My appologies for this review being in English rather than French. It is intended for students interested in finding books in French to further their reading knowledge of the language.
Origines du Néant à la Vie is a lovely coffee table style book with splendid photographs that capture the information in each section in visual form. While the book is beautiful, however, it covers a broad period of time in only a very few pages, necessitating very brief discussions at each point. By no means will the book give you an in depth understanding of cosmology, earth history or the evolution of life on the planet.
The book is, however, in French and herein lies its particular usefulness to the student for whom French is not his or her first language. Anyone interested in cosmology, earth history/geology, and the evolution of earth's biomass will find this a very appropriate way to further their understanding of useful French vocabulary, grammar and syntax.
My primary complaint about the way that foreign languages are taught is that the material the student is expected to read may not suit them well. Motivation is an important component that is often underestimated in teaching foreign languages. Not everyone is interested in literature, however classic or great.
After nearly a year of college French, I did not think I could read French at all until I decided to do a history paper on the Hittites and discovered that our university library only had books in French on the topic. Before giving up my chosen theme for another, I decided to see what I could make out of the material I had found in French, and lo and behold I found I could understood quite clearly what the texts said.
Part of this was due to a basic French grammar and vocabulary, painstakingly dragged out of courses in French which featured Moliere's Les Miserables, and part was due to the understanding of the subject and what the book SHOULD say on the topic. With the help of a dictionary for the words I didn't understand, I was actually able to write my paper on the Hittites--I got an A.
The usefulness of a reading knowledge of foreign languages should be abundantly apparent to anyone. The US is not the only country doing work in the sciences, history, culture, politics, world affairs, etc. Just understanding other nations' points of view, let alone the discoveries they have contributed to world knowledge, should more thoroughly expand our own knowledge base and tolerance for others' approach to life. This book is a wonderful place to start for those with a basic understanding of earth and life sciences and a rudimentary knowledge of French.
