BioInspired! So What? Now What!

What exactly does mimicking nature mean? What role is ascribed to nature in mimicking strategies? Three different roles will be distinguished: inspiration, hybridization, integration. As each of them implies a specific view of nature it also implies a different engagement with the public.

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent is a philosopher and historian of science, professor at Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her research topics span from the history and philosophy of chemistry to materials science and nanotechnology with a continuous interest in science and the public issues. Among her recent publications:

The Artificial and the Natural. An Ever-Evolving Polarity (William Newmann coll.), Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 2007.

The Public Image of Chemistry, (J. Schummer, B. Van Tiggelen coll.) World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd, 2007

Chemistry. The Impure Science, (coll. Jonathan Simon) London, Imperial College Press, 2008. 2nd edition 2012