The article howard gardner, multiple intelligences and education provides a very board overview of Howard Gardner and his work.

Howard Gardner’s work around multiple intelligences has had a profound impact on thinking and practice in education – especially in the United States. Here we explore the theory of multiple intelligences; why it has found a ready audience amongst educationalists; and some of the issues around its conceptualization and realization.

Some other descriptions of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests that our culture and school systems that reflect our culture teach, test, reinforce and reward primarily two kinds of intelligence: verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical. His theory proposes that there are at least seven other kinds of intelligence that are equally important. They are “languages” that most people speak, and that cut through cultural, educational, and ability differences. They include visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence. Dr. Gardner later added an eighth, which he calls “naturalist.”

http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/mi/mi.htm

Howard Gardner describes his work in INTELLIGENCE IN SEVEN STEPS

In my own “theory of multiple intelligences,” I argue that human beings have evolved to be able to carry out at least seven separate forms of analysis:

1. Linguistic intelligence (as in a poet)
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence (as in a scientist)
3. Musical intelligence (as in a composer)
4. Spatial intelligence (as in a sculptor or airplane pilot)
5. Bodily kinesthetic intelligence (as in an athlete or dancer)
6. Interpersonal intelligence (as in a salesman or teacher)
7. Intrapersonal intelligence (exhibited by individuals with accurate views of themselves)