Ebook: The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker

Featuring a new preface for the 10th anniversary As did the national bestseller Nickel and Dimed, Mike Rose's revelatory book demolishes the long-held notion that people who work with their hands make up a less intelligent class. He shows us waitresses making lightning-fast calculations, carpenters handling complex spatial mathematics, and hairdressers, plumbers, and electricians with their aesthetic and diagnostic acumen. Rose, an educator who is himself the son of a waitress, explores the intellectual repertory of everyday workers and the terrible social cost of undervaluing the work they do. Deftly combining research, interviews, and personal history, this is one of those rare books that has the capacity both to shape public policy and to illuminate general readers.;The working life of a waitress -- Styling hair -- The intelligence of plumbing -- A vocabulary of carpentry -- Reflective technique: electrical wiring and construcion -- Two lives: a welder and a foreman -- Rethinking hand and brain -- Hand and brain in school: The paradox of vocational education -- Conclusion: Working life.