Catalog All books
Régis Debray, Jean Bricmont
In the Shadow of Lights A Debate between a Philisopher and a Scientist
What is the meaning for us today of the Enlightenment? Of positivism and of the social sciences? How should we envision the revolutions in physics, biology and the neorosciences? What are the future roles of ideology and politics, faced with the challenge of the present religious come-back? Is the notion of progress still relevant? Can a fundamental, universal anthropology be established? In their discussions, the authors Debray from a literary point of view, and Bricmont from a scientific one meet, confront and defy each other. In the course of their talks, they summon theory and practice, past and present, history and current events, facts and their own personal convictions, to give the reader a brilliant lesson against the dominant mood of nihilism. Régis Debray heads the European Institute of the History and Science of Religion. He is the author of numerous works, including God, An Itinerary. Jean Bricmont teaches theoretical physics at the University of Louvain. He is the co-author with Alan Sokal of Intellectual Impostures.
Herbert Lottman
The Committed Writer and his Ambivalences From Chateaubriand to Malraux
By definition, a committed writer is a well-known one who puts the respect and admiration his name has accrued in the service of a cause. But is it really that simple? Is political commitment only a matter of principles? Isnt it also driven by a quest for celebrity? Described here are the stratagems adopted by some of the greatest figures in the French literary pantheon of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as they faltered between a quest for purity and the desire for personal glory. Herbert Lottman is a renowned biographer.
Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, François Heisbourg
Strategic and Military Yearbook 2003
The war in Iraq - what are the origins of the conflict and the consequences for the Middle East and Europe ? Al-Qaeda, Iran, Syria, North Korea - where are the potential conflicts and those already underway ? Europe, the United States - what place does American supremacy leave its former allies in the Cold War ? What choices can Europe make in the face of this mounting danger ? This book provides an up-to-date, concise and accurate survey of the major trends and strategic challenges facing the world today and tomorrow.
Fareed Zakaria
The Future of Freedom
Is it really so that more democracy leads automatically to more freedom ? Why, in the four corners of the world, are we now seeing an increased capacity for religion to mobilise the people ? Why, in Europe as in the United States, do we have minorities and oligarchies reigning in the name of the people ? Why has there been an increase in the number of regimes which are born from the polling booth, yet which exalt fanaticism, repression and war ? A dazzling world tour of the geo-political horizon, and also a lesson in modern and contemporary history, which we lead us to reexamine our own prejudices. Fareed Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and was formerly the managing director of the review Foreign Affairs.
Stéphanie Hahusseau
How to Stop Yourself Spoiling Your Life
Our lives are governed by patterns and beliefs which we have inherited from childhood and which, without our knowledge, make us repeat the same mistakes and relive the same distress. Stéphanie Hahusseau breaks down such patterns in this concise self-help book, which aims to help us change our lives. Illustrated with numerous case studies, the advice offered here is always concrete and specific. It should help us embark on a journey of self-discovery and to put an end to what makes us suffer. Stéphanie Hahusseau is a psychiatrist practising in Toulouse.
Janine Thibault
The Air We Breathe
What is air? What is pollution? Whether with regard to the atmosphere, the effects of pollutants, or the weather, teachers will find in this book elementary theoretical information on air, and the essential foundation needed to instruct their pupils with a civic-minded, and preventive attitude to the air they breathe.
Michel Cassé, Edgar Morin
Children of the Sky Between Nothingness, Light and Matter
What is the universe, which we regard as "ours" not only because we live in it but because it produced us? This book is in the form of a dialogue on cosmology between the astrophysicist Michel Cassé and the philosopher Edgar Morin. It is a profound work which revels in the joy of knowledge and restores us to the universe that is in all of us, as it celebrates the "anthropo-cosmos". Michel Cassé is an astrophysicist at the Atomic Energy Commission. Edgar Morin is an internationally renowned writer and thinker.
Marie-France Le Heuzey
The Hyperactive Child
What causes hyperactivity? Who to blame: society, parents, genetics? How should Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(AD/HD) be treated? Is AD/HD a genetic or a family problem? Should children suffering from AD/HD be medicated? With its numerous case studies, pertinent advice and accessible scientific explanations, this book is bound to become the basic reference work on AD/HD for the general reader. Marie-France Le Heuzey is a medical psychiatrist.
Bernard Lechevalier
Mozart's Brain
In this book, the author uses episodes from Mozarts life which illustrate a specific aspect of musical perception. He explores the mechanisms of musical memory - how is it mentally possible to memorise a fifteen-minute musical composition for nine voices, in two choirs? Is this ability due to a listening technique? To an emotionally-based one? What mental operations are at work in musical memory, in general? Bernard Lechevalier is a neurologist specialising in neuropsychology, and a professor of neurology and medicine in teaching hospitals.
Élisabeth Badinter
The Wrong Road
Badinters new book is a candid review of 15 years of feminist discussion and polemics. From womens point of view, what real progress has been accomplished in the last 15 years? Do the feminist voices that are most often heard today express the concerns of the majority of women? What image of women and men are these feminist voices trying to promote? What model of sexuality do they wish to impose? Are we witnessing the return of the old male and female stereotypes, at womens expense?
Jean-Marie Bourre
The Dietetics of the Brain
How should you eat to improve how you think? This book sounds the death knell of repressive rules of nutrition and celebrates the joys of the food-loving, gourmet brain. What is the greatest nutritional risk? An unbalanced diet. By providing the keys to proper nutrition, this book shows the way to greater mental awareness, energy, health and fulfilment, while respecting the real needs of both the body and the brain that most crucial organ. Throughout the book, pleasure (adapted to every budget) remains one of the authors main concerns. Jean-Marie Bourre heads a research team specialising in the chemistry of the brain, at INSERM.
