«Phädon», or «On the Immortality of the Soul»
Extraits
Philosophie
«Phädon», or «On the Immortality of the Soul»
This is the first modern translation of Moses Mendelssohn's classic work of 1767, the Phädon. It includes Mendelssohn's own introduction and appendix, as well as footnotes and explanatory introduction by David Shavin. (Charles Cullen's translation of 1789 is the only other extant translation.) The "modern Socrates" of the German classical period, Mendelssohn has created a beautiful translation and elaboration of Plato's Phädo led to a revolution in thought, and a subsequent renaissance in Germany. The debt of the German classical period to ancient Greece is embodied in Mendelssohn's Phädon, as is the promise of the American Revolution. The translation and accompanying notes recapture Mendelssohn's unique marriage of depth of thought and breadth of appeal.
12/2006
Histoire et Philosophiesophie
The Undergrowth of Science. Delusion, self-deception and human frailty
Walter Gratzer's themes in the stories he relates in The Undergrowth of Science are collective delusion and human folly. Science is generally seen as a process bound by rigorous rules, which its practitioners must not transgress. Deliberate fraud occasionally intrudes, but it is soon detected, the perpetrators cast out and the course of discovery barely disturbed. Far more interesting are the outbreaks of self-delusion that from time to time afflict upright and competent researchers, and then spread like an epidemic or mass-hysteria through a sober and respectable scientific community. When this happens the rules by which scientists normally govern their working lives are suddenly suspended. Sometimes these episodes are provoked by personal vanity, an unwillingness to acknowledge error or even contemplate the possibility that a hard-won success is a will o' the wisp; at other times they stem from loyalty to a respected and trusted guru, or even from patriotic pride; and, worst of ail, they may be a consequence of a political ideology which imposes its own interpretation on scientists' observations of the natural world. Unreason and credulity supervene, illusory phenomena are described and measured, and theories are developed to explain them - until suddenly, often for no single reason, the bubble bursts, leaving behind it a residue of acrimony, recrimination, embarrassment and ruined reputations.
Here, then, are radiations, measured with high precision yet existing only in the minds of those who observed them; the Russian water, which some thought might congeal the oceans: phantom diseases which called for heroic surgery; monkey testis implants that restored the sexual powers of ageing roués and of tired sheep; truths about genetics and about the nature of matter, perceptible only to Aryan scientists in the Third Reich or Marxist ideologues in the Soviet Union; and much more. The Undergrowth of Science explores, in terms accessible to the lay reader, the history of such episodes, up to our own time, in ail their absurdity, tragedy and pathos.
01/2000
Sciences politiques
The Structure of Political Communication in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany
Political Communication in The United Kingdom, the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany differs in terms of what the peoples expect to take issue with, how they are prepared to talk about them, which choices they can make to solve problems and, finally, whom or which organizations they delegate to resolve them. This comparative media study of The Economist, Time and Der Spiegel attempts to extract the differences in politics of the three societies.
11/1987
Tourisme étranger
Moroccan tracks Volume 11. The sagho djebel
The Sagho djebel is the eastern extension of the Anti-Atlas, a volcanic mountain with granitic mamelons, basaltic organs, chaos of black shales, pink sandstones... at the gates of the Sahara. As far as the eye can see, large wild, arid spaces. A desolate land made for the lonely DPM. And for a thousand miles around, silence is the only companion. Absolute plenitude and the desire to take to the track. From flat expanses to rolling hills, from sharp relief to steep canyons : pure, original nature. The character is strong, rustic but the heart is soft. The colours are soft and gentle. Ochre, pink, brown, violet, the colour chart stretches in a gradation of shimmering pastels, sometimes accompanied by an overwhelming heat. Eldorado in the heart of the desert, rare are the oases ; modest green spots in the infinitely large, they are the reminders that we are on African soil. The wild charm of the Sagho is due to its exceptional geology : high cliffs and steep peaks, tabular escarpments and deep canyons in the middle of which caravans of camels and mules circulate. When you arrive on these immense plateaus, the lunar horizon is so vast that you want to go everywhere at once to see if it is really as beautiful elsewhere ! The Sagho also surprises by the richness of its lights : limpid like those of the nearby Sahara, or sometimes in half-tone, as in the neighbouring Dades valley. The Sagho is also the Morocco of the last Berber nomads, descendants of the ancient lords Aït Atta. In autumn, after leaving the snows of the High Atlas, they set up their dark wool tents on the slopes of the jebel until spring. They can neither read nor write, but they are sure of their way through the Atlas Mountains and the Moroccan desert. In the Sagho, they have built houses of unbaked stone, dug wells, planted almond trees, grown wheat, barley and various vegetables. Others built herds of goats and sheep, and caravans of camels. Most of them are now sedentary, semi-nomadic or nomadic...
