Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
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- Create Date：2021-05-03 11:54:19
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Joshua Foer
- ISBN：159420229X
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Summary
The blockbuster phenomenon that charts an amazing journey of the mind while revolutionizing our concept of memory
An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic， Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes。" He draws on cutting-edge research， a surprising cultural history of remembering， and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human memory。 From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind， this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that， in every way that matters， we are the sum of our memories。
An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic， Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes。" He draws on cutting-edge research， a surprising cultural history of remembering， and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human memory。 From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind， this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that， in every way that matters， we are the sum of our memories。
Reviews
Garry
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Very enjoyable and engaging journalistic reporting on the art and science of remembering any and everything。
Howard
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Delightful book on a journalist becoming a U。 S。 Memory champion！ It's neat that anything can be learned， if you want to do it！ The idea of tying locations in a memory palace to items that you are trying to remember is fascinating！ I like the memory palace example in the book。 I don't think I'd ever forget Ed's list :-） Very interesting info on savants and technologies interfere with the way the brain works by default。 The funny thing about this book， is that I remember hearing similar content i Delightful book on a journalist becoming a U。 S。 Memory champion！ It's neat that anything can be learned， if you want to do it！ The idea of tying locations in a memory palace to items that you are trying to remember is fascinating！ I like the memory palace example in the book。 I don't think I'd ever forget Ed's list :-） Very interesting info on savants and technologies interfere with the way the brain works by default。 The funny thing about this book， is that I remember hearing similar content in another book I heard years ago， however when he started training for the championship， it was all different from there。 it was a great， satisfying listen！ 。。。more
Gunilla Axelson persson
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Completely useless， did not finish this shit。
L
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I borrowed this book from the library because I am interested in learning about methods of improving my memory， as I prepare to go to medical school。 It was referenced in the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport， which is a fabulous book for learning ways to improve focus and productivity on things that matter most to you。The style of this book is a little more narrative that I prefer for a non-fiction I am reading for learning-sake， but it is probably a style that is enjoyable to most; Irreverent， f I borrowed this book from the library because I am interested in learning about methods of improving my memory， as I prepare to go to medical school。 It was referenced in the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport， which is a fabulous book for learning ways to improve focus and productivity on things that matter most to you。The style of this book is a little more narrative that I prefer for a non-fiction I am reading for learning-sake， but it is probably a style that is enjoyable to most; Irreverent， fun， & self-deprecating。I didn't learn a lot of new techniques that will be super-relevant to medical school， but I gained some ideas and tools I may utilize later on。 Also， I now have a greater appreciation for the value of improving and utilizing one's memory。From my Roam notes on the book:- **My Favorite Points & Thoughts I Had:** **Right Brain Dominance = Memory Dominance！** - Visual & spacial memory is the strongest; If you tie what you want to memorize to images， （especially wild， irreverent， and sexy ones）， they will stick far better。 - Memory palace （method of loci） works well for sequential memories like for poetry， algorithms， and lists。 - It would be useful to learn some of these methods for memorizing patient names and stuff for medical school and then being a more effective physician。 - Creativity begets Memory！ The more creative， the more memory！ - Savants in history: Almost 100% have left hemisphere damage。 They often have language issues because of this， but extraordinary skills in more right-hemisphere activities like visual and spatial stuff。 When the left hemisphere is damaged/de-emphasized they find that people can develop great talents in artistic things like painting or music。 This has been documented a lot in frontotemporal dementia， or FTD。 - There is no such thing as photographic memory。 **Expertise & Mastery as Secondary to Memory:** - Expertise & Mastery is about quality of time > quantity of time。 ^^Studies show that number of years doing something is only weakly correlated with expertise。 ^^ You must keep this practice very conscious and challenging， regardless of progress。 Never get into autopilot-mode or you will stall。 You must also practice failing。 - "According to Ericsson， what we call [[expertise]] is really just “vast amounts of knowledge， pattern-based retrieval， and planning mechanisms acquired over many years of experience in the associated domain。” In other words， ^^a great memory isn’t just a by-product of expertise; it is the essence of expertise^^。" - ^^Become an expert^^ by [[deliberate practice]] which means doing three things: focusing on technique， staying goal-oriented， and getting constant & immediate feedback on performance。 **On Time & Memory:** - You control your perception of time: It is important to create many varied memories of "exotic" locales or novel experiences to anchor your memories in life， so that time won't feel like it's going so quickly and blending all together。 - Today people obsess over reading as fast as possible or as many books as possible （volume over depth） which does not lend to the goal of remembering。 When you ^^read for the purposes of remembering^^， you read differently and really process it in order to remember it。 **“Floreant Dendritae！”**—“May Your Brain Cells Flourish！”" 。。。more
Sarah
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This book was a pleasure to read！ The narrative-style journey through Foer's process of become a memory champions was very interesting to follow。 Readers have the chance to learn more about their own memory， and ways in which it can be improved upon， but also about the history and human perception of memory and how it has changed。 This book was a pleasure to read！ The narrative-style journey through Foer's process of become a memory champions was very interesting to follow。 Readers have the chance to learn more about their own memory， and ways in which it can be improved upon， but also about the history and human perception of memory and how it has changed。 。。。more
Matt Beaty
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Interesting and well-written。
Keith Good
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An interesting look at the deliberate act of remembering and those who practice it。 Lighter than I’d like on the science of memory and with some droll jaunts into the history of mnemonics， but overall entertaining & informative。
Britt Anderson
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I read it 8 years ago and still to this day use his “memory palace” to help me remember shopping lists， phone numbers， Bible verses， etc。 Minus a few off-color examples I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to improve their memory。
Panos
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Audiobook。
Salma Elshinawy
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الكتاب في مجمله متوسط من حيث الاسلوب أو المعلومات، عانيت في الجزء الأوسط من الكتاب عندما بدأ المؤلف في سرد تاريخ علم الذاكرة فأنا لم أختر هذا الكتاب لأتعلم عن تاريخ الذاكرة بل لأعرف طرقًا أكثر أقوي بها ذاكرتي كما ذكر المؤلف على غلاف كتابه " فن و علم تذكر كل شيئ " أما عن الطرق التي طرحها الكاتب خلال رحلة تدريبه على فن الذاكرة فأنا اعتبرتها ضرب من السريالية。 الكتاب في مجمله متوسط من حيث الاسلوب أو المعلومات، عانيت في الجزء الأوسط من الكتاب عندما بدأ المؤلف في سرد تاريخ علم الذاكرة فأنا لم أختر هذا الكتاب لأتعلم عن تاريخ الذاكرة بل لأعرف طرقًا أكثر أقوي بها ذاكرتي كما ذكر المؤلف على غلاف كتابه " فن و علم تذكر كل شيئ " أما عن الطرق التي طرحها الكاتب خلال رحلة تدريبه على فن الذاكرة فأنا اعتبرتها ضرب من السريالية。 。。。more
Richard Pavlovsky
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It took me a long time to finish this book。 Over a year in fact。 It wasn’t because it wasn’t good。 It was a great book。 Just。 That covid happened and I really wasn’t reading as much as I should。 I got called to jury duty yesterday and in one day finished half the book。 I was smiling big at the end thinking， I want to be in the KL7 one day！
Christine Lynch
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Fascinating book， but nothing all that ground-breaking， and lacking in realistic application to the modern world。
Kiana
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I loooooved the first half of the book。 It was eye opening with very interesting neuroscience discoveries however the second half became very repetitive and I didn't feel like it's adding much to me as a reader。 Nevertheless it was worth reading。 I loooooved the first half of the book。 It was eye opening with very interesting neuroscience discoveries however the second half became very repetitive and I didn't feel like it's adding much to me as a reader。 Nevertheless it was worth reading。 。。。more
Rodrigo Dumont
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Rating: 3。5An interesting read into the competitions， history， and quirky characters of memory athletes。Not more than that。 The author tries to come up with a practical conclusion for the book he has written， but with little conviction and persuarsion。
Cricket Muse
