History of Science and History of the Earth in the Anthropocene

The debate on the Anthropocene, a geological epoch marked by human technology as a driving force of geo-transformation, prompts the history of science to rethink itself in coordination with other disciplines that deal with the scientific phenomenon at a reflexive meta-level. This article discusses the various levels of such a reflection, beginning with the question of the stratigraphic evidence of the Anthropocene. A second level is historiographic: how should we rewrite history starting from a geological viewpoint according to which natural contexts can no longer be assumed as immovable and inexhaustible backgrounds of social processes? The third level concerns historical epistemology, that is, the question of the intertwining of genesis, validity and functions of scientific conceptions co-opted in the anthropic transformation of the world. The conclusion points, as a fourth level, to the role of a sustained reflection on science in political theory and practice. [Publisher's text]