Catalog All books
Pascal Picq
Who will take power? Great apes, Politicians or Robots
Like Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind… with a dash of humour and a knowledge of prehistory too! Transhumanism, which is at the core of this book, is the subject of the moment.
Michael S. Gazzaniga
Who’s in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain
Are we really the masters of our actions and are we wholly responsible for what we do?
Thierry Lodé
Why Animals Cheat and Make Mistakes
A brilliant contribution to evolutionary biology and to the study of animal behaviour, written in a lively, vivid style
Edouard Pélissier
Why Croissants and Cholesterol Are Both Killers
A new concept — systemic inflammation — offers a global approach to fight against many diseases
Claude Debru, Frédéric-Pierre Isoz
Why Do We Believe?
This book is a dialogue between a philosopher and a psychoanalyst.
Gérard Chaliand
Why Do We Lose War? A New Western Art Form
Learning from the military failures of the West and rethinking war
Laurent Cohen
Why Girls Are Not (That) Bad at Maths And 40 Other Stories About the Brain
Everything you ever wanted to know about brain power, explained with humour, precision and clarity
Michel Raymond
Why I Didn’t Invent the Wheel
Between nature and culture, a fascinating, widely accessible book about human evolution
Raymond Boudon
Why intellectual peoples don't like liberalism
Given the intellectual force of liberalism, its political appeal, its economic effectiveness and its historical significance, why is it so unpopular among French intellectuals? Why does it elicit so little serious discussion? And why is it the object of so much confusion, so many clichés and misunderstandings? Is it simply out of resentment, because intellectuals feel that the market does not afford them the material and symbolic rewards that they believe they deserve? Is it just because they prefer to play a critical role in a society where capitalism is triumphant? Perhaps, but these reasons do not explain everything and they certainly dont explain the systematic rejection of liberal thought in France. A sociologist of knowledge rather than of social determinism, and a specialist in belief systems, Raymond Boudon ruthlessly analyses the cognitive mechanisms that make liberalism so hateful in the eyes of French intellectuals. The result is a keen, detailed review of the clichés that have encumbered discussions for more than thirty years. Raymond Boudon, a professor at the University of Paris-IV, is a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He us the author of numerous works, most notably LInégalité des chances, La logique du social, LIdéologie ou lorigine des idées reçues, LArt de se persuader, Le Sens des valeurs and Déclin de la morale? Déclin des valeurs. He is the co-author, with R. Leroux, of Y a-t-il encore une sociologie?
Martine Perez
Why Smoking Should Be Banned
A journalistic investigation by a health expert who brings to our attention the real — and imagined — health risks
Gerald M. Edelman
Wider than the Sky
The brain is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease and you beside, wrote the American poet Emily Dickinson in the mid-nineteenth century. The fundamental mechanisms governing mental life are now the subject of scientific study. In this book, Gerald Edelman examines a major aspect of the mind - consciousness. How can the firing of neurons give rise to subjective sensations, thoughts and emotions? How can the disparate domains of mind and body be reconciled? A scientific explanation of consciousness must take into account the causal connections between these two domains. Such a theory must show how the neural bases of consciousness appeared during the evolutionary process and how certain animals developed consciousness. These are some of the key issues that Gerald Edelman examines here. He shows that consciousness cannot be located in a specific area of the brain, because it is a process linked to how the brain functions as a whole, to its wealth of connections and to its great complexity. The brain, he argues, is not a kind of computer. Edelman is regarded as one of the greatest theoreticians of the brain, and his notion of consciousness dominates all discussions on the subject among the international scientific community. This book offers the most accessible version of his theories that is available today. The winner of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Gerald Edelman heads the Institute for Neurosciences, in La Jolla, California.
Marc D. Hauser
Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think
A slender loris comes up to a zoo keeper and hugs him. A dog lowers its head and whines when its master is unhappy. Is such behaviour a sign of affection and empathy or are other mechanisms at work, to explain the animals near-human behaviour? Why do chimps and dolphins form coalitions to defend themselves? How do lions determine, from far away, the number of gazelles calmly watering by a stream? How is it that a few species can recognise their own image in a mirror? Marc D. Hauser is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Harvard University, where he is a fellow of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Program. Besides performing laboratory research, he has done extensive fieldwork in Kenya, Uganda and Puerto Rico.
Boris Cyrulnik
Wild Paradises, Heroic Joy
A breath of fresh air from a talented writer who brings a courageous and exacting vision to these troubled times.
Édouard Zarifian
The Will to Be Cured
Here is the most anachronistic and conservative book that could be written on medicine. Here I defend an idea which is too often forgotten, even if it is at the base of all practical medicine that no treatment can be really whole if the patient, those close to him, and his doctor dont establish a special relationship based on trust. Compassion, understanding of suffering and devotion all have a place in the therapeutic relationship. How should we best care for the sick? Why heal? Its a lost word that I propose here to recover. Édouard Zarifian is a professor of psychiatry and medical psychology at the University of Caen.
Rolf Schäppi
Woman is the Characteristic of Man From Animal Ethology to Human Nature
In this book, the author points out that although human beings are both mammals and primates, they differ in many significant ways from the other mammals and primates. Besides speech, laughter and the ability to use tools, the species Homo sapiens differs from its closest zoological cousins by three additional characteristics, which are less frequently cited because they are found only in the female. These are the female silhouette, hidden strus and the menopause. Rolf Schäppi is a psychiatrist and ethologist.
Florence Lautrédou
The Woman Who Couldn’t Remember her Dreams
A lively tale of great psychological finesse, featuring characters who are stuck in life and learn to link their night-time dreams to their life dreams.
Jean Abitbol
Woman’s Voice
A comprehensive book on the female voice by one of the best specialists, who works with people whose voice is their primary tool: teachers, singers, men and women politicians.
