The Believer
Extraits
Esotérisme
Guide d'enquête paranormale. La Methode The Believers
Vous a-t-on déjà dit que nous cohabitons en permanence avec un monde invisible ? Et qu’il est possible de communiquer avec ? C’est ce que fait Sandy Lakdar depuis plusieurs années. Son métier : enquêtrice en paranormal. Ses bureaux : les châteaux forts, les anciens hôpitaux, des auberges millénaires et autres lieux historiques… Avec son fiancé Jonathan Dailler, ils ont crée leur série documentaire, The Believers : Expériences vers L’inconnu. Ensemble, ils partent enquêter à travers l’Europe dans des lieux à forte énergie spirituelle. Leur but est de prouver qu’il existe une Vie après la Vie. Mais une enquête paranormale ne s’improvise pas. Elle comporte des risques. Les lois qui régissent le monde des esprits ne sont pas les mêmes que les nôtres. C’est la raison pour laquelle Sandy livre dans ce guide tout son protocole d’enquête. Désireuse de partager son savoir-faire avec les apprentis enquêteurs, elle explique comment se préparer, quels appareils choisir, quelles sont ses meilleures techniques, comment se protéger, et surtout comment appréhender ce monde énigmatique afin d’y faire ses premiers pas en toute sécurité physique et psychologique.
10/2019
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
Littérature érotique et sentim
Believe in
La rencontre entre Brookleen et Lincoln est brutale et violente. Devoir apprendre à se connaître dans la souffrance et la colère est déjà difficile, alors quand le désir s'en mêle... Un combat contre l'adversité, une lutte pour redevenir ceux qu'ils étaient avant que leurs vies basculent. Comment résister à cette passion qui les dévore ? Lincoln saura-t-il pardonner ? Ou même écouter son coeur ? Et si celui qui a ouvert les yeux à Brookleen pouvait être l'homme qu'elle n'attendait plus ? Une chose est sûre, ils ne sortiront pas indemnes de cette rencontre qui les changera à jamais.
Roman d'amour, roman sentiment
Believe in
La rencontre entre Brookleen et Lincoln est brutale et violente. Devoir apprendre à se connaître dans la souffrance et la colère est déjà difficile, alors quand le désir s'en mêle... Un combat contre l'adversité, une lutte pour redevenir ceux qu'ils étaient avant que leurs vies basculent. Comment résister à cette passion qui les dévore ? Lincoln saura-t-il pardonner ? Ou même écouter son coeur ? Et si celui qui a ouvert les yeux à Brookleen pouvait être l'homme qu'elle n'attendait plus ? Une chose est sûre, ils ne sortiront pas indemnes de cette rencontre qui les changera à jamais.
01/2023
Lectures graduées
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman is a salesman who believes in the American Dream. He has spent his whole career on the road, going all over New England to sell products. At sixty, he is far from retiring : he needs to keep on working to earn money in order to pay his mortgage and loans. But he does not sell as much as he used to and struggles to make ends meet. His relationship with his elder son, Biff, is chaotic : he does not understand why his son does not live up to his expectations. Thus, they fight all the time. But at the heart of the tension between them lies a secret that only the two of them know... Death of a Salesman explores the depth and complexity of human relationships and shows what happens when a man gets lost in his own dreams.
08/2021
Théâtre
Impossible lovers
CLAIRE is in charge of a jewelry store. FRANK is a small time hood. A jeweler, who dreams of prince charming, holds up as hostage the man who attempted to break her jewelry. CLAIRE, head of jewelry who has just been let down by a lover she hardly knew, believes that work is her one and only way out. Disappointed, despite the late hour, and after a few drinks, she returns to her jewelry, breaking a store policy, she has disabled security and the guards by pretending that she wants to take advantage of the quiet of the night to update her work. At the same moment, a young ex-con who just got thrown out of a bistro and is passing in front of the jewelry store and decides to break in. Rather than call the police or security, CLAIRE let him in.
