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About the journal

1. Editorial Policy of the Journal

The Cahiers François Viète is a biannual generalist journal on the history of science and technology. The journal publishes original articles, in French or in English, on all geographical areas and from antiquity to the contemporary period. The articles and volumes may be concerned with different approaches to the field (epistemological, conceptual, social, cultural history...). The journal is also open to proposals for articles concerning, more broadly, the study of science and technology in the various human and social sciences (sociology, anthropology, geography, literature and civilisations, etc.).

The Cahiers François Viète are freely available to both authors and readers, in digital and paper format. They are financed by the Centre François Viète and supported by Nantes Université.

1.1. Functioning of the Cahiers François Viète

The organisation and functioning of the Cahiers François Viète is the responsability of three committees: the editorial board, the scientific committee and the reading committee. Participation in one of the committees does not preclude coordinating an issue or submitting articles for publication (see page « Committees »).

A publication and evaluation charter determines the function of the journal, the scientific editors and the authors (see page « Charter »).

An issue is usually composed of a thematic dossier, and and occasionally also includes Varia articles not pertaining to a particular theme.

All articles are subject to a double blind review organised by the Cahiers François Viète.

1.2. Proposals for thematic dossiers

They are examined twice a year by the editorial board.

A validated thematic dossier requires a year and a half, or even two years, of preparation, taking into account the biannual programming of the issues and, above all, the editorial phases to be implemented, including the double expertise. A thematic dossier generally gives rise to an open call for contributions.

Each thematic dossier is placed under the scientific responsibility of one or more editors.

One or two referents, belonging to the editorial board or possibly the scientific committee, are appointed by the editorial board to organise the expert review of the articles (choice of experts, contacts and follow-up with the experts). The referents are also responsible for communication with the editors of the volume.

1.3. Proposals for Varia articles

These articles can be submitted at any time and are processed on receipt. Expert review is also organised by a referent appointed by the editorial board.

1.4. Indexing of articles on the site

Each article is classified using three indexes that allow a search from several perspectives and highlight the diversity of the fields covered by the journal:

  • Keywords: classification of articles according to the disciplinary approach used and with free keywords;

  • Chronology: classification of articles by periods & centuries;

  • Themes: classification of articles according to their theme or (broad) object of study.

2. History of the Journal

2.1. Series I from 1999 to 2006

Directed by Patrice Bailhache

The Cahiers François Viète were created in 1999 at the instigation of the Centre François Viète, a research team located in Nantes and specialising in epistemology and the history of science and technology. The founders of this journal, under the leadership of Patrice Bailhache, wanted to devote dossiers to the themes developed by the researchers of the Centre François Viète and to publish the conferences of its weekly seminar.

For this first series, ten volumes including a double were published.

2.2. Series II from 2009 to 2016

Directed by Stéphane Tirard

2016: arrival of Sylvie Guionnet (as a study engineer) at the Faculté des Lettres de Nantes. Since 2016 one of the functions of this position is as editorial secretary, including the increation of the Cahiers François Viète website and improvement of the layout.

This second series hosted seven volumes, including two double volumes.

2.3. Series III from 2016

Directed by Jenny Boucard

This series launched since 2016 publishes two volumes per year.

2016: establishment of an international reading committee, biannual publication and double blind expertise, all volumes made available on the website.

2018: establishment of an international editorial board, composed of a maximum of one third of members of the Centre François Viète and an international scientific committee.

2020-2021: design and implementation of a publication and evaluation charter (see « Charter » page).

2022: integration into the OpenEdition platform.

Thanks to the support of the Pôle Editorial Grand Ouest of Maison des sciences de l’Homme en Bretagne, the Cahiers benefited from a help for the conversion of its old issues.

3. Presentation of the logos

From volume I.11 to volume III.11, the logo of the Cahiers François Viète is a transparent portrait of François Viète, taken from a lithograph made for “La galerie française” in 1821 and printed by Firmin Didot.

