tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307420732024-03-16T05:49:40.440+00:00Thinking in Numbers: The Blog of Daniel TammetA blog of a writer with high-functioning autistic savant syndromeDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-60293442672679185652012-12-19T18:29:00.000+00:002012-12-19T18:29:17.182+00:00Fellow of the Royal Society of ArtsI am very proud to announce that I have been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). <br />
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<b>http://www.thersa.org/</b>Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-31535576101426479872012-12-10T07:57:00.000+00:002012-12-10T07:58:41.006+00:00The Sultan's SudokuMy article 'The Sultan's Sudoku' has just been published by Aeon magazine (online):<br />
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<b>http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/daniel-tammet-playing-sudoku/</b><br />
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Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-62579805361529559782012-10-10T07:16:00.000+00:002012-10-10T07:16:05.204+00:00My Article for the Huffington Post (France)Mon article <i>Un monde d'hommes et de nombres</i> a paru sur le site-web du Huffington Post. Voici le lien: <br />
<br />
Here is my article for the Huffington Post (in French):<br />
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<b>http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/daniel-tammet/tedx-paris-2030_b_1951589.html?utm_hp_ref=france </b><br />
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Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-67742449580346891432012-09-13T06:54:00.001+00:002012-09-13T06:54:45.663+00:00My Official Facebook page<b>www.facebook.com/DanielTammetAuthor</b><br />
<br />
Feel free to 'like' me! <br />
Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-40834685353222968812012-09-11T07:43:00.000+00:002012-09-11T07:44:01.466+00:00Best Mathematical Writing - Wislawa SzymborskaIn several of her poems, the Polish Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012) shared her fascination for the infinite realm of numbers. Here she sings the praises of the mathematical constant Pi:<br />
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The admirable number pi: <br />
three point one four one. <br />
All the following digits are also initial, <br />
five nine two because it never ends. <br />
It can't be comprehended six five three five at a glance, <br />
eight nine by calculation, <br />
seven nine or imagination, <br />
not even three two three eight by wit, that is, by comparison <br />
four six to anything else <br />
two six four three in the world. <br />
The longest snake on earth calls it quits at about forty feet. <br />
Likewise, snakes of myth and legend, though they may hold out a bit longer.<br />
The pageant of digits comprising the number pi <br />
doesn't stop at the page's edge. <br />
It goes on across the table, through the air, <br />
over a wall, a leaf, a bird's nest, clouds, straight into the sky, <br />
through all the bottomless, bloated heavens. <br />
Oh how brief - a mouse tail, a pigtail - is the tail of a comet! <br />
How feeble the star's ray, bent by bumping up against space! <br />
While here we have two three fifteen three hundred nineteen <br />
my phone number your shirt size the year <br />
nineteen hundred and seventy-three the sixth floor <br />
the number of inhabitants sixty-five cents <br />
hip measurement two fingers a charade, a code, <br />
in which we find hail to thee, blithe spirit, bird thou never wert <br />
alongside ladies and gentlemen, no cause for alarm, <br />
as well as heaven and earth shall pass away, <br />
but not the number pi, oh no, nothing doing, <br />
it keeps right on with its rather remarkable five, <br />
its uncommonly fine eight, <br />
its far from final seven, <br />
nudging, always nudging a sluggish eternity<br />
to continue.<br />
<br />
To learn more about Wislawa Szymborska: <b>http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-poetry.html</b>Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-55382552537935746922012-09-08T16:29:00.001+00:002012-09-08T16:29:49.879+00:00Best Mathematical Writing - Henri PoincaréMathematical writing, I want to show, can be as rich and rewarding as any 'fiction'. Today's example comes from the great French mathematician Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) and his book <i>Science and Method</i>:<br />
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<blockquote>Tolstoy explains somewhere in his writings why, in his opinion, "Science for Science's sake" is an absurd conception. We cannot know all the facts, since they are practically infinite in number. We must make a selection; and that being so, can this selection be governed by the mere caprice of our curiosity? Is it not better to be guided by utility, by our practical, and more especially our moral, necessities? Have we not some better occupation than counting the number of ladybirds in existence on this planet? ...<br />
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A selection [of facts] must be made: however great our activity, facts outstrip us, and we can never overtake them; while the scientist is discovering one fact, millions and millions are produced in every cubic inch of his body ...<br />
<br />
But scientists believe that there is a hierarchy of facts ... they are right, for otherwise there would be no science ...<br />
