An interesting analysis of what an extraodinary mind is and does. Through presenting 4 types of extraordinary minds : Master, Maker, Introspector, and Influencer, and then providing an example for each (Mozart, Freud, Woolf, and Gandhi respectively) insight is gained. It is a quick, but knowledgable read, and I reccomend it for those interested in seeing what makes a mind higher than the average individual. Overall, intriguing in the fact that Gardner is able to pick out traits and then term them on the path to extraoridinariness.

This book pulls together Gardner's cognitive theory on extraordinary individuals and leaders. He refines his framework for the study of extraordinary individuals of the 20th century by identfying four forms: the master, maker, introspector, and influencer. It builds upon elements from Creating Minds and Leading Minds. The one individual that ties all three books together is the life of Gandhi. A very interesting, fast read for those in leadership positions.

I am continually amazed at how Gardner always puts out original and thought-provoking books. This is such a great book for anyone who wants to know what makes leaders and creators extraordinary. Gardner discovers that most great people are not great in many areas, but know their skills and have worked hard to develop those skills way beyond their contemporaries. Those who enjoy this book would also enjoy Creating Minds and Leading Minds (my favorite Gardner book). Like this one, they are packed full of useful information on great men and women.

Although I read this for an class assignment, I found it a very thorough and quite interesting. Gardner does an excellent job suporting his view that there are several intelligences, rather than the one general -"g"- intelligence that was once thought. I found it particularly interesting his thoughts on how to create a "mulitple intelligences" atmosphere in the classroom and I enjoyed his thoughts for the future. It is exciting to think where his theory could lead us, if we are able to break out of the old habits of the educational system. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone in the teaching profession, and for anyone else who is particularly interested the ways one can learn.

Gardner's book is very well written. Although I am a layman in the psychological field, it was easy for me to understand the book. The empirical method Gardner used, is good in this respect. Intelligence is far more complicated than IQ-rating suggests. Gardner puts some very relevant question marks to IQ-testing. In my opinion IQ-rating is a cultural phenomenon. It measures aspects of intelligence that are most relevant in our Western world: logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence. Culture is changing and more attention is given to other intelligence, e.g. interpersonal intelligence. Recently we bought for our children the software game LEGO Island. I was surprised to read that in this game the results of the Harvard Project Zero on multiple intelligence were used. Every character in this game is outstanding in one of the seven intelligences Gardners describes in his book.

I first read this book ten years ago in a Graduate Education course. I'm now rereading it FOR FUN!

This book challenges the traditional views of "IQ", in which intelligence is based solely on specific measurable traits; like general problem solving skills or reading comprehension. Gardner argues that, say, Eddie Van Halen or Vincent Van Gogh or Michael Jordan have excelled in a specific field, and that ability is based on a heightened level of a specific intelligence. Gardner believes that there are 8 intelligences, located in different areas of the brain; and that's MI theory in a paragraph.

So how would Marlon Brando have done on an IQ test? Imagine all the gifted children who have slipped through the cracks because of a fallacious theory that was fostered and reinforced for the last one hundred years.

Howard Gardner's book Intelligence Reframed is somewhat different in content than I'd expected. It starts out with a discussion of psychometrics, particularly intelligence testing, and introduces the author's own research into intelligence. Then the content changes to education. This abrupt change threw me for a loop until I read more on the author and his interests.

Gardner started with an interest in psychology, taking a PhD from Harvard University under the direction of the developmental psychologists Bruner and Erikson. He also did postdoctoral work with the neuropsychologist Geschwind at the Boston Veterans Hospital where his research focused on the nature of intelligence and the development of abilities, and on educational processes. In the 1980s he became involved in educational reform. Currently he is the Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and is Adjunct Professor of Psychology, also at Harvard, and Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine.

The first half of the book made perfect sense to me, especially with the newer data from brain and mind research. Recent experiments with animals and with human volunteers have been conducted to elucidate the function of the different parts of the brain. Earlier information derived anecdotally from brain injured individuals had suggested that the brain may consist of modules that evolved to solve specific types of problems but that interaction of these modules with one another has created a wide variety of emergent properties, the main ones being consciousness and self-awareness. The experimental data seems to support this concept. Gardner has defined a number of "intelligences" that seem to be supported by this data, showing that the concept of a single all inclusive intelligence measurement might not be possible and might skew educational efforts in non-productive ways. With all of this I tend to agree.

