Introduction to the Culture Diff' company


The Culture Diff' company, registered at the Chamber of Commerce of Toulouse, France, under the SIRET number 431 708 643 00025, was established in July 2000 with the aim of disseminating the scientific knowledge to anyone :
  • the birth, the evolution and the spreading of the scientific thought process over millenia, in particular, the systematic process of observation, classification and differenciation, the formulation of hypothesis, the conception of geometric, statistical and numerical models, and finally, the validity test of every one of the hypothesis put forward ;
  • and the results of research work in the field of Egyptian Archaeoastronomy. My doctoral thesis, prepared and defended at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Toulouse-Tarbes (now Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie), rewarded in 2008 by the Price of the Academy of Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles Lettres de Toulouse, focused on this theme, located at the interface between the humanities and exact sciences.


The website www.culturediff.org is the showcase of the Culture Diff' company. It consists of several sections each devoted to a specific way of spreading the scientific knowledge to different audiences (researchers, enthusiasts, curious, young people, adults, seniors, etc.) :

  • Rubric Dossiers : records relating to the history of science (12 in total) and ancient Egyptian Astronomy (10), proceedings of conferences (8), etc.;
  • Category Softwares : original Astronomy softwares (3) conceived during the preparation of my doctoral thesis at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Toulouse-Tarbes ;
  • Category Publications : books in paper (13) and electronics (9) forms, articles published in scientific journals (36), etc.. ;
  • Category Conferences : leading of conferences (33), participation in round tables (2) and in Science Café (1) related to ancient Egyptian Astronomy within institutional and voluntary frameworks ;
  • Category Shows : collaboration in the development of planetarium shows (2) and the achievement of art and science shows (2) relating to ancient Egyptian astronomy ;
  • Category Media-TIC : interviews conducted by journalists from print media (5), radio (4) and television (2);
  • Category Oc'Sciences : non-exhaustive list of scientific events (conferences, exhibitions, etc..) held each month in the Midi-Pyrenees Region, southern France. A gallery of unusual photos taken in the Oc' Region will soon be available ;
  • Category YooKan.org : a Web interface dedicated to the management of collaborative projects. Two Web interfaces are under construction : a first one dedicated to Space Archaeology, a second one to Egyptian ArchaeoAstronomy.


The implementation of these different ways of spreading the scientific knowledge required the establishment of exchanges or partnerships with :

  • several researchers and research institutes in the humanities and exact sciences : Midi-Pyrenees Observatory, Nice Observatory, CNES Toulouse, Centre François Viete dedicated to the History of Science and Technology, University of Antilles-Guyana, etc.;
  • representatives of cultural associations (Les Chemins Buissonniers, Les Petits Débrouillards La Ferme des Etoiles, La Maison de la Philosophie de Toulouse, etc.), cultural centers (Médiathèques, Cité de l'Espace), planetarium (Astralia Toulouse , Astronef Saint-Etienne), Museums (Centre for Prehistory of Pech-Merle, Georges Labit Museum, Champollion Museum) ;
  • journalists from the written press (Tutankhamun Magazine, Ciel & Espace, Science & Vie, National Geographic Magazine), radio (Mon Païs, Jet FM, Canal Académie) and television (France 2).


The progressive making up of this network of contacts, the evolution of the information and communication technologies as well, have transformed the initial activity of disseminating the scientific knowledge into promoting the results of fundamental research with various publics (researchers, amateurs, general public) in the form of flyers, press articles, websites, pictures, conferences, videoclips, planetarium shows, etc.

This promotion experience conducted by the Culture Diff' company in the field of ancient Egyptian astronomy can easily be transposed to other areas of fundamental research - to science in general, in the sense of « Knowledge of Man and Nature Environment ». To this end, various projects are under development, new partnerships are sought. In order to follow these news, regularly look at the rubric untiltled OnGoing Projects and subscribe to the Culture Diff' mailing list ! It's simple, free and without any obligation.



Karine Gadré,
PH.D in Astronomy
University of Toulouse, France

Founder and Header
of the Culture Diff' company

IRAP Associate Researcher,
Research Institute in
Astrophysics and Planetology