Steven pinker is a professor for psychology in the harvard university with videos in the cspan video library. Those young people today complaints about the decline of language go at least as far back as the printing press. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that. Moral intuitions are being drawn out of people in the lab, on web sites and in brain scanners, and are. Steven pinker is johnstone family professor in the department of psychology at harvard university. The author of the language instinct, the blank slate and, most recently, the sense of style. Steven pinker carries the banner for minimal, clear writingbut unfortunately, does not always follow the rules himself. Is the english language being corrupted by texting and social media. How the mind creates language, and how the mind works, and more on. Nov 03, 2014 in a prologue to the sense of style, subtitled a thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century, the brain scientist steven pinker explains that hes been reading style. Sep 28, 2014 the author of the language instinct, the blank slate and, most recently, the sense of style. The sense of style 2014 offers a refreshing and relevant guide to writing potent, readable texts of all kinds. How the mind works by steven pinker pdf free download ebook. Pinker was born in montreal, quebec in 1954, to a middleclass jewish family.
There is quite a lot to learn from the sense of style. Steven pinker takes issue with the turgid writing style of some of his fellow academics in his new book, the sense of style. The sense of style steven pinker the thinking persons guide to. However, pinker does show that there is far more room for hope than we have in our current culture, and his take on some of the big issues that vex us, like terrorism, biohazards, ai, armageddon, nuclear war, and other existential threats is a model of common sense, without slipping into complacency. Sep 30, 2014 in the sense of style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist steven pinker answers these questions and more. To give you some idea, ill give you its parting message in my own words, mostly. Oct 03, 2014 leave it to a scientist to finally explain how to kill off bad writing. May 22, 2014 steven pinker, how the mind works, new york. Jun 12, 2015 the apsdavid myers lecture on the science and craft of teaching psychology, delivered at the 27th annual aps convention, new york city, may 2015. At this prio seminar, steven pinker department of psychology at harvard university will talk about the topic of his recently published book, the sense of style. Read the sense of style pdf the thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century ebook by steven pinker epub. The penguin press, 1998 file history click on a datetime to view the file as it appeared at that time.
The moral instinct by steven pinker which of the following people would you say is the most admirable. In the end, pinkers formula for good writing is pretty basic. Pinker agrees that real mastery can be hard and elusive. Review of the sense of style by steven pinker ive got an interview with steven. This book felt like a chore to get through, whereas most other grammarfocused like elements of style come across as heavenly, enjoyable looks into the backend of language. The sense of style by steven pinker digested read steven. Pick up the key ideas in the book with this quick summary. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century. Steven pinker project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century 01 by pinker, steven isbn. His popular and highly praised books include the better angels of our nature, the sense of style, the stuff of thought, the blank slate, how the mind works, and the language instinct. If you really want to improve your writing, consider the. The sense of style the thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century penguin books steven pinker. Writing, pinker writes in the sense of style, is an unnatural act.
In the sense of style, pinker uses linguistics and cognitive science to explain the style of writing we should be aiming for, and why it is so hard to achieve. We seek it in our friends and mates, nurture it in our children, advance it in our politics and justify it with our religions. While the sense of style is very much a practical guide to clear and compelling writing, its also far more. With his crisp prose style and zany, pop cultureinflected sense of humor, the mit psychology professor has become famed for his ability to turn something like a discussion of regular and irregular verb forve science. If you really want to improve your writing, consider the following principles. The provocation for crying in 2014 was pinkers newest book, the sense of style.
John crace edits the linguists manual of style down to a fashionable 700 words. By steven pinker the sense of style the thinking personi 1 2 s. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century might be regarded as an update of fowler, eschewing pedantry, convoluted or pompous sentence construction, cliche, and inflexible grammatical rules. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century, steven pinker basically. Steven pinkers most popular book is everybody lies.
Though still revered, the elements of style, to be honest, is a little dated now, and just plain wrong about some things. The sense of style ebook by steven pinker rakuten kobo. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21 st century so much that its time to buy a new one. Aug 19, 2015 harvard psychologist steven pinker is a distinguished writer and chair of the usage panel of the american heritage dictionary. Ive dogeared and scribbled on steven pinkers sense of style. See all books authored by steven pinker, including the language instinct. Steven pinker books list of books by author steven pinker.
