E. Thomas Lawson is the grand elder of the Cognitive Science of Religion, who brought together and mentored a younger generation of scholars as the field became established and who has continued to inspire at least two more generations after that. This long-awaited book reveals how he did it and it will be of great interest to everyone engaged in the scientific study of the religion.

Professor Harvey Whitehouse, Chair of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK

What better way to learn about this field than to listen to the stories and insightful musings of the field's godfather and one of the first evangelists? This pithy volume gives readers a unique vantage of the intellectual motivations and innovations that birthed the cognitive science of religion.

Justin L. Barrett, President, Blueprint 1543, USA

Tom Lawson is one of the creators of the field of cognitive approaches to religious thought and behavior, and one of the main contributors to what is now an established discipline, with journals, meetings, and textbooks. Lawson was also a pioneer in the formal study of ritual behavior. The essays reflect the breadth and depth of his insights about the relations between human mental capacities and cultural variation.

Pascal Boyer, Professor of Individual and Collective Memory, Washington University in St. Louis, USA