The character of the information, and Gardner's own personal interests, naturally lead to the topic of education. Although I agree with his points on the failings of some traditional school systems and even the failure of some of those that pay lip service to his MI theories, I'm not sure that I agree with his overall exuberance over the MI approach to education. He notes that traditional educational programs tend to hit for the middle and hope for the best, so to speak, which they do. He also notes that those schools that say they adhere to an MI approach are generally doing business as usual. (Sort of like calling the school custodian an "environmental engineer" because it sounds better.)

Still, I'm not sure that Gardner's enthusiasm for the application of the multiple intelligences approach to learning is necessarily justified or even possible in these days of financial retrenchment. Schools are hard put to it to provide the 3-Rs by traditional means. The music, language and art classes that were available even during my own years as a child have been drastically cut back for this reason, and now some schools are faced with increasing classroom size.

One of the things I did agree with was his notion that children might benefit from having the same teacher every year with the caveat that changes could readily be made for a better fit of personality between teacher and child. I agree that this might develop a closer mutual understanding between teacher and pupil. However here too, there might be problems. Not all teachers would be able to readily establish such bonds or sustain them over long periods of time. Not all children will maintain the same type of bond with an adult authority figure over the course of their development--as any parent could tell you--and not all teachers are equally adept at all subjects or all methods of teaching any given subject. In short, there would be problems.

While I think the author has some valid points with respect to the variety of intelligences and abilities that we all have, and some good intentions with respect to education, I'm not sure that his ideas are very practicable in a real setting.

Intelligent Pictures in our Minds

Almost two decades ago, a Harvard University developmental psychologist, Howard Gardner, wrote Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, a book he believed he was writing predominantly to enlighten mainstream psychologists, not educators. In that book, he proposed a novel notion: the psychological construct 'intelligence' should be formally measured in more ways than simply through the dry statistical analytical lenses of the widely accepted logical and linguistic IQ-type formalized tests, tests so standardized for most schooling systems. Gardner questioned the classical belief that human beings could have only one 'mode of representation' about the world; instead, he suggested that a more pluralistic viewpoint for measuring mental functioning ought to be addressed - a variety of intelligent ways of thinking.

In Frames, Gardner theorized a master list of seven basic intelligences to represent these other modes, including the widely accepted linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical, and visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, and the two most criticized, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Frames was well received by those in the educational arena and the wider community at large. It was translated into Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. It was selected by five book clubs. Frames became Gardner's claim-to-fame.

In his second 1999 book, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, the 'father' of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) once again acquaints his followers with another first-rate book that continues the argument he made in earlier books, that there are multiple forms of intelligences. Although he 'canonizes' two additional intelligences, naturalistic and existential, he feels that what is more important is how people make use of MI to carry out daily tasks prized in the culture. This latter statement was well summarized during a recent interview when Gardner said "The fact that we have the same intelligences means that we can communicate with one another. But the fact that we represent things mentally in numerous symbolic systems to one another means that we are not necessarily going to construe things in the same way or see the same options."

The strength of the book lies in its core, the next three chapter describing and justifying "the ways in which MI theory can be applied to scholastic and "wider world" settings. Gardner's line of reasoning is persuasive, not because of the extensiveness of the information he includes, and his realization that certain mainstream institutions may encounter difficulty implementing his "multiple approaches to understanding", but because his script, as always, is vibrant and lucid enough to hold our interests more than a monotonous statistical analyses of a psychometric theory of intelligence would, yet firm and advanced enough that he can be taken as a serious thinker rather than as some pop cognitivist.

These three chapters outline how others have successfully implemented MI; they detail how the MI model can be easily applied to classroom learning and also infused into the "the wider society." In fact, all of Chapter 11 comments on MI in the wider world of institutions and business communities. Here, Gardner outlines ways that he has observed MI "at work in children's museums", including possibilities within art museums, and finally, within the workplace. The book concluded with Chapter 12 where he addresses (somewhat) the question first introduced in Chapter 1: Who Owns Intelligence? While the jury will be out most likely well in the 21st century on this deep and philosophical problem, may it be said, for now, that the "proprietary rights" to intelligences belong to all? Intelligence Reframed is especially important for the way in which it lays out a challenge to the 'psychometric consensus.' More specifically, the book is important for the following four reasons.