08/2022
Littérature française
Les inventeurs. Essai
What do Christopher Columbus, Reneke, Zénobe Gramme and Louis Pasteur have in common ? They were all inventors. Well fine, but who invented the crab's claw, the suction cups and the flight of squids or the proboscis of blood sucking insects ? Is invention intellectual fantasy, an industrial tool or a fundamental biological reaction ? How is this riddle to be solved ? Should we go through the list of inventions or inventors ? Is it a question of circumstances or motivations ? Who is in charge ? The Material or the Spirit ? In order to try to find a way of answering these questions, first a few very different inventors and their inventions will be presented. A few paradoxes emerge from this first part. Then we will devote an entire chapter to an exceptional inventor whose extraordinary work revolutionized how we now approach this topic. Finally, what can be said about all the inventions like the wings of birds or butterflies, the eyes of fish or insects, the leaves of trees or the social organization of beehives ? In these cases, man is not the inventor. There are countless marvels like these in the world around us. Can we explain them ? This will be the subject of the third part of this essay.
02/2017
Littérature française
Sons of Fantasy
When we were children, we believed anything was possible... This book is a fantasy novel originally written for children. But, if you are a father or a mother, a teacher or a writer, if you still have some bits of fantasy in your soul... then, this novel is for you too. We all know how geniuses changed the world with their childlike Imagination, and how people use creative thinking to solve problems. This is a story about hope ; "Sons of Fantasy" shares the story of M. Alger, a father grieving for the loss of his dear wife, who left him with two beautiful kids. Norris and Socrates were adjusting to life without Mom... But things got more complicated when one of them was paralyzed because of a severe psychological trauma due to an overdose of fantasy... This family has a very interesting neighbor who lives a few feet away. He has a weird little hobby, reading books in the most unlikely places... He for example travelled to Romania and read "Dracula" by Bram Stoker in the Castelul Bran Castle, because it's said that the main character Dracula lived in it. And then all of a sudden he stopped travelling... He got a month ago a big long hat that belongs to the greatest witch that lived during the middle ages, "Moje Gayla". In fact, after being burned by the church, one of her relatives kept her belongings inside a wooden box... and in the twentieth century one of her grandchildren donated the box to "The Magic Square Museum" in London. Genius bought the hat at a public auction as an art relic to decorate one of his rooms. Could this weird neighbor be the reason of Socrates' psychological trauma ? Or maybe he is the one who will cure him ? And what has the hat to do with all this ?
08/2018
Monographies
Hilma af Klint. The Five Notebook 1
In 1896, Hilma af Klint and four other like-minded women artists left the Edelweiss Society and founded the "Friday Group", also known as "The Five". They met every Friday for spiritual meetings, including prayers, studies of the New Testament, meditation and séances. The medium exercised automatic writing and mediumistic drawing. Eventually they established contact with spiritual beings whom they called "The High Ones". In 1896, the five women began taking meticulous notes of the mediumistic messages conveyed by the spirits. In time, Hilma af Klint felt she had been selected for more important messages. After ten years of esoteric training with "The Five", aged 43, Hilma af Klint accepted a major assignment, the execution of The Paintings for the Temple. This commission, which engaged the artist from 1906 to 1915, changed the course of her life. In 1908, Rudolf Steiner, leader of the German Theosophical Society, held several lectures in Stockholm. He also visited af Klint's studio and saw some of the early Paintings for the Temple. In 1913, Steiner founded the Anthroposophical Society, which af Klint joined in 1920 and remained a member for the rest of her life.
