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In Balzac’s novel Le Curé de village, the young curé Bonnet seeks to domesticate Nature so as to fight crime in the village of Montégnac. His evangelical project of moral reform, linked to a utopia of prosperity, means that the village must have what one might call a hydraulic infrastructure. By changing the course of three forest rivers, he manages to develop a barren plain and eradicate crime, thus succeeding where local administration, nobility and industry had hitherto failed. The figure of the engineer, Grégoire Gérard, breaking away from his training at the Ponts et Chaussées and from that of his two assistants, illustrates Balzac’s views on contemporary science. Balzac’s critique of the Ponts et Chaussées does not concern their teaching of the practical sciences, but their approach to the theoretical sciences and, in particular, the polytechnic-style bureaucracy of the institutions of the State. Working within the framework of a private initiative, the engineer is able to regain his independence and his effectiveness.