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Reviewed by:
  • Jules-Louis Breton 1878–1940: Un savant parlementaire
  • Denyse Baillargeon (bio)
Jules-Louis Breton 1878–1940: Un savant parlementaire. By Christine Moissinac and Yves Roussel. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2010. Pp. 290.

This biography centers on the public life of French politician Jules-Louis Breton, who was also an inventor and the founder of Salon des arts ménagers, an annual domestic arts exhibition attended by more than 40 million in France between 1923 and 1983. Comprising eight chapters that follow the different stages of his parliamentary career and his actions as head of national organizations devoted to scientific research, the book’s aim is to remind the public of a man who, according to the authors, has yet to receive the attention he deserves.

After a brief overview of his bourgeois and provincial background, the first three chapters concentrate primarily on Breton’s political journey. As a young student, new to Paris, he initially campaigned alongside socialist revolutionaries. Gradually, he moved instead toward socialist reform before finally finding his way to Alexandre Millerand’s center-left government (1920) for the latter part of his career. These early chapters offer an in-depth look at the infighting that plagued French socialists at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as Breton’s role in parliament (he was first elected in 1898) and the matters that concerned him. Citing his involvement in the Dreyfus affair and social issues such as banning the use of lead in paint and implementing indemnity for occupational illness, the authors set out to show how Breton delved into these matters with a scientific mindset, one which he had been developing since childhood. His lack of a university degree did not stop him from writing and publishing La Revue scientifique et industrielle de l’année (1897–99), a short-lived yet acclaimed publication aimed at bringing science to the masses. He also conducted laboratory experiments involving X-ray tubes and Branly’s coherer, among others. Hence, it was with a scientific approach that he sought to expose how lead [End Page 495] was harmful to painters, analyzing all available information and conducting experiments that would prove its toxicity beyond all doubt.

The next five chapters revolve around Breton’s various levels of involvement with scientific organizations created by the French government after World War I. The authors describe the series of events that led to their creation, paying particular attention to the roles Breton was called upon to play within them. These include his stints as head of the Direction des Inventions et des expériences techniques (Inventions and Technical Experiments Directorate, 1917–19), of the Direction des Recherches scientifiques et industrielles et des Inventions (Scientific and Industrial Research and Inventions Directorate, 1919–23), and of the Office national des recherches scientifiques et industrielles et des inventions (National Scientific and Industrial Research and Inventions Agency—ONRSII).

In addition to Breton’s management, Christine Moissinac and Yves Roussel assess his scientific achievements, including the development of French tanks and the invention of the dishwasher. Furthermore, the authors devote a chapter to the Salon des arts ménagers, which was a great success from its inception. Though some attention is paid to Breton’s career in government (he was named minister of health and social provision in 1920), the latter chapters dwell mostly on his pragmatic view of science, his desire to make it more accessible, and his goal to bring inventors, scholars, and industrialists together. This last objective ran increasingly contrary to the more independent vision of some postwar scientists who believed in the need to advance fundamental science without outside interests and who, in 1938, obtained Breton’s removal from his position, the dismantling of the ONRSII, and the creation, in its stead, of the Conseil national de la recherche scientifique (National Council for Scientific Research).

This work certainly adds an interesting dimension to the history of science and technology and that of politics in France. However, Moissinac and Roussel occasionally get caught up in the tortuous aspects of French politics and bureaucracy, going on at length where a brief overview would have sufficed. On the other hand, matters such as Breton...

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