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The most interesting facts are those which can be used several times, those which have a chance of recurring ... What we must aim at is not so much to ascertain resemblances and differences, as to discover similarities hidden under apparent discrepancies ... on looking closer we can generally detect a resemblance; though differing in matter, they approximate in form and in the order of their parts. When we examine them from this point of view, we shall see them widen and tend to embrace everything. This is what gives value to certain facts that come to complete a whole, and show that it is the faithful image of other known wholes.</blockquote>Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-70406922027406847792012-09-07T08:15:00.000+00:002012-09-07T08:21:00.171+00:00Best Mathematical Writing - J. B. S. HaldaneIn the right hands, 'non-fiction' prose can be just as creative, imaginative, stylish, and fun as 'fiction'. The best maths-inspired writing provides a shining example. Over the coming days I will introduce you to some of my favourite mathematical writers: scientists and philosophers, novelists and poets, including short excerpts from their finest work. <br />
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Today's pick is the British biologist J. B. S. Haldane (1892-1964) and his wonderful essay 'On Being the Right Size':<br />
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<blockquote>The most obvious differences between different animals are differences of size, but for some reason the zoologists have paid singularly little attention to them. In a large textbook of zoology before me I find no indication that the eagle is larger than the sparrow, or the hippopotamus bigger than the hare, though some grudging admissions are made in the case of the mouse and the whale. But yet it is easy to show that a hare could not be as large as a hippopotamus, or a whale as small as a herring. For every type of animal there is a most convenient size, and a large change in size inevitably carries with it a change of form. <br />
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Let us take the most obvious of possible cases, and consider a giant man sixty feet high—about the height of Giant Pope and Giant Pagan in the illustrated Pilgrim’s Progress of my childhood. These monsters were not only ten times as high as Christian, but ten times as wide and ten times as thick, so that their total weight was a thousand times his, or about eighty to ninety tons. Unfortunately the cross sections of their bones were only a hundred times those of Christian, so that every square inch of giant bone had to support ten times the weight borne by a square inch of human bone. As the human thigh-bone breaks under about ten times the human weight, Pope and Pagan would have broken their thighs every time they took a step. This was doubtless why they were sitting down in the picture I remember. But it lessens one’s respect for Christian and Jack the Giant Killer ...<br />
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Gravity, a mere nuisance to Christian, was a terror to Pope, Pagan, and Despair. To the mouse and any smaller animal it presents practically no dangers. You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes.</blockquote><br />
You can read Haldane's essay in full here: <b>http://irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html</b>Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-19205960068502199832012-09-01T17:45:00.000+00:002012-09-01T17:46:11.298+00:00Video for Thinking in Numbers!<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tazyvLdfjfY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-89430187942306117682012-09-01T07:32:00.002+00:002012-09-01T07:40:03.886+00:00What was Count von Count's favourite number?Apparently it was 34,969.
For those who have never seen Sesame Street, here's a quick video of the count in his prime:
<b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJxKvwMIVtA</b>
Btw 34,969 is divisible by 17 (it's 187 squared, or ((17 x 17) x (11 x 11)).
The BBC website has more:
<b>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19409960</b>
Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-79742901931428712812012-08-29T17:59:00.000+00:002012-08-29T17:59:28.044+00:00Sunday Times Bestseller !Back from my summer hols in Provence. What a lovely surprise to learn that <i>Thinking in Numbers</i> is no.8 in this week's Sunday Times hardback bestseller list!
Hearty thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy so far!
Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-17688905865415801162012-08-12T18:30:00.002+00:002012-08-12T18:30:28.962+00:00Scotsman ProfileLovely profile by Claire Black in today's Scotsman: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/features/interview-daniel-tammet-writer-mathematician-and-author-of-thinking-in-numbers-1-2464159
Rendez-vous at the Edinburgh Festival on Wednesday August 15th. My event begins at 3.30pm!Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-92149337857907624162012-08-12T18:22:00.002+00:002012-08-12T18:22:24.785+00:00Olympics Article (Observer/Guardian)The Observer (print) and Guardian (online) have published my article on the maths of the Olympic Games. You can read and comment online here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/12/olympic-records-time-numbers-mathematics?newsfeed=trueDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-62554646711870346782012-08-11T13:55:00.000+00:002012-08-11T13:55:06.479+00:00Times (UK) Profile: The Prime of His LifeProfile by Tom Whipple in today's <i>The Times</i>.
"Seven years ago, for a documentary, he taught himself to understand Icelandic in a week. At about the same time he was diagnosed as having savant syndrome by the authority in autism, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. Now it feels as though, with a few more years of application, he has somehow taught himself to understand the language of humanity - a language that long eluded him."Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-21644254509528364102012-07-05T18:42:00.000+00:002012-07-05T18:47:53.069+00:004 million digits of Pi as a multi-coloured muralHave a look at this amazing webpage where it is possible to visualise the first 4 million digits of Pi as a multi-coloured mural: <b>http://two-n.com/pi/</b>
Not sure how they came up with the colours for each digit (5 light blue? For me, fives are definitely yellow!).
