BOOK REVIEW Lloyd, G. E. R., Cognitive Variations: Reflections on the Unity and Diversity of the Human Mind Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007, 201 pages Joel Richeimer Published online: 15 August 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008 G. E. R. Lloyd is a well-known scholar of ancient Greek science with many noteworthy books to his credit. Relatively late in his career, Lloyd also developed an expertise in ancient Chinese science. He has written a number of studies comparing ancient Greek and ancient Chinese science. In this, his latest work, Lloyd tackles the broader issue of whether our cognitive capacities are uniform across cultures or are culture specific. Did, for instance, the ancient Chinese experience space the same as or differently from the ancient Greeks? How about emotions? Health? Sense of agency? This is how Lloyd describes the issue. The universalists think that at bottom “we all think and feel and perceive the same way” (2). “Against the universalists, there are those for whom the diversity of humankind goes all of the way down. There are fundamental differences not just in belief systems, but also in the very way the mind works, that—for them—expose the fallacy of the view that we are all basically the same” (3). The topic of the book is—at least, officially—who is right? In this small volume, Lloyd has gathered a broad range of observations, research studies, and data to answer this question. His methodological approach is unusual. He reviews the current scientific literature from anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, etc. and then brings to bear on it his areas of expertise—ancient Greece and ancient China. So, the book presents the data on two dimensions: current scientific cultural comparisons and historical scholarship. Further, Lloyd has organized the information in specific areas of cognitive capacities, such as color perception, reason, emotions, etc. The latter is a smart move because there is no reason to think the answer to his question in one area would necessarily be true in another. On the level of observations, the book is impressive. He has summarized the literature in nine cognitive areas (color perception, spatial cognition, classification of animals and plants, emotions, health, self, agency, causation, and reason). Not all of these literature reviews are of equal quality. Some, such as the one on spatial cognition, are excellent. However, in any case, none are complete. Yet, given the shortness of the book (200 pages), each is surprisingly informative. Lloyd has an excellent eye for picking out the highlights in each area. On the level of putting it all together and answering his question, whether Dao (2008) 7:339–342 DOI 10.1007/s11712-008-9068-7 Joel Richeimer (*) Philosophy Department, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022, USA e-mail: richeimerj@kenyon.edu