Review articles

Maxence, J.‐L., Les Écrivains sacrifiés des années sida (Bayard, 1997), 139 pp., 100F, ISBN 2 227 304 02 2

Thomé‐Renault, A., Le Traumatisme de la mort annoncée. Psychosomatique et sida (Dunod, 1996), 196 pp., 158F, ISBN 2 10 002488 4     

NEW EMPIRICAL RESPONSE SPECTRAL ATTENUATION LAWS FOR MODERATE EUROPEAN EARTHQUAKES

This paper presents response spectral attenuation laws used in the new French Safety Rule, which is the reference for nuclear safety studies in France. Attenuation laws were derived from 965 horizontal and 485 vertical components from a two-step inversion method and accounts for geometrical spreading, anelastic attenuation and geological site condition. The datasets are mainly constituted of European strong motion records (83%) recently collected and homogeneously processed. In order to complete the distribution data beyond magnitude 6, a few American records were added, representing 17% of the datasets. The magnitude type and source-to-site distance definitions chosen to derive the laws are tested with respect to other definitions. These parametric tests induce a conservative law, for some magnitude and distance ranges of interest. The residual values between observed and predicted spectral accelerations are studied and do not exhibit any bias. The inferred laws are in good agreement with classical strong motion attenuation laws.     

Mapping the Australian Duricrusts: Can distribution be derived from terrain maps?

Duricrust distribution patterns can be used to debate the significance. in engineering, geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental terms. of any displayed regional components of variability. An apparently obvious source for such an exercise lies in the duta base fields devoted to duricrust types accompanying the Australia-wide terrain tnups by Grant et al., (1984) and Chan et al., (1986) (published at scales of I:2 1/2 million and 1:5 million respectively). However, curtographic principles indicate that although there are inany attributes in common among the data base fields of these two separately conceived and generated maps (polygon sets), congruent distribution patterns for selected common attributes tire unlikelv. In this case a comparison of patterns shows that they are far from congruent. We conclude that these maps. while fulfilling their original purpose, have limited value in geomorphological debaies about the significance of duricrust distribution patterns.     

L'agrandissement de la communauté Uashat mak Mani-utenam : regard sur une collaboration dans la durée entre une université et une communauté innue

This article presents a case study aimed at identifying the success factors and the effects of a collaboration between architecture students and an Indigenous community. This exercise, which is part of a multi-year collaborative relationship, was carried out within the framework of an urban design workshop led by the School of Architecture of Laval University and the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam, which is close to the city of Sept-Îles, Quebec. The expansion of the community and the development of residential areas were at the heart of this collaborative effort. The analysis of the evolution of the different versions of the development plans, in the light of Innu development criteria, highlights the positive contributions of the workshop, particularly with regard to the community program and the tectonic symbolism. Nevertheless, the maintenance of the status quo is noted with respect to the location and respect for natural elements. Testimonials from key players involved in the project illustrate the authentic nature of the partnership between the research group “Habitats and Cultures” and the community. The quality of the relationship between the researchers and the Innu partners, the duration of the partnership over time, and the promotion of Innu cultural knowledge have favoured the success of the partnership.     

Les objets de la chose théorie du hasard et surréalisme au xxe siècle

On the basis of the trajectory of something made of paster which had impassioned the statisticians of the years 1880 and which furnished André Breton the very exemple for the notion of a surrealist object, one wonders whether the surrealist theory of chance was born by chance. By translating the issue which Ernest Coumet addressed in 1970 concerning the Pascalian geometry of chance, we investigate here the relationship between the history of science, art history and the history of scientific culture during the last century. In return, we hope to suggest why Coumet's article opened such a wide horizon in the history of the theory of probabilities thirty years ago.