in the philosophy department, as well as a class on informed consent at the faculty of pharmacy. His research is broadly on the history and philosophy of pharmacy, as well as the history and philosophy of chemistry. He has recently co-authored a book on Nanomedicine with Bertrand Rihn. His solo publication on the serum used to treat diphtheria in France viewed as a technological object opens up new horizons for understanding the nature drug-oriented medicine in the modern world. He will continue his research in collaboration with the Institut Jean Lamour in Nancy about the nanosciences and nanotechnology.

Domaines de recherche

  • Histoire et philosophie de la chimie
  • Nanomédecine et les nanomatériaux
  • Histoire et philosophie de la pharmacie

Publications

Ouvrages :

1. Nanomedicine: Panacea or Pandora's Box, Taylor and Francis, 2023

 

2. Diphtheria Serum as a Technological Object, Lexington, 2016.

Considering the diphtheria serum as technological object facilitates a philosophical reflection on the nature of medical drugs in general by means of a thorough analysis of this particular historical example. The insights offered in this book will be of interest to students and scholars working on the philosophy of technology, particularly the medical sciences, as well as to historians of medicine, notably those interested in the history of pharmacy.

3. Je suis... Louis Pasteur, Lyon : Jacques André, 2016

De la stéréoisomérie au vaccin contre la rage, Louis Pasteur a contribué de manière exceptionnelle à la science et à la technique du XIXe siècle. Pourtant, rien ne laissait prévoir que ce fils de tanneur du Jura serait promis à un tel avenir dans le domaine des sciences et de la médecine. Il fut révolté par la disparition de trois de ses enfants en bas-âge ; on peut trouver là le ressort de la formidable énergie qu'il déploya pour lutter contre plusieurs maladies, animales et humaines. Ami personnel de Claude Bernard, il combattit les préjugés et les erreurs de raisonnement de son époque. Il fonda l'Institut, qui porte son nom de nos jours encore, et permet de sauver des millions de vies. Louis Pasteur aura ainsi contribué au rayonnement de la science française dans le monde entier.

4. Avec Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Chemistry, The Impure Science, London: Imperial College Press, 2012 (2nd edition - 1st edition, 2008).

This book uses history to introduce central issues in the philosophy of chemistry. Mobilizing the theme of impurity, it explores the tradition of chemistry's negative image. It then argues for the positive philosophical value of chemistry, reflecting its characteristic practical engagement with the material world. The book concludes with some ethical reflections concerning chemistry's orientations in the twenty-first century.

5. Chemistry, Pharmacy and Revolution in France 1777-1803, London: Routledge, 2005.

Jonathan Simon explores the history of pharmacy in France and its relationship to the discipline of chemistry as it emerged at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In this book he argues that an appreciation of the history of pharmacy is essential to a full understanding of the constitution of modern science, in particular the discipline of chemistry. Thus, he provides a novel interpretation of the chemical revolution (c.1770-1789) that will, no doubt, generate much debate on the place of the chemical arts in this major historical event, an issue that has failed to attract much attention.

Articles dans des revues internationales à comité de lecture :

Jonathan Simon 'Disease diagnosis and treatment; could theranostics change everything?' Med Health Care and Philos (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10015-6
You can buy the article here.

