La science forestière vue par les géographes français, ou la confrontation de deux sciences «diagonales» (1870-1914)//The science of Forestry as seen by French geographers : the encounter of two «transverse» sciences (1870-1914)

The science of Forestry and Geography have a lot in common; like Agronomy or Ecology, both of them can be described as « transverse » sciences since they borrow elements from other sciences (such as Botany or Geology). Present only as scattered mentions in the works of eighteenth century naturalists, they experienced numerous changes during the nineteeth; these changes gave way to a true recognition from other scientific fields at the turn of the twentieth century. Right after the disasters of the war of 1870, the astonishing development (at every level) of the educational system in France combined with the mobilization of natural resources gave way to the creation of a French school of Geography led by Vidal de la Blache, and to the scientific popularization of the work of French foresters. Geographers and foresters met each other thanks to a large number of associations freshly created to help the country recover from the war, both physically and psychologically. Strangely, few of geographical studies dealing with forests came out of h; the work of Pierre Deffontaines, L'homme et la forêt (1933), coin cided with an interruption of studies on forests led by French geographers, right until the middle of the seventies.eided with an interruption of studies on forests led by French geographers right until the middle of the seventies Mots-clés cole fran aise de géographie science forestière aménagement forestier Key-words French school of Geography science of Forestry forest managementPuyo Jean-yves. La science forestière vue par les géographes français, ou la confrontation de deux sciences «diagonales» (1870-1914)//The science of Forestry as seen by French geographers : the encounter of two «transverse» sciences (1870-1914). In: Annales de Géographie, t. 108, n°609-610, 1999. pp. 615-634