Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

This is one of those rare books that is not only a joy to read, but also immensely helpful. It can help all of us with something that is at once troublesome and worrisome: our memory. It does this with ease, not teaching us some grueling rote memory technique, but one that is easy, natural and intuitive. Yet Moonwalking with Einstein turns out to not be exclusively a how-to book on memory. So what is it? Well, yes, it is about memory and how to improve it, but it is at once a history of techniques, a description of what memory is and what can go wrong with it, and also a running narrative of how the author, a journalist himself with no special memory skills, becomes one of the most proficient memory athletes in America. I'd learned a mnemonic device to aid memorization decades ago while in college, and found it to be helpful, but for some reason I'd abandoned the technique once I graduated. But Moonwalking with Einstein expands the mnemonic technique I learned back then by use of something of which I'd never heard: the "Memory Palace." The Memory Palace exploits our inherent skill for remembering images and spatial locations, harnesses these two abilities we all posses in abundance, and relates them to the memorization of numbers, lists and assortments of other difficult to remember items. The amazing thing is that the Memory Palace not only makes memorization easy, it also makes it fun. What makes the book so interesting is that it is narrative non-fiction and reads like a novel. The author locks his conflict with his own memory early on, gives a sense of rising tension as he accumulates the forces to overcome its limitations, and resolves this internal conflict at the end when he participates in the US Memory Championship. I didn't read it as urgently as I did today's number one bestseller, Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, but still, I couldn't put it down. In Chapter Five, I scanned the "to-do" list of fifteen items on pages 92/3 that the author had to memorize in his initial attempt, and developed the technique for myself as I read about the author memorizing it. As my Memory Palace, I used an old home of a high school friend with which I was still familiar, constructing useful details as I went. When I had finished reading about the author memorizing the list (took me about five minutes), I had memorized it myself, and I found that the items were not only immediately memorable, but that the list of items and their sequence was still with me days later, and so imbedded in my memory that I'm sure I'll ever forget it. All this, I accomplished effortlessly. This is a truly remarkable feat for me because I'm almost seventy years old and have chronic fatigue syndrome, which adversely affects all aspects of my memory. It has also given me hope that I might finally learn ancient Greek. I tried to learn it several years ago, but found building a vocabulary so difficult that I abandoned the project. Rote memory was just too much trouble. I am interested in all things Greek, and as it turns out, the Memory Palace technique was invented in the fifth century BC by Simonides following his narrow escape from the collapse of a building. This in itself is a story you'll be interested in reading about. The author says that since the time of this ancient Greek, "the art of memory has been about creating architectural spaces in the imagination." Having been to Greece twice, I have all the makings of a superb Greek Memory Palace. While traveling around Greece and the western coast of Turkey for ten weeks, I visited many cities and islands: Athens, Thebes, Delphi, Ithaca, Mykonos, Delos, Santorini, etc. I can't count all the archaeological sites I visited. What I'm creating isn't just any old Memory Palace but actually a Memory Country. Within each location, I can identify as many locations for storing words and meanings as I need. But not only that, I can also use characters from Greek mythology to create actions and images to reinforce the material, as the author suggests. All this constitutes my Greek Memory Palace: the location where I will store ancient Greek words and meanings as I learn the language, in accordance with the instructions learned in Moonwalking with Einstein. None of it was difficult. I picked it up as I read the book. The author describes how in the past people viewed their minds as something to perfect by loading it with all sorts of intellectual material. "People used to labor to furnish their minds. They invested in the acquisition of memories the same way we invest in the acquisition of things." [page 134] Some even believed that "the art of memory was a secret key to unlocking the occult structure of the universe." [page 151] This has given me an entirely new view of how to perceive my own mind and nourish it in the future. The author also discusses how we came to lose touch with our ability to remember with the invention of the printed word. The history of that estrangement and how inventions like Wikipedia and the Internet foster that estrangement is a very interesting story. The author makes the reader aware of what is happening to us and provides a way to project ourselves into the future without suffering so much of technology's debilitating effects. Perhaps the reason this book is so successful is that the reader never loses sight of the practical use of the information the author is providing because the author is discovering it himself and actively making use of it in his quest to make it into the US Memory Championship. This is an important book. Everyone can benefit from reading it. David Sheppard

