PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Edward Burger is the president of Southwestern University. Previously he was the Francis Christopher Oakley Third Century Professor of Mathematics at Williams College, and the Robert Foster Cherry Professor for Great Teaching at Baylor University. Burger has been honored as a leader in education and for his innovative work in developing educational and entertaining mathematics textbooks. During the late 1980s Ed was featured at a stand-up comedy club in Austin, Texas and also was an independent contractor, writing for Jay Leno. Humor is an integral tool among his teaching methods. Today he has a weekly, lively program on higher education, thinking, and learning produced by NPR's Austin affiliate KUT. The series is aptly called Higher ED.
[Making Up Your Own Mind] is an elegant blend of entertainment and enlightenment. ---Tom Schulte, MAA Reviews Problem solving is a daily challenge for everyone, whether you realize it or not. Here, Edward Burger supplies the puzzles and gently leads us to solve them by using logic and creativity. He reminds us that even when we fail, we always win. This book is fun and challenging, and could change the way you navigate your life. --John Mauceri, musician and author of Maestros and Their Music: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting Edward Burger paints a vision for how education and learning can be meaningful and life changing. His approach focuses on enhancing the life of the mind and how we can all think more deeply. He also offers, through thought-provoking puzzles, an entertaining way to embrace his practices of effective thinking. --Fay Vincent, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball and former President of Columbia Pictures This is a marvelous book in the spirit of George P lya and Martin Gardner, but in the service of higher lessons about how we should think and take joy in our own thinking. In this era of high-stakes testing, where getting the right answer would seem to be the only purpose of solving puzzles, Edward Burger invites us to explore the journey of puzzling itself, arguing persuasively for its deeper and more lasting value. It is on this journey of 'making up our minds' that we discover what we are truly capable of. --Adam Falk, President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Put down your devices, pick up this book, and learn how to amplify your thinking through mind-bending puzzles that sharpen reasoning and enhance creativity. Challenging, fun, occasionally exasperating, always stimulating and engaging. --Janet Brown, Executive Director of the Commission on Presidential Debates We often claim that education should not just teach facts; it should help us learn how to think clearly. Making Up Your Own Mind is a book that takes that goal seriously. It is brilliantly constructed, clearly written, and fun. --William C. Powers Jr., former President of the University of Texas, Austin Readers of this wonderful book will discover what generations of Edward Burger's students have discovered: his ability to use puzzles to help them solve the most significant puzzle of all--how to build a meaningful life filled with creativity and the joy of learning. --Frederick M. Lawrence, Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown Law Center
