Customer Reviews

Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind

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Daniel Tammet's first book, Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, provides a fascinating insight into a mind that understood numbers much better than it understood people. His second book provides amazing insights into our own minds.

Tammet's book is based on wonderfully detailed and lucid descriptions of research on how people think. He then applies his learning to every day experiences to show how less gifted people like me can apply that research in a practical way.

For example, in one chapter he analyzes the issue of information overload and attempts to cope with it, including recent studies showing that multi-tasking is not really very effective. He is eloquent on the "beauties" of the Dewey Decimal System, and concludes:

"Dewey's system is a marvel of organization, but I have given detailed examples here in order to make an important philosophical as well as practical point. Information is meaningless unless it can be made sense of, and to do that it requires an internal system of thought and ideas that can provide context and relate it to other information we have already learned.

"Many people lack a coherent worldview with which they can evaluate and assimilate new information. The problem of information overload, therefore, may not be the quantity of it but our inability to know what to do with it. One possible explanation for this is the common confusion between information and ideas. In his book, The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking, history professor Theodore Roszak makes the point that the mind thinks with ideas, not information. Ideas are of primary importance because they define, make sense of, and create information. Roszak goes further still by arguing that the greatest ideas, such as the Founding Fathers' "all men are created equal," do not contain any information at all. Rather, such ideas are the result of an innate human sensibility that reaches beyond strings of data to recognize and synthesize transcendent patterns of thought. A personal worldview then helps put information back into perspective, giving it an intuitive place in our minds like the books in a library."

Tammet maintains a wonderfully informative website called Optimnem where he explores his (and our) minds. This book is the best self help book for the brain I've ever read; I've enjoyed every minute I've spent reading his writing.

Robert C. Ross 2009

I didn't read Daniel Tammet's first book, Born on a Blue Day (yet) but this book was one of the most fascinating and informative books about the way the human mind works that I've ever read. Daniel Temmet is an autistic savant and talks in this book about how similar autistic and non-autistic minds function. It gave me a whole new perspective on how we learn, remember and process thoughts.

It was particularly helpful to me in understanding how we learn language since I've been learning French for the past 10 years and more recently Italian. It's much more involved than I previously thought but I also came away with the idea that it's possible to learn several languages and be able to function in each of them. According to research it's believed that when a person learns more than one language as a baby and small child, both languages occupy the same small section of the brain, but when learning a second or third language, they are kept in a separate section of the brain. This makes sense since little kids can often go back and forth between languages whereas when I try to switch I can almost feel my brain opening another "compartment".

He discusses IQ tests and IQ and disputes where they can actually measure intelligence. There is a whole section on how the human brain processes information and how we remember things. We often hear that our brains are like computers, just processing information but he shows how they are so much more intricate than even the most advanced computers. There are studies showing that babies can count and he discusses arguments that a "number module" exists within the human brain.

There is so much fascinating information packed into this book and Tammet's writing style makes it all so interesting and not at all a dry subject. I had a hard time putting it down and read the book in two days. The only thing I wish, is that there was a little more about the way his brain processes subjects and information discussed in this book. But from what I understand, his first book, Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant goes more deeply into this. It's a book that I definitely want to read after reading this one.

Autistic savant author Daniel Tammet clearly has a beautiful mind, but the real focus of this important book is the boundless ability of EVERY human brain, "the treasures buried deep within us all." Tammet argues convincingly that the differences between a savant and an average person are not really so great. He debunks myths about savants, many due to the movie Rain Man, that seem to rob the humanity from these rare people. After several chapters explaining how his own mind works, he gives tips on how everyday brains can improve their functioning.

Tammet shows how IQ testing does not show the true intelligence of a person, and is inherently flawed. He agrees with Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, and shows that when schools espouse this view, student's grades improve.

I found it fascinating to learn that Tammet has trouble remember faces, but numbers are alive for him. "In my head, numbers assume complex shapes that interact to form solutions to sums," he explains. "I do not know where my number shapes come from. I do not know why I think of 6 as tiny and 9 as very large or why threes are round and fours pointy."

Peeking in on such a mind is an interesting experience; I highly recommend it!

Here's the chapter list:
1. Wider Than the Sky
2. Measuring Minds: Intelligence and Talent
3. Seeing What is Not There
4. A World of Words
5. The Number Instinct
6. The Biology of Creativity
7. Light to Sight
8. Food for Thought
9. Thinking by Numbers
10. The Future of the Mind

Tammet is a fine writer and his first book, the autobiography "Born on a Blue Day" was illuminating. This second book is a bit less so, because he allows himself to wander from the subjects he knows best and gets into the weeds.

