The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole
Extraits
Photographie
The castle
James Hill photographie depuis 20 ans la vie dans la demeure ancestrale de son épouse en France, le château de Maillebois. Entourée d'un parc clos de murs, la propriété est une île du passé capturée dans le présent. Les images, à la fois tendres et fantasques, explorent la pléthore d'émotions qui découlent de la vie dans une maison riche en histoire et la manière dont la famille et la communauté locale interagissent avec elle. Le photographe observe sa famille dans son rôle de gardien temporaire du château, essayant de préserver ses traditions et de les mener vers un avenir incertain. James Hill est photographe contractuel pour le New York Times depuis 1995 et ses images ont remporté de nombreux prix parmi les plus importants du photojournalisme, notamment World Press Photo, le Prix Pulitzer et le Visa d'Or. Son dernier livre, Somewhere between War and Peace , a été publié par Kehrer Verlag en 2014
06/2019
Bayard
Prends garde, Horace vorace
Pauvre Enzo, il vient de se faire capturer par un ogre qui veut le manger ce soir au dîner ! Heureusement, Enzo a plus d'un tour dans son sac et propose à l'ogre une potion magique pour soigner son hoquet !
03/2024
Genres et mouvements
Les Romans gothiques anglais (1764-1831). Collections de la Bibliothèque nationale de France
La fin du siècle des Lumières voit l'apparition en Angleterre d'un nouveau genre littéraire promis à un grand succès : le roman gothique. Le texte fondateur, publié en 1764, a pour titre The Castle of Otranto, a gothic story ; il est l'oeuvre d'Horace Walpole, fils du célèbre homme d'Etat britannique Robert Walpole. Ce roman est à l'origine d'une abondante production littéraire et d'un véritable engouement qui va traverser la Manche, comme en témoignent les nombreuses traductions et imitations qui vont voir le jour en Europe, et notamment en France. Le roman gothique place l'imaginaire au pouvoir et promeut une nouvelle esthétique à l'opposé de l'esthétique classique. C'est désormais le triomphe de l'émotion sur la raison, de l'obscurité sur la lumière, de l'inconscient sur le conscient. C'est enfin et surtout l'irruption du surnaturel et l'importance donnée au cadre médiéval dans lequel il surgit : châteaux, monastères, chapelles en ruines, cryptes et souterrains ténébreux propices aux apparitions spectrales et macabres suscitant la terreur et l'horreur chez le lecteur. Ces édifices gothiques sont le théâtre de crimes et de violences exercées contre des innocents, séquestrés et persécutés, victimes des tyrannies féodale et religieuse. La vague gothique va déferler sur l'Europe pendant une soixantaine d'années, et rencontrer un succès grandissant auprès d'un public friand de sensations fortes. Parmi les auteurs les plus célèbres, il convient de citer, outre Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Gregory Lewis et Charles Robert Maturin. D'autres auteurs connurent une renommée égale en leur temps mais leurs oeuvres ont sombré dans l'oubli. Si le genre gothique a disparu en tant que genre romanesque, il va donner cependant naissance au roman noir et au genre fantastique et se perpétuer jusqu'à nos jours en investissant de nouveaux modes d'expression tels que le cinéma et la bande dessinée. Comme le remarque à juste titre Maurice Lévy, qui en était le grand spécialiste, le roman gothique fournit un "formidable réservoir d'images" qui va contribuer à enrichir l'imaginaire collectif occidental.
07/2021
Littérature française
L'or et la poussière
"Vous m'avez rendue poussière", écrit madame du Deffand à Horace Walpole. Cette vieille femme aveugle est amoureuse d'un étrange dilettante anglais, de vingt ans son cadet. Il lui répond par l'ironie, puis par l'agacement, enfin par la colère. C'est alors que la passion s'installe entre ces deux êtres excessifs que tout sépare et tout mutuellement fascine. L'amitié, cet or que les alchimistes des sentiments tentent de créer, est-elle possible entre eux ? Plutôt l'amour qu'ils ne cessent de soupçonner et de nier. Horace Walpole, esthète, antiquaire, visionnaire, auteur du premier roman noir, Le Château d'Otrante, est peut-être aussi le premier romantique. Marie de Vichy-Champrond, marquise du Deffand, nostalgique du XVIIe siècle, protagoniste de la vie littéraire de salons, est peut-être la dernière Française classique. De cette rencontre exceptionnelle, une femme décide de garder la mémoire : Mary Berry, jeune amie des vieux jours de Walpole, témoin littéraire de cette "amitié contrariée". A partir de documents authentiques, l'auteur reconstitue une double biographie, à travers laquelle l'on peut lire la naissance de la sensibilité romantique.
