Biology All books
Académie d'agriculture de France
The Big Book of Trees and Forests Draw a forest for me
In the same vein as the Grand livre de notre alimentation [The Big Book of Food], this book responds to all our questions on forests.
Albert Goldbeter
At the Heart of Life Rhythms Oscillating Life
A thorough review of all the mechanisms that regulate the principal life rhythms. In a jargon-free style this book examines the origin of various types of oscillation and shows what unites them, beyond their specific mechanisms.
Alain Prochiantz
The Anatomies of Thought What do squid think about ?
When we watch a squid facing up to a predator, we see it recoil, agitate the tentacles, spray a jet of ink, and then make use of the temporary blindness of the predator in order to escape to a safe hiding place. Are we able to say what it is thinking ? Evidently, we know that this behaviour is not the result of a reflex unleashed by the sight of an enemy. The mollusc is not however conscious of its acts, at least not in the sense that we, as human beings, understand this term. It is true that we are the product of a evolution of species, and that, although this may not be welcome news for everyone, we share a common ancestry with the octopus, or even the fly. Even if the structure of our cortex, and the invention of language allows us to write about octopuses (or flies), and not the other way round, the fact remains that these evolutive roots, in the same way as other animal species, including invertebrates, have something to teach us about the nature of our thoughts. Alain Prochiantz