Le Secret de l'Occident ("The Secret of the West") unveils a general theory of scientific progress. It outlines the long-term economic and political causes of the advance (or recoil) of science and technology. This theory, the Rich States System theory (summary), is in my view the first to coherently explain all major declines and rises of civilizations over history.
      This theory reveals the causes of the Greek miracle (beginning and end), of the Roman stagnation, of the fall of the West over the Dark Ages, and of the rise of the West after the Xth century. It enlightens most other civilizations' ascending and descending phases, like the fall of China after the XIIIth century and the Chinese scientific revival from the end of the XIXth century on. It makes sense of the golden and decline ages of India and the Middle East as well (press clippings).
      Additionally, Le Secret de l'Occident neatly solves some old historic enigmas, like the Greek love for geometry, the stark Chinese decline in the XIVth century and the tragic Russian history. In the end, the book reveals which conditions are needed for science to continue to advance over the next centuries.
      Le Secret de l'Occident (2007) is a revised, pocket edition of the 1997 original book. Chapters 1, 8 et 9 were modified, chapter 9 being almost entirely rewritten, to show how recent developments like the Internet or the new US-Chinese space race nicely fit into the theory. A foreword by Christophe Brun positions the rich states system theory in the history of thought.