01/1986
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
Histoire internationale
After The Last Ship
After the Last Ship illustrates the author's own history, as well as its connection to the history of other women and children who left India and made the journey across the Kala Pani, the Indian Ocean, and lived as migrants in other countries. In this book the author brings greater understanding of how subjectivities are shaped through embodied experiences of ‘mixed race'. She bears witness to the oppressive policies of the fascist government in Portugal in the 1960's and 1970's and the effects of displacement and exile, by reconstructing her own passage from India to Mozambique and finally to Australia. Further, the author shows the devastation that labels such as ‘half-caste', ‘canecos' and ‘monhe' can cause, when they eat at your flesh, your being, and your body. She sheds light on how identity and culture can serve as vehicles of empowerment, how experiences of belonging can germinate and take root post-diaspora.
04/2014
Monographies
Loire's castle
Discover their history, the technical feats that went into their construction and all their secrets. From Amboise to Clos Lucé, from Chambord to Chenonceau, from Blois to Villandry, each of these sublime castles conceals unsuspected treasures ! Discover them off the beaten track, with cultural, historical and sometimes even unusual information... Explore the history, big and small, of these landmarks of French history. Discover their secrets and mysteries, and follow our guide to admire their most unusual and sumptuous corners.
03/2024
Shonen/garçon
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Tome 12
Entre l'élevage de poulets-démons, le budget personnel de la princesse et celui alloué à la construction de nouvelles inventions pour combattre le héros, le Château-Démon se retrouve avec un sérieux problème d'argent sur les bras ! La solution ? Réduire de 98% le bonus de printemps !! Il va sans dire que les habitants du Château-Démon sont loin d'être réjouis en apprenant la nouvelle... Sans compter que la princesse, en décidant de prendre les choses en main, risque fort d'aggraver la situation !
04/2024
Shonen/garçon
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Tome 11
La princesse Syalis continue à couler des jours paisibles en tant qu'otage au Château-Démon. Lorsque ses amis démons découvrent qu'elle est une grande fan de Dawn, une star de l'escrime du Royaume de Bonrepos, par jalousie, ils essaient de rediriger l'attention de la princesse sur eux, mais en dépit de toutes leurs stratégies, la tâche s'avère bien plus difficile que prévu ! Pour ne rien arranger, la situation se complique encore plus lorsque les habitants du Château-Démon apprennent que Dawn compte rejoindre l'équipe du Héros pour venir délivrer la princesse !
04/2024
Shonen/garçon
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Tome 10
Twilight, Roi-Démon, s'apprête à rendre une petite visite à son père, le charismatique Midnight, désormais à la retraite, pour lui demander une faveur. La seule chose qu'il souhaite à tout prix éviter, c'est que celui-ci apprenne son laxisme envers l'otage qu'il détient au château ! Il fait donc tout ce qu'il peut pour empêcher que la princesse entende parler de son voyage... Mais il sous-estime fortement les talents de ninja de Syalis, qui se joint au groupe, alléchée par le concept de " retraite " et bien décidée à en apprendre davantage !! Comment réagira l'ancien Roi-Démon, connu pour son caractère explosif, lorsqu'il fera connaissance avec Syalis ?
04/2024
Shonen/garçon
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Tome 9
C'est l'été ! Et tous les démons du monde convergent vers le Château-Démon pour un évènement inoubliable... Le grand festival de l'été !! Mais un problème de taille se pose... La princesse Syalis prend beaucoup trop ses aises au château, et le Roi-Démon ne tient pas à ce que ça se sache, ou il en serait fini de sa réputation. Une seule solution ! Ordonner à Syalis de " se comporter comme une véritable otage ". Mais la princesse a envie de participer au festival...
04/2024
Littérature française (poches)
Horace
En 1640, Corneille a conçu sa véritable première tragédie. L'affrontement de deux cités, Rome et Albe, est symbolisé par celui de deux familles, les Horaces et les Curiaces. Les guerres nationales donnent à la tragédie de Corneille une nouvelle actualité, greffée sur un très antique fond mythique. Horace est une pièce aux sens multiples : historique, politique, amoureux ; elle contient aussi un magnifique éloge de l'amitié virile, et une philosophie du héros, fait pour la solitude et pour la mort. Corneille offre autant de guerres et de sang que le journal télévisé, mais il y ajoute le sens et la beauté : il aide à penser la violence nue.
06/2007
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
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
Autres collections (9 à 12 ans
Les enquêtes de Tom et Lola : Le mystère du trésor du château. Edition bilingue français-anglais
Tom, Lola et Pepsy visitent le Pays de Galles. C'est le pays du roi Arthur, de Merlin et des chevaliers de la Table Ronde. Nos trois héros découvrent le vol d'un trésor dans un vieux château. Vont-ils une fois encore élucider ce mystère ? - Tom, Lola and Pepsy visit Wales, country of King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. Our 3 heroes discover the theft of a treasure in an old castle. Will they manage to find the thief ?
