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Among the eminent persons of the nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte is far the best known, and the most powerful; and owes his predominance to the fidelity with which he expresses the tone of thought and belief, the aims of the masses of active and cultivated men. It is Swedenborg's theory, that every organ is made up of homogeneous particles; or, as it is sometimes expressed, every whole is made of similars; that is, the lungs are composed of infinitely small lungs; the liver, of infinitely small livers; the kidney, of little kidneys, etc. Following this analogy, if any man is found to carry with him the power and affections of vast numbers, if Napoleon is France, if Napoleon is Europe, it is because the people whom he sways are little Napoleons. His career is so near to our own times and so commonly familiar, that it is not essential to describe any of those operations which were, within the memory of some men yet living, the wonder and dread of Europe. In certain respects Napoleon was the greatest of all soldiers. He had, to be sure, the history of other great captains to profit by; he had not to invent; he had only to improve. But he did for the military art what constitutes the greatest advance in any art, he reduced it to its most simple, most perfect form; and his and Frederick's campaigns furnished the final material from which Jomini and his followers could elucidate the science; for it has taken more than two thousand years of the written history of war to produce a written science of war...

When tea was first brought into Europe, it was regarded as a great luxury, just as coffee was. People paid as much as fifty dollars a pound for it. It is said that some of the tea raised today for the royal family of China, is worth a hundred dollars a pound. (James F. Chamberlain) The early history of tea as a beverage is mainly traditional. The lack of accurate knowledge regarding the past of the Chinese Empire may possibly some day be supplied, as European scholars become more able to explore the unstudied stores in the great Chinese libraries, or as Chinese students ran- sack the records of their country for the facts of earlier periods. It may then be learnt who made the first cup of tea, who planted the earliest bushes, and how the primitive methods of manufacture were evolved... The early history of coffee as an economic product is involved in considerable obscurity, the absence of fact being compensated for by a profusion of conjectural statements and mythical stories. The use of coffee in Abyssinia was recorded in the 15th century, and was then stated to have been practised from time immemorial. Neighbouring countries, however, appear to have been quite ignorant of its value. Various legendary accounts are given of the discovery of the beneficial properties of the plant, one ascribing it to a flock of sheep accidentally browsing on the wild shrubs, with the result that they became elated and sleepless at night! Its physiological action in dissipating drowsiness and preventing sleep was taken advantage of in connexion with the prolonged religious service of the Mahommedans, and its use as a devotional antisoporific stirred up fierce opposition on the part of the strictly orthodox and conservative section of the priests.

New York, début du XXe siècle : plongez dans les bas-fonds de la ville à travers les récits authentiques de gangs, de corruption et de survie.

Rome, Ier siècle avant J.-C. : découvrez comment Cicéron, par son éloquence et son génie politique, a marqué l’histoire de la République romaine.

Découvrez comment les médecins juifs ont marqué l’histoire de la médecine, de l’Antiquité au Moyen Âge. Ce livre met en lumière des figures majeures comme Maimonide et leur héritage scientifique toujours actuel.

Stratège de génie, ennemi juré de Rome : découvrez la vie d’Hannibal Barca, le général carthaginois dont les exploits ont marqué l’Antiquité. Ce smartbook vous plonge au cœur des batailles, des trahisons et des choix qui ont forgé sa légende.

Au cœur du Japon du XIXe siècle, The Buddhism in Japan révèle comment le bouddhisme, introduit il y a quinze siècles, a transformé la société et la spiritualité nippones.

Décryptez les mécanismes cellulaires qui fondent l’hérédité et le développement des êtres vivants. The Cellular Basis of Heredity and Development revisite les idées reçues sur la transmission des caractères et éclaire, avec rigueur scientifique.

Retracez les moments clés qui ont façonné l’Europe moderne, de la fin du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance, à travers les conférences d’Oxford de 1885. Un ouvrage essentiel pour comprendre les racines de notre continent et leur héritage aujourd’hui.

Et si la raison philosophique pouvait éclairer le mystère central de notre existence ? The Conception of God interroge, avec une rigueur rare, la nature de la réalité ultime et la place de l’humain dans le divin.

1499, Amérique centrale. Quatre expéditions espagnoles s’élancent vers l’inconnu, guidées par l’appât de l’or et la soif d’aventure.

Au XVe siècle, deux explorateurs portugais partent en quête d’une route secrète vers les Indes, défiant les empires musulmans et vénitiens.

Et si l’Europe était le berceau de l’humanité ? The Antiquity of Man in Europe revisite les découvertes archéologiques majeures qui ont bouleversé notre compréhension des origines humaines.