Chapters 1 (about savantism), 3 (about memory), 4 (about words) and 5 (about numbers) are all interesting takes, with unique insights from the mind of a prodigious savant. These four chapters make the book worth reading, IMO.

On the other hand chapters 2 (IQ measurement), 6 (creativity), 7 (vision), 8 (organization of knowledge), 9 (innumeracy) & 10 (brain enhancement) are all plebeian treatments, with tired examples and a rather tedious style ("X says in his book Y that..."). Daniel tries to tie all these disciplines together into a sort of unified theory of mind, but the trouble is he really only knows his own inner workings well. When he recommends that poor people invest money toward a brighter future, or that over-population can't be a problem because Holland has high population density, he is really only showing his lack of worldliness.

Hopefully his next book will be a chip shot back onto the green.

Daniel Tammet's memoir was interesting to read because it gave an insightful picture of the world and mind of a high-functioning autistic person. His second book is no more than a mish-mash of various results Mr Tammet has found in the literature, his opinions on a very broad range of topics (like voting and dieting) but very little by way of insight. I hoped he would reveal how he performs his mental feats to do with language and calculation. He does give a few vague indications, but the questions I would like to hear answered, eg how combining two shapes can result in a third shape that gives the result of a multiplication, are not touched on. He avoids specifics throughout the book, preferring to range widely but shallowly across many topics. Very little meat in this sandwich.

Rather than talk about what this book is about, I'd like to share how I reacted to it. First, I think mild autistic spectrum disorders probably run in my family, overlapping with ADHD. I'm pretty sure after reading this book that at least one of my family members has Asperger's syndrome, and realizing this helps me understand their social distancing. I'm encouraged to find out more.

I was especially encouraged by the "World of Words" chapter, which deals with language acquisition in general, plus common misconceptions about learning languages beyond one's own initially acquired language. I've always approached learning a second language as if there was something mysterious and hard-wired about the brain that negated my ability as an adult to learn it. After getting all eight questions right in the intuitive sense for word meanings test, I realized that learning new languages does not depend on memorizing strings of words. The techniques for learning a new language Tammet suggests made complete sense to me, and I realized I've failed in the past because I've tried to just memorize words without forming a linguistic gestalt.

Throughout other chapters, what soon became clear to me is that many people are taught to just memorize without an understanding of the underlying conceptual, logical, and systematic relationships. Tammet's explanation of the Dewey decimal system used by libraries was a great AHA! for me. The system is not at all arbitrary, as I had always assumed; new categories are not just tacked on willy nilly. The system not only makes elegant sense to me now, the way the books are organized in a library--with books of a similar nature being located near each other--seems analogous to the way information is stored most efficiently in the brain.

Tammet encourages people who are trying to learn a new language to learn clusters of words that make the words more memorable; he gives the example in English of the words "pen," "paper," "pencil," and "paint": all the words begin with similar sounds and refer to similar objects or those normally used together. As I read about phonesthesia "(where certain sounds become associated with certain meanings)" I realized that this is a major key in helping me not only learn new words but to reach for them directly in thought without having to first find an English word before translating it into the new language--always an impediment for me in trying to get past the basics of a language.

I was most drawn to the linguistic discussions in the book, but Tammet also covers visual, numerical, and other forms of apprehension and thought. Clear examples of what he is discussing are included so the reader can really visualize what he is talking about, and he gives examples to test comprehension as he goes along. He also dispels magical notions of what "genius" is and simultaneously gives us a means of drawing on our own creative intelligence--which, he is quick to tell us, is far more profound and powerful than that of the computers our brains are misguidedly compared to.

I laughed out loud when Tammet confirmed for me what I've suspected for quite some time: Drinking too much information too often through the firehose of the Internet can make you stupid! After reading this book, I can see why that is true! Time to restrict surfing like I restrict watching TV.

The main new thing I learned from this book came within the first 15 pages. Tammet says that the paired savants' "matchstick counting" incident witnesses by Oliver Sacks, written up by him, and dramatized in Rain Man was most likely set up in advance by the pair. He says that in his relationships with other savants, none has demonstrated that ability. He adds that the environment was not a controlled setting, that Sacks didn't allow for that possibility, and that he's never tried to scientifically duplicate the experience.

Several thoughts came to mind:
1. Savants aren't naive innocents; they can be duplicitous just like other people.
2. Sacks just lost half a step of scientific credibility in my book.
3. Savants aren't miraculous.

