Abraham Moles

Abraham André Moles was born in Paris, France, in 1920. After completing his early education, he pursued electrical and acoustics engineering at the University of Grenoble. He began his career as a research assistant in the metal physics department, working under notable professors Félix Esclangon and Louis Néel. This early experience gave him a strong foundation in metallurgy, electronics, and technical analysis. Alongside his scientific pursuits, Moles deepened his philosophical studies beyond Grenoble, studying with Gaston Berger at the University of Aix and attending classes by Gaston Bachelard at the Sorbonne, where he earned his doctorate in 1952. He received two Rockefeller Foundation grants, which enabled him to work in the music department at Columbia University, led by Vladimir Ussachevsky. After completing a second doctorate in philosophy in 1954, Moles moved to Switzerland to direct the Electroacoustics Laboratory, marking his first leadership role. He held teaching positions across Europe, including the University of Stuttgart, Berlin, Utrecht, and a permanent professorship at the University of Ulm. In 1966, he settled in Strasbourg, where he taught psychology and sociology and founded the School of Strasbourg, an influential center for social psychology and communication. This blend of rigorous technical expertise, philosophical inquiry, and academic leadership laid the foundation for Moles’s pioneering work in information science and communication studies. Moles passed away in 1992.

Moles’s early focus on acoustics and music sparked an interest in perception, beginning with sound and expanding into the broader field of communication. He embraced information theory as a structural framework that deepened insight into human experience beyond the traditional Shannon model. In the early 1950s, his work on phonetics and linguistics laid the groundwork for a lasting exploration of how messages are formed, conveyed, and understood. Communication, for Moles, encompassed everything from the physical transmission of signals to the complex social meanings they carry. His research covered a wide range of subjects including kitsch, corporate communication, aesthetics, and everyday objects, all examined as forms of communication. At Strasbourg, he founded the Institute of Social Psychology of Communication, where he guided a new generation of researchers and applied his interdisciplinary approach to posters, urban sound environments, computing, and visual media.

Moles left behind a rich legacy that continues to influence multiple fields, from communication science and psychology to art and design. His most influential works analyzed information and aesthetics while reshaping how we understand the relationships between technology, perception, and society. Through key texts such as Art et ordinateur and Théorie de l'information et perception esthétique, alongside his contributions to social psychology, Moles established a foundation for a more integrated approach to human communication. His vision extended beyond academic boundaries, inspiring generations of researchers and practitioners to examine more deeply the complex ways humans connect with their environment.