The renovation of the Musée de l’Homme, the anthropological museum of Paris, raises several questions: How can the museum be reinvented? How can it be made to display the natural history of humankind so that it takes into account the recent spectacular advances in physical and cultural prehistoric anthropology? How can the public be made more conscious of the unity and diversity of the human species in its origins, its biological character and its various cultural representations? And how can the public be made more fully aware of the fragility of the human species in the environment and of the collective responsibility that unites all of humanity in its relation to nature?

In the present volume, the members of the Commission in charge of the renovation of the Musée de l’Homme, address these central issues.

With a preface by Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister of Cultural Affairs and Communication, Roselyne Bachelot, Minister of the Environment and of Lasting Development, and Claudie Haigneré, ministerial delegate for Research and New Technologies.
Postscript by Claudie Haigneré.

Contributions by Serge Bahuchet, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Michel Côté, Dominique Ferriot, Bertrand-Pierre Galey, Lionel Gauthier, Zeev Gourarier, Françoise Héritier, Camille Pisani, François Sémah, Michel Van Praët and Francis Zimmermann.