Encyclopedia : in the footsteps of the greats

Fifteen years ago, while wandering in my grandparents’ attic, I came across a series of books with blue bindings. I thus discovered my first real Encyclopaedia : an Encyclopaedia on the history of France, a well of knowledge, a treasure. Today, the Encyclopaedia still fascinates me as much as ever : opening an Encyclopaedia, whether digital or paper, means venturing into knowledge, discovering a new universe, walking in the footsteps of the greatest.

Dominique Raynaud is one of these greats. By studying for years the climate through the ice and by sharing it in the Encyclopedia of the Environment, he transmits his knowledge to us on this domain on which we can read everything and its opposite. When my family asks me questions about the climate, it is always difficult for me to find the right and accessible words. Dominique Raynaud’s article allows us not only to understand the construction of the IPCC but above all to understand the scientific study of climate. It goes without saying that reading this article does not require any specific knowledge of the greenhouse effect, yet Dominique offers us a better contextualisation of the problem. We discover the greenhouse effect in this article as scientists have done for the last three centuries. We advance through the words at the same pace as these great names, Fourier, Arrhenius, Keeling, have advanced in the understanding of global warming.

Dominique does not offer us a scientific article, he gives us a framework to better understand this societal problem, but above all he sublimates the research on this field.

The end in which he sets out his personal opinion is a return to the first meaning of the encyclopaedia : the sharing of knowledge. Dominique thank you.

I can only advise you to read Dominique Raynaud’s article, De la découverte de l’effet de serre au GIEC (From the discovery of the greenhouse effect to the IPCC), a necessity before any debate on global warming.
Link to the article : https://www.encyclopedie-environnement.org/climat/decouverte-effet-de-serre-au-giec/ or on the general public page of the IGE website : http://www.ige-grenoble.fr/De-la-decouverte-de-l-effet-de

Alexis LAMOTHE