Draw your mouse across the page to pick out all kinds of number sequences.
What's the most beautiful pattern you can find?Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-65064174066784251552012-06-29T07:45:00.000+00:002012-06-29T07:45:03.247+00:00Edinburgh Book Festival August 15th 2012I will be speaking on Wednesday 15th August (my event begins at 3.30pm) at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Tickets can be purchased via the festival's website here: http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/how-to-bookDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-62795071020516963402012-05-29T17:30:00.002+00:002012-05-29T17:30:38.582+00:00My new book!Apologies for the long absence, but I've put the time to good use and am very pleased to announce that Hodder (UK) will be publishing my third book, <i>Thinking in Numbers</i>, in August.
Stay posted for more details as publication nears!Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-27834387238283356402011-11-16T14:50:00.002+00:002011-11-16T15:03:34.466+00:00Ciudad de Las IdeasJust returned from speaking at the wonderful Ciudad de Las Ideas festival in Puebla, Mexico. Honoured to have been invited to take part alongside a wide variety of speakers that included the filmmaker Oliver Stone, Nobel economist Paul Krugman, neuroscientist David Eagleman, and Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, among others. Enjoyed some very stimulating conversations behind the scenes with mathematicians Amir Aczel (origins of the zero, and computer-generated proofs) and Arthur Benjamin (combinatorics). <br /><br />Beautiful weather for my first trip to Central America. 24C in November - for a European like me it was quite the surprise! Loved the colourful buildings, baroque churches, and eating tortillas with refried beans for breakfast. <br /><br />You can find out more about the festival, and watch the presentations as they are uploaded at: http://www.ciudaddelasideas.com/Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-41285206470727598802011-06-29T11:45:00.003+00:002011-06-29T11:52:03.520+00:00Portrait by Siegfried Woldhek for TED2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSyAJBQ9KfENBHT3WMDocw_3zjTqDoVd6LZgfD2opctLB5z__8mw2FnNK_TVhMbskNkTDNdEtr9Z4A04L4BA3M6dOH5Bu2KaeE2GXM3V-UFkosDKHkdtGiRMeyJtrhAB2mLK5iQ/s1600/dessin+daniel+copie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSyAJBQ9KfENBHT3WMDocw_3zjTqDoVd6LZgfD2opctLB5z__8mw2FnNK_TVhMbskNkTDNdEtr9Z4A04L4BA3M6dOH5Bu2KaeE2GXM3V-UFkosDKHkdtGiRMeyJtrhAB2mLK5iQ/s320/dessin+daniel+copie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623607847340999266" /></a><br />A fun portrait of me by the artist Siegfried Woldhek for my TED2011 talk. Find more examples of his work on the artist's flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woldhek/Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-49022673804200253272011-06-22T08:09:00.003+00:002011-06-22T08:43:55.819+00:00Ted2011 Talk Now Online<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoZ7sNPws2EB5R3UWre0W2r7vUGSir_TmJ3mOqrPue_o94K9Ub3D3KSAg1UjPPdB1jTL75DSEeuqIS388IsguA8R0HYoJP-qGWzDKQev8SEbdOlVv4JGXp2FViEblCjGgvOYqhw/s1600/TED.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoZ7sNPws2EB5R3UWre0W2r7vUGSir_TmJ3mOqrPue_o94K9Ub3D3KSAg1UjPPdB1jTL75DSEeuqIS388IsguA8R0HYoJP-qGWzDKQev8SEbdOlVv4JGXp2FViEblCjGgvOYqhw/s320/TED.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620961969714839490" /></a><br />My TED2011 presentation in Long Beach, California, filmed in March 2011, is now available to watch via the TED.com website:<br /> <br />http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_tammet_different_ways_of_knowing.htmlDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-14714594315150928622011-03-31T17:11:00.003+00:002011-03-31T17:15:51.138+00:00Booking Me to Speak in the UKA quick note for those interested in having me speak at their company, conference, school, university, in the UK: I am now represented by the JLA speakers agency in London and can be booked directly through them. Here is my profile: http://www.jla.co.uk/conference-speakers/daniel-tammetDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-3264137923667927562011-03-06T18:28:00.003+00:002011-03-06T18:40:10.193+00:00Speaking at