01/2022
Littérature française
Saint Shuddhananda Bharati A visionary
Foreword To my friend, to my guide, to the mahatma of my heart, to the visionary of a united world living in peace and harmony in the earthly paradise that God has given us. Life and destiny is like an iceberg ; most of us is hidden, and for some, this is the start of the long path of questioning... For souls that are searching, the time then comes when the seeker finds what is being sought : the precursor, the one that has opened the path, cleared it out and illuminated the way. Thus in the deepest part of our Selves, at the centre of our soul, Joythi, the Divine Light is revealed and works on meeting all those who seek it. Kavi Yogi Maharshi Shuddhananda Bharati was a scholar, linguist, scientist, seer poet, saint and the sage of the Cosmic Age. He was ever agile and active, writing, singing, doing good and observed silence for 30 continuous years. He was a universalist, who was not bound to caste, religion, colour and race or geographic bounds. He was an apostle of Sama Yoga, which seeks for a synthesis of science and yoga, West and East, the actual and the ideal in life. Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati is the author of creative and literary works with diverse writing styles : epic and lyric writings, melodramas, operas, comedies, pastoral theologies, novels, short stories, biographies, notes on famous works, essays. Bharata Shakti Kavi Malayam is his magnum opus. Editions ASSA, Christianananda Bharati
11/2013
Policiers
Goebius' Strange Model
A company elaborates in great secrecy a project, vital to its very survival. As the project develops, it leads the protagonists far beyond the originally envisioned simple business strategy, and brings them close to the forefront of the physical laws governing the behavior of the universe. Two intrigues intertwine... will they meet ? Or do they form the single-sided face of a Möbius strip ? "This novel is as unexpected as a UFO, and refreshing..." Cédric Villani, Fields Medal 2010. "This book is fascinating, I read it all at once..." Etienne Ghys, Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences.
01/2020
Musique classique
Songs of Love. 12 Romances. 12 Lieder. Soprano (tenor) and piano.
Leokadiya Kashperova (1872-1940), hitherto consigned to a footnote in musical history as Stravinsky's piano teacher, is undergoing rediscovery. A double graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, she emerged as a virtuoso pianist and composer in the romantic tradition. She was associated with some of the great musicians of her day, including Balakirev and Auer. She performed in both Germany and the UK in the 1900s, but her career petered out after 1920. Songs of Love was first published in 1904. No evidence survives of any public performance in Kashperova's lifetime although it is very likely that they were performed at her regular 'musical evenings at home on Tuesdays' mentioned in her Memoirs. The transparency of the piano writing strongly suggests that she would accompany herself singing. Kashperova, by all accounts, possessed a fine voice, and in the summer of 1906 she decided 'to learn from the artistry', as she put it, of the tenor Raimond von Zur-Mühlen who was widely celebrated for having developed (with Clara Schumann) the Lieder-Abend tradition. His summer-schools on the Baltic coast were frequented by aspiring singers from all over Europe, even Japan and India. Kashperova herself was responsible for the poetic lyrics of Songs of Love (in both Russian and German), which may well have emerged from her own bittersweet experience of life and love ; she was not to marry until 1916 at the age of forty-four. That Kashperova is the author of both the music and the lyrics of Songs of Love would suggest that they express very personal sentiments. Instrumentation : soprano (tenor) and piano
12/2023
Critique littéraire
Ancient Greek by Its Translators
When not familiar with the language itself, most readers over the centuries have had access to the ancient Greek texts only or mostly through (Latin or vernacular) translations. Such an approach is not only indirect and mediated, but also distorted and even impoverishing : meaning then prevails over the linguistic form and substance of the texts themselves. What do later or modern readers read when they read translated texts written in an ancient so-called dead language ? They read a given meaning - sometimes unfaithful, often inaccurate - dictated by a genuine understanding, the blind continuation of tradition, or an untold hidden intention. The complex range of significances conveyed by meaning simultaneously reflects the time and space (called synchrony) of when and where a text has been translated, the historical learning and linguistic skills of the translators, as well as their ideas and style. As a contribution to the perennial debate about translation (mere literary transliteration vs. creative transposition), this volume aims at analyzing some striking cases of various (literary or not) texts translated from ancient Greek showing how much for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries aesthetics and ideology matter as much as - and often even more than - rigorous philology.
02/2022
Poésie
Epilepsy: the invisible pain
They say life is a long stretch of a calm river, but not for everyone ! She was for me until the day when everything rocked, the day my destiny was changed dramatically. People do not realize how life can be so sweet and so beautiful. They complain all day long for trivialities. They are not even aware that they have before their eyes the most beautiful wealth : the luck and happiness of living in good health. I was rich before. Now I am poor because my child has an incurable disease, that has currently no hope of being healed. As a parent, how can we accept that ? , How to continue living carrying the bundle of pain in my head ? , How to overcome this feeling of helplessness ? When I started speaking to my heart, I didn't know myself that this was the beginning of a new life : a rebirth as a poet. When I learnt that my 7-year-old daughter was suffering from the Dravet Syndrome, a rare genetic epileptic encephalopathy, this was like an earthquake in my life. Then, I needed to write in order to express my sorrow and my pain. Words and rhymes came naturally to my mind. This was obvious that poetry would be my survival weapon.