If there is a weakness in the book, it lies within the opening and closing chapters. Here the book stumbles somewhat in its attempt to address the authentic ownership of intelligence. It is suggested that "intelligence is too important to be left to the intelligence testers", that the book lay "out a position that challenges the psychometric consensus", that the book adopt the stance that humans ought to develop a better method of viewing cognitive potential and that what matters more than developing tests to measure intelligences is the practical applications of intelligences. There are some interesting calls for greater human individualization provided in these two chapters. But the details given to intellectual renovators is inconsequential and save for intellectual generalities, is slightly outdated; long-standing MI supporters will find little in these two chapters that they did not already know.

Nevertheless, Intelligence Reframed is Howard E. Gardner: it is a delightful and entertaining read and beautifully written by one of the best writers in the field of developmental cognitive science. Dr. Gardner has, once again, provided readers with a significant and well-articulated text that should be widely read and discussed. As with his previous books, detailed reference notes have been conveniently located in a section at the end of the book, so that the flow of the text is continuous. The four appendices (Books and Articles by Howard Gardner, Other Works About The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Videos, Newsletters, and Miscellany, and Contacts on Multiple Intelligences Theory and its Application) represent a welcomed background for the more interested reader. The 292 pages of the book clearly delineate and reframe the original (1983) picture of his many 'kinds of minds' image. Every chapter title, save one, contains either the word 'intelligence' or 'intelligences' - an indication of the central theme throughout the book - to "challenge the psychometric consensus" by updating the reader with numerous fresh viewpoints from a cognitive developmental standpoint.

Like so many of the author's earlier books, Intelligence Reframed ought to have a powerful impact on all who read it because Gardner puts into words a common sense type of message that so many people in psychology, education, and the greater world already know: human beings are very special from each another. They learn in dissimilar kinds of ways, and to treat all of them as if they were the same and call everybody stupid who fails to resemble a certain prototype is simply a misguided assessment.

I found this a difficult but rewarding book to read. Its basic premise is that "intelligence is too important to be left to the intelligence testers." Gardner notes that, during the past half century, many assumptions about the human mind and the human brain have been challenged...in some instances revised. "For example, we now understand that the human mind, reflecting the structure of the brain, is composed of modules or faculties. At the same time, in light of scientific and technological changes, the needs and desires of cultures all over the world have undergone equally dramatic shifts." The task Gardner sets for himself, therefore, is to introduce and then explain his theory of multiple intelligences (MI) in juxtaposition with the traditional view of intelligence.

After describing the traditional view of intelligence in Chapter 2, he next considers several "new candidate intelligences" (naturalist, spiritual, existential, and moral). In the remaining chapters, he addresses questions and criticisms about his theory; dispels some of the more prominent myths; explores the relationships among intelligence, creativity, and leadership; suggests how his theory can be applied; discusses the theory in scholastic settings, then in"the wider world"; and then in the final chapter, explores in greater depth (returning to issues raised in Chapter 1) "my answer to the provocative question, "Who owns intelligence?'"

Gardner "reframes" our understanding of human intelligence by increasing the number and nature of our perspectives on it. That is to say, he creates a wider, deeper, and more diverse frame-of-reference in which certain conclusions which, for many apparently, are controversial. For example, "the saga of individual consciousness cannot be reduced to formulas or generalizations." Moreover, "no two selves, no two consciousnesses, no two minds are exactly alike." Therefore, "Each of is...is situated to make a unique contribution to the world." The challenge for the human race is to discover "our deepest common tie -- that we are all joint products of natural and cultural evolution."

I am reminded of what Walt Whitman once said: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes." Gardner seems to be suggesting that, if each human being contains "multitudes", it is imperative that we cherish as well as recognize such diversity and complexity. Only then can we "in a complementary but synergistic way" ensure "that Nature and Culture survive for future generations." For all of us, Gardner's theory has profound implications. It also suggests substantial benefits if we apply this theory within what is sometimes referred to as "The Family of Man."

