The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution [Paperback]

Howard E. Gardner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0465046355 | ISBN-13: 978-0465046355 | Publication Date: June 1, 1987

The first full-scale history of cognitive science, this work addresses a central issue: What is the nature of knowledge?

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

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
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981. In 1990, he was the first American to receive the University of Louisville's Grawemeyer Award in education. In 2000, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465046355
• ISBN-13: 978-0465046355
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Computer Mathematics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive., February 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution (Paperback)

This is a very readable, very complete introduction/history to the thinking, questions and issues underlying cognitive science from its philosophical origins. It pulls many threads together to give a cohesive and complementary account of the development of the fields involved in cognitive science in a way that garners a strong feel for the field for those new to it, and that will grant new insights to those well acquainted with the field.

Damn impressive, all told.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent supplement to broader study, but too biased by itself, June 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution (Paperback)

The book is a history of ideas. This breaks down into some light historical content, and much presentation of positions (sometimes with a little supporting argument).

As a history, I would compare this book to what you might expect from an account of the Cuban revolution written by a relatively conscientious Castro partisan: sensitive reports of leaders' statements, factual aspects painted in slightly punched-up colors with a vague and gentle brush, heroics and ideology emphasized. Naturally, you can expect a wildly inaccurate and polemic treatment of 'life before the revolution.'

As a presentation of ideas, its main virtue is its fidelity. Gardner has taken up the opinions of a handful of big-name cognitivists and represented them here. You could tell who was saying what without any citations, just from what is written. As such, it would be undoubtedly useful for reviewing just what claims people liked to make during the revolution, not too unlike having a set of extracts from classic guerilla texts.

The claims themselves are a parade of ad hominem attacks, conclusive strikes on straw men, vast overstatements, and unbelievable exclusions (e.g., cognitive psychology can't even peripherally be bothered with: emotion, cultural or social factors, or the state of the environment at any point). There is no use in adopting these viewpoints, nor in arguing against them. They are out of touch. Gardner himself has a few interesting things to say about psychology getting involved with epistemological issues, but here they don't amount to more than an appetizer. Too bad, since I thought these were pretty interesting and much more substantive than what Gardner was reporting on.

Given the above, I would only recommend the book as supplementary material in a broader look at the history of psychology, or in order to satisfy very casual interests in the history of cognitivist ideas. You should not bother with this book if you want an introduction to or a clearer understanding of cognitivism, nor if you want support for or ammunition against cognitive work as it is practiced. If these are your goals, you should instead get in contact with research, whether by text or by directly checking out articles.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good historical background, but ferociously obsolete, June 9, 2009

By 

Leah D. Simmons "LDS" (BAKERSFIELD, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mind's New Science: A History of the Cognitive Revolution (Paperback)

IF you want a REALLY good cognitive science primer don't buy this book.

Best Cognitive Science Primer --> MIND: Introduction to Cognitive Science, 3rd Edition, By Paul Thagard, ISBN(13): 978-0-262-70109-9 , The MIT Press. See my review at amazon.com

This book, "The Mind's New Science", provides good historical perspective on cognitive science before 1985. "MIND" does so in less detail. The text was written while the information revolution was in it's infancy and it shows. The chapters on mental representations are archaic but provide an excellant opportunity to see the evolution of the science as well as author's quite understandable student-of-psychology bias. The author is a well-respected academic from Cambridge, MA. But this is an "inside cognitive science book written by an "insider".

The author knows too much about cognitive science and forgets to share that knowledge with the reader. It is a very well done essay or report for "those in the know" - for the rest of us??

As a learning tool this is an unremarkable text. The author's style is obtuse and reminscent of early 19th century philosophers. The flow of prose is stilted by rigorous adherence to grammar and terminology. The author fails to fully define concepts inherently referenced. My most freqent experience was bewilderment at the end of each paragraph. By careful dissection of each sentence I could MOSTLY figure out what information I needed to have - and did not - in order to UNDERSTAND what he just said.

My personal assessment----> The text is not a textbook designed for students, the goal of this book is NOT to illuminate the realm of inquiry into human cognition. The book is a very long persuasive essay whose thesis statement is: "The maturation of cognitive science DOES NOT eliminate the NEED for philosophy as a specific discipline".

***THE END*** :)