DICTIONNAIRE DE L'IMPOSSIBLE

Didier van Cauwelaert offers a panorama of the most amazing phenomena, facts that seem at first glance logically impossible and yet have an explanation, backed up by scientific proof.

A chick that attracts a robot solely using the power of thought. A host that levitates during a televised Mass. A tree that moves, entirely on its own power. A machine capable of conversing with insects. A military man who creates a detailed picture of a secretly-constructed enemy submarine that is ten thousand kilometres away. A member of the Resistance who escapes talking under Nazi torture by practicing bilocation. A priori, all these things seem impossible, and yet all of them, and others the author presents in this unusual dictionary, have been observed, described, and authenticated by trustworthy individuals, scientific researchers equipped with instruments to measure them. Didier van Cauwelaert pushes back the limits of the unimaginable from A to Z. From the psychic powers of the bee to the rational fabrication of zombies, from A as in Abandon (victory by) to Z as in Zola (the double miracle inflicted upon Emile), with discernment and curiosity, he joyously offers the reader the opportunity to vastly expand the realm of things possible. And his exploration of these amazing phenomena changes our perception of ourselves and all that surrounds us, encourages our re-enchantment with the world, while exploring its behind-the-scenes aspects where, just behind the curtain, crafty schemes, disinformation, mental manipulation, selective perception, conspiracies of silence, and deliberate bluffing reign supreme. Didier van Cauwelaert's popularity has grown with every successive literary prize he has earned. Prix Del Duca for his first novel in 1982, Prix Goncourt and Prix Nimier for Un aller simple in 1994, he is also the laureate of the Prix Science de la Vulgarisation Scientifique for his work L'Apparition in 2002. His latest novel is La Femme de nos vies (Albin Michel, 2013).