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Fore’s book is reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell’s books in how an essay topic becomes expanded into a book， straying from the main premise into quasi-related topics。 Both authors are engaging， even humorous， yet the meandering style is not always appreciated。Fore’s premise is that an everyday person can train their flabby， underused brain to become a mental athlete through memorization techniques， and the book is basically his year long journey in how he accomplished that goal。 Along the way he t Fore’s book is reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell’s books in how an essay topic becomes expanded into a book， straying from the main premise into quasi-related topics。 Both authors are engaging， even humorous， yet the meandering style is not always appreciated。Fore’s premise is that an everyday person can train their flabby， underused brain to become a mental athlete through memorization techniques， and the book is basically his year long journey in how he accomplished that goal。 Along the way he takes readers on side trips by providing all sorts of trivial， but meaningful， facts and forays about memory。 There is historical， biographical， analytical， amidst the updates of Foer’s progress to exercising his memory。The book is personable， interesting， yet not terribly inspiring。 I’m not sold on spending hours memorizing card decks or strings of numbers。 I had hoped to read about how to jostle my fading memory so I could recall names， places， and events。 Even at the end of his journey and all his impressive training Foer admitted he forgot where he parked his car， rather， he forgot he had driven to the restaurant and took the subway home。 So much for memory push-ups。 Overall， the book provided a few hours of entertainment， although I can’t say it will become memorable。 。。。more
Yaniv Yaakubovich
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A great book about a true story with powerful tools。
Jaime Arango
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I was hoping more about this book， the authotr just describe his own story but it is not very exciting
Richard
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Well written and entertaining， but the author’s closing comments about the fact that he doesn’t use the memory techniques in his everyday life left me feeling a bit flat about the whole thing。
Girish Rao
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Skimmed through this one。 Understood the basic principles。
LenaR
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This book is pretty good if you want actual tips on memorization and to learn about the history of memory and oration， but it’s less great anytime the author talks about his own life and experience。 Keep an eye out for problematic terms referring to folx who are intersex， and descriptions of a party where someone shows up in blackface， without any self awareness of why that’s a problem。
A
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it was a good read。 after reading this book i got totally got hooked to other memory books。 this book was like base for my other memory related books。
Rebecca Kiefer
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A very fun and educational read that is a mix of the author preparing for the US Memory Championship and the history and science of memory。 I was surprised to realize that I figured out some of the main techniques by brute force in high school （though much more word-based than image-based）， but I also agree with Foer’s final assessment that these techniques have pretty much never been useful in real life。 I liked the takeaway was people are capable of pretty extraordinary things， but what really A very fun and educational read that is a mix of the author preparing for the US Memory Championship and the history and science of memory。 I was surprised to realize that I figured out some of the main techniques by brute force in high school （though much more word-based than image-based）， but I also agree with Foer’s final assessment that these techniques have pretty much never been useful in real life。 I liked the takeaway was people are capable of pretty extraordinary things， but what really matters is time and dedication。A few points did make me very uncomfortable - twice the author and other mental athletes play a sort of drinking game that involves kissing women and both times at least one participant kisses someone without her consent and it’s laughed off as part of a game and “boys being boys”。 There’s also the casual mention of a white partygoer wearing blackface without any additional commentary。The discussion of autism merits its own separate paragraph。 A lot of myths are given as fact （such as autistic people are incapable of empathy）， but Daniel Tremmert， who is interviewed extensively throughout the year， tells Foer he appreciates how Foer has treated him “like normal，” so perhaps this is uninformed rather than malicious。 （Though Foer himself admits he thinks Tremmert is “normal”， which is quite the dynamic to untangle。） In fact， there was quite a long chapter about whether Tremmert is faking his savant abilities that was interesting and almost like a magazine expose， to the point it didn’t quite fit with the book overall。 。。。more
Bree Barile
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Definitely a fun read but it did drag a little at the end of each chapter。 I enjoyed the book as whole though！
Janey
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Loved this book， even wrote the author who graciously responded。 Interesting topic， memorable story。
Dawn Ryan
