A Student's Guide to Intellectual Work

"Rival auto manufacturers boast of the low fuel- consumption records racked up by their machines. In its aim, Jean Guitton's work corresponds to that of the auto manufacturers: he, too, is concerned with "economy," but in his case it is that intellectual economy achievable through streamlined methods of thinking, reading, and writing. At one time or other, all people engaged in intellectual pursuits are confronted by the proper way to do a thing. Students especially, who have not yet learned their own capacities, are easily baffled and frustrated when a teacher asks them to re-do a paper, for example. "How" is the question. And even seasoned thinkers often discover that the process of working which they have evolved from trial and error does hot meet every new need. It is this gap in understanding how to think, how to study, how to write, etc., that the present work strives to fill. M. Guitton writes in a refreshing, informal style that cloaks (but does not hide) the insights with which a lifetime of teaching, acute powers of observation, and a profound sympathy for the problems of students have armed him."--Back cover