Catalog All books
Jean-Didier Vincent
The Biology of Passions
What is it to love? Can one explain the love of Romeo for Juliet? What are desire, pleasure and pain, the taste for power and domination? Moving beyond the traditional split between body and mind, Jean-Didier Vincent proposes a new theory of emotions which brings harmony to our concept of mankind. Jean-Didier Vincent is a neurobiologist and director of the Alfred Fessard Institute of CNRS at Gif-sur-Yvette.
André Lebeau
The Space Legacy
Man has begun to realize one of his most ancient dreams: to overcome gravity, to conquer space, to explore the universe. André Lebeau sheds light on some of the stakes of this quest. By examining the logic of evolution which drives us to explore, and then to occupy, discovered continents, Lebeau traces the perspectives that the possible colonization of outer space opens to humanity. In so doing, he offers a new viewpoint on the dynamics of scientific and technological progress.
Pierre Gascar
A Look at the Home of Monsieur Pasteur
The spirit which inspired Pasteur's work is kept alive by the Institut Pasteur in Paris. From the discovery of the rabies virus and vaccine, to the Nobel Prize winning work of the Paris school of molecular biology, P. Gascar traces the history of an institution which has formed some of the finest biological minds of the century.
Michel Baroin
The Power of Love
Defining who I am, what I believe in, and where I exercise my responsabilities, whether within my family, the city, or the companies I am in charge of; taking from this experience a message of hope for the future, a moral for the individual, a conception of society: this is the aim of this essay, written by M. Baroin, the former Grand Master of the Grand-Orient de France, who died in an aircrash in 1987.
Philippe Kourilsky
The Architects of Heredity
Is man on the verge of controlling heredity? Will the characteristics of living creatures soon depend on our choice ? Do genetic manipulation, cloning and mutation warrant the fear they inspire? Philippe Kourilsky is the General Director of the Pasteur Institute. He is a professor at the Collège de France, and a member of the Academy of Sciences.
Claude Hagège
The French Language and the Centuries
Claude Hagege illustrates how the internal purity of the French language, less endangered than one might think, has been pushed aside in favor of its external promotion, less real than one might imagine. He increases our awareness of a major reality of the times. The French language is no longer the exclusive property of France; it has become an international affair. Claude Hagege is a professor at the Collège de France.
Claude Allègre
The Furies of the Earth
Can modern science protect us against earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? What are their causes? What can be done to prevent them? C. Allègre, the world-known geologist, answers these questions, while investigating the role of scientists and the medias.
Michel Rocard
Putting One's Heart into One's Work
In this intellectual and political autobiography, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard explains the ethical requirements which underlied his every political action. This book provides an uncompromising analysis of French society and politics by examining the economic, cultural and social questions which France poses itself today.