Gaston Bachelard: An Intellectual Biography

Exploring his life, work, and thought, the story of this sui generis philosopher of science.

This is the first English biography of Gaston Bachelard, a philosopher who bridged the worlds of science and imagination. Raised in rural France, Bachelard served in the First World War, worked for the post office, and pursued degrees in science and philosophy while teaching in his local school. His journey led to a professorship at the Sorbonne, where he influenced many prominent postwar French thinkers. Known as both a philosopher of science and author of works on the imagination inspired by the elements--earth, air, fire, and water--Bachelard needed to negotiate a constant tension between science and poetry, calculation and dream. This biography provides a complete portrait of Bachelard, illuminating his struggles with the nature of knowledge itself.

Steven Connor is professor of English and director of research at the Digital Futures Institute, King’s College London. He is the author of more than twenty books including The Madness of Knowledge and Dreamwork, both also published by Reaktion Books.