Thinking with all the rigor of logic is like exercising at high altitudes: it is a demanding practice, perhaps exhausting, which then allows you to face everyday challenges with great ease. Eugenia Cheng will be your personal trainer in the art of logic, that way of reasoning that allows you to build complex arguments step by step, about the sublime and the trivial, until reaching moments of true enlightenment. With spark and intellectual ambition, this mathematician, pianist, cook and painter will take you through the rules of thought that have shaped mathematical demonstrations, along the routes that allow you to identify the fundamental beliefs of each person, along the unexpected paths in which the reason and emotions come together to bring out the best in the human intellect. Cheng shows how abstraction and analogy, careful deduction and reasonable doubt, feelings and intuition work, because he knows that logic is much more than syllogisms, quantifiers, contrapositives and negations: it is a powerful tool to argue and understand the others, to understand the origin of the disagreements and to know oneself. In the illogical world that we have had to live, saturated with fallacies, fake news, intellectual aggressions and polarization, this book is a real breath of oxygen.

"With humor, grace and a natural gift to make explanations fun, Eugenia Cheng has done it again. This is a book for you to savor, consult and buy from all your friends: you will think more clearly later reading it, something that unfortunately is infrequent these days. I am going to buy many copies to send them to various heads of state. "
Daniel Levitin, author of The Lie as a Weapon

"Cheng argues that this book is a must for those of us who can use compassion and logic to productively discuss with those who cannot use them. Thus advanced mathematics can make a significant contribution to creating a better society and having happier conversations and bonds."
Katy Guest, The Guardian