Books like Cognitive Biology

Loved Cognitive Biology by Lynn Nadel? Here are 9 books with the same pull, and why each one fits.

About Cognitive Biology →

9 books

1How the Mind Works
How the Mind Works
Steven Pinker
A broad, popular account of how evolution shaped the mind's cognitive abilities.
Buy on Amazon
2The Blank Slate
The Blank Slate
Steven Pinker
Argues against the idea that the human mind is shaped only by culture, drawing on research on innate traits.
Buy on Amazon
3Descartes' Error
Descartes' Error
Antonio Damasio
Uses case studies of patients with brain damage to show how emotion is tied to reasoning and decision-making.
Buy on Amazon
4The Symbolic Species
The Symbolic Species
Terrence W. Deacon
Explores how the evolution of the brain and language developed together in humans.
Buy on Amazon
5Kluge
Kluge
Gary Marcus
Presents the mind as a patchwork of evolved shortcuts, with examples of its flaws.
Buy on Amazon
6Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
Describes two modes of thinking, fast and intuitive and slow and deliberate, and how they shape judgment.
Books like it →
Buy on Amazon
7Consciousness Explained
Consciousness Explained
Daniel C. Dennett
Offers a philosophical and scientific account of consciousness as a product of brain processes.
Buy on Amazon
8The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicamera
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
Julian Jaynes
Proposes a historical and psychological theory of how modern self-awareness emerged.
Buy on Amazon
9The Hidden Brain
The Hidden Brain
Shankar Vedantam
A readable tour of unconscious mental processes and how they affect everyday behaviour.
Buy on Amazon

Want picks just for you? Tell us books you love.

Wrote a book on this list? Get a badge for your site

More book lists