Etienne Klein

Paris 2020

Etienne Klein is one of our guiding lights, philosophically speaking, through these unprecedented times. Whether with his leaflet about the current health crisis Je ne suis pas médecin, mais… (“I’m No Doctor, But …”) or more generally with his insights on the question of our relationship to time, we can always rely on this doctor in philosophy of science for a clear analysis of our situation. Research director at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), where he heads the Research Laboratory on the Sciences of Matter, Etienne Klein is also a member of the French Academy of Technologies. A professor at Ecole Centrale Paris and radio host on Saturdays, he recently published Matière à contredire (“Contradicting Matter”), an essay on philophysics, as well as Ce qui est sans être tout à fait (“What is but isn’t quite”), an essay on the void that’s worth keeping on your bedside table.

Val d’Isère 2019

Physicist, research director at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and doctor in philosophy of science, Etienne Klein is both an eminent scientist (he’s participated in various major projects, among which the design of the CERN’s Large Hadron Collider) and a passionate philosopher. Klein’s work has focused on the scientific exploration of major contemporary questions in physics and philosophy.  He is the author of many very successful books, especially on the question of time. Klein recently published Matière à contredire (“Contradicting Matter”) and Sauvons le progrès (“Let’s Save Progress”), a book of interviews designed to help us grasp how the notion of “progress” can and should be understood today.