1. A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality, by Ken Wilber (Shambala, 2000).

An intellectual tour de force exploring human development at both the individual and communal level. Explains a lot about where, how, and why we are where we are in time.

2. Group Dynamics, Third Edition, by Donelson R. Forsyth (Brooks/Cole – Wadsworth, 1999).

The textbook on group dynamics that covers an impressively broad range of topics and offers both incisive theoretical, as well as deeply practical, information about working with groups of people.

3. Paradoxes of Learning: On Becoming an Individual in Society, by Peter Jarvis (Jossey-Bass, 1992).

Having read this book six times, I find that I learn more upon each reading. If you are involved with learning, other people, or personal improvement, this is a book that will help you greatly.

4. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life, by Richard Paul and Linda Elder (Prentice Hall, 2001).

Want to find out just how sloppy your thinking processes are? This book is a treasure chest of helpful ways to improve thinking, learning, teaching, and communicating.

5. The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, by Steven Pinker (Viking, 2002).

This is a toss up with Pinker's How the Mind Works (Norton, 1997), but instead of looking at "how," this book tackles the tougher question of "why." If you want to deepen your understanding of people, the way they think, and how to improve relationship skills, read this book.

6. Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience, edited by Jensine Andresen and Robert K. C. Forman (Imprint Academic, 2000).

Dense but important collection of writings on religious experience and cognitive research. Offers provocative research into not only how people learn, but how people process experiences of the divine and integrate them into their understanding.

7. Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, by Don Edward Beck and Christopher C. Cowan (Blackwell, 1996).

Stick with this book through a somewhat slow beginning and you will not only learn what "memes" are, but you will also gain insight into the multi-leveled, multifaceted nature of the evolutionary psychological development of human beings.

8. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, by Howard Gardner (Basic Books, 1999).

Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences offers clear, common sense explanations of what we have always suspected — different people learn in different ways, and honoring this diversity is the key to effective teaching.

9. Thinking Styles, by Robert Sternberg (Cambridge University Press, 1997).

A variation on a theme, Sternberg's Thinking Styles offers further evidence that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to learning, teaching, thinking, or communicating.

10. A User's Guide to the Brain, by John J. Ratey, M. D. (Pantheon, 2001).

Brain research is one of the fastest growing areas of study today, and it is changing the way we think about learning, culture, history, and human interaction. This book is a first-class primer in brain basics.

Posted 12-12-02.

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