Catalog All books
Yves Pouliquen
The Action and the Mind
What does it signify for a surgeon to run the numerous risks, present in every slightest move, in accepting to operate on an eye ? What does it mean for the patient undergoing the operation to place themselves in the hands of strangers, inevitably with a degree of mistrust, in order to be able to see again ? The surgeon and the patient are in fact the protagonists of a human adventure, a scientific conquest and a forgotten medical revolution, which deserve to be related. This is especially since the surgery of the 21st century will also demand creativity, ingenuity, faith and discipline all the forms of engagement that one calls human intelligence Yves Pouliquen An internationally known specialist in ocular surgery, Professor Yves Pouliquen is the author of several books published with Odile Jacob, such as The Transparency of the Eye.
Patrice Huerre, Martine Pagan-Reymond, Jean-Michel Reymond
Adolescence doesn't exist (New Edition)
Adolescence is a recent conception in the history of man, a method of signifying, via puberty, the passage from childhood to adulthood which has always existed. In the past, this passage was celebrated and defined through the practice of rituals. Today the transition is no longer marked within such a strict timescale. Even more serious is the tendency for adults to refuse young people entry into their grown up world, either as a result of their own fear of aging, or of their desire to protect the young person from all possible risk. Patrice Huerre is a hospital psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and director of the Georges Heuyer University Medical Clinic in Paris. Martine Pagan-Reymond is a certified professor in Modern Literature. Jean-Michel Reymond, formerly Chief of Staff of Child and Adolescent Psycology is now Director of the Medical-Pedagogic Center of Saint-Lô.
Henri-Jean Aubin, Patrick Dupont, Gilbert Lagrue
How to Stop Smoking
We are all aware that tobacco seriously damages health. Yet despite this, many of us continue to fall into the trap and start smoking. And many smokers who try to overcome their dependence fail to do so because quitting involves more than just will-power. This book will enable smokers to understand the mechanisms underlying their tobacco dependence so that they will be able to free themselves of it, without breaking down. Dependence may be physical, but it is also psychological and behavioural. Three eminent specialists have brought together their skills here to offer a real, step-by-step action programme. Professor Gilbert Lagrue is a specialist in vascular diseases. Dr. Henri-Jean Aubin is a psychiatrist and heads a section in a centre devoted to the treatment of addictions. Dr. Patrick Dupont works toward putting a stop to tobacco abuse for the Office Français de Prévention du Tabagisme.
Jean-Louis Fellous
Tempest Warning The New Climatic Order
Is it true that we are heading toward global warming? And if so, what is the time frame? What will be the consequences on our lives and those of our children and grandchildren? This book will help readers understand the physical phenomena that make up the Earths climate, as well as the possible consequences of the natural and human alterations which have been inflicted on it. It also makes a plea for a concerted effort on a global scale. Jean-Louis Fellous currently heads ocean exploration for Ifremer (Institut français de recherche pour lexploitation de la mer).
Gérard Bléandonu
What do our children dream ?
When does the foetus start to dream? What are its early dreams? What is the function of infant dreams? What is the impact of nightmares? How do dreams evolve during adolescence? Gérard Bléandonu brings to these questions his experience as a psychotherapist specialising in children suffering from psychological difficulties. The author also makes use of recent findings in neuro-physiology which have improved our understanding of dream mechanisms. Gérard Bléandonu is a psychiatrist and head of Child Psychiatry at the regional hospital of Savoie, France. He is the author of numerous works on child and adolescent psychiatry.
Michel Godet
The Impact of 2006 Demographics, Growth, Employment
France is undergoing a major recession on all fronts, according to Michel Godet. And it is pointless to blame globalisation, European construction or technological change. The demographic watershed of 2006, when the retirement-pension system will explode, will reveal decades of wasteful mismanagement. For how, he asks, can hope remain if there are no human beings?How can sustainable development be assured within a truly participatory democracy? This iconoclastic, inflamed indictment is above all a voluntarists message of lucidity and hope. Michel Godet holds the chair of futurology at CNAM.
Alain Berthoz
The Decision
In this work, Alain Berthoz examines the psychology of decision-making, based on his conception of the human brain not as a calculator or compiler but as a simulator of action. Instead of considering the process of decision-making as a rational one, based on logical tools, he regards it as the fundamental property of the nervous system, its goal being to prepare, command and control actions and shows that to decide is to predict. Alain Berthoz teaches physiology of action and perception at the Collège de France.