02/2013
Littérature érotique et sentim
Keep Calm and Believe Me
Qu'il est doux, parfois, de perdre la tête... Est-ce qu'il vous est déjà arrivé d'être si fatigué que vous croyez devenir fou ? Non ? Ben, à moi si ! Il est vrai que je me démène pour sauver mon théâtre du West End, que je dors rarement et que je prends des cachets pour tenir le coup, mais enfin bon ! C'est pas une raison pour voir des fantômes ! Eh bien, il semblerait que si. Depuis peu, l'esprit d'une jeune femme (fort ravissante, par ailleurs) m'apparaît dans mon théâtre. Nous bavardons, nous rions et il m'arrive même de désirer la toucher. Elle semble si réelle... Vous comprenez maintenant pourquoi j'ai l'impression de perdre la raison ?
06/2017
Littérature érotique et sentim
Temptation Tome 2 : Believe me
Grace le jour, Jade la nuit. Pendant trois ans, Grace a mené une double vie, à la fois brillante étudiante en gestion et escort de luxe. Mais, aujourd'hui, cette existence est derrière elle : désormais à la tête de sa propre entreprise, Grace a tout ce dont elle rêvait. Il ne lui manque plus que l'amour. Car, oui, on peut avoir vu le pire aspect des hommes et croire encore au prince charmant. La seule difficulté, ça va être de se convaincre que Ben Lockwood ne peut pas être cet homme-là. Il est trop lié à son sulfureux passé, trop abîmé par la vie. Entre eux, il ne peut s'agir que de sexe — brûlant, bouleversant, tumultueux, mais rien d'autre que du sexe...
08/2017
Littérature française
Destiny
Jeremy Kay was left heartbroken when his sweetheart from college betrayed him the day he was going to propose to her. However he turned a new page and little did he know what destiny had planned for him... Iris, a carefree wild soul who only believed in her freedom is left mystified when she falls for her best friend. Roy, the 'Casanova' grows fed up of his lavish lifestyle ; suddenly everything becomes so meaningless and he craves for something greater...
04/2014
Non classé
Ambivalence and Irony in the Works of Joseph Roth
Did Joseph Roth, the socialist, revolutionary and sceptic, become a monarchist, reactionary and believer ? This work attributes the contradictory manifestations in the life and personality of Roth to the attitude of ambivalence and irony that characterised him and his generation. The historical and intellectual situation that led to the dominance of this attitude and Roth's susceptibility to it due to the circumstances of his life are discussed. A meticulous study of Roth's letters, journalistic work and novels follows substantiating the thesis advanced.
12/1984
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
Philosophie
«Philos»: A Designation for the Jesus-Disciple Relationship
The Biblical understanding of "divine-human friendship" is developed by the Fourth Evangelist as a "master-disciple relationship" by employing the term "philos". This term emphasizes both divine initiative and human response as the constitutive elements of such a relationship. This book is an exegetico-theological study of "philos", which analyzes the implications of the term for the Johannine theology of friendship between Jesus and the believers.
03/1993
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
Roman d'amour, roman sentiment
The elements. The air he breathes
THE AIR HE BREATHESThe Elements livre 1Retrouveront-ils goût à la vie ? Premier volume d'une série de 4 titres de Brittainy Cherry, 4 standalones qui se lisent de manière indépendante, dont chaque volume correspond aux 4 éléments de l'univers : l'air, le feu, l'eau, et la terre. The Air He Breathes #1 (L'air)Fire Between High & Lo #2 (Le Feu)The Silent Waters #3 (L'eau)The Gravity of Us #4 (La terre) Tout le monde m'avait avertie au sujet de Tristan Cole. Garde tes distances avec lui me disait-on. Il est cruel. Il est froid. Il est bousillé. C'est facile de juger un homme sur son passé. De regarder Tristan et de ne voir en lui qu'un monstre. Mais je n'ai pas pu réagir de la sorte. J'ai reconnu la désolation qu'il portait parce qu'elle était comparable à celle qui m'habitait et je l'ai acceptée. Lui et moi nous étions des coquilles vides. Nous étions tous deux à la recherche d'autre chose. De quelque chose de plus. Nous voulions tous deux recoller les morceaux éparpillés de nos passé respectifs. C'était peut-être la condition pour que nous puissions finalement réapprendre à respirer. " Certains auteurs vous murmurent directement au coeur, et leurs mots ne vous quittent plus jamais. Brittainy C. Cherry en fait partie. On ne résiste pas au charme de The Air He Breathes. " San Francisco Chronicle
03/2024
Histoire et Philosophiesophie
THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. Alice Stewart and the secrets of radiation
THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH tells the engaging life story of the epidemiologist whose discoveries about radiation risk have revolutionized medical practice and challenged international nuclear safety standards. For more than forty years, Dr. Alice Stewart has warned that tow-dose radiation is far more dangerous than has been acknowledged. Although an outstanding scientist with more than 400 peer-reviewed papers to her name, her controversial work has only recently begun to receive significant attention, because it lies at the center of a political storm.