01/2019
Religion jeunesse
The beautiful dolls of Julia are getting married. Numéro 22
"The LORD defends the rights of orphans and widows. The LORD cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing". "You have to love the foreigner, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt". Deuteronomy 10 : 18 - 19 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY "CROIRE - SAVOIR - VOULOIR" " Julia's Beautiful Dolls - Holy Paris " represents the Universal name of a new linguistic and pedagogic method, to teach English, French and Spanish, to the children of the Kindergarten and Elementary school. The Collection of Multimedia Books, notebooks of writing, cultural and educational articles are to develop an education of PEACE, to teach the catholic faith with the Catholic History of Art and testimony of Julia. The Collection " JULIA'S BEAUTIFUL'S DOLLS- HOLY PARIS " is an INVENTION created by the Writer and Translator Julia-Josefa-Patricia SANCHEZ Widow of RUIZ, after nine years of "SCIENCES RESEARCES", since the creation of the company, in 2008, in Paris. Julia created this Linguistic Method in French and she make the translation to English and Spanish. The Pedagogical Method of this Collection is to develop the Peace in the World, to make a transfer of the Catholic Faith, to teach the different Cultures, the Moral Universal values, the Interreligious Cooperation and the Harmony between the United Nations. This Collection has been realized religiously, intellectually and manually for Mrs. Julia-Josefa-Patricia SANCHEZ ARELLANO Widow of RUIZ. Julia makes this Collection of Beautiful Dolls, since 1986, the year that she arrived to Paris, to study the French Civilization in the University "La Sorbonne". To have a Collection of Dolls from many countries of the world, was a dream that she has since she was a little girl of 5 years old. Mrs. Julia SANCHEZ works in Research since nine years ago, to develop, to create her Publishing International Company in Paris, she has never received a Subvention of the French Government, not either of the European Commission, or of the Mayor of Paris. In the year 2010, Mrs. Julia Sanchez appeared to the prize " The Don of Science " organized by the Department of the National Education, of the Higher Education and Researches of France and for not communication, she didn't obtain the Prize. In November, 2013, Mrs. Julia Sanchez has deposited the name of her trademark and in November, 2014, she deposited the Patent of her invention to the National Institute of Industrial Property in order to distinguish her invention from other inventions.
10/2018
Religion jeunesse
The beautiful dolls of Julia are celebrating the assumption of the blessed virgin Mary. Numéro 15
"The LORD defends the rights of orphans and widows. The LORD cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing". "You have to love the foreigner, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt". Deuteronomy 10 : 18 - 19 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY "CROIRE - SAVOIR - VOULOIR" " Julia's Beautiful Dolls - Holy Paris " represents the Universal name of a new linguistic and pedagogic method, to teach English, French and Spanish, to the children of the Kindergarten and Elementary school. The Collection of Multimedia Books, notebooks of writing, cultural and educational articles are to develop an education of PEACE, to teach the catholic faith with the Catholic History of Art and testimony of Julia. The Collection " JULIA'S BEAUTIFUL'S DOLLS- HOLY PARIS " is an INVENTION created by the Writer and Translator Julia-Josefa-Patricia SANCHEZ Widow of RUIZ, after nine years of "SCIENCES RESEARCES", since the creation of the company, in 2008, in Paris. Julia created this Linguistic Method in French and she make the translation to English and Spanish. The Pedagogical Method of this Collection is to develop the Peace in the World, to make a transfer of the Catholic Faith, to teach the different Cultures, the Moral Universal values, the Interreligious Cooperation and the Harmony between the United Nations. This Collection has been realized religiously, intellectually and manually for Mrs. Julia-Josefa-Patricia SANCHEZ ARELLANO Widow of RUIZ. Julia makes this Collection of Beautiful Dolls, since 1986, the year that she arrived to Paris, to study the French Civilization in the University "La Sorbonne". To have a Collection of Dolls from many countries of the world, was a dream that she has since she was a little girl of 5 years old. Mrs. Julia SANCHEZ works in Research since nine years ago, to develop, to create her Publishing International Company in Paris, she has never received a Subvention of the French Government, not either of the European Commission, or of the Mayor of Paris. In the year 2010, Mrs. Julia Sanchez appeared to the prize " The Don of Science " organized by the Department of the National Education, of the Higher Education and Researches of France and for not communication, she didn't obtain the Prize. In November, 2013, Mrs. Julia Sanchez has deposited the name of her trademark and in November, 2014, she deposited the Patent of her invention to the National Institute of Industrial Property in order to distinguish her invention from other inventions.
