"This is a breathtaking book, providing a thoroughly engaging, richly detailed historical introduction to the fundamental ideas of cognitive science. This will be absolutely essential reading not only for students (who will benefit from the numerous exercises), but also for professionals in any one area of cognitive science who may want to know the lay of the land in other areas and who can't but benefit from the historical perspective," Georges Rey, University of Maryland "There are two problems that perennially plague courses in cognitive science: students from one discipline lack an adequate background in the other disciplines crucial to the subject, and, even within their own discipline, students often don't possess the historical perspective necessary to understand how contemporary problems arose and why they are important. Harnish's rich and well-informed book is designed to solve both of these problems and it succeeds admirably." Stephen Stich, Rutgers University.