In the 1950s when doctors would routinely x-ray pregnant women, she began research at Oxford that led to the discovery that fetal x-rays doubted a child's risk of developing cancer. When she was in her seventies, she again astounded the scientific world by showing that the U.S. nuclear weapons industry was far more dangerous than commonly believed, a finding that embroiled her in an international controversy over radiation risk. In recent years, she has become one of a handful of independent scientists whose work is a lodestone to the antinuclear movement. In 1990, the New York Times called her "perhaps the Energy Department's most influential and feared scientific critic."
The Woman Who Knew Too Much traces Dr. Stewart's life and career from her early childhood in Sheffield and medical education at Cambridge to her research positions at Oxford and the University of Birmingham, where she still maintains an office. The book joins a growing number of biographies of pioneering women scientists such as Barbara McClintock, Rosalind Franklin, and Lise Meitner and will find a wide range of appreciative readers, including those interested in the history of science and technology and of the history of women in science and medicine. Activists and policymakers will also find the story of Alice Stewart compelling reading.
02/2000
Lecture 6-9 ans
L'énigme du sabre. Edition bilingue français-anglais
C'est dimanche et comme souvent Louise et Arthur viennent rendre visite à leur grand-mère. Ils aiment bien y aller, elle joue avec eux et leur raconte plein d'histoires. Mais aujourd'hui, elle n'a pas le temps et les deux cousins s'ennuient. Alors, ils décident de grimper dans le grenier où sont entreposés de vieux souvenirs et objets abandonnés. Ils y ont déjà été, mais maintenant ils sont plus grands et peut-être trouveront-ils un trésor qu'ils n'avaient pas aperçu, lors de la dernière visite. Après un long moment de recherche, dans un coin, Louise découvre une malle poussiéreuse. Les deux cousins, l'ouvrent et entrevoient un sabre avec une inscription. Une trouvaille qui va les mener jusqu'à l'école militaire de Saint Cyr de Coëtquidan, sur les traces de leur grand père. It's a Sunday and often as not, Louise and Arthur go and visit their grandmother. They like to go there, she plays with them and tells them lots of stories. But this Sunday she does not have the time, so the two cousins are bored. They decide to climb up into the attic, where old memorabilia and abandoned objects are stored. They have been there before, but now that they are taller, maybe they will find a treasure they did not see during their last visit. After a long moment of searching, in a corner, Louise discovers a dusty trunk. The two cousins open it and see a sword with an inscription. A discovery that will lead them to the military school at Saint Cyr de Coëtquidan, in the footsteps of their grandfather.
06/2018
Histoire de l'art
Titian, the Della Rovere Dynasty, and His Portrait of Guidobaldo II and his Son. Edition
Le portrait Klesch, par Titien, de Guidobaldo II avec son fils Francesco Maria représente le duc d'Urbino dans ses pleins pouvoirs de commandant suprême des troupes papales avec son héritier à ses côtés. Ce rare double portrait en pied vient seulement d'être attribué à Titien après avoir entrepris des analyses et une restauration minutieuses qui révèlent une belle peinture au style "non finito" avec de superbes touches d'empâtement totalement typiques au maître. Tout ceci est illustré et développé dans ce nouveau livre. Titian provided portraits for the greatest men and women of Europe, Charles V and Philip II of Spain primary among them. For years the Klesch portrait was dismissed as a workshop product - partly because poor condition hid its true quality, but also because it was not believed that Titian could have deigned to create one for Guidobaldo, whose father Guidobaldo della Rovere (1514-1574) and family had a long history of patronizing the artist. Recent research, however, has thrown Guidobaldo's geopolitical significance into relief. He was supreme commander of Venice, the Papal States and then Spain. He sent thousands of soldiers to the major conflicts of his day, particularly the defense of Malta (1565) and the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and his engineers were sought throughout Europe for their ingenuity. In this volume full of new research, Ian Verstegen reveals that Guidobaldo was not peripheral but central to Italian politics and was regarded at several points in history as a key figure who could bring peace or who could influence major conflicts on the Italian peninsula, particularly the War of Siena, and then Pope Paul IV's offensive war against Spain. Anne-Marie Eze gives the first comprehensive examination of the painting's provenance, outlining the portrait's vicissitudes and reception at different moments in its near 500-year history, reexamining received wisdom about its past ownership, and presenting new documentary evidence to expand on and fill gaps in our knowledge of its whereabouts. Finally, Matthew Hayes and Ian Kennedy reflect on the technique, date, recent conservation, and authorship of the painting, proving it to be a masterpiece that only the great Titian could have created.
