'Perhaps the mind stands to the brain in much the same way that the program stands to the computer.' That is the vision behind this admirable book for newcomers. Introductions to cognitive science are seldom neutral. They're not like beginners' textbooks of Norwegian grammar or topology, nor do they much resemble popular science-writing about quarks or gene-splicing. Instead they are evangelical. Alongside Dr Johnson-Laird's friendly and often charming account of ingenious computational ideas, there's the message - which is his own conception of cognitive science, of psychology, of the mind.

LRB 1 September 1988 | PDF Download