Modèles et modélisations, 1950-2000 : Nouvelles pratiques, nouveaux enjeux / Models and modeling, 1950-2000 : New practices, new implications

SUMMARY. — Historians and philosophers of science have tended to conceive models in relation to scientific theories or as entities intermediate between theories and real objects. The authors of this article examine varied examples of models developed during the second half of the XXth century in the natural sciences, engineering and the social sciences. Particular attention is paid to the practices to which computers and numerical simulation gave rise. By showing that the classical epistemological foundation proves to be inadequate in order to account for the multifarious functions of models, the authors set the groundwork for new theoretical inquiry into the analysis of practices of modeling in contemporary science.