11/2021
Religion
Everyday Men
This study is about everyday men. They are approached through a unique marriage of biblical theology and empirical research which gives birth to a missionary challenge. Part One attempts to build a theological foundation for looking at people from the aspect of belief and unbelief. It sees this distinction as a crucial theme in the biblical material which remains relevant to men everywhere. The author discovers five elements of Christian belief in the biblical material while unbelief spans the five elements by its void, denial, or choice of an alternative. Part Two starts with a random sample, in-depth interview of fifty men in a "working-class" area of Birmingham, England. The interviews attempt to discover the nature and saliency of the men's belief and unbelief in the Christian faith. The analysis stresses the qualitative response with the emphasis on listening to the men describe their lives, values, beliefs, and lack of beliefs in their own words. The findings are also compared to other related studies, prompting some conclusions regarding the meaning of these findings. The author attempts to bring the biblical material to bear on the findings about ordinary people and asks whether they can be described as believers or unbelievers. From this starting point, it becomes obvious that the scope of unbelief is very broad. Part Three takes the understanding of God's Word and men's words and moves toward a missiological goal of approaching unbelievers with a gospel for today. It sees both the content and context of the gospel as important. The cultural problem is briefly considered and specific approaches are suggested in relation to the climate of unbelief in "working-class" English culture.
08/1987
Littérature française
Presque une nuit d'été
Un premier roman plein de fraîcheur où une jeune photographe cherche à saisir les beautés éphémères du quotidien. Elle suit un inconnu qui rentre chez lui avec ses courses, discute dans un bus avec un employé noctambule, observe une mère portant son bébé sur le dos… Et, surtout, elle fait la rencontre d'une vieille dame énigmatique et de l'insaisissable Joh. Au fil de ses promenades, notre héroïne convoque des souvenirs personnels, recueille des histoires intimes, pleines d'humanité et de courage, mais aussi des récits plus extravagants ou merveilleux. On suivra ainsi les aventures d'un jeune expatrié dans les bas-fonds d'une ville vietnamienne, le combat d'Ibtissem pour échapper à l'emprise de sa famille, le tragique destin de Tsukuyomi, dieu de la Lune banni du royaume céleste, ou encore les errances du fantôme de Yoru à la recherche de sa sœur perdue…
08/2018
Littérature érotique et sentim
The elements Tome 1 : The air he breathes
Tout le monde m'avait avertie au sujet de Tristan Cole. "Garde tes distances avec lui", me disait-on. "Il est cruel, il est froid, il est bousillé". C'est facile de juger un homme sur son passé. De regarder Tristan et de voir en lui un monstre. Mais je n'ai pas pu réagir de la sorte. J'ai reconnu la désolation qu'il portait parce qu'elle était comparable à celle qui m'habitait, et je l'ai acceptée. Lui et moi, nous étions des coquilles vides. Nous étions tous deux à la recherche d'autre chose. De quelque chose de plus. Nous voulions tous deux recoller les morceaux éparpillés de nos passés respectifs. C'était peut-être la condition pour que nous puissions finalement réapprendre à respirer.