Écrire un roman ou une nouvelle relève-t-il de l’art ou de l’artisanat ? The Art of Fiction, and the Craftsmanship of Writing rassemble les réflexions fondatrices de Henry James et Frederic Taber Cooper sur la création littéraire.

Comment convaincre sans contraindre ? The Art of Persuasion unit les stratégies de Blaise Pascal et Arthur Schopenhauer pour révéler les secrets d’une argumentation efficace, entre logique et psychologie.

I propose to place before the readers some account of the various Missions at work in Japan. I am enabled to do this the better from having obtained, in the course of my visit, a useful table, compiled by the Rev. H. Loomis, of the American Bible Society, Yokohama, giving statistics of the different organizations up to the beginning of the year 1893. The plan adopted by Mr. Loomis is to arrange his statistics into three classes: 1) "Protestant Missions," 2) "Catholic Missions," and 3) "The Greek Church in Japan." Under the head of "Protestant Missions," are included the Church of England, the Episcopal Church of America, a large number of other American denominations, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Swiss Evangelical Protestant Mission, the Society of Friends, U.S.A., Universalists, Unitarians and others; while under the head of "Catholic Missions" we find particulars of only one branch of the Holy Catholic Church-the Church of Rome. This is not the arrangement I should have made myself; but, as a matter of convenience, we will follow it more or less closely. It is right to add that of the thirty "Protestant Missions" seven are grouped together under the title of the "Church of Christ in Japan," and work, it would appear, in general harmony on Presbyterian principles. In the same way, the American Episcopal Church, the Church of England-represented by both the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel-and the Mission of Wyckliffe College, Canada, are associated together; leaving some twenty sects working independently. Before, however, proceeding to an examination of Mr. Loomis' table, we must briefly observe the past history of Christianity in Japan.

Galilée, génie controversé et père de l'astronomie moderne : voici l'histoire d'un homme dont les découvertes ont bouleversé le monde, entre science, foi et persécution.

Et si la révolution astronomique avait commencé bien avant Copernic ? Ce livre retrace la quête millénaire des savants, de Ptolémée à Copernic, pour percer les mystères du ciel.

Amsterdam, 1669. Derrière chaque chef-d’œuvre de Rembrandt se cache un homme aussi génial que tourmenté. Ce livre révèle l’artiste et son époque, entre lumière et ombre, grâce à des textes rares et une analyse fine de son héritage.

Amsterdam, 1642. Un peintre révolutionne l’art en capturant l’âme humaine comme personne avant lui. Rembrandt : Life and Works of a Famous Artist dévoile les secrets d’un génie dont les autoportraits et les scènes bibliques continuent de fasciner.

Plongez au cœur des origines spirituelles du Japon avec Shintoism : History of the Old Religion of Japan, une exploration rigoureuse et accessible de la religion autochtone qui a façonné l’identité japonaise.

Et si notre façon de gagner notre vie dépendait avant tout des autres ? Social Sustenance explore comment les conditions sociales façonnent notre existence quotidienne, bien au-delà de la simple survie.

Des forêts tropicales aux régions polaires, les araignées peuplent chaque recoin de la planète, fascinant par leur diversité et leurs comportements uniques.

Et si le symbole façonnait notre réalité bien plus que nous ne l’imaginons ? SYMBOLISM : Its Meaning and Effect explore les mécanismes profonds par lesquels les symboles, du langage à l’architecture, structurent notre pensée et nos sociétés.

Et si l'individu et l'Absolu n'étaient pas antagonistes, mais les deux faces d'une même réalité ? The Absolute and the Individual de Josiah Royce propose une réflexion audacieuse sur l'harmonie entre la liberté individuelle et l'unité du système.

Quand la science bouleverse les croyances : The Antiquity of Man on the Earth revisite l’histoire de l’humanité à travers les découvertes archéologiques et géologiques qui ont redéfini notre place sur Terre.

Optimisez la gestion de vos flottes électriques grâce à une méthode innovante de prédiction de l'état de santé des batteries lithium-ion.