My husband encouraged me to listen to the audio book of The Art of Happiness. I cannot thank him enough. This book has profoundly changed my life. Immediately after listening to it, I felt calmer, full of hope and much happier. I have since read the book in its entirety. I have a newfound respect and admiration for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Despite the loss of his country and the suffering he and his people have endured, he is a genuinely happy man. He is an inspiration to all human beings, regardless of one's religious background. I have already shared this remarkable book with some of my family and friends, and will continue to share it with anyone who will listen. This book has helped me to see that true and lasting happiness can only be achieved through the practice of kindness and compassion, not through placing blame on others for our past or present unhappiness. I find great comfort in the ideals and teachings expressed in this book by the Dalai Lama. That there is anger and hatred in this world, there is no doubt. That each of us, as human beings, has within us the power to dispel that anger and hatred, is both encouraging and liberating. I highly recommend this book to, well, everyone. Imagine how very different the world would be if each person who reads this book passes it on to just one other person, who reads it and adopts the practice of kindness and compassion. That thought gives me great hope for the potential of tomorrow.

I have never found a book more enlightening or enriching to the soul as this one. I enjoyed Howard Cutler's flow of writing, and his style of presenting the Dalai Lama's message. He provides a great combination of the traditional Buddhist theories, enforced with common sense and practical scientific studies. I also admire the fact that ANYONE could relate to the teachings this book offers, regardless of their religion (or lack there of), age, or background. I have been interested in Buddhism, and would like to learn more on the religion, though I didn't feel the book pushed the religious system upon its readers. I liked the objective stance the book presented; it made for easy reading for a non-affiliated, yet spiritual, person like myself. I found myself reading it slowly, even reviewing the chapters, in an attempt to absorb the full meaning of the text. Each chapter reveals a piece of the puzzle, a small ingredient to the overall message: We can create lasting happiness for ourselves, and this goal is the tie that unites all of us on Earth. A truly inspirational book, it will bring out the artist in all who read it.

I've read many books concerning science and buddhism, whilst others have discussed the similarities between the East and the West's view on the human mind, this book elaborates it further by drawing many interesting cases and presents it from both perspectives.

Compared to other books recording conversation with H.H. the Dalai Lama and modern scientists on neuroscience, dreaming, dying, and meditation, this one brings home a more practical message: the effect of compassion and loving-kindness on a person's outlook and hence behaviours (quite similar to the principles of cognitive psychology).

The occasional skepticism expressed by Dr. Cutler is, to me, a healthy skepticism with the aim to seek clarifications and to build bridge drawing closer the two seemingly different views on human mind.

I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing more about emotional resilience from an Eastern perspective. Or simply use the book to gain a good overview on the teachings of Buddha applying to daily situations.

This book was not terrible, but was quite dry. It talked mainly about how teachers should approach teaching students with multiple intelligences. One thing I did like though, was that Gardner described his seven intelligences. This was more of what I was interested in. It gave me something to personally relate to. For teachers, this book would be excellent, but for an ordinary person, I wouldn't recommend it. It's wordy in the middle of the book, but the beginning catches your attention by describing the intelligences. They also give examples of the intelligences. The examples make it easier to understand and possibly relate to.

I came to Multiple Intelligences as a parent of two young children seeking to learn more about Howard Gardner's theory. Multiple Intelligences gave me all that and more, and I think that this book would probably be fabulous for people looking for more than I was. I found the beginning and ends of the book very helpful and informative, but the middle was a little too theoretical for my purposes. I kept thinking that it would be more appropriate for an education student or PTA president than a mere curious parent. That being said, the beginning does an excellent job of laying down the groundwork for what MI is and what all the different learning styles are. Gardner also has many interesting things to say about standardized testing, which is particularly timely given the current debate on the usefulness of the SAT. I think MI theory will help any parent striving to get a grip on their children's educational experience. MI theory has you look more at the whole child, rather than one or two particular skills, something I think we parents have known all along. It's just nice to see that this theory is given such weight.

