Enlightenment Now

My new favourite book of all time -- Bill Gates Exhilarating, magnificent, uplifting * Economist * This is the biggest story of our time. It's about the many ways in which the world is improving, and why we don't believe it -- Fraser Nelson * Spectator * Pinker is right. Not just a bit right, but completely, utterly, incontrovertibly right ... for most people, life is better, even if they don't realise it -- Dominic Sandbrook * Daily Mail * Awesome. The confidence with which Pinker tears through the issues that cause such deep anxiety today is compelling -- William Davies * Guardian * A characteristically fluent, decisive and data-rich demonstration of why, given the chance to live at any point in human history, only a stone-cold idiot would choose any time other than the present -- Sam Leith * Spectator * A new, optimistic view of the world ... Things are not as bad as your Facebook news feed makes them seem ... a cheerful, contrarian tract for dark times -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Times * A goldmine of startling graphs and killer facts about the way we live now. Everyone should read this book and, just for once, be enthralled by what humankind has achieved -- Iain Macwhirter * Herald * Brimming with surprising data and entertaining anecdotes ... a genuinely enlightening book -- Jan-Werner Mller * Financial Times * Today we are living healthier, wealthier lives - and it's thanks to the values of the Enlightenment ... a passionate book in praise of Enlightenment values -- David Aaronovitch * The Times * In Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker extols the amazing achievements of modernity, and demonstrates that humankind has never been so peaceful, healthy and prosperous. There is of course much to argue about, but that's what makes this book so interesting. -- Yuval Noah Harari A salutary reminder of the material progress modern science and commerce have delivered * The New York Times * Words can hardly do justice to the superlative range and liveliness of Pinker's investigations * Independent * Pinker is a paragon of exactly the kind of intellectual honesty and courage we need -- David Brooks * The New York Times * If 2017 was a rough year for you, look no further than Steven Pinker's engaging new book, Enlightenment Now, to cheer you up. Conceived before Donald Trump even announced his candidacy, it could not have been better timed to clarify - and, for some, refute - the habits of mind that brought Trump and the GOP to power ... Pinker's gift is to challenge us not only to update the Enlightenment, but to think beyond it * Washington Post * A valuable book ... Enlightenment Now can hardly be bettered * Boston Globe * Persuasive... Pinker's book focuses on the Enlightenment as a philosophical perspective, as a distinctive way of looking at the position of individuals within modern society. Enlightenment Now is a spirited defence of the enduring ideals of this tradition * Times Higher Education * A careful and deeply researched piece of work ... Pinker is bravely prepared to be the bearer of good news * Guardian * The most uplifting work of science I've ever read * Science * A highly topical and much-needed book * New Statesman * Pinker is ahead of his critics... [he] is in no way complacent. To accuse him of smugly sipping cocktails at the End of History caf is simply to ignore his repeated calls to work for the better future that is there for the taking, but also for the losing -- Julian Baggini * Literary Review * In his new book, Enlightenment Now, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker makes a more convincing case for the sciences benefiting the arts * New Scientist * An excellent book, lucidly written, timely, rich in data and eloquent in its championing of a rational humanism that is - it turns out - really quite cool. * New York Times Book Review * It's easy to feel dour about the future of mankind. But constant, widespread doomsday prophecies are not going to help - i

Steven Pinker is one of the world's most influential thinkers and writers on the human condition. 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. The recipient of several major awards for his teaching, books, and scientific research, Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He also writes frequently for The New York Times, the Guardian and other publications. He has been named Humanist of the Year, Prospect magazine's "The World's Top 100 Public Intellectuals," Foreign Policy's "100 Global Thinkers," and Time magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People in the World Today."