Science is not an opinion: the French Academy of Sciences reaffirms its values

Paris, February 10, 2026,

The mission of the Académie des Sciences is based on the principles of rationality and good faith that it has inherited throughout its history, and in particular from the Age of Enlightenment. The scientific truth to which we aspire is based on freedom of expression, free debate and the confrontation of ideas underpinned by the experimental method. But this freedom does not consist in making arbitrary assertions with no basis other than ideological. Today, even in countries where science once excelled, we are witnessing the denigration of science, arbitrary denials, and veritable negationism in many fields that we all have in mind, such as climate science, or that of vaccines.

We are no longer here in a debate, but in an ideology whose political aims are transparent. The promoters of this anti-science flout the scientific method, and attack European countries. We must not close our eyes: by putting opinions on the same level as facts, and by knowingly maintaining the confusion between truths and untruths, Thiel, Vance, Bannon et al. have no other ambition than to promote a political agenda that would bring to power the extremist regimes they call for. The Academy of Sciences cannot subscribe to this approach.

CONTACT: presse@academie-sciences.fr