Howard Gardner wurde von dem Erfolg seines Buches Frames of Mind (1983) überrascht. Besonders im Bereich von Schule und Erziehung fielen seine Gedanken über die sieben Intelligenzen auf fruchtbaren Boden. Diese Tatsache machte genauere pädagogische Überlegungen nötig und ein Buch, das sich mit den Auswirkungen und Anwendungen der Theorie von den multiplen Intelligenzen befasste. Dieses Buch liegt nun vor.

Der 1.Teil von M.I. - The Theory in Practice fasst noch einmal kurz die theoretischen Grundlagen zusammen, wie Gardner sie in Frames of Mind zuerst veröffentlicht hatte.

Im 2.Teil berichten Gardner und sein Mit-Autorinnen (Tina Blythe und Mara Krechevsky) von Versuchen und Projekten im Erziehungsbereich, die sich auf die M.I.-Theorie gründen. Sie beschreiben unter anderem:

- den Project Spectrum Approach: Hier wird versucht, bei Kindern schon in einem sehr frühen Alter die unterschiedlichen Intelligenzbereiche zu erkennen. Die Ergebnisse dieses Ansatzes werden denen des Stanford-Binet Standard-Intelligenztests gegenübergestellt. Selbst bei vorsichtiger Interpretation zeigt sich, dass der Project Spectrum Approach, wie zu erwarten war, mehr Fähigkeiten in Kindern erkennen lässt, als die Tests nach der alten Methode. Darüber hinaus werden Beispiele für die Implementierung dieses Ansatzes auch bei Schülern anderer Altersgruppen beschrieben.

- Arts PROPEL: Speziell auf den Bereich der künstlerischen Erziehung ist dieses Projekt bezogen. Es wird durchgeführt von Gardners Harvard Project Zero in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Educational Testing Service und den Pittsburgh Public Schools. Die Schüler sammeln ihnen wichtige Arbeiten in einer Kunstmappe (Portfolio oder Processfolio) und werden nach den Kriterien der M.I.-Theorie beurteilt.

Der Portfolio-Ansatz als Alternative zu den Standard-Testverfahren wird im 3.Teil des vorliegenden Buches noch genauer beschrieben. Wie an mehreren Stellen, so auch hier, kritisiert Gardner die Kontext-Unabhängigkeit der Standard-Intelligenztests. Sie verlangen häufig andere Fähigkeiten, als die eigentlich zu untersuchenden; nämlich die, unter Zeitdruck abstrakte Probleme gut durchdenken und sich schriftlich angemessen ausdrücken zu können. Auch der schulische Erfolg eines Kindes hängt mehr von diesen Fähigkeiten ab als davon, auf einem konkreten Gebiet (Zeichnen, Sport, Gärtnern, Werken etc.) gute Leistungen zu zeigen. In diesem Zusammenhang kommt Gardner auch auf sein Verständnis von Understanding zu sprechen, wie er es in The Unschooled Mind (1991) dargestellt hatte. Es geht ihm, kurz gesagt, darum, dass ein Schüler erworbenes Wissen auch wirklich anwenden kann.

Der 4. und letzte Teil beginnt mit einer systematisch-historischen Übersicht über die Sieben Phasen der Intelligenz, von laienhaften Vorstellungen angefangen über die Verwissenschaftlichung und die Pluralisation und Kontextualisierung bis hin zur Individualisierung der Intelligenz, also bis hin zur Erkenntnis, dass offensichtlich jeder Mensch einen einzigartigen Verstand/Geist besitzt.

Mit einem Ausblick auf das Jahr 2013 (also 30 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung von Frames of Mind) und der Hoffnung, dass die Idee der Multiplen Intelligenzen Bestandteil der Lehrerausbildung wird, schließt das Buch, das insgesamt einen guten Versuch darstellt, zugleich pädagogische Praxis und Theorie zu umfassen.

I am not sure what disappoints me most - - the fact that Gardner seems to be uninterested in doing, or citing, even the most basic research on cognitive processes; the fact that intelligent people demonstrate almost no sense of history or intellectual objectivity as they rush to kneel at his altar; or the fact that he gives no credit to Spearman, Thurstone, Schwab or Hirst - - all of whom predated his highly-unoriginal writings.