Joshua Foer's "Moonwalking With Einstein" is a good book, but it will leave some readers thinking about how much better it could have been. In "Moonwalking," Foer tries to have it both ways: to write a serious book about an important subject, memory, while at the same time writing an accessible bestseller (which it no doubt will be). He does this by hooking his excellent writing about the science, history, and cultural significance of memory into the tale of his competition in the 2006 U.S. Memory Championship competition, complete with idiosyncratic competitors, many of whom apparently have neither the time, inclination, or in some cases the basic hygiene required to earn a living other than by hawking "memory secrets" with all the dignity of late night TV pitchmen. Don't get me wrong. Overall, "Moonwalking" is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Foer has a breezy writing style, and is at times delightfully funny. But it is that same entertaining, shaggy-dog style that ends up contrasting so glaringly with his sometimes profound and always though-provoking sections that tell the serious story of memory and its devaluation in the 20th Century. Foer's writing on the importance of memory in societies before the development of writing is excellent. The ability of such cultures to pass down knowledge and their own history from generation to generation depended on the development of techniques that allowed individuals to memorize astounding amounts of information. Foer recounts the discovery of the 2,500 year old mnemonic technique known as the "memory palace," by which Simonides of Ceos supposedly recalled the exact location of the victims of the collapse of a banquet hall in which he was speaking in order to guide grief-stricken relatives to the bodies of their loved ones. In fact the passage of knowledge through writing was disparaged by such men as Socrates, who believed that witten words "could never be anything more than a cue for memory - a way of calling to mind information already in one's head," and that "writing would lead the culture down a treacherous path toward intellectual and moral decay, because even while the quantity of knowledge available to people might increase, they themselves would come to resemble empty vessels." In the 21st Century, when two-thirds of American teens don't have a clue as to when the Civil War began, and one-fifth don't know who the United States fought against in World War II, Socrates' predictions seem prescient rather than merely a quaint longing for the good old days. Foer reveals some remarkable facts about the evolution of our attitudes toward the written word. The use of punctuation and word spacing was tried out in the 2nd Century A.D., but was ultimately abandoned for 900 years. Until Guttenberg and the invention of moveable type, books were largely regarded as aids to memory rather as primary sources of information in themselves. Foer also does an excellent job of describing the ways in which the increasing availability of written sources has created a world in which, if one reads at all, one reads extensively rather than intensively. Breadth of knowledge replaces depth of knowledge. Lack of a foundational memory pool inside our brains results in a reduced capacity for critical thinking. Comparing what we learn with what we know, integrating new material with previously acquired and remembered material to gain new insight and understanding about the world, is sacrificed at the alter of Google and instant but unconnected, and largely uunretained, knowledge. Likewise, Foer's exploration of the neuroscience of memory, including the stories the astonishing abilities of so-called savants, is both insightful and even touching. It is when he tries to interweave his own experiences as he first reports on and later enters the U.S. Memory Championship competition that Foer stumbles. Foer seems to be working overtime to engage the reader in the story. To his credit, he at least partially succeeds in making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Some episodes are even laugh out loud funny. But the raw material weighs him down. Unlike recent accounts of other potentially snooze-worthy contests such as crossword puzzle competitions and spelling-bees, his compatriots in the rarified world of super-memory often come across as unlikable or just plain dull. There is no one root for except the obvious candidate, the author himself. It is too bad that the author, who tells so many important stories that have great relevance in this age of hyper-information, chose not stick to those stories. But we are lucky that Joshua Foer has given us as much as he has in "Moonwalking With Einstein." Without the hook of his shoot-out at the memory corral, this timely and informative book might have gone largely unread by anyone.