05/2019
Littérature française
Mehersthan Memoir (Meher Baba)
Mehersthan Memoir (Meher Baba) This book is dedicated to the unique One who has assumed a form and name to lead the play of universal existence. He throbs in our loving heart ; He breathes in our living soul. He sings in our fervent spirit and he thinks in our purified mind. That infinite Ancient One from his supernal height, bends towards us to embrace us in his love, and to feed our soul with the nectar of his bliss. Blessed are they that have the mind to know him, the heart to feel him and the love to live in his consciousness ! He may have been born to human parents in Poona, studied in a college, played cricket, left home, have seen great souls, sat alone silent, spoken in gestures, written books - but that is not his history. Many live such a life ; many scholars write books ; many saints sit in contemplation ; many monks leave home for mountain resorts ; but they cannot be one like him. Millions of bulbs challenge in vain the darkness of night. One sun rises and the night dissolves into his golden light. One sun rises and the night dissolves into his golden light. We have seen monks, yogins and saints. Some live alone for peace. Some open Ashrams and collect donations to run them. Some comercialise their name and form. Some display miracles to surprise human minds ; some offer boons ; some predict the future ; some curse you when you do not offer them what they want. Some seek pleasure and treasure. But who seeks God and finds God in the self to awaken God-awareness in other men and women ? Who says "I am God and you are God too"? Who rises above the prattle of words, the rattle of weapons and battle of ideologies to the lofty peace of supersonic silence and pours his blessings from the dizzy height of the soul in tune with God ? Who is he that embraces all in the heart and awakens the soul which has none of the human creations of caste, religion, race, pedigree nor colour ? Editions ASSA, Christian Piaget
07/2017
Non classé
The Concept of Man in Igbo Myths
In the vast silence of their isolation, the traditional Igbos have learnt the ways of living in harmony with nature. From their origin in distant time, they have kept a sacred perspective on the natural world. In our age, there is the need for traditional wisdoms to retain their validity and be intrinsic to our philosophic and scientific perceptions of the cosmos. We cannot do without their knowledge, their spiritual perspective, and their deep faith in the harmony of all nature. Ignoring these qualities has profound environmental implications. Global warming, environmental pollution, and the exhaustion of nature's resources are but a few of the symptoms of the nature's experiences as we continue to mistreat it in order to satisfy our own ends. This work helps us to realise that wherever we are, we are a part of nature. All the things around us are as presences, representing forces and powers of life that are not ours and yet are all part of us. Then we find them reflecting in ourselves, because we are nature, though not identical with it.
11/1999
Beaux arts
New worlds
"New Worlds" presents a selection of five outstanding nautical atlases known as portolan charts, or "portalans".These historic documents are the work of eminent scholars from Majorca, Lisbon, Le Havre, and Amsterdam. Cartographers by trade, and sometimes also skilled illuminators, they mapped what was the most probable imago mundi for their time, each exemplar crafting a fascinating visual chronicle. Jean-Yves Sarazin, head of Charts and Maps at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, scrutinizes thèse charts or atlases, and situates them in the great history of European discoveries and voyages from the early 14th to the late 17th century, from the Portuguese reconnaissance of the coasts of Africa, through the adventures of Columbus,Vespucci, and Magellan, to the Dutch voyages in the Pacific and Australia.The book's many colour reproductions are alive with picturesque details: camel caravans in the heart ofAsia, Portuguese andArab ships sailing in the Indian Ocean, wild beasts or chimaera, countless exotic plants, naval battles, and not least the frequent strangeness of the indigenous people.
10/2012
Anglais apprentissage
LA VIERGE ET LE GITAN : THE VIRGIN AND THE GIPSY
When the vicar's wife went off with a young and penniless man the scandal knew no bounds. Her two little girls were only seven and nine years old respectively. And the vicar was such a good husband. True, his hair was grey. But his moustache was dark, he was handsome, and still full of furtive passion for his unrestrained and beautiful wife. Why did she go ? Why did she burst away with such an éclat of revulsion, like a touch of madness ? Nobody gave any answer. Only the pious said she was a bad woman. While some of the good women kept silent. They knew. The two little girls never knew. Wounded, they decided that it was because their mother found them negligible. The ill wind that blows nobody any good swept away the vicarage family on its blast. Then lo and behold ! the vicar, who was somewhat distinguished as an essayist and a controversialist, and whose case had aroused sympathy among the bookish men, received the living of Papplewick. The Lord had tempered the wind of misfortune with a rectorate in the north country. [...] "Lorsque la femme du pasteur s'enfuit avec un jeune homme sans le sou, le scandale ne connut pas de bornes. Ses deux fillettes n'avaient que sept et neuf ans respectivement. Et le pasteur était un si bon mari. Certes, il avait les cheveux gris, mais sa moustache était restée noire, il était bel homme et brûlait encore d'une passion furtive pour sa belle épouse immodeste. Pourquoi était-elle partie ? Pourquoi s'était-elle arrachée à lui, dans un tel éclat de dégoût, comme un grain de folie ? Personne n'apporta de réponse. Seules, les dévotes dirent que c'était une mauvaise femme. Cependant que certaines femmes de bien gardaient le silence. Elles comprenaient, elles. Les deux fillettes ne comprirent jamais. Blessées, elles jugèrent que c'était parce que leur mère les tenait pour quantité négligeable. Le vent du malheur qui est censé être bon à quelque chose balaya de son souffle les habitants de la cure. Puis, miracle, le pasteur, qui avait une certaine éminence comme essayiste et polémiste, et dont la situation avait su émouvoir certains intellectuels, fut nommé à la paroisse de Papplewick. Le Seigneur avait adouci l'ouragan du malheur par un bénéfice de recteur dans le nord du pays. " [...]