11/2021
Romance historique
Balvenie Castle
John Stewart, comte d'Athol et farouche guerrier écossais, est furieux. Ses terres sont systématiquement pillées et ses gens rançonnés par un ennemi qui demeure introuvable : Adam des Glens. Un jour, sa mère lui avoue que ce mystérieux bandit est son frère bâtard qui estime avoir autant de droits que lui sur le domaine. S'il veut le contrer, John n'a qu'une solution : se marier et avoir un héritier. Le temps presse. Pourquoi ne pas choisir Catherine Percy, venue se placer sous sa protection après avoir fui les sbires de Henri VIII ? Mais la jeune fille refuse tout net cette union. Qu'importe l'accord de cette entêtée, John entend la soumettre sans attendre et se glisse dans son lit !
11/2022
Architecture
The Turkish Boudoir of Marie Antoinette and Joséphine at Fontainebleau
Ten years apart, Marie Antoinette gives to Fontainebleau two jewels made by the greatest artists of her time : the Turkish boudoir (1777) and the silver boudoir (1786). In these homes of retirement, the queen escapes the label of the Court and combines a fancy Orient with the expression of the most extravagant novelties. The craze for turqueries did not fade in the early nineteenth century and the Empress Joséphine moved a few years later in this women's shelter offering a new sparkle to this universe of the Thousand and One Nights. She had a sumptuous and atypical furniture, which combines mahogany and gilded bronzes with lamé fabrics, embroidered and fringed with gold. After a painstaking restoration, the graceful carved, painted and gilded paneling of Marie Antoinette's boudoir is once again the setting for Joséphine's luxurious furniture. Nestled in a corner of the ancestral castle of Fontainebleau, the Turkish boudoir is the only decoration of its kind preserved in France and one of the most exceptional sets of furniture created for Joséphine.
03/2023
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
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
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
Histoire et Philosophiesophie
WHY SEX MATTERS. A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior
Why are men, like other primate usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? Why is killing infants routine in some cultures, but forbidden in others? Why is incest everywhere taboo? Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely come down to evolution and sex. More precisely, as she shows in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible survey of behavioral and evolutionary ecology, they come down to the basic principle that all organisms evolved to maximize their reproductive success and seek resources to do so.
Low begins by reviewing the fundamental arguments and assumptions of behavioral ecology: selfish genes, conflicts of interest, and the tendency for sexes to reproduce through different behaviors. She explains why in primate species-from chimpanzees and apes to humans-males seek to spread their genes by devoting extraordinary efforts to finding mates, while females find it profitable to expend more effort on parenting. Low illustrates these sexual differences among humans by showing that in places as diverse as the parishes of nineteenth-century Sweden, the villages of seventeenth-century China, and the forests of twentieth-century Brasil, men have tended to seek power and resources, from cattle to money, to attract mates, while women have sought a secure environment for raising children. She makes it clear, however, they have not done so simply through individual efforts or in a vacuum, but that men and women act in complex ways that involve cooperation and coalition building and that are shaped by culture, technology, tradition, and the availability of resources. Low also considers how file evolutionary drive to
acquire resources leads to environmental degradation and warfare and asks whether our behavior could be channeled in more constructive ways.
Why Sex Matters is a compelling work of biology, sociology, and anthropology and a penetrating study of the deep motivations that underlie individual and social behavior.
01/2000
Histoire internationale
On the Border - The Otherness of God and the Multiplicity of the Religions
The Christian theology of religions at present faces a crisis. What precisely is the task of the theology of religions ? Does it merely consist in interpreting the non-Christian religions as steps, phases or contributions in the light of Christianity ? Has one from the theological side conceded the maximum to the non-Christian religions by acknowledging them as anonymous Christianity (Karl Rahner)? This study is an exploration on how one shall liberate the religion of the other from anonymity : how one shall leave the other with his/her own name. The model of thought employed in this study is gained through an analysis of the intercultural process of understanding, explained with instances from Africa and South America.