Littérature érotique et sentim
Just don't care Tome 1 : Believe Me
Marshall est agent de voyage. Habitué à parcourir le monde pour visiter des hôtels, il déteste rester cloîtré chez lui et adore sortir ou aller à la salle avec sa bande de potes. Gay, il ne s'en cache pas et assume pleinement sa sexualité. Benson est asocial. Ecrivain renommé, spécialisé en romances homosexuelles, il reste enfermé de chez lui. Entouré de ses frères, Mike et Hawks, ainsi que de son meilleur ami Kyle, il sort de temps à autre pour prendre une bière. Des années auparavant, rejeté par ses parents en découvrant l'homosexualité de leur fils, il se refuse maintenant à l'afficher ni même à en parler. Une rencontre. Une seule. Deux hommes que tout oppose. Un seul et unique amour. ''
11/2019
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
Autres éditeurs (F à J)
Le chat d'Alice
Un chat doux, gentil et joueur, c'est ce dont rêve Alice. Elle tente de convaincre ses parents, mais ce n'est pas facile, car ils sont persuadés qu'un chaton fera beaucoup de bêtises à la maison... "Est-ce qu'Alice arrivera à convaincre ses parents d'adopter un chaton ? " A sweet, kind and playful cat, that's what Alice dreams of. She tries to convince her parents, but it is not easy, because they believe that a kitten would be a very naughty pet...
09/2022
Anglais apprentissage
A multitude of Sins. Richard Ford
A sequel to Rock Springs and Women with Men, the collection of short stories entitled A Multitude of Sins was published in 2001 and immediately achieved worldwide recognition. If this series of ten short stories seems to feature adultery, it would be a major mistake to believe that the stories can be reduced to what is actually a side issue or a pretext to something else, sometimes of much greater importance. As often with great writers, Richard Ford tackles several other topics along with the sin of unfaithfulness which is a base camp from which to go further up into the knowledge of human deficiency, lack and want. Pondering these sins, Richard Ford lays them all bare while often unveiling the issue of the story right from the beginning, instead of cautiously preserving it as a last chance literary trick to pull it off at the fast moment. Showing insight through observation, his writing is deceptive in as much as it seems natural and easygoing when it requires close analysis and several successive readings to yield up its literary and humane secrets. The comparison some critics have made to Chekhov is not overblown and Agregation students, certainly among the most perceptive readers in the world, should naturally enjoy both reading and studying A Multitude of Sins, pleasure and scholarship being complementary, not antagonistic. The exclusive interview of Richard Ford at the end of the book will certainly be appreciated by Agregation students, who will thus be able to finish off their knowledge of Ford's works.
11/2007
Littérature française
Linking OHADA and IFRS standards. The review of the OHADA accounting system symbol of the evolution towards IFRS standards was the foc
The review of the OHADA accounting system symbol of the evolution towards IFRS standards was the focus of this study. It is about understanding how business leaders perceive the evolution from OHADA standards to IFRS standards. To conduct this study, we opted for a qualitative approach. As a result, we did semi-direct interviews with twenty-five business leaders in Cameroun (18 Cameroonian business leaders and 7 multinational business leaders). The data collected was exploited through content analysis via NVivo10 software. However, the results show that the accounting innovations of SYSCOHADA allow the production and communication of more relevant accounting and financial information for users. Likewise, managers of multinational companies believe that OHADA must fully converge towards IFRS. This perception is contrast to that of Cameroonian business leaders who cite the contextual contrast as the main obstacle and therefore taking into account the specificities of this contrast will be an asset for full convergence towards IFRS.
04/2022
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
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
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
Histoire internationale
National Socialism in Oceania
In today's security-conscious environment, the loyalties and allegiances of migrant communities are increasingly being brought into question. Drawing on the collected knowledge of a number of Australian experts investigating interwar issues of security, surveillance and civic rights from the perspective of migration studies, this book aims, through the examination of individuals and groups in Oceania who were targeted for potential subversion or believed to hold National Socialist sympathies (including local National Socialists, Italian-Australians, Russian exiles, members of the right-wing movements the New Guard and Australia First), to consider how issues of security were regarded at another critical point in world history and what lessons we may learn from that period today. This book examines a variety of motives for embracing National Socialism and investing hope in the Third Reich. Attitudes shifted over time from enthusiasm to scepticism and disappointment. But, most importantly, beyond support and opposition, there was a surprising level of disengagement and indifference from sister movements on the radical right. This groundbreaking study defies easy answers and previously-held understandings, and will stimulate debate and further research.
04/2010
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
