Catalog All books

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.

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.

Gilles Godefroy
The Adventure of Numbers
Numbers never cease to fascinate. The Adventure of Numbers recounts the history of the gradual discovery of numerical characteristics, from the early days of arithmetic to the most sophisticated recent issues: Could a robot be created that would reduce all mathematics to simple sums? Are we sure that arithmetic does not conceal contradictions? Can all mathematical truths be demonstrated? The surprising answers given by Gilles Godefroy are the latest in an on-going saga that will doubtless continue to astound us. Mathematician Gilles Godefroy is a research director at the French Centre National de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

Gérard Macqueron, Stéphane Roy
Shyness
Everyone experiences some form of shyness. Who can honestly say that they have never been intimidated? In this book, the authors offer a step-by-step programme to help readers understand their own shyness and learn to overcome it, by identifying and acting on problem situations, emotions, behaviour and thoughts. Numerous tools can serve to make communication easier: knowing how to listen, learning to make conversation, and learning to assert oneself. In addition, there is a section devoted to shyness among children and teenagers. The method of self-therapy described here has been scientifically tested and shown to be particularly effective in overcoming shyness. Gérard Macqueron is a psychiatrist at Hôpital Sainte-Anne, in Paris, and at the Clinique du Château, in Garches, near Paris. He is a consultant in career-stress management with Patrick Légeron, at Stimulus. Stéphane Roy is a psychologist and psychotherapist at the medical-psychiatric centre in Garches.

Fatma Bouvet de la Maisonneuve
Women's choice
woman physician-psychiatrist appraises the condition of women in today’s society.

Pierluigi Graziani, Daniela Eraldi-Gackiere
How to Stop Abusing Alcohol
Not only does alcohol abuse have serious consequences for physical and psychic health, it is also destructive of personal and social relationships. But putting an end to this form of drug abuse is particularly complex, because alcohol creates a dependence that is both physical and psychological, and because it is, in many cultures, closely linked to sociability. In trying to help alcohol abusers who wish to stop drinking, one is often confronted with resistance and denial. The authors, specialists in cognitive and behavioural therapies, describe methods that have been successfully used for many years in the treatment of alcohol abuse in a hospital setting. Pierluigi Graziani is a psychologist and lecturer on clinical psychology and psychopathologies at the University of Aix-Marseille-Ain, in Aix-en-Provence. Daniela Eraldi-Gackière is a psychologist.

Manuella Rebotini
Totemic Drums A Short History of Rock Music and Some Psychoanalytic Considerations
Contemporary American popular history, revisited by rock music and psychoanalysis

Michel Schneider
Big Mother The Psychopathology of Political Life
Listening, closeness, emergencies, love - politicians today play up to the mother. Leaders dare not lead, the citizens are now so child-like that they simply wait to be told what to do by the State : the Leisure State behaves like those mothers who cannot stand to think that their children can play by themselves, and insist on keeping them busy. Where are the fathers ? Is this the end of the paternal reference and the symbolic order of things ? A psychoanalyst, Michel Schneider was formerly a director of music and dance at the Ministry of Culture.

Marie-France Le Heuzey
The Hyperactive Child
What causes hyperactivity? Who to blame: society, parents, genetics? How should Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(AD/HD) be treated? Is AD/HD a genetic or a family problem? Should children suffering from AD/HD be medicated? With its numerous case studies, pertinent advice and accessible scientific explanations, this book is bound to become the basic reference work on AD/HD for the general reader. Marie-France Le Heuzey is a medical psychiatrist.

Sylvie Royant-Parola
How to Beat Insomnia By Yourself
Thirty-five percent of all French people suffer from insomnia. The lives of those who have difficulties sleeping often turn into nightmares of fatigue, anxiety, irritability and lack of concentration. How can the vicious circle of insomnia be broken? In this practical manual, Dr. Royant-Parola offers straightforward tips to help insomniacs. Sylvie Royant-Parola is a psychiatrist and neuro-biologist.

André Miquel, Jamel Eddine Bencheikh
Of Arabia and Islam
Two French specialists on Islam, one Algerian, the other a native Frenchman, discuss Islam and its confrontation with the Western world. Interweaving references to the past and present, they recount a long history of cultural confrontation, marked by continuous debate and violent conflict, repulsion and fascination. Resolutely optimistic, yet painfully aware of the religious intransigence which enshrouds their subject, their conversations shed new light on the conceptions of power and unity within the Muslim world.

Roland Coutanceau
The Injuries of Intimacy
How can evil be understood? How can we apprehend the barbaric potential of some human beings? The need for large-scale information, prevention and education is underlined here

Antoine Pelissolo, Stéphane Roy
Stop Blushing — Accepting that Others See You
Blushing deeply in public can cause embarrassment.

Étienne Klein
The Small Bang of Nanotechnologies
Nanotechnologies no longer concern just the manipulation of matter, one atom at a time: they now incorporate all the techniques that allow the manufacture of tiny objects with a precision equal to one billionth of a metre...

Henri-Jean Aubin, Patrick Dupont, Gilbert Lagrue
How to Stop Smoking
We are all aware that tobacco seriously damages health. Yet despite this, many of us continue to fall into the trap and start smoking. And many smokers who try to overcome their dependence fail to do so because quitting involves more than just will-power. This book will enable smokers to understand the mechanisms underlying their tobacco dependence so that they will be able to free themselves of it, without breaking down. Dependence may be physical, but it is also psychological and behavioural. Three eminent specialists have brought together their skills here to offer a real, step-by-step action programme. Professor Gilbert Lagrue is a specialist in vascular diseases. Dr. Henri-Jean Aubin is a psychiatrist and heads a section in a centre devoted to the treatment of addictions. Dr. Patrick Dupont works toward putting a stop to tobacco abuse for the Office Français de Prévention du Tabagisme.

Stéphanie Hahusseau
How to Stop Yourself Spoiling Your Life
Our lives are governed by patterns and beliefs which we have inherited from childhood and which, without our knowledge, make us repeat the same mistakes and relive the same distress. Stéphanie Hahusseau breaks down such patterns in this concise self-help book, which aims to help us change our lives. Illustrated with numerous case studies, the advice offered here is always concrete and specific. It should help us embark on a journey of self-discovery and to put an end to what makes us suffer. Stéphanie Hahusseau is a psychiatrist practising in Toulouse.