01/1994
Histoire de l'art
Horace Vernet
Né en 1789 au Louvre, Horace Vernet est le petit-fils du peintre Joseph Vernet et fils du peintre de chevaux Carle Vernet. Malgré un échec au Prix de Rome, il s'attire très tôt les faveurs de Napoléon Ier. Evoluant d'abord au sein du cénacle romantique des années 1820, il développe une manière facile et séduisante et s'initie à la lithographie. Il devient le peintre favori du duc d'Orléans, futur Louis-Philippe. Le catalogue met en lumière l'importance des voyages d'Horace Vernet, notamment en Italie et en Algérie. Nommé directeur de l'Académie de France à Rome en 1829, Horace Vernet découvre les grands modèles classiques italiens et s'essaye à la peinture d'histoire. En 1833, il découvre l'Algérie et se concentre sur une peinture orientaliste, alternant les sujets civils, religieux et militaires. Deux ans plus tard, il est chargé de représenter les conquêtes militaires par les héritiers de Louis-Philippe dans les salles d'Afrique du château de Versailles. Le temps des grandes commandes est ponctué de nombreux voyages en Orient et en Russie. Sous le Second Empire, il voit sa carrière saluée lors d'une rétrospective de son oeuvre à l'Exposition universelle de 1855. Il meurt en 1863 après avoir reçu l'insigne de Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur. Peintre prolixe, encensé ou conspué par la critique, Horace Vernet n'a pas laissé ses contemporains indifférents. L'exposition montrera la facilité de la manière du peintre et la richesse de ses sujets de prédilection, révélant son amour pour les chevaux et la chasse, son attachement à l'épopée napoléonienne et aux faits d'armes, son goût pour la littérature romantique et Lord Byron, ou encore pour la mise en scène de ses origines familiales. Peintre complet, Horace Vernet s'illustre dans tous les genres. Plus de quarante ans après la dernière exposition consacrée à Vernet, cette rétrospective d'environ 200 oeuvres sera l'occasion de découvrir de nombreux chefs-d'oeuvre inédits, accompagnés d'esquisses et de dessins témoignant de la méthode de travail de l'artiste.
12/2023
Littérature française
Incroyable Horace
"Horace Bertholet a tout pour être heureux : marié depuis 18 ans avec la présentatrice vedette du 20 heures de TV1, il habite un très bel appartement à Paris, possède une résidence secondaire au Cap Ferret et passe ses vacances à l’Ile Maurice ou à Courchevel... Mais il étouffe ! Ce professeur d’histoire-géo est fatigué de vivre dans l’ombre de cette working girl de l’info, ambitieuse et conquérante. Il ne reconnaît plus la femme qu’il a aimée, la jeune journaliste qui s’est laissée corrompre par le pouvoir et la notoriété. Il ne se sent plus à sa place dans ces soirées où le gratin politico-médiatique s’adonne aux délices de l’entre-soi. Horace bouillonne. Son naturel calme et mesuré se disloque à grande vitesse et son comportement devient de plus en plus imprévisible. Au point de commettre, sur la route des vacances, un acte qui va bouleverser le cours de son existence. Pour Horace, rien ne sera plus jamais comme avant. Un roman, plein d’humour et de tendresse, dont le héros désabusé et touchant renvoie aux questions que chacun se pose sur le sens de sa vie et les désirs profonds qui nous animent".
04/2015
Histoire de France
Les transferts culturels dans les mondes normands médiévaux (VIIIe-XIIe siècle). Objets, acteurs et passeurs, Textes en français et anglais
The objects of cultural transfers are innumerable. Their study is particularly important to understanding the medieval Norman worlds and their multiple interconnections with the Scandinavian world, the British Isles, Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean. While examining the processes of transmission, reception, adaptation, adoption, or rejection, this book highlights how these dynamics influenced cultures between the eighth and twelfth centuries. Various examples of both material (embroidery ; clothing accessories ; iron artefacts ; coins ; manuscripts ; funeral monuments ; sculptures, etc.) and immaterial objects (craftsmanship ; literary models ; language ; religious and burial practices ; ideology of power ; oath-taking, etc.) are studied, including some emblematic ‘monuments' of the Norman worlds (the Bayeux Tapestry ; the mosaics on the floor of Otranto Cathedral). Particular attention is given to presenting these objects in a context in which their reinterpretation in different socio-cultural environments could be better understood. The book also questions the role and the significance of the actors of cultural transfers (aristocratic elites ; churchmen ; merchants ; craftsmen ; authors ; copyists ; etc.), considering their status or their function, as well as their aptitude to carry transfers. It sheds light on relations and networks that have been thus far relatively unknown, and on the circulation of models that consists of a multitude of objects and productions. Finally, it contributes to the exploration of the contacts between different populations and the construction of their interactions.
01/2022
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
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
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
Non classé
The Great Good Place?
Ever since Arthur Conan Doyle's hawk-faced detective Sherlock Holmes and his chronicler Dr Watson followed the advice of Horace, to seek truth "inter silvas Academi", the groves of Academus have been swept by a wave of violence. Judging from the impressive number of bodies discovered on American and British campuses in fiction, it does not seem far-fetched to draw the conclusion that behind the Eden-like façade of the Great Good Place each of the seven Deadly Sins is enjoyed to the full. Looking back on almost nine decades of college mystery novels, the genre has certainly lost none of its appeal. Considering its hybrid nature, the aim of the present anthology is to cover numerous aspects of the productive field of college mystery novels.
11/1999
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
