This book aims to help readers develop an understanding of what is meant by critical thinking and to develop their own reasoning skills. These skills are essential to those progressing to higher levels of academic study, whether at advanced or degree level. However, the underlying concepts are useful to anyone who wishes to: understand the concepts used in critical thinking: develop clearer thinking: interpret and produce argument more effectively: @ be more observant of what they see and hear. This book focuses mainly on aspects of critical thinking that can be applied to work and study, and which help individuals to think about how they think. It is not intended to be an advanced study of abstract reasoning or logic. For these, the reader is referred to works such as A. Garnham and J. Oakhill (1994), Thinking and Reasoning, and A. Fisher (1988), The Logic of Real Argzments. Rather, its purpose is to focus on the basics of clear thinking.