How steven pinker works oncampus and off, pinker known for bestselling books and striking hair published on 1142005 4. Moral goodness is what gives each of us the sense that we are worthy human beings. The sense of style, by steven pinker financial times. The harvard psychologist offers a writing guide based on how the mind works. Since i became editor in 2010, every article published in perspectives on. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century has never gotten in. Charming and erudite, from the author of enlightenment now, the wit and insight and clarity he brings. Why writing well is hard man has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children, whereas no child has an instinctive tendency to bake, brew, or write. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page information wikidata item cite this page. Pinker is every bit as witty as fowler, and writes in a similarly vigorous, direct and idiosyncratic. Nov, 2014 ive dogeared and scribbled on steven pinkers sense of style. Steven pinker is the harvard college professor of psychology at harvard university. The sense of style is for writers of all kinds, and for readers who are interested in letters and literature and are curious about the ways in which the sciences of mind can illuminate how language works at its best.
Richard feynman once wrote, if you ever hear yourself saying, i think i understand this, that means you dont. Harvard psychologist steven pinker is a distinguished writer and chair of the usage panel of the american heritage dictionary. So when i found out that pinker was coming out with a style book, i was. He is the author of ten books, including the language instinct, how the mind works, the blank slate, the stuff of thought, the better angels of our nature, and most recently, the sense of style. Learn how to make smarter decisions with the authors of. Man has an instinctive tendency to talk, as we see in the babble of our young children, whereas no child has an instinctive tendency to bake, brew, or write. Only steven pinker could have written this marvelous book, and thank heaven he has. Blagg crimson staff writer he may have been named one of time magazines 100 most influentialpeople, but johnstone family professor of. Steven pinker is one of the worlds most influential thinkers and writers on the human condition. Sep 30, 2014 the sense of style is for writers of all kinds, and for readers who are interested in letters and literature and are curious about the ways in which the sciences of mind can illuminate how language works at its best.
Aug 31, 2014 the sense of style by steven pinker digested read. Based on his reverseengineering, pinker advocates using the classical style, which directs. Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download. Has the sense of style by steven pinker been sitting on your reading list. Though being a linguist, as he is, doesnt make a writer any more than putting air in an airplane wheel makes a pilot, hes also got numerous bestselling books e. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century by steven pinker the sense of style is a scholarly and witty book on the art of writing well.
The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century viking penguin, 2014 is titled a window onto the world. Pinker s research on visual cognition, begun in collaboration with his thesis adviser, stephen kosslyn, showed that mental images represent scenes and objects as they appear from a specific vantage point rather than capturing their intrinsic threedimensional structure, and thus correspond to the neuroscientist david marrs theory of a twoandahalfdimensional sketch. He bases his description on classic style, which he loosely defines this way. Bestselling author, linguist and cognitive scientist steven pinker provides readers with a new writingguide for the twentyfirst century. Steven pinker has 46 books on goodreads with 645490 ratings.
The penguin press, 1998 file history click on a datetime to. Ten teasers from pinkers sense of style legal writing pro. The apsdavid myers lecture on the science and craft of teaching psychology, delivered at the 27th annual aps convention, new york city, may 2015. Science says you can split infinitives and use the passive. Today, a new field is using illusions to unmask a sixth sense, the. Leave it to a scientist to finally explain how to kill off bad writing.
His prose is lively, and i felt as if i were learning from a master. Sharpen your pencils steven pinkers the sense of style. Though still revered, the elements of style, to be honest, is a little. In the sense of style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist steven pinker answers these questions and more. To take something on faith means to believe it without good reason, so by definition a faith in the existence of supernatural entities clashes with reason.
Instead of extolling the same confusing and sometimes counterintuitive rules found in traditional style guides, the sense of style offers simple tricks and heuristics guaranteed to improve your writing. Steven pinker talks about the sense of style cmos shop talk. Why is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better. The reason for crying this time, however, was quite different. In his new book the sense of style, the brain scientist is trying to shoot down. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century does so to a large extent. In a prologue to the sense of style, subtitled a thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century, the brain scientist steven pinker explains that hes been reading style. Rethinking the usage guide for the twentyfirst century, pinker doesnt carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago. Mar 04, 2015 the second chapter of steven pinker s the sense of style. Books by steven pinker author of the better angels of our. The thinking persons guide to writing in the 21st century, suggests its even meant to supplant that classic text the elements of style, by will strunk and e.
804 1026 958 163 336 372 412 485 1166 1094 1489 176 1360 1463 227 415 1035 238 586 753 503 947 54 944 414 1385 1027 1263 590 332 1322 714