Rationality - Review Extracts
"As with all of his books, this one is erudite, lucid, funny and dense with fascinating material. His characteristic brew of Yiddish jokes, brainy comics and incisive argumentation is a pleasure to read, even when the subjects are technical and mathematical. It's no small achievement to make formal logic, game theory, statistics and Bayesian reasoning delightful topics full of charm and relevance." - Nick Romeo, The Washington Post, 08 October, 2021
“Just another run-of-the-mill, middle-of-the-road Pinker volume. Which is another way of saying it’s bloody marvelous. What a consummate intellectual this man is! Every one of his books is a bracing river of fluent readability to delight the non-specialist. Yet each one simultaneously earns its place as a major professional contribution to its own field. Grasp the fact that the field is different for each book, and you have the measure of this scholar. Steven Pinker’s professional expertise encompasses linguistics, psychology, history, philosophy, evolutionary theory—the list goes on. There’s even a book on how to write good English—for, sure enough, he is a master of that too.” - Richard Dawkins, Skeptical Inquirer Magazine, January/February 2023
"A fun, fast-paced book — Pinker, as always, is a lucid writer and a wise one. And he explains tricky concepts simply and well. ... thoughtful, intelligent and correct." - Tom Chivers, The Times (UK), 02 October, 2021
"A paean to human potential...profoundly refreshing, energising explanations for why we do and think the way we do...Pinker writes like a dream." - Zoe Strimpel, The Telegraph, 16 November, 2021
"Will the muddled, twittering, unscientific, philosophy-resistant planet go crazy for Rationality? Call me irrational, but I truly hope so." - Andrew Billen, The Times (UK), 22 September, 2021
"Punchy, funny and invigorating... Pinker is the high priest of rationalism." -James McConnachie, The Times, 12 September, 2021
"Almost every sentence in Rationality is crisp and intelligible, which is quite a feat, given that explaining logic to humans is like teaching them Sanskrit" - Simon Kuper, The New Statesman, 15 September, 2021
"It is extremely well written, its main charm being that you really feel you are getting to know the author as you go along. There is an engaging person behind the text...Pinker is plainly enjoying himself here. He sweeps you along with his enthusiasm and energy.”- Jonathan Dancy, Society, 31 January, 2022
“A superbly accessible guide to the edifice of rationality.”- Enrico Petracca, Journal of Economic Rationality, 13 May, 2022
"A clear guide to a compelling subject." - Harvard Magazine, January-February 2022
"Pinker offers all the tools you need to flourish in a world of misinformation, flawed reasoning and bad-faith arguments. Spiky, witty and invigorating, he covers logic, critical thinking, probability, statistics and game theory, leavening the mix with lecturers’ jokes and startling examples of fallacies." - James Marriott and James McConnachie, The Times (UK), 27 November, 2021
"A brilliant explainer...exhilarating"- Jonathan Rée, Literary Review, November 2021
"[Pinker] contends that humans think together better than they think separately, and the implication is clear: If we improve the teaching of rationality and critical thinking, we will continue to improve society. “Rationality” will improve your own critical thinking – pass it on." - Steve Donaghue, The Cristian Science Monitor, 28 October, 2021
"In each chapter he helps readers become more able to think clearly and challenge their own biases and assumptions … The book can harm you to think for yourself" - Bridie Pritchard, The Independent, 6 October, 2021
"An engaging analysis of the highest of our faculties and perhaps (ironically) the least understood." - Andrew Stark, The Wall Street Journal, 01 October, 2021
"Rationality is a terrific book, much-needed for our time. In addition to drawing together the tools for overcoming obstacles to rational thinking, Pinker breaks new ground with the evidence he provides linking rationality and moral progress." - Peter Singer
“A reader-friendly primer in better thinking through the cultivation of that rarest of rarities: a sound argument.” - Kirkus
“He manages to be scrupulously rigorous yet steadily accessible and entertaining…The result is both a celebration of humans’ ability to make things better with careful thinking and a penetrating rebuke to muddleheadedness.” - Publishers Weekly