Jacques Perriault
Access to Online Knowledge
It is now possible to research and organise information and study online, through the Internet and with the help of satellites. However, the euphoric claims made for e-learning in the past, and the posturing strategies of telecommunications operators, were followed by a profound feeling of disillusion. What is the digital future ? What role can it play in education ? What measures need to be put in place in order to ensure long-lasting development ? Jacques Perriault teaches media and communications studies at the University of Paris-X-Nanterre.
Jeanne-Marie Bréchot, Brigitte Joseph-Jeanneney, Martine Ruszniewski
Surrounding Illness The Family, the Doctor and the Psychologist
Should the same information be given to the sick person, and their family ? How can one get through the trauma day by day ? Should the entire truth be told? Should one prepare for mourning? How to say goodbye ? This book is a spontaneous and moving three-way discussion to help those faced with serious illness. Brigitte Joseph-Jeanneney is a general inspector of social affairs. Jeanne-Marie Bréchot is a thoracic cancer and lung specialist at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital, in Paris. Martine Rusniewsky is a psychologist working with patients in the palliative care ward at Hôpital de la Salpetrière, in Paris.
Jean Bénichou, Marc Libotte
The Book of Feet and Walking
Do you have flat feet ? Hollow feet ? How can deviations of the toe be treated ? Sprains ? How can you look after the nails and the skin ? How should you treat athletes foot ? What to make of reflexology ? Why are the feet of children, athletes and senior citizens so fragile ? How is the marvel of bipedalism possible ? What is the position of the foot in our culture ? Dr Jean Bénichou and Professor Marc Libotte are orthopaedic surgeons, specialising in foot surgery.
Antoine Garapon
Crimes Which Can Neither be Punished Nor Forgiven Towards an International Justice
The creation of a system of international criminal justice was one of the greatest political upheavals of recent decades. The fact that international criminal law has been allowed to question national sovereignty is a revolution in itself. The detractors of international justice contend that it is simply the justice of the victors. Could they be right? Have law and ethics been muddled? Have the trials conducted in its name helped heal the victims? Can justice prevent civil war? A former magistrate, Antoine Garapon heads the Institut des hautes études sur la justice.
Serge Tisseron
The Benefits of the Image
Should sex and violence be banned on our television screens ? Is there a danger that their presence can lead to them becoming common-place, or to delinquency ? In light of this current debate, Serge Tisseron argues that as soon as we become accustomed to a type of image, and it ceases to upset us, we invent another type which will once more allow us to confuse image and reality, and thus to shiver again with fear and anxiety. In a society which is flooded with images, it is thus essential to use them as best we can, and to avoid the dangers that are inherent in them. This book aims to contribute to this end. Serge Tisseron is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, doctor of psychology and research fellow at the University of Paris-X. For the past fifteen years, he has worked on the relations that viewers have with different types of images.
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee
Phantoms in the Brain Human Nature and the Architecture of the Mind
How do we make decisions? Why do we deceive ourselves? Why do we dream? Why may we believe in God? Why do we laugh or become depressed? Few scientists have dared address these questions that inform our daily lives with so much acumen and audacity. V.S. Ramachandran is a brilliant Sherlock Holmes of neuroscience. He reveals the strangest case studies he has encountered of patients suffering from serious neurological disorders and the insights they yield about human nature and the workings of the mind. V.S. Ramachandran is professor and director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, at the University of California.
Marc D. Hauser
Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think
A slender loris comes up to a zoo keeper and hugs him. A dog lowers its head and whines when its master is unhappy. Is such behaviour a sign of affection and empathy or are other mechanisms at work, to explain the animals near-human behaviour? Why do chimps and dolphins form coalitions to defend themselves? How do lions determine, from far away, the number of gazelles calmly watering by a stream? How is it that a few species can recognise their own image in a mirror? Marc D. Hauser is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Harvard University, where he is a fellow of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Program. Besides performing laboratory research, he has done extensive fieldwork in Kenya, Uganda and Puerto Rico.
Jean-Claude Carrière, Thibault Damour
Reflections on the Mass of the World
Physicists are now faced with the disturbing certainty that the reality of the world is multiple. We do not exist in a single story, with a middle and an ending. Instead, we live in a multitude of superimposed stories although we see only our own because our perception is limited by the narrow beam of light in which we exist.