<p align="justify"> Depuis les premiers développements de la physique statistique réalisés au 19ème siècle, nombreux ont été les travaux dédiés à la relation entre les processus macroscopiques em>irréversibles</em>(tels que les phénomènes de transport) et les propriétés de la dynamique <em>réversible</em> des atomes et des molécules. Depuis deux décennies, l'<em>hypothèse du chaos microscopique</em> nous en apporte une plus grande compréhension. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement aux propriétés de <em>viscosité</em>. <br /><br /> Dans ce travail, nous considérons des systèmes périodiques de particules en interaction. Nous proposons une nouvelle méthode de calcul de la viscosité valable pour tous systèmes périodiques, quel que soit le potentiel d'interaction considéré. Cette méthode est basée sur la formule dérivée par Helfand exprimant la viscosité en fonction de la variance du <em>moment de Helfand</em> croissant linéairement dans le temps.<br /><br /> Dans les années nonante, il a été démontré qu'un système composé de seulement deux particules présente déjà de la viscosité. Les deux disques <em>durs</em> interagissent en collisions élastiques dans un domaine carré ou hexagonal avec des conditions aux bords périodiques. Nous appliquons notre méthode de calcul des propriétés de viscosité dans les deux réseaux. Nous donnons également une explication qualitative des résultats obtenus. <br /><br /> L'étude de la relation entre les propriétés de viscosité et les grandeurs du chaos microscopique représente l'une des principales tâches de cette thèse. Dans ce contexte, le <em>formalisme du taux d'échappement</em> joue un rôle majeur. Ce formalisme établit une relation directe entre cette grandeur et la viscosité. Nous étudions numériquement cette relation et la comparaison avec les résultats obtenus par notre méthode sont excellents. <br /><br /> D'autre part, le formalisme du taux d'échappement suppose l'existence d'un <em>répulseur fractal</em>. Après avoir mis en évidence son existence, nous appliquons le formalisme proposant une formule exprimant la viscosité en termes de l'exposant de Lyapunov du système (mesurant le caractère chaotique de la dynamique)et de la dimension fractale du répulseur. L'étude numérique de cette relation dans le modèle à deux disques durs est réalisée avec succès et sont en excellent accord avec les relations obtenus précédemment. <br /><br /> Enfin, nous nous penchons sur les systèmes composés de <em>N</em> disques durs ou sphères dures. Après une étude de l'équation d'état et des propriétés chaotiques, nous avons exploré les propriétés de viscosité dans ces systèmes. Les données numériques obtenues sont en très bon accord avec les prévisions théoriques d'Enskog. D'autre part, nous avons utilisé notre méthode de calcul de la viscosité dans des systèmes de Lennard-Jones. De plus, nous avons proposé une méthode analogue pour le calcul numérique de la <em>conduction thermique</em>. Nos résultats sont en très bon accord avec ceux obtenus par la méthode de Green-Kubo. </p> <br /><br /> <p align="justify"> In this thesis, we first devote a section on the history of the concept of irreversibility; of the hydrodynamics, branch of physics in which the viscosity appears; of the kinetic theory of gases establishing relationships between the microscopic dynamics and macroscopic processes like viscosity; and, finally, the interest brought in statistical mechanics of irreversible processes by the theory of chaos, more precisely, the microscopic chaos. We propose a method based on the Helfand moment in order to calculate the viscosity properties in systems of particles with periodic boundary conditions. We apply this method to the simplest system in which viscosity already exists: the two-hard-disk model. The escape-rate formalism, establishing a direct relation between chaotic quantities of the microscopic dynamics (e.g. Lyapunov exponents, fractal dimensions, etc.), is applied in this system. The results are in excellent agreement with those obtained by our Helfand-moment method. We extend the calculation of the viscosity properties to systems with more than two hard balls. Finally, we compute viscosity as well as thermal conductivity thanks to our own method also based on the Helfand moment. </p>

