PORTIER (Paul) - Lot 235

Lot 235
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PORTIER (Paul) - Lot 235
PORTIER (Paul) Bar-sur-Seine, 1866 - Paris, 1962. French marine biologist, collaborator with Charles Richet in the discovery of anaphylaxis; assistant director at the École pratique des hautes études. Autograph letter signed "P. Portier", addressed to "Mon cher Maurice" [Maurice Emmanuel]. Bourg-la-Reine, undated. 3 pages in-8, on letterhead of Université de Paris, Faculté des Sciences, Laboratoire de physiologie comparée (Sorbonne, rue Victor-Cousin). A letter of great intellectual interest, in which Portier delivers a sharp and forthright critique of the educational system and teaching methods of his time. He rails against what he describes as "cerebral overfeeding methods", accused of "laminating the best brains" and extinguishing all originality, thus denouncing a form of standardization of thought that he deems deeply damaging. His comments become even more acerbic when he speaks of the recruitment process at the École normale, lamenting the fact that it now trains more "politicians and journalists" than genuine professors destined for higher education. This position, rare in its frankness, sheds light on the concerns of a scholar attached to intellectual independence and the quality of scientific training. A remarkable document for the vigor of its judgments, and revealing of the debates on education and the training of elites at the beginning of the 20th century.
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