I must admit that I really stumbled into finding this book while searching similar books to ones pertaining to performance, attaining perfect performance, flow psychology, etc., and I am very happy to have found it. The title itself is unique, and it's not until the end of the book do you see the significance of what it really means. I'll start with a short summary and then a small critique to follow up: Summary: The book follows the journey of Joshua Foer, who as a journalist writing for several publications (although I forget which one at the time he was writing for), as he is covering the Memory Championships that are being held in the United States. Now, if you haven't heard of the Memory Championships, you aren't the only one as I was completely clueless as to what was going on in the description, but after Foer details what goes on in these Memory challenges, you can't help but be curious as to how and what it looks like. Events like speed cards, remembering names and faces, random words and digits are standard fare, and while daunting to the passerby, these competitors flourish and show remarkable capability for memory. Foer becomes involved with the Memory Scene and meets several people who have taken part in Memory Championships and takes on a challenge to compete in the Championship in the following year. What follows in the book is an incredible journey into the history of Memory and how it can be a huge help or hindrance, and how one is able to achieve such a memory. Review: The book has many interesting aspects to it and the way that Foer writes makes it all palpable and enjoyable. You get a mix of methodology, history, science, and case studies. The whole system for these incredible memories, however, can all be explained by the Method of Loci which is said to be first introduced by Simonides of ancient Greece. Loci is the ability to take different, familiar places that you have been to, and place objects there that you can associate to what you want to remember. It's like a visualized road map which you can follow from point to point and, at each point, will be someone, something, etc. Just this part at the beginning of the book was fascinating to me, as I have never heard or read anything like this. It all seems so simple, yet can be so detailed and useful when you practice it. Another section of the book that was enjoyable was Foer attempts to get even better with regards to his memory. In his training for the Championship, he had hit a wall and was struggling to surpass times in his practice for certain events. After speaking with several people, he discovers that he just needs to push himself harder with deliberate practice, to make himself go faster, in order to get better. He is trying to get off, as it is termed in the book, the "OK Plateau." This is the key part of the book for me personally. I am very intrigued with Performance Psychology and what makes people get into certain mindsets in order to perform, or perform better than they had been. This section gave me a first hand look at this process that I have seen in any other book to date. To conclude with a final thought, what's great about the book is that while you can consider it a "Self-Help" book, you can also just see it as a great story with tidbits that you can pick along the way which you may consider helpful for yourself. It's not a carbon copy self-help that you see in so many other books. The Secret to doing this, or How to do that, blah, blah, blah, they all have the same steps, but very few provide a context, or an interesting road to get there. It all comes off as demanding and just a check list of things to do, and they are just not that much fun to read. They become more like a chore, more of "I need to" instead of "I want to." That's not what you'll find in this book. So, should you read this book? Well, just from a story standpoint, yes, I would say that the story here is good enough for you to want to pick up this book. Does the book solely focus on Foer going nothing to the championship in a year? No, there is a lot of side information about memory, brains, how people are affected by their own memories and other people Foer comes across. But even with all that, it is all very interesting and cool to know and read about. You can think of this book as a documentary like King of Kong in print. It's a fun read.

"Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer, as experienced through the lens of a 56-year-old teacher, mom, and grandmother, is a revelation. It is not just a book about improving your memory; it’s an exploration of how we obtain and engage with information and how we live. As a teacher, I was captivated by Foer’s journey into his adventure of memory champions and his recognition of the potential for the things he applied to that was also that of the potential of how students learn. The idea is that memory is a skill that can be trained and shaped into many different things. Imagine students not just memorizing facts, but truly comprehending and retaining them through this type of visual method. It could truly make a difference in the classroom. As a mother and grandmother, I was captivated by the book’s examination of time and experience. The thought that meaningful events could grow our perception of time meant something to me. So many times we get into the same old routine, and Foer’s insights give us a simple reminder to look for new experiences, be in the moment, and create memories with your loved ones that will last a lifetime. It is a challenge to savor every moment, especially with my grandchildren. He reminds us that these times together will shape their memories and their lives. For a woman of my age, I got a reassuring view of aging and cognitive function. It took away some of the anxieties of memory loss, giving me the challenge of having focused effort and techniques to keep my mind sharp and lively. I also reflected on the powerful impact that technology has on our memory. We become so dependent on our cell phones, digital calendars and other digital devices that we neglect our cognitive capabilities. Foer’s book is a powerful reminder that it is so important to cultivate our memories, not only for business or academic purposes but for a much fuller life. Essentially, “Moonwalking with Einstein” is more than just a fascinating narrative; it is a beneficial guide to improving cognitive abilities and a look into memory’s role in molding our lives. It is a book I definitely would recommend to co-workers, my children, and my grandchildren. It offers great insights for anyone seeking to live a more purposeful and memorable life.