It has often occurred to me as a curious fact, when I have been watching the bees and butterflies in an English meadow of a summer morning, that no one should ever yet have adequately realized (so far as I know) the full amount of human indebtedness to those bright and joyous little winged creatures. I do not mean our practical indebtedness to insects for honey and bees'-wax, silk and satin, cochineal and lacquer, or a hundred other such-like useful products: these, indeed, are many and valuable in their own way, though far less so than the tribute we draw from most of the other great classes of animal life. But there is one debt we owe them so out of all proportion to their size and relative importance in the world that it is strange it should so seldom meet with due recognition. Odd as it may sound to say so, I believe we owe almost entirely to insects the whole presence of color in nature, otherwise than green; without them our world would be wanting in more than half the beautiful objects which give it its greatest æsthetic charm in the appreciative eyes of cultivated humanity. Of course, if insects had never been, the great external features of the world would still remain essentially the same. The earth-sculpture that gives rise to mountains and valleys, downs and plains, glens and gorges, is wholly unconnected with these minute living agents; but all the smaller beauties of detail which add so much zest to our enjoyment of life and nature would be almost wholly absent, I believe, but for the long-continued aesthetic selection of the insect tribes for innumerable generations. We have all heard over and over again that the petals of flowers have been developed mainly by the action of bees and butterflies; and as a botanical truth this principle is now pretty generally accepted; but it may be worthwhile to reconsider the matter once more from the picturesque and artistic point of view by definitely asking ourselves, How much of beauty in the outer world do we owe to the perceptions and especially to the color-sense of the various insects?...

The centre of gravity of the earth is the centre of the sphere formed by the surface of the oceans; or rather, owing to the flattening of the earth at the poles, it is a point equally distant, in opposite directions, from the level of the sea. The waters, being free to move, must of necessity conform themselves to this equidistance from the gravitating centre of the whole mass. Inasmuch, then, as any plane which cuts the earth into two parts through its centre of gravity must equally divide the weight of the whole earth, it follows also that the same plane would exactly bisect the great spheroid of the oceans. In each hemisphere the sea-level in all corresponding parts would be at the same distance from this centre; and whatever land and mountains there might be above the ocean in one half would have to be counter-balanced by land, or an excess of weight of some sort, in the other half. And this counterpoising weight must itself rise above the level of the sea, unless we say that one side of the world is composed of heavier materials than the other, of which there is not the least evidence or probability. If the plane thus dividing the earth be that of its equator, there will be found in the northern hemisphere about 44,000,000 square miles of land, and in the southern, so far as is known, about 16,000,000 square miles. Now, the great problem in physical geography is: What is there in the southern hemisphere to counterbalance this great excess of land in the northern?

This book deals with the Telephonic and Acoustic Inventions of Thomas Edition. Some of the discoveries and inventions of Mr Edison, that were made during his researches which culminated in the invention of the carbon-telephone, have already been published. We now propose to present a more complete description of the important forms of telephone upon which he then experimented, and to describe his more recent acoustic inventions...

Palestine is essentially a land of small divisions, and its configuration does not fit it to form a separate entity; it "has never belonged to one nation and probably never will." Its position gives the key to its history... (R. Macalister) The destruction of Jerusalem, though it put an end to the polity of the Hebrew nation as an independent people, did not entirely disperse the remains of their miserable tribes, nor denude the Holy Land of its proper inhabitants. The number of the slain was indeed immense, and the multitude of captives carried away by Titus glutted the slave-markets of the Roman empire; but it is true, nevertheless, that many fair portions of Palestine were uninjured by the war, and continued to enjoy an enviable degree of prosperity under the government of their conquerors. The towns on the coast generally submitted to the legions without incurring the chance of a battle or the horrors of a siege; while the provinces beyond the Jordan, which formed the kingdom of Agrippa, maintained their allegiance to Rome throughout the whole period of the insurrection elsewhere so fatal, and especially to the inheritance of Judah and of Benjamin. This book presents the History of Palestine, from the Fall of Jerusalem to the Present Time.

To determine as exactly as possible the date of the first imitative acts is of especial interest in regard to the genesis of mind, because even the most insignificant imitative movement furnishes a sure proof of activity of the cerebrum. For, in order to imitate, one must first perceive through the senses; secondly, have an idea of what has been perceived; thirdly, execute a movement corresponding to this idea. Now, this threefold central process cannot exist without a cerebrum, or without certain parts of the cerebrum, probably the cortical substance. Without the cerebral cortex, certain perceptions are possible, to be sure; many movements are possible, but not the generation of the latter out of the former. However often imitation has the appearance of an involuntary movement, yet when it was executed the first time, it must have been executed with intention - i. e., voluntarily. When a child imitates, it has already a will. But the oftener a voluntary movement is repeated, always in the same way, so much more it approximates reflex movement. Hence many imitative acts, even in the child, occur involuntarily quite early. But the first ones are willed. When do they make their appearance?...