Many patent law dilemmas arise from a failure to understand technologies as embedded in broader social, economic and political realities and to contextually analyze these legal phenomena. This narrowness leads to poor legal development, of which the modern medical exception from patentability is one example. Judges have difficulty interpreting it, patentees do not understand its purpose and it does not protect the important medical technologies to which the public would like access. This thesis applies a legal pluralist analysis to examine the emergence of the medical methods exception in order to understand why it was created and legislated. It starts by examining the origins of the exception in the caselaw, and the informal, concurrent norm established by the emerging medical profession in the early 20th century. It then proceeds to examine why the medical profession might have sought and enforced a norm prohibiting its members from patenting, and concludes that this arose from the need of the medical profession to distance itself from the patent law. As a result, professionalizing physicians established an internal normative order that mimicked and in many cases replaced the effect of the formal law. The thesis then proceeds to examine how the form of the informal norm evolved in the period between WWI and WWII, finding that the profession’s norm transformed and broke down concurrently with its efforts to achieve external legitimacy through legislation. That breakdown arose from factors which included growing labour mobility, greater understanding of the benefits of patents, and a growing role of science and industry in medicine that threatened the profession’s access to valuable medical innovation. The thesis concludes with a study of a current case (Myriad Genetics) that applies the thesis’ theoretical framework to a present dispute over the role the law should play in regulating genetic diagnostic tests.

La présente étude fait le point sur la théorie cérébrale d’Aristote. Contre une tradition philosophique (Platon) et médicale (Hippocrate) qui considérait le cerveau comme l’organe central du corps et le lieu privilégié des activités psychiques, Aristote ne reconnaît pratiquement aucune fonction au cerveau dans sa conception de la sensation, du mouvement volontaire et de l’intelligence. Pour le philosophe, l’encéphale est un organe froid, humide, entièrement dépourvu de sang et chargé de refroidir la chaleur cardiaque et de susciter le sommeil. Autant dire tout de suite que la théorie aristotélicienne du cerveau est truffée de faussetés. Or, ces erreurs ne sont pas dépourvues d'intérêt. Aussi, notre étude tente-t-elle d’en retracer l’origine, et accorde, pour ce faire, une attention particulière à la méthode ainsi qu’aux différents types de données dont Aristote se sert en sciences de la vie. L’exercice met notamment en lumière l’influence d’une littérature livresque et médicale préexistante et invite, en conséquence, à réévaluer la place réservée à l’observation empirique dans la biologie aristotélicienne. / This study clarifies Aristotle’s brain theory. Going against a philosophical (Plato) and medical (Hippocrates) tradition that regarded the brain as the central organ of the body and the locus of psychic activities, Aristotle assigns virtually no function to the brain in his conception of sensation, voluntary movement, and intelligence. According to the philosopher, the brain is cold, moist, entirely deprived of blood and is in charge of cooling the heat produced by the heart and of inducing sleep. In other words, Aristotle’s brain theory is deeply flawed. Yet, Aristote’s mistakes are not devoid of interest. Thus, our study tries to understand the causes of these errors, and, in doing so, pays special attention to the method and to the different kinds of data that Aristotle uses in the field of life sciences. This approach sheds light on the influence of a preexisting medical literature and, as a result, invites to reevaluate the place of empirical observation in Aristotle’s biology.

