Biographies, Memoirs All books

Philippe Desan
Montaigne A Political Biography
A brilliant, erudite biography that demolishes many received ideas about the great French philosopher

James Gleick
Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner for his work on the description and calculation of interactions between particles, was a genius of our time. Quantum physics theoretician, enfant terrible of the Manhattan project and ascerbic critic of the investigative committee of the American space shuttle, Feynman left a profound impression on modern physics. James Gleick, a former journalist at The New York Times and author of the best-selling Chaos Theory, tells how Feynman's ideas were formed and how he reinvented particle physics. Through this portrait, Gleick explores the nature of genius itself and provides insight about the fascination that it engenders.

Susan Quinn
Marie Curie New édition
Going beyond the legend, this biography, entirely based on documents in the archives, brings alive the picture of a captivating woman, whose life reads like a novel. Susan Quinn is a biographist and journalist.

Juliette Grange
Auguste Comte - Politics and Science
The writings of Auguste Comte are often reduced to a few excerpts and stereotypes, and as a result the judgement of "positivism" is quickly reached. Yet, industrial politics, the organisation of research, and the influence of the exact sciences on the way we regard politics, all eminently modern themes, lie at the heart of his thought. Therefore, this book, by one of the best French specialists, offers an original rereading of Comte and ultimately opens the way for a more personal reflection on the nature of the relations between science and politics as they exist today. Juliette Grange is a professor at the University of Nancy-II

Louis-Pascal Jacquemond
Irène Joliot-Curie Biography
A brilliant scientist and a committed feminist whose defence of women and science was unflagging


