nderstanding what makes a man and a woman as well as reflecting upon gender differences has been and still is a subject of investigation and a major political and social issue. Looking at the history of sciences, at medical discourses and practices and at the social sciences, the authors of this book reveal the fragile nature of what is presented as evident scientific knowledge on nature, women's and men's bodies. They thus highlight the power and social arrangements that derive from such knowledge. This work not only analyses gendered scientific representations, but also how scientists grounded in their own culture develop criterias of differentiation between the sexes and contribute to naturalizing certain form of dominance. The reader is invited to discover those new fields of research in France and abroad and to adopt a critical reflection of the ffects of a Western modernity that is built on processes of othering and dichotomies opposing reason and nature, men and women. 'The invention of Nature' explores the way sex and gender are shaped by scientific knowledge. The aim of the book is to analyse discourses and practices on bodies and nature in natural and medical sciences and to come back to the use of gender differences in sociology or anthropology.