Table of Contents

Welcome aboard; navigation as computation; the implementation of contemporary pilotage; the organization of team performances; communication; navigation as a context for learning; learning in context; organizational learning; cultural cognition.

Promotional Information

Hutchins argument that 'the physical symbol system is a model of the operation of the sociocultural system from which the human actor has been removed' has great force. Hutchins challenge to the formal account of human cognition is based on what he knows about how humans actually navigate their way through the world, not on a philosophic doctrine. Overall, I think this is a great book. It has lots of ideas, rich data, and innovative analyses. It is highly disciplined, clearly written, and thoughtful. I believe it will be a real landmark for other naviagators of the cognitive ocean. -- Roy G. D'Andrade, Department of Anthropology, University of California This timely work has the potential to make important contributions to cognitive science, artificial intelligence and computer supported cooperative work communities. It addresses difficult problems of great importance with novelty and creativity. The general area of situated cognition is a lively and important one, spanning areas as diverse as anthropology, robotics, and office information systems. There are two fundamental persepctives that are central to these efforts: that cognition must be studied in realistic contexts, and when viewed in these contexts much of what we consider intelligence is really not in the head but out in the world. Given these persepctives, there are two research questions that need to be addressed - how can we go about studying cognition in the real world and how does this affect the way we study what is going on in heads of the people the way we study what is going on in heads of the people embedded in these contexts? Hutchins tackles both of these questions in new and intriguing ways. -- James Martin, Computer Science Department, University of Colorado