Burger and Starbird, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking

The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird (Princeton University Press, 2012) is a book I turn to every time I feel I’m losing my edge. Written by two mathematics professors who have received numerous prestigious teaching awards, it is slim but conceptually powerful. If I could actually follow through on the authors’ suggestions and adopt their five learnable habits, I know I would be a much, much better thinker. (Maybe this time....)

I contemplated summarizing the book but then decided against it. I would only dumb it down. So, instead, I will simply recommend it to everyone who is in search of “practical, proven methods of effective thinking and creativity.” And who isn’t?