I have two primary complaints with this title. The first one is how much time the author spends on talking about his own life and going into a great amount of detail describing the people he interacts with. He spends a lot of time talking about the mannerisms of the people he meets, what they are wearing, what their backgrounds are, and what their goals in life are. For instance, he spends a whole chapter talking about a memory champion/"prodigy" that apparently might be a fake. He goes into great detail about this person's early life and the author's own interviews with him. The whole time I was hoping he would go back to talking about the art and science of memory training and I was consistently disappointed. Furthermore, the author also spends a lot of time talking about himself and his own life. Once again, he devotes many pages discussing his own dreams, aspirations, and personal life. No offense to the author, but I didn't purchase this book to hear his life story. I bought this book to learn about the art of memory retention and how to increase your memory. I was also expecting the author to break down and summarize relevant scientific studies in the field. Don't get me wrong, he does in fact do this but he devotes, at most, 60-70 pages to the interesting neuroscience and psychology behind it. He talks about memory experts and the scientists that study them. He describes scientific theories on what actually makes an expert and what is different (physiologically and non-physiologically) about them when compared to people with average memories and average talents. The author also gives specifics on how to train and improve your memory. These sections of the book were VERY interesting to me and I was hoping this is how the majority of the book would be like. Unfortunately, it wasn't, hence my 3/5 stars instead of something higher. If you are expecting a largely scientific book that discusses the topic of memory, you will be mostly disappointed. If you think you will enjoy the great amounts of useless autobiographical detail then this book might be for you.

The title of this book will not make any sense until you have read Chapter Five, "The Memory Palace," which describes how mnemonists use the technique of imagined loci, places associated with vivid images, to help them remember such unmemorable things as random number strings, cards in a deck, and people's names. The subtitle is what advertizes the subject of this book. (When authors, or probably more accurately, publishers, use an obscure phrase or reference for a book title, shouldn't they at least make the more explanatory subtitle more prominent on the cover?) Joshua Foer is a young journalist writing stories for online magazines like Slate, when he gets assigned to cover the 2005 U.S. Memory Championship in Manhattan. There he meets a number of top-ranked mnemonists, sort of mental athletes who specialize in unbelievable memory feats, like Ed Cooke, a grand master from England. Since he was not a U.S. citizen, Cooke attended the competition as a sort of spring training; his scores would not be counted. Thus, begins the author's yearlong (actually several years long, because it led to the writing of this book) journey into the world of memory extremes. As he delves into the intricacies of memory and how the human brain works, Foer finds himself getting gradually pulled into the intoxication of memory competition. He meets more competitors, many in their twenties like him and living at home with their parents because their involvement in memory competitions makes it impossible to hold down steady jobs. (They travel the world to memory competitions in distant places, spending vast amounts of time in training and looking for income to support their peripatetic lives.) A few have found ways to make lots of money, like the 67-year-old British memory guru, Tony Buzan, who has established memory competitions in more than a dozen countries. But one idea all these competitors impress on Foer is that anyone, with proper training and dedication, can become a memory champion. So Foer takes up the challenge and agrees, with the help of Ed Cooke as coach, to train for the next U.S. Memory Championship. This book is partly a record of Foer's year of struggles to prepare himself for the competition and partly an overview of the history of mnemonics or memory training and partly a look at the science of how memory functions in both the normal and the abnormal human brain. The abnormal or injured human brain is exemplified in the story of EP, a man who suffered through the assault of the virus, herpes simplex, and was left with debilitating amnesia. EP's brain cannot form any new memories and cannot recall any old memories from after 1950. Foer visits EP at home and finds that "each time [EP] greets his wife, it's as though he hasn't seen her in twenty years." At the other end of the extreme are the memory savants, like Kim Peek, made famous by the movie Rain Man with actor Dustin Hoffman. Peek was born with macrocephaly and was kept on sedatives for the first fourteen years of his life. When he was taken off drugs, he soon started to show an interest in books and with memorizing their contents. His memory skills are now almost legendary, but so are his disabilities. He has memorized all of the works of Shakespeare. Once, while attending a live performance of Twelfth Night, he noticed that an actor had transposed two lines of the play. Peek threw such a raucous fit, that the play had to be stopped while he was escorted from the theatre. Subsequently, he was no longer allowed to attend such live performances. But he has an IQ of only 87! Such are a few of the mysteries of memory and the human brain that Foer uncovers in his year of training. While doing his research, Foer, always under Cooke's guidance, continues to improve---to such an extent that he begins to believe that he might be a serious challenger for the U.S. Championship. (It should be noted that, because he lives across the "pond," most of Cooke's coaching is done long range, by phone and email. But he contacts Foer several times a week to monitor and guide his trainee's preparation.) Foer keeps the suspense going throughout the book as the day of competition draws closer. (This review will not reveal the outcome of this contest.) In this way he keeps the book moving along even as he delves ever deeper into the history and science of memory. I did find Chapter Six, "How to Memorize a Poem," to be a disappointment. What drew me to this book in the first place is my little hobby of memorizing poems. At this point I have about 15 poems in my memory bank. I got them in there by brute force: reciting, reciting, reciting the lines of each poem over and over again, until I had them by rote, word for word, in whatever back channel of the brain holds those things that you just never seem to forget, that you can recall effortlessly, like some prayer or song taught to you as a child. I don't know an easier or faster way to get a poem in my memory and was hoping to get some ideas from this book. But this chapter does not really tell you how to memorize a poem although it does give some approaches for dealing with abstract words, like "duty" or "honor," and so-called structure terms like "and" and "from." So this chapter does not live up to the promise of its title. Maybe that's because there is no fast and easy way to memorize poetry. Even for the champion mnemonists who appear in this book, the poetry event is the most dreaded of all. In fact, we find that---perhaps under pressure of some fearsome mnemonist lobby---the poetry event was eventually eliminated from international competition. How sad! Why else would you want to develop a championship-level memory but to be able to recall in an instant a powerful thought beautifully written? OK. My bias is hereby confessed.

