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John Emsley
The Guide to Chemical Products for the Individual
Are artificial sweeteners dangerous for the body ? Can plastic packaging cause cancers by contaminating our food ? Could serious stomach complaints be caused by the nitrate contained in chemical fertilizer ? We have all heard the worrying stories about the danger posed by the numerous chemicals needed by industries to make the products which we use everyday. Does this mean there is good and bad chemistry ? The reader will find in this guide a great deal of surprising, and for the most part, reassuring information on the reality of the situation. John Emsley is a scientist at Imperial College, London. In addition to his regular radio slots, he writes for The Independent newspaper, and regularly contributes to New Scientist magazine.
Marc Jeannerod
Of Mental Physiology A History of the Relationship Between Biology and Psychology
A relative newcomer to the world of science, psychology gives rise to a rivalry between two older siblings, philosophy and biology. This enduring conflict between materialism and spiritualism, which continues today in other forms, without adoubt was the driving force behind its progress. What we know today about the spirit is a result of this history. Biology and psychology have shaped each other in turn. This book represents a riveting study on how two centuries of spiritual quarrelling made possible the modern attempt to establish the inner workings of the mind. A professor of physiology at the Université Claude Bernard, Marc Jeannerod is also the director of an Inserm neurological research team in Lyon.
Jacques Delors
Education The Hidden Value Within
In this book, Delors specifies the educational objectives we should strive for: competence is vital, but it is equally necessary to prepare people to master knowledge, to teach themselves, to live together and, most simply, to be. We must invent and instill an approach to education that truly prepares men and women to take their own futures in hand, and such a feat implies not only economic efficiency, but also an adequate preparation for everyday life. Shouldn't the mastery of education be the next challenge taken up by the global community?
Christian Sautter
France Reflected in Japan Growth or Decline
Where does the formidable Japanese resistance to unemployment come from? How can their persistence be explained when Japan, like all developed countries, is faced with robotization, technological revolutions and, more recently, competition in the form of young populations in neighboring countries? This should give France pause for thought: as starkly contrasted as these two cultures may seem, France and Japan are sister countries. Thus reflected in the mirror of Japan, France can discover that its decline need not be fatal, and that it is up to France to break with a decrepit conservatism and embrace growth. Christian Sautter is the director of studies at the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales (EHESS).
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.
