Prologue: The watchdog and the thief -- Hal and me -- The vital paths -- On what the brain thinks about when it thinks about itself -- Tools of the mind -- The deepening page -- On Lee de Forest and his amazing audion -- A medium of the most general nature -- The very image of a book -- The juggler's brain -- On the buoyancy of IQ scores -- The church of Google -- Search, memory -- On the writing of this book -- A thing like me -- Human elements.

As we enjoy the Internet's bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Carr describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by "tools of the mind"--from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer--and interweaves recent discoveries in neuroscience. Now, he expands his argument into a compelling exploration of the Internet's intellectual and cultural consequences. Our brains, scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. Building on insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a case that every information technology carries a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. The printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In contrast, the Internet encourages rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information. As we become ever more adept at scanning and skimming, are we losing our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection?--From publisher description.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.