"Moonwalking with Einstein", by Joshua Foer (a freelance journalist), places the `spotlight' on the question as to how closely one's `memory' is associated to one's `identity' by recounting the author's experience developing his own power of recall (which, by Foer's own admission was average, at best), and ultimately winning the 2006 U. S. Memory Championship. Throughout his `mnemonics journey' Foer explores the related questions as to whether improving his memory would enable him to become smarter/wiser, more persuasive/attentive/self-confident, and a better journalist/friend/boyfriend. Foer's adventure starts out with him wondering how the `smartest person in the world' would stack up against the `strongest person in the world'. However, after conducting numerous Google searches Foer discovers that it is much more difficult to quantify `brains' than `brawn'. So Foer `settles' for the person who ostensibly has the `best' memory, a `freakish genius' named Ben Pridmore who is the reigning world memory champion. Foer is inspired by Pridmore's earlier statements in a newspaper that anyone is capable of performing his memory feats by learning and applying the proper `technique' and understanding how memory works. As an observer at the 2005 U. S. Memory Championship Foer meets a young grandmaster named Ed Cooke, as well as other `mental athletes'; all of them reinforce Pridmore's assertion that anyone with proper training could perform the memory feats they do. Accordingly, Foer is inspired to embark on an intense training program (lasting one year) with the goal of competing in the U. S. Memory Championship. Ed Cooke, in effect, becomes Foer's personal `yogi and manager'. Ed explains the importance of memory among the ancient civilizations, and laments the reality that memorization is becoming a lost art; i.e., society's `internal memory' continues to erode as we increasingly depend on `external memory' (e.g., computer, cell phones, paper, books, et al). Foer learns about a 30-year study done (1928-1958) by A. R. Luria of a man called "S" who remembered everything to which he was exposed, and whose memory never degraded. As it turns out, "S" is afflicted with Synthesia wherein a stimulus of one sense (e.g., hearing a sound) is perceived as a sensation of another sense (e.g., seeing a color); this malady actually facilitated his extraordinary memory. Foer states, "S could memorize complex mathematical formulas without knowing any math, Italian poetry without speaking Italian, and even phrases of gobbledygook." Luria eventually wrote a book about "S" titled, "The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book About a Vast Memory". Foer meets a group of students from the Samuel Gompers Vocational High School (competing in the 2005 U. S. Memory Championship) and their American history teacher, Raemon Matthews who expresses his firm believe that memory training should be an integral part of the formal educational system. Later, while watching a TV program Foer learns about a 26 year-old British `prodigious savant' named Daniel Tammet who displayed genius in numerous different areas, e.g., complex multiplication and division in his head, identifying prime numbers up to ten thousand, speaking more than six languages, inventing his own language, et al. Foer eventually meets Daniel Tammet. (Foer indicates that two disabilities have conspired to produce Tammet's amazing abilities: synesthesia, and Asperger's syndrome.). Foer also meets Kim Peak (aka Rain Man), the prodigious savant featured in the movie titled, "Rain Man". As the antithesis of people with extraordinary memories, Foer meets `EP', a man whose memory is limited to events prior to 1950, plus those events to which he has been exposed during the most recent few minutes; EP virtually lives in the present. This book is not a cookbook on mneumonic techniques, although it does provide an overview of some techniques, e.g., (1) Memory Palace - This technique, which was invented by Simonides of Ceos, is also known as `journey method', or `method of loci'. It can be used for, e.g., memorizing a shopping list, a string of random digits, prose, poetry, et al. (2) Major System - This technique, which is less powerful than the Memory Palace, is a simple code whereby numbers are converted into phonetic sounds which, in turn, are converted into images to be used as a memory palace. The Major System approach was invented by Johann Winkelmann. This book provides a distinction between `natural memory' (which Foer calls "the hardware you're born with") and `artificial memory' (which Foer calls "the software that runs on your hardware). I found this book to be enlightening and thoroughly engaging. It provides deep insight into the history of the `art of memory' and the close association between one's memory and one's identify. Foer provides strong motivation for developing one's memory via mnemonics training.