On the occasion of the transition to Open Edition, the editorial board of the Cahiers François Viète and the laboratory council of the Centre François Viète (CFV)decided to renew the logo, which has been integrated from volume III-12. The creation of the new logo was conceived by a team made up of members of the editorial board of the Cahiers and the CFV, and discussed at meetings of the editorial board of the journal and the laboratory council of the CFV.

This new visual identity of the Cahiers illustrates different fields of epistemology and history of science and technology. François Viète appears via the parchment with the inscription A+B+C, taken from a portrait drawn in the 19th century of this geometer from Vendée. The logo was designed around Clio, the muse of history, surrounded by various scientific and technical elements. The chosen representation of Clio is a 19th century engraving based on a fragment of an ancient painting found at the site of Herculaneum near Pompeii and echoes the long temporality of the periods covered by the magazine.

The elements surrounding the muse include technical and heritage objects, natural entities and mathematical formalisms. They also symbolise a variety of modes of observation (microscope), experimentation and measurement (calorimeter), representation (printed works, manuscripts, engravings, armillary sphere) and evidence (photographic camera). Their articulation also refers to themes of study located at the intersection of several fields, such as art and science (ornamental plant element) or environmental history (interweaving of the crane and the plant).

Credits Logo 2022

  • Initial version of the logo and banner: Olivier Sauzereau

  • Adaptations and technical aspects: Gaëtan Levillain & Jenny Boucard

  • Other people in the working group: Delphine Acolat, Loïc Jeanson, Mathilde Lancelot, Anaël Marrec, Matthieu Quantin, Lisa Rougetet

Illustrations used for the logo

  • Clio — F. & P. Piranesi (éds), Th. Piroli (graveur), Antiquités d’Herculamnum. Peintures. Tome II, Paris, Leblanc, 1804, Fig. 2.

  • Watermark manuscript — Traité de navigation par le quartier de réduction, Ms 482, Bibliothèque municipale de Nantes (1705).

  • Clockwork — Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers de Diderot, D'Alembert et Jaucourt (1751-1772) : Recueil de planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux et les arts mécaniques, Tome IV, Horlogerie, Plate II (continued) « Horlogerie, Profils du mouvement de l’horloge horizontale », Figure 4 (1765).

  • Crane — Yellow titan crane of Nantes (ex-Dubigeon shipyard) on the Île de Nantes (Stéfan Le Dû © Wikimedia Commons), 2007.

  • Vegetal ornament — V. Ruprich-Robert, Flore ornementale. Essai sur la composition de l’ornement. Éléments tirés de la nature et principes de leur application, Paris, Dunod, 1876, Plate 114 « Ajustement – Petroselinum vulgare & pisum stivum ».

  • Parchment representing the mathematical formula A+B+C Extracted from a portrait of François Viète by Jean Rabel and published in Benjamin Fillon and O de Rochebrune, Poitou et Vendée, études historiques et artistiques, vol. II, 1861.

  • Microscope — A. Fischer, Le microscope pancratique, Moscou, Imprimerie Auguste Semen, 1841, Figure 1.

  • Calorimeter — John Wilkes (éd.), Encyclopaedia Londinensis; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, vol. 4, London, Adlard, 1810, « Chemistry », Plate XI « The Calorimeter of Lavoisier and Laplace », Fig. 1. Engraving by John Paas.

  • Anatomy book — Joannem Dryandrum, Anatomia Mundini, ad vetustissimorum erundemque aliquot manu scriptorum codicum fidem collata, justoque suo ordini restituta, Marburg, Christiani Egenolphi, 1541, p. 49.

  • Photographic instrument — « Le Quinétoscope, chambre photographique binoculaire », Revue photographique, n° 30 (5 avril 1858), p. 60.

  • Armillary Sphere — « The Artificial Sphere », The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1748, p. 344, drawn and engraved byT. Jefferys.

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