Science All books
Daniel C. Dennett
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
In this book, he confronts this approach with the ideas of Charles Darwin and Darwinism, and addresses the question of evolution. What are the implications of the theory of evolution by natural selection? Why is evolution such a disturbing idea, not only for religious believers but also for philosophers and even for some biologists? How does it affect the concept of mind? In the midst of the current neo-Darwinian wave, this book offers a timely dialogue between the ideas of an important contemporary philosopher and those of the greatest nineteenth-century biologist. Daniel C. Dennett teaches cognitive sciences at Tufts University.
Jean-Pierre Pharabod
UFWs Unidentified Flying Weapons
Most reported sightings of UFOs turn out to be errors, optical illusions, hallucinations, and even practical jokes. But five per cent of all reported cases are more difficult to dismiss. According to the author, the unidentified objects may be clandestine terrestrial aircraft prototypes or secret weapons launched by the major industrialised nations, particularly the United States. Should the mysterious sightings be attributed to UFOs or to UFWs (Unidentified Flying Weapons)?
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.
Michel Pinault
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
This is the first biography of Frédéric Joliot-Curie, the founder of French nuclear research and winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935. For many, he represents the political commitment of French intellectuals in the struggle against Fascism in the twentieth century. His life illustrates the transition from traditional science, limited to the world of academia, to Big Science, with major national and international repercussions. Michel Pinault holds an agrégation and a doctorate in history from the University of Paris I.
Raymond Bruyer
The Brain that "Sees"
Based on numerous examples, this book describes and explains the phenomenon of perceptive recognition: how with minimal information the human brain can identify not only general forms (a man, a woman, a cat, a dog, a house, and so forth), but also specific individuals who might seem scarcely distinguishable from one another, unless a large amount of information is provided. This study of the brain that sees is also an exploration of the perceived world. Raymond Bruyer teaches experimental psychology at the University of Louvain La Neuve, Belgium.
Steven Pinker
How the Mind Works
In his new book, Steven Pinker studies the human mind. What is it? How did it evolve? How does it enable us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact with others, have aesthetic experiences, and reflect on our own lives? This is the long-awaited synthesis encompassing all the major explanations offered by evolutionary biology and the cognitive sciences concerning mental life of human beings. Steven Pinker heads the Center of Cognitive Neurosciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Language Instinct.
André Klarsfeld, Frédéric Revah
The Biology of Death
Why are most living organisms condemned to die a natural death, even if they are in a well-protected and highly favourable environment ? Is death a "useful" biological process or does it not correspond to any natural necessity ?
Paul-Henri Rebut
Energy of the Stars Controlled Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion can be likened to God or the devil. Out there among the stars, it is godlike, creating atoms and giving birth to life. But down below, on earth, nuclear fusion is the devil: it has been used to make bombs that can annihilate everything, including all forms of life. Now that the devil of thermonuclear destruction seems to have been locked back in its box, nuclear fusion kept under tight control in civil reactors offers the hope for long-term economic development. Isnt it the only inexhaustible, non-polluting form of energy that offers no limits except that of human technical knowledge? Paul-Henri Rebut is a member of the Academy of Science.
André Holley
In Praise of our Sense of Smell
Disparaged by the great philosophers and even by Darwin, who considered it useless, yet praised by Proust and Baudelaire for the richness of the emotions it inspires, the human sense of smell is generally considered secondary to the other senses. But is it really? André Holley makes a scientific argument for this powerful yet ambiguous sense. He also examines the tendency on the part of our society to deodorise to refuse accept that smells are sometimes bad, on the other hand inventing entirely new smells with the help of chemistry. Researcher at the CNRS, André Holley is a professor of neuroscience at the university Claude-Bernard in Lyon.
Étienne-Émile Baulieu, Françoise Héritier, Henri Leridon
Contraception : Constraint or Liberty ? (Work of the Collège de France)
It is now generally accepted that contraception should be readily available.
Walter J. Gehring
Master Control Genes in Development and Evolution: The Homeobox
What can be more amazing than an embryos development? How do the cells know that the eyes go on the face and not on a leg or some other part of the body? And why does this information sometimes go awry giving rise to a deformed creature? Walter J. Gehring, a renowned specialist in the genetics of embryonic development, traces recent developments in the field. Walter J. Gehring teaches cellular biology at the University of Basle, Switzerland.