Different from books like Unlimited Memory or the Memory Book. This is a fun story and easy read. Good for those looking to learn a little while passing the time.

Su lectura es muy amena con momentos muy divertidos. Analiza la memoria desde un punto de vista diferente: el de los super-atletas de la memorización (esos que son capaces de memorizar grandes cantidades de información, y que nos dejan medio locos cuando los vemos en la televisión). Parte de la base de que todos somos capaces de convertirnos en uno de esos atletas con el suficiente entrenamiento, utilizando técnicas mnemotécnicas. De hecho Joshua Foer lo prueba en sus propias carnes, con gran éxito. Muy recomendable su lectura.

Dieses Buch hat mich motiviert (endlich mal wieder) verschiedene Mnemo-Techniken zu lernen. Nur zum Spaß. Denn wie auch der Auto schreibt, im Alltag bringt es einen nicht so richtig weiter. Aber seine Erfahrungen (z.B. seine USA-Championship Teilnahme) und seine Recherche zu Mnemo-Technicken und allem, was damit zu tun hat, sind wirklich außerordentlich unterhaltsam. Anfangs dachte ich: "Oh nee, ich kenne das schon alles", aber in der Tat ist es irrelevant Mnemotechniken zu kennen. Es ist kein Übungsbuch, sondern ein Erfahrungsbericht, der viel Spaß macht zu lesen.

Ce livre génial m’a appris à organiser une mémoire que je croyais défaillante. Ayant subi une commotion avec amnésie partielle, j’ai toujours été persuadée que je ne récupérerais jamais ma mémoire vive. Grâce a des exercices simples et bien expliqués,ce livre m’a littéralement sauvée : À Lire absolument !

さすがキンドル 有難く尊くぞんじます。

Le parcours de Joshua Foer est absolument fascinant, et les techniques mnémoniques qu'il partage ouvrent la porte à mémoriser beaucoup plus facilement et de façon amusante toutes sortes d'informations. Suite à la lecture de son livre, j'ai lu plusieurs autres ouvrages qui décrivent plus en détail les techniques de mémorisation (Dominic O'Brian, Lynne Kelly, Harry Lorayne, Nelson Dellis, etc.). L'objectif au départ était de mémoriser l'ordre d'un paquet de 52 cartes brassées au hasard. J'ai réussi lors de mon premier essai en un peu moins de 30 minutes. Puis j'ai rapidement descendu à 15 minutes, puis 8 minutes. Il s'agit surtout de mettre ne place un système pour faciliter la mémorisation et le bonifier et l'améliorer au fur et à mesure qu'on l'utilise. Bref, un livre très agréable à lire et qui fait découvrir des techniques enrichissantes qui peuvent faire complètement changer la façon d'étudier et retenir de l'information.