Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The first full-scale introduction to and history of cognitive science. An interdisciplinary study of the nature of knowledge by the noted cognitive scientist and author of Frames of Mind.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xiii)
• Part I The Cognitive Revolution (p. 1)
• 1 Introduction What the Meno Wrought (p. 3)
• 2 Laying The Foundation For Cognitive Science (p. 10)
• 3 Cognitive Science The First Decades (p. 28)
• Part II The Cognitive Sciences A Historical Perspective (p. 47)
• 4 Reason, Experience, And The Status of Philosophy (p. 86)
• 5 Psychology The Wedding Of Methods to Substance (p. 89)
• 6 Artificial Intelligence The Expert Tool (p. 138)
• 7 Linguistics: the Search For Autonomy (p. 182)
• 8 Anthropology: Beyond The Individual Case (p. 223)
• 9 Neuroscience The Flirtation With Reductionism (p. 260)
• Part III Toward An Integrated Cognitive Science: Present Efforts, Future Prospects (p. 289)
• Introduction (p. 291)
• 10 Perceiving the World (p. 295)
• 11 Mental Imagery A Figment Of The Imagination? (p. 323)
• 12 A World Categorized (p. 340)
• 13 How Rational a Being? (p. 360)
• 14 Conclusion The Computational Paradox and The Cognitive Challenge (p. 381)
• Epilogue to the Paperback Edition: Cognitive Science After 1984 (p. 393)
• Name Index (p. 417)
• Subject Index (p. 422)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This is an ambitious attempt to define and summarize ``cognitive science,'' a new field of scientific inquiry and knowledge. The author, a leading authority and researcher in this area, writes in a clear, accessible manner; yet, his book conveys the tremendous scope and complexity of this burgeoning field. He convincingly links such seemingly disparate areas as linguistics, computer science, cognitive psychology, structural anthropology, and neuroscience, and attempts to integrate both their historical development and underlying approaches to cognition. Recommended for scholars as an introductory text and for informed laypersons who want a thorough and fascinating grounding in the study of the mind and how it works. Paul Hymowitz, Psychiatry Dept., Cornell Univ. Medical Ctr., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This is an excellent book. Gardner, a MacArthur Fellow, is perhaps the outstanding practitioner of haute vulgarisation in the US. His remarkable capacity to serve as a highly knowledgeable mediator between the esoteric and technical work of the academy and the intelligent lay public is demonstrated earlier in his Quest for Mind (CH, Sep '73), The Arts and Human Development (CH, Apr '74), and Frames of Mind (CH, Apr '84). In this volume, he reaches new heights. This book consists of three parts: one devoted to the so-called cognitive revolution; a second section to Gardner's version of the emergence and transformation of the ``cognitive sciences'' (philosophy, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, neuroscience, and AI research) from Descartes to the present day; and the third part focusing on his vision of the future prospects of this ``new science.'' In articulating his history, Gardner surveys a number of philosophical positions, several anthropological theories, the work of Chomsky and those inspired by him, the current status of theory and experiment in AI and relevant neuropsychological work. Name and subject indexes follow an extensive bibliography. With respect to scope and style, this work has no peer. Level: public libraries, college and university collections.-B. Kaplan, Clark University

Kirkus Book Review

Psychologist Gardner, an impressive expounder in his own fields of interest: creativity, developmental psychology, styles of thinking (Frames of Mind, 1983), is also an artful chronicler of social-science history. Here, he traces the entwined histories of computer science and cognitive studies, setting forth the confusions and paradoxes as well as accomplishments, challenges and prospects. For Gardner, ""cognitive science"" describes a loose union of disciplines which includes philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence (AI), linguistics, anthropology and neuroscience. Their common ground: how human beings come to know the world and themselves, operating within it using language and reason. Needless to say, the philosophical roots of these questions are millennia old. Only in the 19th and 20th centuries, however, have the separate social sciences been carved out and undergone evolution and change. Gardner says that by the late 1940's, the seeds of revolution were well-sewn--what cognitive psychologist Ulric Neisser termed ""a paradigm shift."" By that time, behaviorism was dying, the neurosciences were beginning to burgeon, and psychology, anthropology, and linguistics experts were talking to each other. Soon they would be using a common tool--the computer--to explore new terrain. In Part I Gardner charts the pivotal symposia and figures who pioneered the new wave. They included Lashley in neuropsychology, von Neumann, Shannon, and Wiener in computers, information theory, and cybernetics. This early wave led to a braggadocio, in the 1960's, with pronouncements (some lingering) that computers would reach new heights in modeling human brain function. That naive optimism passed, and in its wake has come a new sophistication in each discipline. Each has moved ahead at an impressive pace, sometimes abandoning simple brain-computer analogies, sometimes developing more neurobiologically-based programs. In part II Gardner sketches the developments in each of the six fields, highlighting the work and critics of dominant figures such as Minsky and McCarthy in AI; Chomsky in linguistics; Eric Kandel, David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel in neuroscience. Today the horizon is adorned with still active masters and students who do ingenious computer simulations of visual perception, design experiments to demonstrate that mental images are real, document evidence that the ways people classify (not necessarily name) colors may be hard-wired into the brain, and demonstrate that people behave in certain predictably illogical ways. These examples are chosen from Part III, which examines current controversies and the degree of cross-fertilization occurring. Gardner argues for a redefining of disciplines by focus: let the philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, et al. interested in language get together. So, too, with those interested in perception, mental constructs. At the same time, he believes that cognitive science should not be limited to these areas but include as well studies of emotions, development, creativity, learning. . . Here, Gardner has eloquently described how the pioneers have marched bravely across the border, but it is clear they have far to go. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Howard Gardner is Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Harvard University; Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine; and Codirector of Harvard Project Zero. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

(Bowker Author Biography)