Catalog All books
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee
Phantoms in the Brain Human Nature and the Architecture of the Mind
How do we make decisions? Why do we deceive ourselves? Why do we dream? Why may we believe in God? Why do we laugh or become depressed? Few scientists have dared address these questions that inform our daily lives with so much acumen and audacity. V.S. Ramachandran is a brilliant Sherlock Holmes of neuroscience. He reveals the strangest case studies he has encountered of patients suffering from serious neurological disorders and the insights they yield about human nature and the workings of the mind. V.S. Ramachandran is professor and director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, at the University of California.
Jean-Claude Carrière, Thibault Damour
Reflections on the Mass of the World
Physicists are now faced with the disturbing certainty that the reality of the world is multiple. We do not exist in a single story, with a middle and an ending. Instead, we live in a multitude of superimposed stories although we see only our own because our perception is limited by the narrow beam of light in which we exist.
Didier Pleux
From the King Child to the Tyrant Child
More and more parents are faced with what amounts to a power take-over by their children. The tyrannical child makes constant demands, uses his parents for his own ends and creates a climate of psychological violence. The solution lies in education coupled with authority. This is a lively, clear and polemical work which shows parents how to redefine their parental authority and should enable them to feel less anxious. Besides offering practical psychological advice, it also provides an examination of what living in society means. Didier Pleux is a clinical psychologist
Bertrand Cramer, Christiane Robert-Tissot, Sandra Rusconi Serpa
From Baby to Preadolescent A Longitudinal Study
In 1991, 103 mother-and-infant pairs visited Genevas Guidance Infantile. The infants all displayed functional and behavioural disorders. Ten years later, the same mother-child pairs were re-evaluated by Professor Cramers team, who was thus able to make a number of prospective analyses. What became of the symptoms that the infants had first presented? Did any of the symptoms first displayed indicate a predisposition to other disorders? Can the characteristics that helped them to endure be identified? And what can be said of the role played by cognitive development and parental representations, as well as by protective factors? Professor Bertrand Cramer is a child psychiatrist.
Marc Jeannerod
The Intimate Brain
Today, the brain has ceased to be regarded as existing in isolation in the human body. It is now considered in relation to its sensory, emotional and cultural environment. This book asks the question of what are the mechanisms and chemistry of the emotions? How do emotional states and the consciousness of those states permeate memory and thought? How does depression affect the emotions, and how can it be treated? How is the consciousness of self and of others constructed? Marc Jeannerod teaches physiology at the University Claude-Bernard-Lyon-I, and is the director of the Institute of Cognitive Sciences.
Christian de Duve
Listening to the Living
Everything one should know about biology is explained here by a Nobel Prize winner, including the origin of life, its chemical production and reproduction, the history of life, its earliest forms and also human evolution, the brain, the genius of genetics, and extra-terrestrial life. Finally, the author shows that although biology has undermined arguments in favour of the existence of God, religion and faith are a necessary product of nature selection. Christian de Duve is the director of the Brussels-based International Institute on Cellular Pathology. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 for his findings concerning the structural and functional organisation of cells.
Hubert Montagner
Child and Animal The Emotions Which Liberate Intelligence
What could be more commonplace than the emotional ties that some children develop with cats and dogs or other pets? And yet, nothing could be more surprising than the fact that such ties, which are sometimes very close and intense, can exist between members of very different species. The author traces the long history of this co-evolution, from the early domestication of animals for economic ends (such as warning or defence) to the keeping of animals as pets. Above all, he asks the question: What if animals contribute significantly to childrens psychological and emotional development? Professor Hubert Montagner heads a research unit of INSERM.
Jeanne Siaud-Facchin
The Over-Gifted Child Helping them to grow up, helping them to succeed
It could almost be said that gifted children are in danger. They are emotional sponges who often ignore the insouciance of childhood, and their hyper-receptivity puts them in a state of heightened vigilance. For these reasons, gifted children are more often familiar with fear and anxiety. And yet, if parents and teachers understand the gifted child, he or she will blossom and make use of the great wealth of his or her personality and abilities. The goal of this practical manual is to guide parents and teachers in the discovery of gifted or exceptional children. Jean Siaud-Facchin is a clinical psychologist.