Do inventions that exist only on paper have less credibility than functional technologies? How has the meaning and significance of audiovisual media and technology changed over time? This dissertation examines historiography and methodology for media history, arguing for an interdisciplinary approach. It addresses methodological issues in media history—media in transition, media archaeology, and film history—through an examination of television’s speculative era. It tackles moving-image history through an historical investigation of Victorian and Machine age “television”. Because the concept and terminology of “television” changed dramatically during this period, I use the phrases “distant electric vision” and “seeing by electricity,” to define the concept of electric and electronic moving-image technology. By identifying manifestations of “television” before functional models existed, this dissertation examines the ways in which a modern concept of moving-image technology came into existence. Engineers and inventors, as well as audiences and journalists contributed to the construction of “television.” Newspaper announcements, editorial columns, letters to the editor, rumors and satires circulated. Victorian-era readers, writers and inventors pictured “seeing by electricity” to do for the eye what the telephone had done for the ear, bringing people closer together though separated by great distances. In contrast, early twentieth-century Machine-age engineers placed more emphasis on systems, communication, design, and picture quality. Developments in the 1920s with complex systems and electronics made “distant electric vision” a reality. This dissertation identifies several shifts that took place during television’s speculative era from the Victorian “annihilation of space” to Machine-Age systems engineering. Journalists, readers, and engineers all play a part in the rhetoric of innovation. From the Victorian era to the Machine age, the educational function of popular science and the role of audiences in constructing meaning and value for new technologies remain relatively consistent. I offer several case studies, including Thomas Edison’s inventions, illuminating engineering, and Bell Labs experiments with television. This dissertation argues that modern television design relies on the ability of the technology to make an unnatural experience seem as effortless as possible. Ultimately, it advocates for an expanded definition of media and technology, along with an historical emphasis on context.

Elite athletes of today use specialized, scientific training methods and the increasing role of science in sports is undeniable. Scientific methods and equipment has even found its way into the practice of everyday exercisers, a testament to the impact of sport science. From the experiential, personal training regimes of the first half of the 20th century to the scientific training theories of the 1970s, the ideas about training and the athletic body shifted. The rationalization process started in endurance sports in the 1940s. It was part of a struggle between two models of training; natural training and rational training. Physiologists wanted to rid training of individual and local variations and create a universal model of rational, scientific training. The rationalization of training and training landscapes is here understood as an aspect of sportification, a theory commonly used to describe similar developments in sports where increasing regimentation, specialization and rationalization are among the main criteria. This dissertation adds the concept of technologies of sportification to explain the role that micro-technologies and practices (such as training logs, training camps and scientific tests) have in the scientization of training. This thesis thus sets out to analyze the role that science has played in training during the 20th century. It is a history about the rationalization of training, but also about larger issues regarding the role of personal, experiential knowledge and scientific knowledge. The main conclusions are that the process of scientization never managed to rid training of components from natural, experiential training, and that the effort by Swedish physiologists to introduce rational training was part of the larger rationalization movement at the time. In the end, training knowledge was a co-production between practitioners and theoreticians, skiers and scientists. / <p>QC 20161114</p> / Rationell träning: vetenskapliggörandet äv träning för längdskidåkning

Science and technology have a tendency to clump together in places where they spawn other forms of societal activities. Sometimes these places become famous through processes known as place-making, or the social construction of place. Because the scientific and technological activities affect the places, and the places conversely affect the science and technology, it is relevant to study how and why these connections emerge. This dissertation examines the particular case of the northern Swedish town of Kiruna, which has become known for being a `space town' because of its scientific, technological, and other activities that relate to the near space around the earth. The overall objective is to analyse the processes underlying the making of Kiruna as a space town in the period 1943--2000. Five parts make up the study. First is an examination of how the development of space physics research in Kiruna led to the setting up of a scientific observatory. The second part studies how the Swedish participation in the European Space Research Organisationmade Kiruna the place for a rocket base. Next follows an analysis of how local business efforts contributed to forming a new satellite technology business and the Space House office building. The fourth part concerns how the visions to establish a space `university' eventually led to the emergence of the Space Campus. Last is an epilogue that briefly analyses the space tourism efforts in Kiruna. A central finding is that the space town has emerged as the result of entwined processes where, on the one hand, ideas about the near space around the earth have led to new activities and physical structures, and, on the other hand, these new activities and built structures conversely have inspired to new ideas. Of importance is also the geographical place where these developments have occurred. Here, a reoccurring argument to placing the activities and structures in Kiruna was the town's geographically favourable location for specific scientific and technological activities. Another finding is that the development has gradually led to the emergence of a kind of identity or notion of Kiruna as a particular place for space activities. Although this form of place-making has occurred largely through spontaneous processes, it was also the result of intentional efforts. Together, these different place-making processes have formed the `space town' of Kiruna.

