ABSTRACT
There are several ways of approaching a comparative study of the ideas of the Scotsman Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) and of the Belgian Paul Otlet (1868-1944). The first consists in evoking their many similarities, from the socio-historical point of view as well as from the intellectual and episteinological point of view. Both Patrick Geddes and Paul Otiet had a paradoxical relationship to the written word, though they left behind two extremely dense bibliographies. However, in spite of the extent of their written work, neither was really engaged in a writing project. Geddes. According to all testimony, was a speaking more than a writing man. The Outlook Tower idea was a vertical and hierarchical exposition of the world, both in its geographical and historical dimensions. Each floor of the tower corresponded to a scale of understanding of the universe. The highest floor proposed a panoramic observation of the most local environment, directly and indirectly.
