Biology All books
Christine Tardieu
How We Become Bipeds The Wolf-Child Myth
A history of how and why humans are the only mammals that permanently adopted bipedalism.
Maxime Schwartz
How the Cows Became Mad
Fear of the condition popularly known as mad cow disease has created a state of collective hysteria: some consumers are so afraid of contracting the disease that they have stopped eating beef; others havent stopped eating beef simply because they believe it is too late to do anything to prevent catching the illness. This book examines the outbreak of this disease and concludes with the reply to the question that is on everyones lips: Should we be afraid? Maxime Schwartz teaches at the Institut Pasteur, in Paris.
Bernard Sablonnière
Hopes For a Long and Good Life
A very accessible, clear book with rigorous scientific explanations, enabling the reader to see the differences between false miraculous recipes and true possibilities to act against aging.
Pascale Cossart, Fabrice Hyber
The Great Voyage among Microbes
A wonderful introduction to microbiology by an eminent scientist. A richly illustrated work by Fabrice Hybert, very instructive.
Annick Perrot, Maxime Schwartz
The Genius of Pasteur: Saving the ‘Poilus’
How Pasteur and his followers saved lives and changed the course of the war in 1914-1918
Luca Cavalli-Sforza
Genes, People and Languages (Work of the Collège de France)
How is culture passed on ? Is it possible to reconstruct the history of the evolution of the human species using genetic information from existing populations ?
François Gros
From Penicillin to genomics
The life of a scientist, one of the discoverers of how genes function, and an explorer of the future of biology
Jill-Patrice Cassuto
From Mad Cow Disease to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Jill-Patrice Cassuto examines the precursors of BSE and reviews some of the early research into the disease. He also studies the human form of BSE, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, and addresses the highly controversial question of ways the disease may be transmitted. This book is not only a scientific overview of current knowledge about BSE. It is also a thorough inquiry into the BSE scare and an examination of the issue of responsibility and of how health issues and risks are dealt with within the European Community. Jill-Patrice Cassuto teaches medicine and heads a clinical hematology service in a university hospital.
Christian de Duve
From Jesus to Darwin… and Back to Jesus
The legacy of a great Nobel-prize winning scientist.
Stuart J. Edelstein
From genes to genomes
Rapid progress in the field of genetics is changing our lives in more ways than one. In order to understand these changes, Stuart Edelstein has approached each facet of the subject from three points of view: contemporary society and politics; technical developments; and basic research. By keeping to some fundamental points, this book will enable the lay reader to understand before judging the social implications of recent discoveries in biology. This is science with a civic sense. Stuart Edelstein teaches biochemistry at the University of Geneva.
Kevin Padian
From Darwin to Dinosaurs (Work of the Collège de France) An Essay on the Idea of Evolution
In this book, Kevin Padian, world-renowned expert on dinosaurs, takes a historical approach to evolution and gives his view of some of the key problems of the theory of evolution
Pierre Roubertoux
Existe-t-il des gènes du comportement ?
Recent advances in genetic research have had widespread and far-reaching influences in fields as varied as animal and plant biology and medicine. They have also upset some ethical rules. Genetics today is in a triumphant, seductive phase, but its limits are yet to be defined. In this book, the eminent French geneticist Pierre Roubertoux argues that genetics has strayed too far from its justifiable areas of application. Soon, genetics may even be applied to the mind and to consciousness, just as it is already being applied to behaviour by scientists who contend that each type of conduct has its corresponding gene (this is tantamount to saying a specific gene is responsible for each virtue and each vice). Scientists who defend this theory say that they have discovered genes linked to various degrees of activity in mice and flies. Thus, intemperance and gluttony would be linked to a genetic partiality to alcohol, sugar or fats. Pride could be explained by a gene for dominance which has allegedly been found in mice. Greed, too, could be explained by a gene. The supposed existence of an infidelity gene was much in the news three years ago. This is a sound scientific synthesis which will enable readers to grasp the contribution of genetics to our comprehension of who and what we are. It should also help them resist the temptation of reducing everything to genetics. Pierre Roubertoux is a professor at the University of Aix-Marseille and a research fellow at the Institute of Physiological and Cognitive Neuroscience at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Yves-Alain Fontaine
Eels and Man
In this book, the author, an expert in his field, describes the most fascinating stages in the eels biological cycle, its migrations and the modifications it undergoes during its life. Eels interest us not only because of their life and breeding cycles, but also because of the questions they raise concerning our ideas about evolution. Does the notion of adaptation suffice to explain everything the eel has become? Doesnt a living creature maintain a certain amount of independence in relation to the world that surrounds it? Or is the relationship between a living creature and the environment which surrounds it more complex that we have generally realised ?
Anne Nédélec
The Earth and Life: A 4 billion Year History
The evolution of the Earth and life over 4 billion years.
Nicole Le Douarin
Dreams, Clones and Genes
This book affirms that we are at the dawn of a new type of medicine which will no longer be concerned only with palliative measures and repairs, but will also be capable of regenerating diseased tissues via the introduction of embryonic cells. This major upheaval will oblige us to reconsider the meaning of the individual and of life itself. Nicole Ledouarin teaches at the Collège de France.
Israel Rosenfield, Edward Ziff, Borin Van Loon
DNA for Beginners
The amazing story of DNA is recounted here in an entertaining comic-book form...
Edward O. Wilson
The Diversity of Life
What are the mechanics of evolution? What is the force behind diversity and the proliferation of the species? Why does nature never stop inventing new forms of life? What is the effect of great catastrophes on the evolution of the species? What is the real effect of human action on nature? A professor at Harvard University, Edward O. Wilson is one of the most important theoricians of biological evolution. He is also one of the most ardent lobbyists for the preservation of nature.
Antoine Danchin
The Delphic Boat What Genomes Tell Us
What is it that constitutes the unity and identity of a living creature ? This is the fundmental question of biology. The recent sequencing techniques provide a completely new response to this question, notably thanks to the knowledge of whole genomes. Antoine Danchin establishes a clear picture of this important biological discovery. He shows in particular that, just like the boat of Delphi, life is beyond prediction, and at the same time has an infinite capacity to create the unexpected. Antoine Danchin is the director of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the Institut Pasteur.
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.
Alain Prochiantz
Darwin: 200 Years
More than an homage to a great scientist, this book, written by eminent specialists, is a perfect introduction to understanding the impact of Darwinism on contemporary thinking and science
Alain Berthoz
Creative Inhibition To act is also to inhibit
A neglected concept, inhibition holds the key to our individual and social behaviors. A broad bio-sociological panorama for observing human behavior with fresh eyes.
