While we’ve been waiting for The Writing Machine, aka Dr. Steven Pinker, to issue his forthcoming book on how to write science for public consumption, he’s come out with an anthology, Language, Cognition, and Human Nature. It’s out on Kindle now and you can get the dead-tree version on October 25.
The Amazon description is below:
This eclectic collection spans Pinker’s thirty-year career, exploring his favorite themes in greater depth and scientific detail. It includes thirteen of Pinker’s classic articles, ranging over topics such as language development in children, mental imagery, the recognition of shapes, the computational architecture of the mind, the meaning and uses of verbs, the evolution of language and cognition, the nature-nurture debate, and the logic of innuendo and euphemism. Each outlines a major theory or takes up an argument with another prominent scholar, such as Stephen Jay Gould, Noam Chomsky, or Richard Dawkins. Featuring a new introduction by Pinker that discusses his books and scholarly work, this collection reflects essential contributions to cognitive science by one of our leading thinkers and public intellectuals.
And I asked Steve to let my readers know what parts they might find most interesting. His response (published with permission):
What your readers would be most interested in are articles where I argue with some of the people you’ve taken on in WEIT–Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini (20 years before he wrote the book with Fodor that they could have called Why Evolution is False), Fodor himself (who wrote a book called The Mind Doesn’t Work That Way, “that way” being the way that I said the mind does work in How the Mind Works), and Chomsky, Hauser, & Fitch. The collection also includes my contribution to the festschrift for Richard Dawkins in which I explore deep commonalities between life and mind (the Times ran an excerpt and called it, “Yes, Genes Really Can Be Selfish”), and my PNAS article on “The Cognitive Niche” which you incisively critiqued when it came out. There’s also a piece called “Why Nature and Nurture Won’t Go Away.”
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What an excellent cover. Simple and uncluttered yet, being easily readable, elegantly makes a point about the nature of language cognition. Kudos to whoever came up with that.
Whoo hoo! Going to download the Kindle version now!
Does anyone know when Pinker’s book on how to write science for public consumption is coming out?
Amazon tells me I should have the “dead-tree” version by October 3rd with free shipping.
While the Kindle is OK for something I need immediately (not very much these days), there is something about reading a hardcover book that the Kindle just can’t match, at least for me.
Besides, if the world goes south, I’ll still have my books; the Kindle will most likely be fried, or at the very least non-rechargeable.
Outside of the destruction of the rain forests, I don’t worry too much about trees, since they are a renewable resource. I should know, I’ve planted innumerable seedlings. I reserve my concern for those resources that aren’t renewable. But that’s just me, and I might be wrong.
Besides, if the world goes south, I’ll still have my books….
Well, hopefully that episode of The Twilight Zone won’t become an the “reading at the end of the world” archetype. You have had your eyes checked, right? 😀
Annually. 🙂
And the best part is, now that I have retired, I do have all the time in the world…well, except for what my dog and wife demand of me.
Cliff,
I’ve had the iPad for over 3yrs and am now bonded with it so that ‘real books’ don’t do anything extra for me. As an Australian, its great to be able to download this book on the Kindle app immediately (and more cheaply). I also read Australian newspapers and the NYT on the beloved thing….
We would have to debate about which resources are more renewable, however the carbon footprint of books being ‘shipped’ I think is also a factor.
By the time that the Web resources are threatened, we will be so busy defending ourselves, that reading will be a luxury.
And I agree, retirement is a boon for those of us who are readers.
Dawn
yes, who can be bothered to wait for a book to be sent from the other side of the world when you can get it within seconds via kindle.
Unfortunately, it will be a while till I’m retired, and I already have a list of must read books as long as my arm.
Only as long as your arm? Oh luxury!
Out of general curiosity, and as a follow-on to Jerrys recent Selfish Gene thread, I Googled the reference “Yes, Genes Really Can Be Selfish” that Pinker suggests as reading for we followers of WEIT. I must say that his argument on the subject is so well-constructed, so brilliantly clear and insightful, it makes one truly admire (perhaps with a tinge of jealousy) the ability of certain leading commentators such as Pinker to so perfectly express themselves.
“well-constructed, so brilliantly clear and insightful”
That really describes just about anything Pinker writes. I would read almost anything he writes. I put Sam Harris in the same category.
Would rather wait for the book..!