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Stella Baruk
Si 7 = 0. Quelles mathématiques pour l'école ?
Stella Baruk is known for her uncompromising criticism of the way mathematics is taught at school. She sees children's frequent aversion to the subject as a clear demonstration of the failure of current methods. Following her earlier book, L'Age du Capitaine, in which she denounced the meaningless mathematical problems that children were burdened with and enjoined to solve, she now addresses the difficulties encountered by the new generation of the captain's children. She has reproduced pages from the exercise books of primary school pupils, with a commentary underlining the confusion created by modern maths in the minds of children who are not yet familiar with mathematics. Her message is clear: the fault lies not in modern maths, but in the fact that the cart has been put before the horse. Modern maths was created to generalise operations and structures that recur in every aspect of mathematics, and modern maths cannot be correctly understood without the full mastery of those operations and structures. Yet, the teaching of mathematics has been turned on its head, with the abstract being taught before the concrete and the general before the specific - with the result that empty formalism is all that is being passed on. Baruk's very precise analyses, illustrated with specific examples, will help parents understand their children's mistakes and difficulties, so that they can help them overcome them. Stella Baruk is a mathematics teacher and pedagogical researcher.
Jean Bénichou, Marc Libotte
The Book of Feet and Walking
Do you have flat feet ? Hollow feet ? How can deviations of the toe be treated ? Sprains ? How can you look after the nails and the skin ? How should you treat athletes foot ? What to make of reflexology ? Why are the feet of children, athletes and senior citizens so fragile ? How is the marvel of bipedalism possible ? What is the position of the foot in our culture ? Dr Jean Bénichou and Professor Marc Libotte are orthopaedic surgeons, specialising in foot surgery.
Bernard Golse, Sylvie Gosme-Seguret, Mostafa Mokhtari
Babies in Intensive Care Born and Reborn (with the collaboration of Martine Bloch)
Today, about 10% of all infants spend at least some time in an intensive care unit immediately after birth. This means that a significant number of babies begin their lives in a highly technical, medical environment, far from a home and family environment. How are these children affected by such early medical treatment? What is the impact on their psychic growth and development, and how can it be limited ? A child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Bernard Golse heads the child psychiatry department at the Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, in Paris. He teaches child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Paris V.
Jacques Lesourne, Denis Randet
Research and Innovation in France FutuRIS 2011
With a view to the 2011 French presidential elections, here are a series of proposals that offer the middle classes the future perspectives they deserve
Robert Dautray, Jacques Lesourne
Humanity and the Challenge of Climate Change
A thorough examination of current scientific data concerning the evolution of climate change and related phenomena.
Jacques Lecomte
Cured of Childhood
How does a child whom life has hurt become resilient? Jacques Lecomte examines every aspect of a child's environment that can help him or her overcome misfortune. He stresses the crucial need for markers in the reconstruction of the child's personality, and on the importance of finding meaning in suffering. This is a thorough study of resilience, its foundations and how it works. It is also a polemical work which questions the role played by psychotherapists in building resilience. Jacques Lecomte argues that they are not the only ones who can do this - and that sometimes psychotherapists can do more harm than good. The author suggests specific plans of action, for families and children, so that those who are suffering and in pain may learn to become resilient and happy. This book offers a powerful message of hope - happiness, says the author, lies in acquiring a better understanding of resilience. Jacques Lecomte is a doctor in psychology and a lecturer at the University of Paris-X. He specialises in training professionals who work with children and is secretary general of the International Observatory on Resilience, presided by Boris Cyrulnik.
Claude Bébéar
The Courage to Reform
"We need to reconstruct political thought. Antiquated ways of seeing, archaic thought patterns, and bygone paradigms anaesthetise France and paralyse the nations ability to act. Political action must now provide a global reply to the question: What must be done? Courage depends above all on independent thought freed from all customs and conventional patterns, writes Claude Bébéar.
Jean-Paul Betbèze
The Ten Commandments of Finance
Contemporary finance is driven by a quest for a high rate of profitability. According to Jean-Paul Betbèze, this quest is ruled by ten commandments, ranging from "Thou shalt always seek a 15% return on Equity" to "Thou shalt not allow the whole system to explode". He examines how this has upset the old form of capitalism, and in his lively, clear style, the author recounts the unprecedented changes that are now taking place and that will determine our future. Jean-Paul Betbèze teaches at the University of Paris Panthéon-Assas.
Michel Griffon, Florent Griffon
In Defence of a Viable World Global Change for Planetary Viability
Increased awareness and urgent measures needed by 2050 if we are to avoid the worst-case scenario on a planetary scale.
Sylvie Thénault
The Hidden Side of Colonial Algeria Camps, administrative internment, house arrest
An essential new work in the study of French colonial history
Jean Adès, Michel Lejoyeux
Give Me More! Gambling, Sex, Work, Money
Do we live in an age of addictions? Some pass their time in the office, to the detriment of their family life. Others blow their budget on useless and spontaneous buys. Others still crave thrills and sensations, obtained through participating in extreme sports. But is there a link between a drug addict and a person addicted to shopping, sex or work? Are these new dependencies increasingly frequent, symptomatic of our society? Where does pleasure stop and danger begin? Jean Adès is professor of medicine. Professor Michael Lejoyeux is a psychiatrist.
Marc Jeannerod
The Volitional Brain
Volition lies at the heart of human reality. It is the manifestation of our inner self, and plays an active part in the implementation of our intentions, desires and projects...