Science All books
Chris Frith
How the Brain Creates Our Mental World
“…a fascinating guided tour through the elusive interface between mind and brain written by a pioneer in the field. The author’s obvious passion for the subject shines through every page.” V. S. Ramachandran
Jeremy Popkin
Revolutionary News The Press In France, 1789-1799
The French Revolution invented a written press of a radically new type, one that was able to transmit to the French...
Gerald M. Edelman, Giulio Tononi
Consciousness : How Matter Becomes Imagination
How do the physical occurrences which take place in our brains create the world of conscious experience ? Philosophers have long disputed this question but today, it is science which is in a position to formulate real answers. Gerald M.Edelman and Giulio Tononi demonstrate that the processes which lead to consciousness are not confined to the brain, but are actually dependant on the functioning of numerous areas. They also show that these interactions are not fixed processes, but are constantly adjusted and modified. This research represents one step further towards understanding our identity and our complexity. Gerald M.Edelman, who has received the Nobel Prize for medicine, heads the Institute of Neurosciences at La Jolla in California. Giulio Tononi is a researcher at the Institute of Neurosciences.
Philippe Descola
Natures in Question Collège de France Autumn Colloquium
The most recent thinking on nature in the era of biotechnology and artificial intelligence
Jerry Fodor
The Mind Doesn't Work That Way The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology
In this book, one of the most eminent figures in the field of cognition reviews his most recent views on the subject, and questions the validity of recent attempts to combine the computational theory of mind with psychological nativism and with biological principles borrowed from Darwinian evolutionary theory. Fodor goes on to examine the question that has remained unanswered for the past fifty years: is the mind a computer? This is a fascinating lesson of philosophical and scientific modesty. Jerry Fodor is a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University.
John Haugeland
Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea
At once philosophical and instructive, this work offers a synthesis of a discipline that marks a revolution, both intellectual and technological, in the approach of the human spirit. John Haugeland teaches philosophy at the University of Pittsburg.
Michel Cassé, Marie-Christine Maurel
Xenobiology Xeno-life
When an astrophysicist encounters a specialist in synthetic biology, they discuss the origins of the universe and of life. The first steps of a new science, whose repercussions could shake our conception of the living and of its evolution.
Joseph Silk
Une brève histoire de l'univers
Joseph Silk is the author of an authoritative book on the Big Bang. In the present work, he covers the history of the universe from that first great explosion and shows how the most recent discoveries in astrophysics i.e. of the cosmic fluctuations from which the great structures of the universe emerged provide the missing link between the Big Bang, which occurred 15 billion years ago, and the present state of the universe. When did time begin? This is the question, already asked by Stephen Hawking, that A Short History of the Universe sets out to answer. It is the subject of current debate among theologians: Did time begin with the Big Bang, in which case God could not have created the universe, or has time existed for all eternity, which would mean that the Big Bang was just one event among others, that God could have existed before it occurred and that He could thus have created the universe? This highly accessible book will be of interest to a wide readership, since the issues examined here concern all of us. Joseph Silk, an astrophysicist and cosmologist, teaches at Oxford University.
Jacques Blamont
Introduction au siècle des menaces
Although the confrontation between rich and poor is universal, it can be heightened by various factors. According to Jacques Blamont, the widening technological gap between the poor and rich nations is one such aggravating factor. The revolution in information technology has been largely responsible, because it has helped to concentrate more and more power and wealth in the hands of the few - particularly in the United States. Blamont lists various potentially threatening situations that are converging to create an explosion such as the world has never seen before. These include: the demographic growth of the very poor, the ageing population in the developed countries, new climatic risks that are endangering the environment, the spread of new epidemics as a result of globalisation, and the limited effects of the military strategies adopted by the most powerful nations. Step by step, the author deconstructs the hellish machine that our children will inherit from us - because we put too much faith in technological progress. Jacques Blamont is a member of the French Academy of Science and a professor at the University of Paris-VI. He is one of the fathers of the French space programme and was formerly the scientific director of the CNES. He is most notably the author of Vénus dévoilée and Le Chiffre et le Songe.
André Brahic
Of Fire and Ice Ardent Planets
A journey through the Universe to explore the mysteries of giant planets
Roger Vigouroux
The Making of Beauty
Where does the gift of artistic genius come from? Why Mozart, why Doestoevsky and Van Gogh? What happens in the brain of a man who devotes his life to writing, painting or music? What is it that pushes us towards the pleasure of listening to a symphony, to the emotion of contemplating a painting, to the joy of reading a poem? Roger Vigouroux is a neurologist.
Claude Aron
Bisexuality and the Order of Nature
Our sex defines our identity before we are even named - "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" is the traditional welcome we receive in this world. Similarly, throughout our entire life, our gender defines our diverse social roles. Yet, this book shows how nature presents us with only one model, that of bisexuality. Endocrinian manipulations have shown that it is possible to change from one sexuality to another in a reversible manner. This book is key reading in the debate about the genetic character, or not, of homosexuality. Claude Aron, a specialist in in the physiology of reproduction, is also an honorary professor of the Louis-Pasteur University in Strasbourg.