Catalog All books
Yves-Alain Fontaine
The Sentimental Evolution
In the course of development, our way of living is fashioned by the world around us, but it is also shaped by discrete characteristics such as nature and the intensity of emotions like anxiety and egoism. From this point of departure, the author draws analogies about the ways in which we are human individuals and members of a species, and proffers the theory that, in the evolutionary process, there is also a sort of anxiety and egoism at work. Evolution, he suggests, might very well be both sentimental and selective. Yves Alain Fontaine is an honorary professor at the National Museum of Natural History.
Bénédicte de Boysson-Bardies
How Does the Power of Speech Come to Children ?
How does the newborn, from his cradle, perceive the sounds that make up words? How does he hear and extract sounds, and then recognize, organize and analyze them? How does an infant come to understand and reproduce language? How does the power of speech come to children? Benedicte de Boysson Bardies invites the reader to follow the newborn from his first minute of life to his first sentence, retracing step by step the process of acquiring speech. As a psycholinguist, Benedicte de Boysson Bardies specializes in the acquisition of language by young children.
François Dalle
The L'Oréal Adventure
It is difficult to imagine that in 1948 L'Oréal was a small company operating mainly in France and in a few neighbouring countries. Over a period of 35 years, L'Oréal's annual revenue rose from $ 30 million to $ 3 billion. This book shows that money and classical management techniques played a minor role in L'Oréal's growth. For François Dalle the company's success can be explained by the wide acceptance by the staff to what he calls the "spirit of L'Oréal" : this is what enabled L'Oréal to diversify its activities, spread all over Europe, Japan and America and successfully manage the hard times of the 1970s and '80s. François Dalle managed L'Oréal from 1948, at first with Eugène Schueller, then as CEO, a position he held from 1957-1985.
Alain Prochiantz
Biology in the Bedroom
Inspiring himself from La Philosophie dans le boudoir by Sade and the major philosophical works of the 18th century, Alain Prochiantz, who is a neurobiologist, explains by means of a dialogue, the progress of embryology and neurobiology and gives us the elements so that we can understand and measure the stakes of the recent discovery of the genes of development. Alain Prochiantz heads the Laboratory for the Development and Evolution of the Nervous System at the École normale supérieure. He is notably the author of Strategies of the Embryo, and Claude Bernard, the Physiological Revolution.
Marc Ferro
The Clash of Islam 18th to 21st Century
Faced with the expansion of the Western world over the last centuries, the Islamic world has adopted several different attitudes. Some parts of it have chosen to modernise in order to regenerate and better resist the West. Others have chosen instead to de-Islamise their societies, and to succumb to the temptation of the West in order to modernise. More recently, others have taken the opposite tack and islamised modernity, an openly aggressive choice. Marc Ferro's historical study of the great Islamic empires and their collapse examines the present situation of a divided Muslim world and a disoriented West. Marc Ferro is an honorary director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Philippe Taquet
The Imprint of Dinosaurs
"In 1964, my steps encountered the prints of dinosaurs and, ever since, my shoes have travelled extensively, from the Tenere desert to the Brazilian Sertao, from the Laos forest to the steppes of Mongolia; I was lucky to discover several dinosaurs and happy to share the life of many inhabitants of this planet, Tuaregs in Niger, Berbers from the Moroccan High-Atlas or winemakers from Corbières in France. By recounting these journeys in search of dinosaurs, I wish to draw the reader in a world that owes nothing to fiction but a lot to science." Philippe Tacquet
Marie-Claude Gavard
When Adoption Becomes a Nightmare
Defying the dominant view on adoption, the author lays bare the psychological difficulties involved.
Jean-Marc Cosset
Radium Girl
A gripping thriller, inspired by real events, set in Depression-era America
Raymond Aubrac
Where the memory lingers
Discreet by nature and secretive by necessity, Raymond Aubrac has been closely involved in more than half a century of history, in France and abroad. Within France, he is one of the great figures of the Resistance, and is one of the last survivors of the meeting at Caluire, on June 21st 1943, in the course of which Jean Moulin was arrested. A confidant of Ho Chi Minh, Raymond Aubrac also played a central role in the secret negotiations which accompanied the Vietnam war. In this book he gives a new, personal account of these events and others, including his meeting with de Gaulle, his role in the reconstruction of France, and his work at the heart of the UN.
Malinka Dauverné
Early Bonding Advice for Parents
A book for parents to help them bond and establish a good relationship with their child, from the start.
Alessandro Perissinotto
The Titanic’s Orchestra
The final book in the trilogy with amateur investigator Anna Pavesi — and the mood is darker and more terrifying than ever!
Raphaël Hadas-Lebel
The Future of France’s Fifth Republic and Its Institutions in 18 Questions
Should France abandon the five-year presidential term? Should it proscribe political cohabitation (following the failure of the presidential party to acquire a parliamentary majority)? Is a second chamber necessary? How can the Constitutional Council be made to evolve?
Jean-Claude Hazera
The Lost German Mathurin Capitaine’s First Investigation
A gripping historical thriller set in France in 1944, as the Occupation draws to an end and the Liberation begins
Claude Fischler
Of Wine
The true wine lover is a rare breed. He doesnt pontificate, instead he asks questions and reflects. When faced with a pompous connoisseur he shuts his eyes so he can sip and taste undisturbed. Which of the two categories do you belong to, reader? Are you a true lover of Bordeaux or a connoisseur of burgundy? What is it that you like about wine? Is it the knowledge that surrounds it or the pleasure it affords? Is it the prestige of a label or the authenticity of its origin? What do all these categories really stand for? The mythology of wine is examined and deciphered in loving detail. Claude Fischler is a sociologist and researcher at Frances Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Jacques Montangero
Forty Questions About Dreams
A wealth of information to understand and analyse dreams