General All books
Étienne-Émile Baulieu
The Generation of the Pill
After meeting Gregory Pincus, the inventor of the pill, E. Baulieu, a young researcher and hormone specialist, found himself at the heart of one of society s most burning controversies: contraception. This is his story; his own contribution to contraception, RU 486, the first contragestive pill, and his reflections on the ethical debate it provoked.
Jean Hamburger
Beautiful Imprudences
"Man has broken all the commandments to which living beings are bound. We had the audacity to want the weak to be protected. We gave rights to the individual. We decreased the rate of infant mortality and doubled the rate of life expectancy. But can we avoid the punishments of these beautiful imprudences?" Jean Hamburger Jean Hamburger was at the forefront of modern necrology and the principals of medical resuscitation. A member of the Académie Française and the Académie de Médecine, he was also President of the Académie des Sciences.
Jean-Marie Besson
Pain
Pain. Doctors and researchers have long sought its origin.In this fascinating essay, well-known neurophysiologist J.-M. Besson explains what pain is and how to combat it. He examines acupuncture, various placebos, and recounts the current search for an ideal analgesic, one containing the power of morphine without its negative side effects.