TED2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq64LtsMbrZijw56GcBmas5EfnVU8Tfu0iGeh63QmeNFzxR7ZBKEm0yVpSsXBQGLfYRcXrkTkYGyifZ27zR8AbOgroi7yLTg5g1y_oLzQIpX3pMkwlpIF77h-4WLHMJUlumMPZ4Q/s1600/TED+Tammet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq64LtsMbrZijw56GcBmas5EfnVU8Tfu0iGeh63QmeNFzxR7ZBKEm0yVpSsXBQGLfYRcXrkTkYGyifZ27zR8AbOgroi7yLTg5g1y_oLzQIpX3pMkwlpIF77h-4WLHMJUlumMPZ4Q/s320/TED+Tammet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581037970637578354" /></a><br />I've just returned from a week in Long Beach, California, where I was invited to speak at the annual TED event. It was a wonderful experience and amazing to meet such inspiring people and share my own thoughts and ideas with a large and diverse public. <br /><br />TED talks generally last no longer than 18 minutes, and my session's time limit was shorter still: a maximum of 12 minutes. Worried as I was as I prepared my remarks in the days and weeks beforehand, I actually came in nicely under the set limit with a whole ninety seconds to spare! <br /><br />Beautiful weather on the West Coast of course, and delicious seafood too. Definitely worth the jet lag!Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-79458809999949865202011-01-17T13:16:00.003+00:002011-01-17T13:18:20.377+00:00New ArtworkThe artwork page has been updated and now includes a new limited edition print (of how I visualise the sum 53 x 131 = 6943) as well as a series of number synaesthetic photos by the photographer Jerome Tabet. All prints and photos are available for purchase. Find our artwork page here: http://www.optimnem.co.uk/artwork.phpDaniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-78678360979087021212010-10-27T15:48:00.002+00:002010-10-27T15:53:05.607+00:00Brain: The Inside Story - Museum of Natural History New YorkI invite all New Yorkers to visit the fascinating new 'Brain - the Inside Story' exhibition opening November 2010 at the Museum of Natural History. My Pi recitation record forms part of the 'Memory' section and my books will be available for purchase at the exhibition's 'brain bookstore'. <br /><br />For more information: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/brain/Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-89804975722554158352010-08-24T16:11:00.003+00:002010-08-24T16:17:47.469+00:00Idea Festival - Louisville Kentucky 1 Oct 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREA5ByHzq5W99UamZdwVtGoV4PEivx4zSr7mALSiukO8MU2TNq8-QnJR0htVlZJ1JxHbN5FFG-0sPM0gNDGEQTXENI5csSEDESIc6x6zxLjUVEzMz_cJrWxo8tx09uhQPIgDMTA/s1600/Idea+Festival+logo.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREA5ByHzq5W99UamZdwVtGoV4PEivx4zSr7mALSiukO8MU2TNq8-QnJR0htVlZJ1JxHbN5FFG-0sPM0gNDGEQTXENI5csSEDESIc6x6zxLjUVEzMz_cJrWxo8tx09uhQPIgDMTA/s320/Idea+Festival+logo.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509011113170549938" /></a><br />I will be a guest speaker at this year's fantastic Idea Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. My event at Kentucky's Center for the Performing Arts starts at 3pm on 1 October. For more information about the festival, and my lecture: http://www.ideafestival.com/Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30742073.post-16706801521343867592010-03-25T19:15:00.007+00:002010-03-28T11:22:59.886+00:00France's 'Most Read' Books of 2009<a href="http://www.optimnem.co.uk/blog/uploaded_images/L'Express-mars-2010-(c)-727575.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://www.optimnem.co.uk/blog/uploaded_images/L'Express-mars-2010-(c)-726923.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />France's <em>Express</em> magazine has named my second book "Embracing the Wide Sky" (Embrasser le Ciel Immense) as one of the country's 'most read' books of 2009. On March 16th I attended a ceremony at the Fouquet's restaurant in Paris. A photo of the authors was taken (I'm top right), and yes that is the former President Jacques Chirac in the middle! A very memorable day and a wonderful honour.<br /><br />Click the photo (copyright Express magazine) to see in larger version. <br /><br />Le magazine <em>L'Express</em> a nommé mon deuxieme livre 'Embrasser le Ciel Immense' l'un des 'plus lus' de l'année 2009. Le 16 Mars j'ai assisté a une ceremonie au Fouquet's a Paris. Je suis en haut a droite sur la photo des auteurs, et oui c'est le Président Chirac au milieu ! Une journée dont je me souviendrai et un grand honneur. <br /><br />Cliquez sur la photo (copyright l'Express) pour l'agrandir.Daniel Tammethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06218659842875531748noreply@blogger.com18