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It reminded me of Ken Jennings' memoir: Tidbits of experience， fleshed out with too much history。 About halfway through， I realized that I was reading it because I was hoping to learn more about using the memory techniques， and that this book really wasn't the best source for learning those。 So I moved on。 No offense to the book or the author: They were fine， just didn't live up to the title， for me。 It reminded me of Ken Jennings' memoir: Tidbits of experience， fleshed out with too much history。 About halfway through， I realized that I was reading it because I was hoping to learn more about using the memory techniques， and that this book really wasn't the best source for learning those。 So I moved on。 No offense to the book or the author: They were fine， just didn't live up to the title， for me。 。。。more
Spencer Tinman
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I really enjoyed Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer。 As a person who enjoys a good memoir， it hit every note for me。 The narrative of his journey to become an elite memory athlete with interesting tidbits of knowledge intertwined made for an incredibly enjoyable read。 I read this book for a grad class on instructional design， so the scientific discussion behind memory training was definitely useful。 On a personal basis， this information is als I really enjoyed Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer。 As a person who enjoys a good memoir， it hit every note for me。 The narrative of his journey to become an elite memory athlete with interesting tidbits of knowledge intertwined made for an incredibly enjoyable read。 I read this book for a grad class on instructional design， so the scientific discussion behind memory training was definitely useful。 On a personal basis， this information is also important。 As technology is more and more omniscient， our brains will be required to remember less information， so being able to give your brain a "work out" will help keep it sharp as you age。 On top of the scientific information relating to memory， the historical discussion was extremely interesting to me。 I am a history nerd and learning about new topics and the history involved with them has always been my wheelhouse for reading。 Like I stated previously， this book really hit the important points on my book checklists。What makes the read so easy is the humor and relatability that comes through Foer's writing。 The mnemonics he uses are quite ridiculous and the images they create are sure to cause a chuckle but this is what makes his memory work for him。 Throughout the book， Foer references his normal ability and background before going through the memory training， so its easy to see yourself in his writing。 He does seem to gloss over the true difficulty in memory training by claiming that anybody can do it and that memories are just waiting to be unlocked。 This outlook oversimplifies the process that he went through and ignores the fact that our memories of past events are skewed in our brains the moment they occur。 But the learning and understanding gained about memory through his writing overpower the negatives。 。。。more
Presish Bhattachan
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Wow this book was actually kind of a wild journey。 It was at the beginning supposed to be about a man's journey on finding out how people are these "auteurs of memorization" and goes into a bit of a narrative about his journey in being just a simple journalist to the US National Memory Champion （Did not know about this dude before reading this book）。 It takes him to multiple places - people who can't memorize so much that they forget they have memorization problems， people who all they do are me Wow this book was actually kind of a wild journey。 It was at the beginning supposed to be about a man's journey on finding out how people are these "auteurs of memorization" and goes into a bit of a narrative about his journey in being just a simple journalist to the US National Memory Champion （Did not know about this dude before reading this book）。 It takes him to multiple places - people who can't memorize so much that they forget they have memorization problems， people who all they do are memorize and know things， all behind his forward idea to compete in this national memory competition。 Interesting concepts such as the memory palace and the major system are brought up for memory mnemonics that I think I might use too in the future。 The author acknowledges that this idea of memorization is just a product of deliberate practice and techniques， but the big takeaway is that how we perceive the world and how we act is based on things we remember。 "We're all just a bundle of habits shaped by our memories"。 Made me think a bit more about how knowing things or specific things that I have memorized are and why I have them in my mind - to provide insight， a joke， etc。 A great read through and through。 。。。more
Dara Pfeiffer
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Entertaining look at memory。
Nancy
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This is one of my favorite books on memory。 It is so interesting on many levels， and I love that the author actually learned the memory techniques he was writing about and even competed in memory competition。
Teechutha Netcharussaeng
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