Catalog All books
Danièle Voldman
The Mine Clearance of France after 1945
At the liberation of France, the country was covered in mines, planted by the Germans, the Allies and the Resistance during the conflict. The population were fearful of resuming normal life in the face of this danger: France had to remove the mines. Thus in 1945, mine clearance was invented, as before then no-one had any idea how to defuse these weapons of death! Who would be given the heavy responsibility of leading this task ? What did it involve ? What role did the German prisonners of war play ? Danièle Voldman, a historian, is the research director of the CNRS (Institute of Contemporary History).
Joseph Rovan
Bismarck, Germany, and a United Europe 1898-1998-2098
1898-1998: the difference between these two dates is vast, and it is likely that the difference between 1989 and 2098 will be even sharper. This gives us even more reason to reflect on the actions of a man who was able to anticipate and incite change. Joseph Rovan has taught German studies at the French universities of Vincennes and Paris-III. He is the author of many books and articles, including France-Allemagne: Le Bond en Avant, with Jacques Delors and Karl Lamers, published by Editions Odile Jacob.
Monique Sicard
The Making of the Image
It was during the Renaissance that images and pictures were first used by anatomists, microscopists, and astronomers as scientific tools. In that era, scientific images served as a kind of inventory of the known world. In the 19th century, the popularization of scientific ideas gave science a new vigor. Photographic images gave science a new reality, explaining and legitimizing scientific concepts--movement, for example--to a fascinated public. In our days, the scientific image is often a construction--helping us to represent objects and ideas that, like fractals or black holes, cannot be defined through actual observation. Monique Sicard is Projects Director at CNRS Images Média.
