Speaking Minds: Interviews With Twenty Eminent Cognitive Scientists

"If you're interested in minds, brains, and machines, this book has something for you, regardless of your opinions and expertise.... The candor and informality make the interviews great fun to read, but the speakers are at heart dead serious.... An informative and useful introduction to current controversies in cognitive science."--Steven Pinker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"These interviews provide fascinating glimpses into the conceptual schemes of some of the leading thinkers in cognitive science and philosophy of mind. The presentation of so many diverse viewpoints is both informative and entertaining."--Paul Thagard, University of Waterloo

"I really like this book. The editors have done a first-class job--the canonical insiders take on Artificial Intelligence and cognitive science. As they suggest, the book is best read as a kind of hypertext, slipping between the various responses to the core questions used to organize the interviews. The result is an invaluable teaching resource and a very good read."--Andy Clark, Washington University

"Baumgartner and Payr have compiled a fascinating collection of the stories that cognitive scientists tell to motivate themselves. The difficulties they encounter get as much attention as their accomplishments in these frank and revealing dialogues. It is cognitive science with a human face."--George A. Miller, Princeton University