Lire pour apprendre? A propos de la litterature didactique des derniers siecles du Moyen Age

A travers l'exemple d'un recueil de miracles attribués à saint Jacques, dont il confronte l'original latin et la traduction castillane, l'auteur s'interroge sur la place de la littérature didactique dans l'enseignement religieux à la fin du Moyen Age. Après avoir étudié comment les transformations apportées par le traducteur castillan à la version latine faisaient évoluer le texte de la sphère de la littérature miraculeuse vers celle de la littérature didactique, il tente de montrer que si cet ouvrage semble offrir aux fidèles un accès direct au savoir doctrinal, il ne libère pourtant pas ses lecteurs de la tutelle ecclésiastique. Cette démonstration prétend remettre en cause l'idée selon laquelle la diffusion des ouvrages didactiques au XVe siècle aurait permis une appropriation individuelle du savoir et donc une remise en cause du contrôle par l'Eglise de l'enseignement religieux.     

Comercio y comerciantes en América Latina colonial: Reflexión historiográfíca

Tráfico de Indias y política oceánica. By Fernando Bordejé Y Morencos. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 341.

Relaciones económicas entre España y América hasta la independencia. By John R. Fisher. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 280.

Las comunicaciones en América. By Secundino‐José Gutiérrez Alvarez. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1993. Pp. 424.

Piratas, bucaneros, filibusteros y corsarios en América. Perros, mendigos y otros malditos del mar. By Manuel Lucena Salmoral. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 306.

El dinero americano y la política del imperio. By María Emelina Martín Acosta. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 333.

Cargadores a Indias. By Julian B. Ruiz Rivera and Manuela Cristina García Bernal. Madrid: Mapfre, 1992. Pp. 395.     

Human and Natural Controls on the Accumulation,Acidification and Drainage of Pyritic Sediments: Pearl River Delta,China and Coastal New South Wales

There is increasing concern about environmental impacts of acidic drainage from acid sulphate soils on Holocene estuarine flood plains. Acidity derives from oxidation of iron pyrite in the sediments. Natural factors determine concentrations and distributions of pyrite accumulations, but human activities have reduced pyrite accumulation in the Pearl River Delta with land use practices increasing terrestrial sediment discharge. Large freshwater discharges and management techniques have enabled sustainable use of these soils. High concentrations of pyrite occur in many estuarine flood plains of Australia because of relatively greater marine inputs. Drainage of these soils enhances pyrite oxidation and estuarine acidification, which is associated with fish-kills. For sustainable development, the problems of acid sulphate soil drainage must be recognised and overcome.     

Estuarine Acidification: Impacts on Aquatic Biota of Draining Acid Sulphate Soils

Acid sulphate soils form when iron pyrite oxidises to sulphuric acid on atmospheric exposure, lowering soil pH below 4. In the Richmond River estuary, northern New South Wales, flood mitigation, drainage works and floodplain excavations have augmented acid sulphate soil formation by increasing pyrite availability for oxidation. These engineering works have facilitated the transport of acidified water and have impeded recovery from tributary acidification. The increased frequency and duration of acidification are associated with elevated concentrations of inorganic monomeric aluminium and dissolved iron, and major iron hydroxide precipitation, with deleterious effects on exposed aquatic biota and habitat. Fish kills and an outbreak of epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) have been recorded from acidified sites in the estuary.     

Institutions du travail et etat‐nation histoire d'un mariage à l'avenir incertain

Concepts of unemployment or of the labour market are not abstract, but develop from each society's own particular logic. Taking the examples of Germany and France at the end of the nineteenth century, it is possible to see how these concepts were constructed in specific national contexts, and how they were then used in practice. This analysis leads us to rethink current ideas about work and unemployment, and to ask what their future will be in a united Europe.     

From Monad to man

From Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology. By Michael Ruse (Harvard University Press, 1997), x + 628 pp., $49.95 cloth.