02/1993
Histoire et Philosophiesophie
Thinking about Physics
Physical scientists are problem solvers. They are comfortable "doing" science: they find problems, solve them, and explain their solutions. Roger Newton believes that his fellow physicists might be too comfortable with their roles as solvers of problems. He argues that physicists should spend more time thinking about physics. If they did, he believes, they would become even more skilled at solving problems and "doing" science. As Newton points out in this thought-provoking book, problem solving is always influenced by the theoretical assumptions of the problem solver. Too often, though, he believes, physicists haven't subjected their assumptions to thorough scrutiny. Newton's goal is to provide a framework within which the fundamental theories of modem physics can be explored, interpreted, and understood.
"Surely physics is more than a collection of experimental results, assembled to satisfy the curiosity of appreciative experts," Newton writes. Physics, according to Newton, has moved beyond the describing and naming of curious phenomena, which is the goal of some other branches of science. Physicists have spent a great part of the twentieth century searching for explanations of experimental findings. Newton agrees that experimental facts are vital to the study of physics, but only because they lead to the development of a theory that can explain them. Facts, he argues, should undergird theory.
Newton's explanatory sweep is both broad and deep. He covers such topics as quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, field theory, thermodynamics, the role of mathematics in physics, and the concepts of probability and causality. For Newton the fundamental entity in quantum theory is the field, from which physicists can explain the particle-like and wave-like properties that are observed in experiments. He grounds his explanations in the quantum field.
Although this is not designed as a standalone textbook, it is essential reading for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, professors, and researchers. This is a clear, concise, up-to-date book about the concepts and theories that underlie the study of contemporary physics. Readers will find that they will become better-informed physicists and, therefore, better thinkers and problem solvers, too.
01/2000
Non classé
Living in Two Worlds
This is a study of Singapore pastors' worldview & understanding of the epidemiology, symptomatology and management of possession behaviour. The pastors' accounts are compared with those from the scientific disciplines, and convergences and divergences noted. Factors shaping both the pastors' and the scientific discourses are examined. The pastors are shown to respond to competing scientific paradigms by reinforcing their two-worlds worldview. They either live mainly in the other world, or in each world at a time, or between the two worlds. Based on theological reflection focusing on epistemology, theodicy & cosmology, the author shows that the paradigm of living in both worlds simultaneously is the most appropriate pastoral response. The theological vision of the coexisting worlds and the pastoral task of unmasking and resisting evil in all its varieties and depths are then discussed.
05/1994
Histoire et Philosophiesophie
Charles Darwin's Zoology Notes & Specimen Lists from H.M.S. Beagle
Two long sets of scientific notes were made by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. Those transcribed here are concerned with natural history, and although in 1839 he drew on them quite extensively in writing his famous " Journal of Researches ", neither they nor his geology notes have previously been published. He was a superb observer, and recorded vividly and accurately his first impressions of the appearance and behaviour of the wide range of animals, from ants to ostriches, encountered during his travels. Often he performed little experiments on the creatures that he captured, and he was never happy until he had exhaustively explored the why and wherefore of every one of his observations. During the long periods on board ship, he carried out a thorough analysis of hitherto unrecognised features of the internal anatomy of a variety of marine invertebrates, and made elegant pencil drawings of them under his dissecting microscope. The volume also includes his lists of 1 500 specimens preserved in Spirits of Wine, and some 3 500 not in Spirits, with impeccably accurate cross references to the main notes. Although his notes were made strictly for his own use, and were often highly technical, they were well written throughout, and contain many highly readable passages. Only towards the very end of the voyage were his first doubts about the immutability of species consciously pressed, but here are to be found the first seeds of his theory of evolution, and of the important new fields of behavioural and ecological study of which he was one of the principal founders.
