Francis Chateauraynaud

Marlowe, Prospero & la technologie litteraire

Marlowe, Prospero and Literary Technology: An author, an experimenter and a reviewer of the computer programs, Marlowe and Prospero, contribute in this article, respectively and successively, an extensive and detailed presentation of Marlowe, a report on what it is like to interact with Marlowe and a review of the recently-published work, by the first author, describing the development of Prospero for the Analyse of complex dossiers of texts conceming a social controversy, and Prosperos extension and adaptation with Marlowe to direct natural language dialog with researchers concerning specific complex dossiers.

Des vigiles invisibles: les administrateursréseaux et la sécurité informatique

RésuméCet article vise à décrire l’activité des administrateurs-réseaux en portant l’analyse sur les modes de traitement des situations critiques et des alertes qui émaillent le fonctionnement ordinaire des réseaux informatiques. Notre matériau empirique nous a conduits à recenser les différents risques et à repérer les façons de les anticiper et de les gérer. Pour identifier, qualifier et rendre tangibles des vulnérabilités, ces professionnels doivent mener l’enquête. Leur travail souffre d’un manque de reconnaissance de la part des autres acteurs qui entretiennent souvent un rapport magique au «réseau» lequel évoluerait indépendamment des actions des personnes. Les administrateurs s’efforcent d’enrôler les usagers pour construire une vigilance collective. Ils espèrent ainsi rendre lisible leur activité et solliciter un sens de la responsabilité vis-à-vis des dispositifs techniques. Dans cette perspective, le virtuel n’a pas tué le réel mais lui a, au contraire, donné une prégnance encore plus forte.AbstractThe aim of this paper is to describe the activity of Network Administrators, in analyzing the ways used to manage the critical situations and alerts which punctuate the ordinary operations of computer networks. Our empirical material leads us to identify different kinds of risks and the manners to anticipate and manage them. To spot, qualify and make tangible, vulnerabilities, these professionals have to hold inquiries. Their works suffer a lack of gratitude from the other actors who conceive the network as a magical world running without human intervention. Administrators try to convince users of the need for some collective vigilance. By so doing, they hope their activities will be made visible and will appeal to a sense of responsibility towards technical devices. In this way, the Virtual has not killed the Real but, on the contrary, has given a has given a most important substance to it.

Chemical substances on the frontiers of health security: Metrological controversies over endocrine disruptors and low doses

The issue of low doses already has a long history. Initially linked with radioactivity, it can be traced through a series of metrological controversies about the evaluation of health and environmental risks. Building on recent developments, including the increased public profile of endocrine disruptors, this article offers an exploration of the different epistemic logics at work in research environments and of the expertise brought to bear on low doses. Based on an analysis of documents, participant observation in groups of experts, and a series of interviews, it examines the cognitive support and techniques used by the actors, and the practicalities of what some of them have called a ‘paradigm shift’, leading to the redefinition of the concepts and tools of toxicology in the 21st century.