That third point, especially, with a bit of the first, is the basis of the rest of Tammet's observations about Savants.

That said, much of the book is taken up with a discussion of what intelligence is, and is not, and how it can be measured, or not, and what's wrong with IQ tests and the presuppositions behind them, etc.

It's all true, but covered in more depth elsewhere and earlier by other authors. As is much of the rest of the non-personal material here.

Tammet's book is quite a fascinating read. I had not read such an intellectual and philosophical book in a while; therefore, this book was refreshing and most certainly informative. I was somewhat disappointed that this book was less about him and more about the human mind; on the other hand, I was rather impressed with Tammet's description and exploration of the various functions of the human brain. This book also thoroughly explored autism and the misconception of the condition. Some of the chapters of the book discussed many topics that have already been extensively written on relating to the human mind, yet these chapters were a good summary for the individuals who have not caught up on Sacks, for example, or for the individuals who have simply not had the chance to read over these topics; therefore, if a reader wants deeper analysis of each topic, this read may disappoint you for Tammet only covers the topics briefly, which to some readers may seem as if the material is rushed. Overall, I was impressed with Tammet's book and learned a great deal from a teaching perspective.
Additionally, as a teacher, the chapters on language and words, and also how numbers play a role in our thinking, were quite exceptional. As a reader, as well, I found Tammet a brilliant thinker and imaginative, creative writer.
This book is a good read for everyone: from educators and college students to artists (all) and doctors.

In Embracing the Wide Sky, Daniel Tammet discusses the human brain and many of its marvels. As a savant, Tammet has unique insight on the seemingly mystical abilities some geniuses portray. The mystery is removed and what lies beneath beautifully explained. Specifically, Tammet professes that his brain, along with many high-functioning autistics, contains a much higher degree of connectedness than the 'normal' human adult brain.

The majority of the book is spent delving into anecdotes, research and personal experience regarding the quirky workings of the brain. How can you get the most out of your brain? What are the urban myths regarding savants and what are the facts? How does a person with autism see the world differently than someone without autism? These are some of the major topics thoroughly dissected.

Overall, I truly enjoyed the book from start to finish. There were times I felt some humor would have been welcome and the tone approached that of a textbook. However, the concise language, varied vocabulary and impeccable sentence structure and organization made for a very strong presentation. Best of all, there is little repetition or otherwise wordy fluff. An excellent read, highly recommended.

Daniel Tammet, a prodigious savant with particularly phenomenal gifts in mathematics and languages, takes his readers on a journey through the human mind, armed with the latest research and with his own insights as a high-functioning autistic person. Tammet asserts that all minds--not just those of incomparable geniuses, such as Mozart, Einstein,or Tolstoy -are amazing, and we are in essence more alike than different.

Tammet takes on stereotypes, myths, and wrong thinking and science; to show that savants are much like the rest of us, and that it is our thinking that makes us human. Daniel can calculate pi to 22,514 places, yet he confronts notion that people like him are "human calculators". He demonstrates that artistic savants, like musician Matt Savage, and visual artist Steven Wiltshire, produce creative and original works, just as non savant artists do. They are not like robots who just "spit back" what they see or hear, but use their personal interpretation and inventiveness to create beauty.

Daniel is a "synthesete", meaning, in his case, that he experiences numbers as visual images having color and shape. This has to do with unusual connectivity of different parts of the brain. Likewise, temporal lobe epilepsy, believed to be behind the creative processes of Dostoyevsky and Edgar Allen Poe; and mental illness, as in the case of John Forbes Nash ("A Beautiful Mind"), both cause "brain storms" of hyper connectivity. But all brains have neurological connectedness, and this ability to link seemly unrelated ideas and come up with original insights is the essence of creativity.

I enjoyed the chapter 4, "A World of Words", including tips on learning a foreign language. I was amused by the paragraphs in Chapter 8, about "The Sokal Affair" and "Henryk Batuta", two hoaxes that fooled many people, including experts. I ended up liking chapter 9, "Thinking in Numbers", despite my fear of math. He shows how essential "number thinking" is, using primarily simple statistics and the science of logic, which he explains clearly and illustrates with real-life examples. My favorite part of this chapter was the three pages where he discussed the assertion that the world is dangerously overpopulated. (Not going to tell you; you'll have to read it!)

As you see, there is a lot of food for thought in Tammet's latest book, which he tries to tie together under the concept of "Embracing the Wide Sky" of the mind. Overall, I liked it very much. I also highly recommend his "Born on a Blue Day", which is more of an autobiography; a warm and well written account of an unusual mind.