01/2000
Non classé
The Search for Lyonnesse
Although Mme de Lafayette is acknowledged as the founder of the modern novel, her precise legacy has been understood only in relation to male-authored texts. However, she wrote as a woman, addressing issues that concerned women of her day, particularly the problem of the apparent incompatibility of sexual fulfilment and the institution of marriage. This study seeks to identify how La Princesse de Clèves was interpreted by three of Mme de Lafayette's most talented women successors and to show how their more sombre and subversive view of society was mediated in works of fiction which have strong affinities with the contes de fées for which they are well known. The novels of Mlle Bernard, Mme d'Aulnoy and Mlle de La Force are significant, not simply for what they tell us about themselves as women writers but also for what they reveal about the origins of the eighteenth-century novel.
07/1999
Droit
Activation Policies for the Unemployed, the Right to Work and the Duty to Work
Since the 1990s and the 2000s, Western social protection systems have experienced a turn towards activation. This turn consists of the multiplication of measures aimed at bringing those who are unemployed closer to participation in the labour market. These measures often induce a strengthening of the conditions that must be met in order to receive social benefits. It is in this well known context that the authors gathered in this book decided to take a closer look at the relationship between activation policies for the unemployed and the right and the duty to work. If activation measures are likely to increase transitions towards the labour market, we can also make the assumption that they may, particularly when they are marked with the seal of coercion, hinder or dramatically reduce the right to freely chosen work. In such circumstances, the realisation of the "right to work", which is often stated to be the aim of those who promote activation, tends in practice to be reduced to an increasing pressure being exerted on the unemployed. In this case, isn't it actually the duty to work that is particularly reinforced ? After an historical and philosophical perspective on the issue, this assumption is confronted with the developments observed in the United States and in France, and then with the guidelines laid down in international human rights instruments. What follows is a discussion of two alternatives to the dominant activation model : the basic income guarantee and the employment guarantee.
06/1987
Sciences de la terre et de la
Coral reef ascidians of New Caledonia
Ascidians are common marine animals present on all types of substrata but abundant and highly diversified in warm oceans. They represent a large portion of the underwater pictures taken by divers of the ORSTOM center in Noumea.
One millimeter to some decimeters in size, cryptic or brightly coloured, motionless, often in the shade, ascidians are not well known, but are present everywhere. They are surprising not only in their variable shapes but also in their unique biological characteristics. They represent the boundary between invertebrates and vertebrates, although the adults look like stones or sponges.
With a beautiful selection of photographs, the authors discuss the essential anatomy, the modes of budding, the pigments, and the spicules. The ecological requirements are detailed and symbionts, parasites and predators are reviewed. The relationship with man concerns fouling species on ships, their use as food end as a source of pharmacological products.
The final section provides a key for the identification of the most common or spectacular species.
08/1991
Non classé
Temporal Logic, Omniscience, Human Freedom - Perspectives in Analytic Philosophy
The work shows the usefulness and limitation of modern logic in the study of traditional metaphysical problems. As is the usual case in all criticism of analytic philosophers against traditional philosophy, word usage must be limited to what the human mind can know. The notion of timeless knowledge for example contradicts our normal mode of word usage and cannot serve as adequate in reference to knowledge be it that of man or of God. If timeless knowledge applied to divine mode of knowing then there cannot be human freedom.
09/1991
Beaux arts
GOYA. Edition en anglais
Goya (1746-1828) is one of Spain's most famous artists and is widely acknowledged as an outstanding painter in the European tradition, often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Modems. He is appreciated as a portrait painter; a creator of menacing and melancholy images in oils; a master of enigmatic, satirical and revolutionary drawing and etching; the champion of the Spanish
people in their struggle against oppression and the recorder of their life and sufferings in war. This book brings out many of Goya's moods, from the gaiety and tenderness of the tapestry cartoons to
the mysterious ferocity of the Black Paintings made in his old age.
Enriqueta Harris, former Curator of the Photographic Collection of the Warburg Institute. University of London, is a world-renowned expert on Spanish art. She has curated numerous exhibitions and is the author of Velazquez (Phaidon, 1982).