I am disappointed that so many are willing to accept, on his publisher's word alone, that it is "Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences." Yes, he shines new light on this old theory; but then he stands in that light, figuratively extending his arms to his "educational groupies." As such, he belongs more in the company of Jim Bakker and Ross Perot than (as reported by the book's cover notes) that of Bruner, Piaget and Dewey.

Rather than being one of the great educational "thinkers" of our time as the cover notes imply; Howard Gardner proves only to be one of the great "publicists" of our time - - a perfect model for institutional halo effect. If he were teaching at a less prestigious institution, his ideas would be scrutinized with greater objectivity. What he offers is little more than new applications of some good, old theories.

Still, he has done us a couple of favors. He applies those theories in an appealing and effective manner, although when all is said and done, I suspect that he will be forced by his own applications of this "structural learning theory" to admit a host of other disciplines into his group - - each containing multiple discreet subsets. Educators who employ his views of this "structural learning theory" as evidence for the crucial importance of their own specific discipline in educational priority-making, are advised to find another rationale.

Finally, I learn much more about Howard Gardner in this book than I do about the disciplined mind. A degree of transparancy shows up on page 157 as he indicates that he, like most true thinkers, is simply searching for answers to the "deepest questions about the world." Those questions, according to Gardner, are: What is Truth? What is Beauty? What is Goodness? His answers - - "Truth" is determined through knowledge about evolution. "Beauty" is found in humankind's creative efforts. "Good" is recognized only as a contrast to evil. ...and his "disciplines serve as points of entry" for answering these questions.

The Beatitudes offer better "points of entry."

While I whole-heartedly subscribe to the notion of multiple intelligences, I do so more with the factually accurate books of Stephen J. Gould than I do with Howard Gardener's work. This book is written for the American public, not for academia, and it shows. There is no citation, no supporting evidence, and no statistical analysis - merely Gardener holding forth his opinions about depth of knowledge being more valuable than breadth of knowledge. This would have been a much better essay than book. His choice of three examples of depth of knowledge is disappointingly eurocentric in an increasingly African-American, Hispanic and Asian American culture. I can quickly think of three other examples - 1) a study of jazz in 1920s Harlem, 2) the 16th century decimation of South America by diseases brought by Cortez's crew, and 3) a study of classical tonal Asian music - that would be equally as valid to study in depth and would help our students to understand both our culture and the rich diversity of other cultures. Why does Gardener see fit to publish this work? Perhaps he is blind to his own eurocentric ivory tower. He gives tidbits of other educational systems as being superior to ours, but then tells us "the Italian school simply cannot be transferred." So then why bother to use it as an example? To frustrate inspired teachers? Or to persuade us to send our children to Italy for preschool? Finally, Gardener stated that he would rather send his children to a school taught in Hirsch's curriculum and run by a cohesive staff than a school with his suggested curricula and run by the "average, harried" U.S. teacher. I find this very troubling. If the teacher is so important, than why bother to emphasize the curriculum? Why not emphasize the different methods of teaching the curriculum? Wouldn't that make more sense? In other words, the curriculum is not nearly as important as the teacher is. I think that Gardener had a good point to make, but that the book was so incoherent that his point was lost. I think his point was that no specific curriculum would enable our children to succeed. Instead, there is so much information in the world that teaching children to critically evaluate material has become vastly more important than the actual curriculum. In other words, students have to become meta-learners, learning "how to learn" in different subject areas. For example, learning history is vastly different from learning math. Therefore, while we can't expect all children to take a Ph.D. in history and to take 4 or 5 semesters of calculus, we can give them a good grounding in the overall structure of the field of mathematics, and the overall structure of the field of history. This understanding of the structure of the knowledge in that field of study would allow the student to find the needed information and competently analyze it when needed. I find that point interesting, and overall, made the book worth reading.

I picked up this book because the local school system is experimenting with Gardner's multiple intelligences approach. As an interested parent, but not an educator, I found this book engaging and encouraging. It motivates me to get involved in the local school system and more actively involved in their education so that my two boys can benefit from at least some small part of the enlightened approach to schooling that Gardner describes. Not just the multiple intelligences perspective, but the education for understanding and the emphasis on deep exploration of important disciplines and explicit consideration of truth, beauty and morality. Stressing the learning of powerful ways to think over covering some broad checklist of important facts is great, although Gardner also acknowledges that certain core material on citizenship and basic literacy should be learned by all.

