Is our world indeed collapsing? Is the idea of progress outdated? The scientist and intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to distance ourselves from the horrifying headlines of the news and the apocalyptic prophecies that play on our fears and prejudices.

Instead, let’s look at the facts: in seventy-five impressive charts, Pinker shows that today there is improvement in every respect – longevity, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness – not only in the West but around the world.

This progress is not the result of intervention by some mysterious force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the proof that reason and science can enhance the lives of people. The Enlightenment, as we now know, was not merely a hope; it produced results. But today, more than ever, it needs robust defense.

The Enlightenment opposes things that are part of human nature – authoritarianism, demonization, “magical thinking” – which demagogues are ready to exploit. Many theorists, due to political, religious, or romantic beliefs, attack it. The result is an erosive fatalism and the tendency to destroy the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation.

With insightful depth and gifted writing, Pinker defends reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to address our problems and continue progress.