A graduate of the "Ecole Polytechnique" and a researcher in genetics, Albert Jacquard is a great believer in scientific truth and deems true that which resists rational criticism. He is also a man of conviction and commitment: his theories - solidarity between all living creatures, transcending of individual egotism, responsibility with respect to the future, refusal of competition, etc. - are imbued with the precepts of evangelical morality, as shown in his book on Saint Francis of Assisi (Calmann-Lévy) as well as in his book of dialogues with the Abbé Pierre (Seuil). In this book, he has decided to assess his relationship to Catholicism, God and belief. In the first part of the book, he seizes the Apostle's Creed of the Catholic Church and gives a word-by-word commentary on it as he asks himself: what can a scientist of the 21st century retain from this prayer ? In the second part, he shows that one does not need to adhere to dogmas or to a church in order to subscribe to the message contained in the Sermon on the Mount, which has conserved all of its deeply moving truth.
After a scientific career at the INED and the University of Geneva, Albert Jacquard received considerable attention for his social commitment and his defence of those who are excluded from society. Several schools now bear his name. His most recent books are: L'avenir n'est pas écrit (co-written with Axel Kahn, published by Bayard), and De l'angoisse à l'espoir (Calmann-Lévy).