Gardner has noble ideas regarding education. The central theme in this book is that students should be exploring beauty, truth, and morality. Gardner offers rich themes of study such as Mozart, evolution and the Holocaust as examples of how teachers should introduce students to the concepts of beauty, truth, and morality. His ideas are noble, but I found that he did not address a lot of the concerns I have as a New York City school teacher. He spends little time addressing class size and literacy and no mention is made of school security. Overall, Garnder's ideas may sound good, but no one should take his book as a "How To" or even an accurate description of what students need now.

In Gardner's view, truth, beauty, and good are the pillars upon which an education striving for deep, profound understanding should stand. Throughout the book he offers the examples of Darwin's Origin of Species, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, and the Holocaust as possible case studies in order to achieve this goal. His plan is persuasive in its scope and ideology, and attempts to reach all children through espousing the theory of multiple intelligences and several "pathways" to educational success. In sum he is bolstered in theory, but thin in implementation. For parents, "The Disciplined Mind" seems an excellent source through which to guide ones' children. For educators, it seems overly ambitious, practically requiring a paradigm shift in the educational bureacracy.

Fortunately for readers (and anyone connected to education), Gardner has not been idle since he first published his benchmark book Frames of Mind. I sincerely appreciated reading how he has continued to develop his thinking in cognitive psychology and his suggestions for education need to be taken seriously as a blueprint for change. Along with Postman, Kohn, Ravitch, Darling-Hammond, Allen, and Perrone, Gardner takes the position that education relates cultural values as much as anything. Further, those values need to engage the student in sustained, meaningful encounters in science, art, and narrative that produce a vigorous, cognitive growth. His candid suggestions for educators to assimilate units on truth, beauty, and goodness suggest that Gardner is not only willing to make a radical suggestions for the advancement of learning among children (in the spirit of Dewey and Bruner), but also that the humanitarian interests in education are worth sustaining; that is, for Gardner, meaning needs to take ascendency in our instruction.

Gardner is a fantastic writer. He has a gift for explanation and explication; I recommend the book if only for the Appendix. He delineates between two world views in education and it is worth the price of the book itself.

Yes, his suggestions are radical and extreme, but being normal is only taking education down to a new nadir. I heartily endorse this book.

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.

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.

June 30, 1999 What is creativity, is an audio lecture which needs either better focus or a better title. In short it needs to be redevloped to be somewhat more creatively entertaining. When I purchased this audio book I thought I was going to be getting an imaginative fun philosiphical look at the human condition for being able to be creative. What I received was a series of four essays which sounded like they were read by a robot. Too analytical and definitely NOT VERY CREATIVE or interesting. (Special note I've only made it through the first one.) By looking at the copy right date its easy to tell that this is one of Audio Scholars first audio novels so I can't be too critical. They're later ones are much much better especially, T-Rex and the Crater of Doom, which takes a palentology scientific discovery and turns into a really fun adventure of science and discovery. I would really like to see this particular product redeveloped into a fun imaginative philosiphical look at the human condition for being able to be creative, similar to the T-Rex mention above. Leave the analytical discussions of paintings out as they are too specific and I found them oh so boring. It's alright to create an audio lecture on the history of art, but that's the history of art and not creativity and the human condition per say. I would tell listeners to avoid this audio novel and wait for it to be redeveloped properly. Arnold D Veness

What is creativity? I owe an apology to Audio Scholar for my first review. I should have finished listening to the whole whole audio novel before saying anything the whole work. My first review only pertains to essay 1 on tape 1. After abandoning the first tape because of unpredicted content I continued with tape 2 and was pleasently surprised with an engaging discussion on the philisophical nature of creativity and the human condition. One of my favorite readers, Jeff Riggenbach, read the last of the four essays. I would still like the audio book redeveloped to have more emphasis like the content contained in essay's 3 and 4. Arnold D Veness

This is a very short pamphlet and not a book. It looks like it was mostly a public service/public information piece put out by Kappa Delta Pi, an honor society in education. It is really an outrage that Amazon.com sells it, and they charged over $4 for shipping an item that could easily have been placed in a #10 envelope and mailed with a single stamp. I plan to ask for a refund.