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 00033, was established in July 2000 with the aim of disseminating the scientific knowledge to anyone :
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.) :
The implementation of these different ways of spreading the scientific knowledge required the establishment of exchanges or partnerships with :
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 « Knowledge of Mankind and of the Surrounding Nature ». To this end, new partnerships have been established, various projects are under development. In order to follow these news, regularly look at the rubric untiltled Culture Diff' OnGoing Projects, subscribe to the Culture Diff' mailing list and follow the Culture Diff' Tweets ! It's simple, free and without any obligation.
- 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 (11), 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 + links towards useful OpenSource softwares ;
- Category Publications : books in paper (14) and electronics (12) forms, articles published in scientific journals (38), etc.. ;
- Category Conferences : leading of conferences (33), participation in round tables (4) 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 (7), radio (4) and television (2);
- Category Oc'Sciences : the different forms of involvement of the Culture Diff' company along with associations and institutions of the Midi-Pyrenees Region + gallery of unusual photos taken in Occitania (southern France) + Culture Diff' selection of scientific events (conferences, exhibitions, etc..) held monthly in the Midi-Pyrenees Region;
- Category YooKan.org : a Web interface dedicated to Space Archaeoastronomy as well as to the testing of the Culture Diff' softwares designed for the needs of 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, Ecole Supérieure d'Art et de Céramique de Pau-Tarbes, 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 (Museum of Toulouse, 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 « Knowledge of Mankind and of the Surrounding Nature ». To this end, new partnerships have been established, various projects are under development. In order to follow these news, regularly look at the rubric untiltled Culture Diff' OnGoing Projects, subscribe to the Culture Diff' mailing list and follow the Culture Diff' Tweets ! It's simple, free and without any obligation.
Karine Gadré,
Ph.D in Astronomy
University of Toulouse
Founder and Header
of the Culture Diff' company since July 2000
Member of the association Les Ankhou which aims at producing and sharing scientific and cultural knowledge
