Thinking as a science (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Herbert Spencer, John Stuart Mill, William James (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

1916. Mr. Hazlitt, journalist, literary critic, economist, philosopher, was one of the most brilliant public intellectuals of our century. At the age of 20, when he finally got a job at the Wall Street Journal as a stenographer, he had already finished his first book, Thinking as a Science. Contents: The Neglect of Thinking; Thinking with Method; A Few Cautions; Concentration; Prejudice and Uncertainty; Debate and Conversation; Thinking and Reading; Writing One's Thoughts; Things Worth Thinking About; Thinking as an Art; and Books on Thinking. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Nash Pub. Corp; Reprint edition (1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0840211147
• ISBN-13: 978-0840211149
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,333,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, March 8, 2005

By	Cuban007 (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thinking As A Science (Paperback)

Thinking As A Science has an excellent chapter on concentration. It also has some wonderful insights as to how we think and how we can improve our thinking. The downside of the book is that the beginning chapters are somewhat boring b/c they deal with methods of thinking that are very scientific. But once you reach the concentration chapter the book is great.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Inspiring, Thought provoking!, February 19, 2009

By	ae - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thinking As a Science (Paperback)

It is a book written by a brilliant young man in his early twenties, almost a century ago, but is still up to date. As such, it has a refreshing and bold style. His objective is to put the process of reasoning into a scientific framework by organizing different methods with which one can improve his/her thinking efficacy.

He provides a new perspective on concentration by defining it as the process of persistently moving towards a well-defined objective rather than fixating one's thought on a static object. He also provides interesting discussions on debate/conversation, prejudice/uncertainty, reading and writing to help thinking. His list of further reading material in the last chapter of the book is of great value, even a century after it was written, which also indicates the long lasting value of this great piece of work.

This book is my primary travel companion, and it succeeds in provoking new thoughts almost every time I skim through it. Thus, I recommend it to all those who wish to make better use of the "human machine" :)