How to Think: Your Essential Guide to Clear, Critical Thought

About the Book

This is a book about thinking. Engaging and down-to-earth, it captures the habits and practices that are fundamental to clear thinking and effective study.

In his warm and friendly style, Tom Chatfield shows you how to: 

• Identify and examine your biases
• Engage in lively, curious skepticism
• See the value in emotion and use rhetoric persuasively
• Know when to say ′I don′t know′
• Construct reasoned arguments and explanations
• Think critically about how you engage with technology. 

Short and punchy, the book views critical thinking as a skill to be continually practiced and developed. It equips you with a toolkit for clearer thinking, describing ten key concepts that help you to apply what you have learned. Including regular reflective exercises, key concepts, further readings, each chapter also offers recommendations for how to put the ideas it discusses into practice.

This book is for undergraduate students and anyone looking to understand the core ideas behind critical thinking. Celebrating both self-reflection and collaboration, this book empowers you to pause, think twice and, above all, think well.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Thinking about thinking Chapter 1: Attention and reflection: Building habits for better thinking Chapter 2: Working with words: Close reading and clear writing Chapter 3: The importance of assumptions: Examining what has been left unsaid Chapter 4: Giving good reasons: The importance of arguing your case Chapter 5: Seeking good explanations: Investigating the reasons behind things Chapter 6: Creative and collaborative thinking: Finding a process that works for you Chapter 7: Thinking about numbers: How not to lie with statistics Chapter 8: Technology and complexity: The 21st-century context Chapter 9: And finally... A toolkit for clearer thinking: Ten key concepts

About the Author :
Dr Tom Chatfield is a British tech philosopher and author. He writes, broadcasts and consults internationally, with a special interest in critical thinking, AI and future skills. His books exploring digital culture—including Wise Animals, How To Thrive in the Digital Age, and Fun Inc.—are published in over thirty languages, while his critical thinking textbooks, published by Sage, are used by universities, institutions and companies around the world. Over the past decade, Tom has developed award-winning online courses for universities and businesses, and been a guest faculty member at the Said Business School and visiting associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, both at the University of Oxford. He has collaborated with organizations including Allianz, the BBC, Google, and the UN. Past speaking appearances include TED Global and the US National Academy of Sciences. A launch columnist for BBC Future, he writes widely in the international media and guest lectures at universities in the US, UK and Europe.

Review :
Inspiring, practical and engaging, this book raises, explores and addresses some of the fundamental questions and issues we face when making sense of and responding to the world around us. Using accessible language and relatable examples, it offers us practical tools to develop critical thinking skills, not just for academic study but also for life. This book could be transformative for senior leaders, teachers and their pupils. 

How To Think is not just a book that explains effective cognitive processes; it actually models these processes and trains you in them.  It would make an excellent tool to inform planning, how to formulate proper arguments and explain ideas.

Chatfield′s writing style is an easy going one, using everyday examples a reader can identify with, and thus, understand what an argument is and how an argument is build - the reflective exercises in the book help. Critical thinking and argument building is particularly important for many international students, this down to earth approach makes it more accessible for them.

This is the first book of Tom Chatfield that I’ve read, and it was fantastic. It breaks down a ton of common thinking errors, and he touches on relevant topics to use as examples. Each chapter has reflections as well to go back over what was discussed, and it’s great to take some time during the reflections to see how you can apply the tools to daily life. For anyone who wants to improve their thinking and decision-making, I highly recommend this book, and I’ll most likely be reading it again at some point.  I have read other texts related to critical thinking and I feel this one gives a clearer insight into this process because it does not just say ‘this is critical thinking’ but instead takes me slowly through the mechanics of becoming a critical being. The toolkit is also a brilliant summary of the key points from the book. It’s universal and timeless – I feel like anyone of any age at any time could read it. A masterclass in clear critical thinking.