“The Medical Drug as a Technological Object.” Techne (May 18, 2019 - DOI: 10.5840/techne201951395).
“Essay Review - The Shaping of Modern Pharmacy” Ambix, 2016, 63.1: 66-70.
“Pharmacy and Chemistry in the Eighteenth Century: What Lessons for the History of Science?' Osiris, 2014, 29: 283-297.
“The production of purity as the production of knowledge”, Foundations of Chemistry, 2012, 12: 83-96.
“Monitoring the Stable at the Pasteur Institute”, Science in context, 2008, 21: 181-200.
“The origin of the production of diphtheria antitoxin in France, between philanthropy and commerce”, Dynamis, 2007, Vol. 27: 63–82.
“Emil Behring’s Medical Culture: from disinfection to serotherapy” Medical History, 2007, Vol. 51: 201–218. Lauréat du J. Worth Estes Award 2008 prix décerné par l’American Association for the History of Medicine au meilleur article sur l’histoire de la pharmacie.
“Authority and Authorship in the Method of Chemical Nomenclature”, Ambix, 2002, Vol. 49.3: 207-227.
“Mineralogy and Mineral Collections in Eighteenth-Century France”, Endeavour, 2002, Vol. 26.4: 132-136.
“The Theatre of Anatomy: The anatomical preparations of Honoré Fragonard (1732-1799)”, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2002, Vol. 36.1: 63-79.
“Analysis and the Hierarchy of Nature in Eighteenth-Century Chemistry”, British Journal for the History of Science, 2002, Vol. 35: 1-16.
“Naming and Toxicity: a history of strychnine”, Studies in History and Philosophy of the Biological and Medical Sciences, 1999, Vol. 30C.4: 505-525.
“The Chemical Revolution and Pharmacy: A Disciplinary Perspective”, Ambix, March 1998 Vol. 45, no. 1: 1-13.


Articles dans des revues nationales à comité de lecture (depuis 2005) :
(Avec Christophe Degueurce) “Fragonard's écorchés in the context of a new project for a historical museum of veterinary medicine" Medicina nei Secoli Arte e Scienza, 2009, vol. 21 no. 1: 37-56.
« La Chimie et la pharmacie en 1800 » Revue d’histoire de la pharmacie, 2001, Vol. 49.330 : 175-182.
« L’homme de verre? Les trois règnes et la promiscuité de la nature » Corpus, 1999, Vol. 36: pp. 65-80.

Chapitres publiés dans les ouvrages collectifs:
« L’autorité de la nature dans la nouvelle nomenclature chimique : Locke, Condillac et Lavoisier » dans Philippe Selosse et Denis Reynaud (Dir.) Nomenclatures au dix-huitième siècle : la science, "langue bien faite", Lyon : Presses de l'Aristoloche, 2015 pp. 82-89.
“Louis Pasteur: The Chemist in the Clinic”, in Oren Harmen and Michael Dietrich (eds), Outsider Scientists: Routes to Innovation in Biology. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2013, pp. 49-57.
 “Standardization and Clinical Use: The Introduction of the Anti-Diphtheria Serum in Lyon” in Biologics, A. Schwerin, H. Stoff and B. Wahrig (Eds) A History of Agents made from Living Organisms in the Twentieth Century, London: Pickering and Chatto, 2013, pp.33-46.
“Chemistry and Pharmacy: A Philosophical Inquiry into an Evolving Relationship” in R. F. Hendry, P. Needham and A. I. Woody (Eds) Handbook of the Philosophy of Science. Vol. 6: Philosophy of Chemistry, Elsevier 2012, pp. 519-530.
 “Quality Control and the Politics of Serum Production in France” in C. Gradmann and J. Simon (Eds) Evaluating and standardizing therapeutic agents 1890 to 1950, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, pp. 89-104.
« Les fonctions pratiques des préparations anatomiques : réflexions historiques » in Soraya Boudia, Anne Rasmussen et Sébastien Soubiran (Eds) Patrimoine et communautés savantes, Rennes : Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2010, 139-149.
“The Values of the Mineral Kingdom and the French Republic” in F. O’Gorman and D. Donald (eds) Ordering the World, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp. 163-189.
“Technologia widzialna i niewidzialna. Anatom, ciało i publiczność” (Invisible and Visible Technology: The Anatomist, The Corpse and The Public, Le titre anglais d’un article traduit en polonais) Konteksty, 2005.
“Taste, Order and Aesthetics in Eighteenth-Century Mineral Collections” in Beretta (ed.) From Private to Public: Natural Collections and Museums, Science History Publications, 2005, 97-112.

Responsabilités éditoriales

Editeur (avec Brad Wray) de Metascience. Une revue spécialisée dans les comptes rendus en histoire et philosophie des sciences.

Membre de la comité scientifique de la Revue d'histoire des sciences.

Membre de la comité scientifique de Philosophia Scientiae.

Membre du CA de la SFHST