01/1994
Espagne
Secret Seville
Far from the crowds and the well-worn clichés, Seville still has many hidden gems it only reveals to locals and visitors who head off the beaten track. An essential guide for those who thought they knew Seville well or are seeking to discover another side of the city. Why is there a stone relief of Grace Kelly on the wall of Seville Town Hall and how can you track down the railway from the Ibero-American Expo of 1929 ? Where might you find the legacy of Christopher Columbus' son, a medieval Jewish cemetery in a car park, the oddest of barbershops, forgotten souvenirs from the Guadalquivir steamboats, Masonic symbols in a church, the last remaining vestiges of the Andalusian pavilions from the '29 Expo, a little-known Modernist electric power station, an example of the Nazi Enigma machine, a collection of Chinese and Japanese art in a Renaissance mansion or the pillars of a medieval synagogue ?
04/2022
BD tout public
I am GooGol - The Great Invasion
Their arrival was heralded as a new beginning for the human race. Humans were no longer alone in the cosmos. Instead, they were suddenly thrust into an arena much larger than they were ready to deal with. In an age of technological advancement, Toughware and the wiki implants were the culmination of the first successful blending of human and alien technology. Suddenly, anyone with a wiki implant could ride the data streams. Hackers became celebrities as the neural landscape became the world's playground. And for a special few, a startling side effect was discovered. Fearing the worst, the Lambda Initiative was created to police wiki infractions and to protect the fabled Lambda Time Travel Restrictions. Anyone, human or alien, attempting to bypass the Lambda Protocols was subject to prosecution under this new law. To enforce this law, the G-Men were created. Culled from specialists with military and law enforcement experience, the G-Men sought out Lambda Protocol violators with swift and violent response. With wiki crimes on the rise and a growing anti-alien movement gaining strength, something had to be done. The government needed a solution, but they weren't sure what to do. And then they discovered a teenage girl living in Brazil with a special affinity for traversing and moulding the data stream. They had discovered the first Googol. And the world was about to change.
12/2010
Archéologie
Fantastic Beasts in Antiquity. Looking for the monster, discovering the Human, Textes en français et anglais
Not satisfied with what nature offered, human beings wanted to go beyond reality and invented mysterious and intriguing creatures populating their world. During Antiquity, every culture had its own strange creatures, that mixed the forms of one or more animal, plant and human species in an infinite number of more-or-less fanciful combinations. Griffins, sphinxes, mermaids, centaurs, satyrs, pygmies, werewolves, winged monsters and unspeakable hybrids, fantastic beasts abound in the imagination of many populations throughout Antiquity. Most of them continue to live, sometimes transformed, through fairy tales, literature, movies and videogames. Faced with the abundance and variety of the ancient fantastic bestiary, the questions that come to mind are : Where do fantastic beasts come from ? How do they appear in different cultures ? What is their history, how did they survive until now ? And above all, what are fantastic beasts ? This book will explore these questions through the lens of archaeology, art history, philology and philosophy. The result is a hybrid book, precisely like the fantastic animals that constitute its object, a book which offers different approaches of analysis while being aware that our means are often vain to capture these elusive figures, which ultimately are more like us than they seem. Man, like Oedipus, will often prove to be more monstrous than the Sphinx...
02/2021
Ethnologie
Glimpses of african cultures. Echos des cultures africaines, Edition bilingue français-anglais
This book covers various aspects of African traditional cultures that include: communication, marriage ceremonies, funerals, traditional rites, witchcraft, traditional cultural activities, and traditional beliefs. It will undoubtedly appeal to anyone who wants to understand better our African cultures. The reading of some of the stories will certainly raise existential questions about the nature of spirits, truth, and the place of God in the collective mind of the Africans. Some of the questions are the following: how is it possible that a human being has his double in an animal known as his totem ? How corne that, for people who do not believe in reincarnation, it is the chief who determines the future of the soul of the deceased ? In "Mourning habits in the West province of Cameroon," it appears that, if the soul is not taken care of, it will cause physical havoc in the society. Could there be a link between our souls and the physical elements of nature ? Is skull worshiping among the Bamileke merely a traditional practice or are they really able to communicate with their ancestors through the skulls ? What has led the Aghem people to firmly believe that lakes can physically move, that the dead live in their lakes, that children live in their pre-human state as caterpillars and may transform into reptiles when they are still babies ? What makes it possible for the human mind to communicate with animais, exchange messages as is shown in "How animais and things can speak and communicate in the Yambassa culture" ? Apart from the physical world as we know it, could there truly be a spiritual world that witches and wizards have access to and which system of values could this spiritual world be subjected to ? Every single paper of the more than 80 papers and squibs this book comprises is truly an invitation to explore further the untapped richness of African cultures.
04/2011
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