Arkan Simaan
Encyclopedia
Arkan Simaan is a French historian of science and a novelist.
He was born in Lebanon in 1945. When he was two years old, his family immigrated to Brazil and settled in the city of Anápolis
near to Brasilia
. The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état
overthrew the government of João Goulart
just as Simaan had begun studying physics at the University of São Paulo
. In response to this, he became a student activist.
Sought by the political police and sentenced to jail in absentia, he went underground. His name was then cited in several prosecutions. Forced to flee Brazil, he arrived in Paris in 1970.
After a few years in France, Simaan refrained from activities that were connected with his prior political involvement.
In Paris he resumed his studies in physics at the University Paris Diderot. He then attended the Institut Supérieur des Matériaux et de la Construction Mécanique from which he received an engineering degree.
Following a short spell in industry, he realized that he wanted to teach. In order to do so, he obtained the agrégation
in physics.
He was born in Lebanon in 1945. When he was two years old, his family immigrated to Brazil and settled in the city of Anápolis
Anápolis
Anápolis is the third largest city in the State of Goiás in Brazil. It lies in the center of a rich agricultural region and has become a leader in food processing and pharmaceutical plants.-Location and population:...
near to Brasilia
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
. The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état
overthrew the government of João Goulart
João Goulart
João Belchior Marques Goulart was a Brazilian politician and the 24th President of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on April 1, 1964. He is considered to have been the last left-wing President of the country until Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003.-Name:João Goulart is...
just as Simaan had begun studying physics at the University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
. In response to this, he became a student activist.
Sought by the political police and sentenced to jail in absentia, he went underground. His name was then cited in several prosecutions. Forced to flee Brazil, he arrived in Paris in 1970.
After a few years in France, Simaan refrained from activities that were connected with his prior political involvement.
In Paris he resumed his studies in physics at the University Paris Diderot. He then attended the Institut Supérieur des Matériaux et de la Construction Mécanique from which he received an engineering degree.
Following a short spell in industry, he realized that he wanted to teach. In order to do so, he obtained the agrégation
Agrégation
In France, the agrégation is a civil service competitive examination for some positions in the public education system. The laureates are known as agrégés...
in physics.
Works
All his books are originally written in French and for many of them he has won awards.- (With Joëlle Fontaine) “L'Image du Monde des Babyloniens à Newton” (Adapt Editions, Paris, 1998).
- “Cette sentence vous fait plus peur qu'à moi-même : Giordano BrunoGiordano BrunoGiordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
” (Cahiers rationalistes, 2000).
- “La science au péril de sa vie – les aventuriers de la mesure du monde” (Vuibert / Adapt, Paris, 2001.) In 2002 this book was awarded Price of Special Book in Astronomy (Prix Spécial du livre d’astronomie).
- “Vénus devant le soleil – comprendre et observer un phénomène astronomique” (Vuibert / Adapt, 2003). This book concerns the transit of VenusTransit of VenusA transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
across the Sun. - “L’Image du Monde de NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
à Einstein” (Vuibert / Adapt, Paris, 2005).
- "Le paradoxe de la science: Fritz HaberFritz HaberFritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
" (Cahiers rationalistes n° 579, November 2005).
- “L’Écuyer d’Henri le Navigateur” (Éditions Harmattan, Paris, 2007).