Human Sciences All books
Georges Charpak, Roland Omnès
Becoming a Magician is Becoming Prophet
In a simple, accessible style the authors address questions that we all ask ourselves about science: Why hasn't science made human beings wiser? Hasn't it even had the opposite effect, rendering humans' criminal tendencies even more devastating? To answer these questions, the authors develop the idea that the advent and triumph of modern science have induced a profound change in humanity because science has given human beings the capacity to understand and master phenomena occurring on the microscopic level - a scale that is alien to them. Some of the fundamental elements of contemporary physics are presented here in game form. The authors argue that physics has left free human beings face to face with an equally free interplay of natural forces and that, without causality and finality, the world has become deprived of meaning. It is therefore hardly surprising that many have taken refuge in religion. But the authors propose an alternative to religion, arguing that we can fulfil our modernity by helping our children develop their love of experimentation so that they can discover the meaning of things for themselves - instead of embracing ideologies that can only be imposed through terror. Georges Charpak is a physicist and Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics. Roland Omnès is a physicist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris XI-Orsay.
Janine Mossuz-Lavau, Anne de Kervasdoué
Women are Not Just Men
The changes which have come to be in the second half of the 20th century have taken women a long ways from the profile adopted by their mothers. Do all these transformations lead us to trace the portrait of a woman who has become a clone of men ? We can ask ourselves this question when we remember the arguments of feminists in the 70's employing the "egalitarian" themes of Simone de Beauvoir. More recently, some have gone so far as to announce the coming of an "androgynous" society. But what do the women and the men of this country think about all this ? How do women see themselves in relation to men ? How do they define themselves and how do they describe the men of their lives ? A very pointed realization of today's female identity. Janine Mossuz-Lavau is Director of Research at the CNRS.
Philippe Kourilsky
The Time of the altruism
An eminent scientist tells us how to alter our thinking so that we can finally face the present global challenges with effective common actions.
Yves-Alain Fontaine
Eels and Man
In this book, the author, an expert in his field, describes the most fascinating stages in the eels biological cycle, its migrations and the modifications it undergoes during its life. Eels interest us not only because of their life and breeding cycles, but also because of the questions they raise concerning our ideas about evolution. Does the notion of adaptation suffice to explain everything the eel has become? Doesnt a living creature maintain a certain amount of independence in relation to the world that surrounds it? Or is the relationship between a living creature and the environment which surrounds it more complex that we have generally realised ?
Daniel Pinto
The Clash of Capitalisms How we were deprived of our entrepreneurial genius and what we can do to reinvent it
Does capitalism still have a future? This book shows that it does, but only if it retrieves the formula that led to its success: the spirit of enterprise coupled with state support.
Marc Jeannerod
Of Mental Physiology A History of the Relationship Between Biology and Psychology
A relative newcomer to the world of science, psychology gives rise to a rivalry between two older siblings, philosophy and biology. This enduring conflict between materialism and spiritualism, which continues today in other forms, without adoubt was the driving force behind its progress. What we know today about the spirit is a result of this history. Biology and psychology have shaped each other in turn. This book represents a riveting study on how two centuries of spiritual quarrelling made possible the modern attempt to establish the inner workings of the mind. A professor of physiology at the Université Claude Bernard, Marc Jeannerod is also the director of an Inserm neurological research team in Lyon.
Xavier Pommereau
Teens.com Follow Their Progress
A new method to understand and treat troubled adolescents based on their own lifestyle
Marylène Patou-Mathis
War in Prehistory
A fascinating journey to the origins of violence among humans
Karine Berger, Valérie Rabault
France Strikes Back For a More Competitive France
How can France recover its status as one of the world’s five most competitive nations?
Ricardo Bofill, Nicolas Véron
Urban Architecture
What is there in common between all my designs ? What meaning can I give today to my architecture ? Without doubt, that of a desire to organise space. Due to an apprenticeship in perception, observation, and geometrisation of nature, in addition to a historical journey, I have learnt that in order to go past the initial momentum, I have to acquire the mastery of a whole new language." Ricardo Bofill Ricardo Bofill is probably one of the most famous, yet most controversial architects of his time. In this book illustrated with pictures and plans, he delivers an analysis of his art which amounts to an invitation to read the city.
Jean-Marie Chevalier, Patrice Geoffron
Energy Transitions Making the Right Choices
French leaders need to make the right energy choices — if they don’t the current economic crisis will only become worse
Martine Segalen, Nicole Athea
The Markets of Motherhood
Against surrogacy: an impassioned illumination from multiple angles to understand the debates and implications, and, above all, the practical realities with which it confronts us.
Laurence Caron-Verschave, Yves Ferroul
A Century Ago Marrying for Love Was a Novelty A New History of the Western Couple
The history of male-female relations, from earliest times to the present
Alain Dupas, Jean-Christophe Messina, Cyril de Sousa Cardoso
Innovating Like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs
Large companies are no longer what they once were: rockets, electric cars, technological breakthroughs, dematerialized commerce and services are all on the rise.
Roger-Pol Droit
The Spirit of Childhood
Roger-Pol Droit applies practical philosophy, in which the reader learns to find hidden resources in himself, in which he is guided towards the path of a better-being, a better self-understanding.
Francis Eustache, Bérengère Guillery-Girard
Neuro-Education Memory in Child Development and Optimising Memory Skills in the Classroom
Understanding the mysteries of memory to improve learning skills
Boris Cyrulnik
Preparing the children for kindergarten
Boris Cyrulnik, accompanied by a dozen early childhood experts, leads an exploration of how we can build the kindergarten of tomorrow and how we can give our little ones the very best chance of success
Emmanuel Terray
The Trial of the Revolution
In the first part, the author begins by letting the prosecution talk about the French Revolution. In the second part, Emmanuel Terray asks: where are we today, after two other revolutions, in Russia and in China?
Xavier Emmanuelli
Children of the Streets A clinic of exclusion
A fascinating analysis: from the witch-children of West and Central Africa to child-soldiers, child refugees, victims of war and catastrophe, exploited children, handicapped children, orphans who have never known human closeness, child-mothers and child-prostitutes…