In this thesis, a critical analysis is proposed of the relationships between Inuit participation, science and policy in wildlife governance in the Nunavut Territory, Canada. This analysis situates the emergence of a participatory regime for the governance of wildlife in Nunavut, explores its performance and examines the relations between the ways in which wildlife governance arrangements are currently represented in policy and how they are played out in practice across the territory. To pursue these objectives, this research draws upon a number of theoretical perspectives and methodological strategies poised at a crossroads between environmental geography, science and technology studies, political ecology and ecological anthropology. It combines participant observation, semi-directed interviews and literature-based searches with approaches to the study of actor-networks, hybrid forums and scientific practices associated with Latour and Callon, as well as with Foucauldian and post-Foucauldian analyses of power, governmentality and subjectivity. This analysis suggests that the overall rationale within which wildlife governance operates in Nunavut remains largely based on a scientific and bureaucratic framework of resource management that poses significant barriers to the meaningful inclusion of Inuit views. In spite of their participation in wildlife governance through a range of institutional arrangements, consultation practices and research initiatives, the Inuit of Nunavut remain critical of the power relations embedded within existing schemes, where significant decision-making authority remains under the control of the territorial (or federal) government, and where asymmetries persist with regard to the capacity of various actors to produce and mediate their claims. In addition, while the use of Inuit knowledge, or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, in wildlife governance in Nunavut has produced some collaborative research and management endeavours, it has also crystallised a divide between ‘Inuit’ and ‘scientific’ knowledge, generated unresolved conflicts, fuelled mistrust among wildlife co-management partners and led to an overall limited inclusion of Inuit observations, values and beliefs in decision-making.

This thesis examines accounts of electricity in journalism, short stories, novels, poetry and instructional writings, composed between 1830 and 1880 by scientific investigators, popular practitioners and fiction authors. The writings are approached as diverse and often incongruous impressions of electricity, in which the use of figurative and narrative techniques brings into question distinctions between science and literature. It is proposed that the unusual combination of electricity’s historical characterisation as an elixir vitae, intense investigation by contemporary scientists, and close alliance with new technologies offered unique opportunities for imaginative speculation. The thesis contends that engaging with these conflicting characteristics created a synthesis of scientific, social and literary responses that defy epistemological and generic categorisation. Fictionality is approached in chapter two as a central feature of scientific conceptualisation, experiment and discovery, particularly in the work of Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell. In chapters three and four, the landscape of popular non-fiction books and periodicals is mapped, to show the ways in which the period’s publication contexts and forums, reading patterns, and use of literary practices contributed to wider engagement with ideas about electricity. Chapters five and six focus on fiction writings, identifying parallels and divergences between actual electrical science and its fictional portrayal. Short stories are shown to have emphasised associations between electricity, neurosis, deformity and the occult, complicating contemporary scientific optimism and presenting electricity as an alluring yet dangerous phenomenon, which disordered the natural world and man’s relationship with it. These characteristics are identified further in the metaphorical references of several canonical novelists, in the exploitation of electricity, elixirs and power depicted by William Harrison Ainsworth and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and through a case study of the text and reception of a popular novel about electricity by Benjamin Lumley. The thesis contends that electricity’s anomalous and protean nature produced distinctively hybrid responses that enhance our understanding of contemporary popular writing, its contexts and how it was read.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

In 1869 the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia passed legislation that established the first asylum in the United States to care exclusively for African-American patients. Then known as Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane and located in Richmond, Virginia, the asylum began to admit patients in 1870. This thesis explores three aspects of Central State Hospital's history during the nineteenth century: attitudes physicians held toward their patients, the involuntary commitment of patients, and life inside the asylum. Chapter One explores the nineteenth-century belief held by southern white physicians, including those at Central State Hospital, that freed people were mentally, emotionally, and physically unfit for freedom. Chapter Two explains the involuntary commitment of African Americans to Central State Hospital in 1874. Chapter Three considers patient life at the asylum by contrasting the expectation of “Moral Management” care with the reality of daily life and treatment.