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The Upright Thinkers by Leonard Mlodinow A book for science lovers and for anyone interested in creative thinking and in our ongoing quest to understand our world. Learn more | See similar books
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Product Details
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (December 17, 2013)
When I spotted "The Guardian of All Things: The Epic Story of Human Memory" at my local library I was positively mesmerized by the topic. However, being a scientifically and technologically challenged individual I wondered if I was going to be able to keep up. Nevertheless I decided to take the plunge. I am very pleased to report that despite the complexity of the subject matter Michael S. Malone has come up with a very readable volume. This history of memory proves to be incredibly enlightening and endlessly fascinating. I simply could not put this book down.
So just what happened during the transformation form Neanderthal to modern man some 50000 years ago in Asia and perhaps around 30000 years ago in Europe? As Michael Malone explains it the Neanderthal brain was totally focused on the present. There was absolutely no language and therefore no memory. Neanderthal man could neither remember the past nor contemplate the future. But over time human beings developed the ability to hear and to make sounds. As homo sapiens continued to evolve over the millennia they could talk, form relationships, create art and tell stories. About 10000 years ago hunter-gathers would give way to an agricultural society. Not only would there be spoken languages but as the result of commerce and trade counting and arithmetic and finally written languages would evolve. And as Malone points out "The ability to write meant the ability to record information to remove something from one's own memory and place it into a cache of synthetic memory where it could remain largely untended until it was needed again. This recorded memory could also be shared with others with a precision never before available with human beings passing messages from one to another.Read more ›
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Occasionally a book turns out to be nothing like I imagined. However, unlike other such books, this had delightful and unintended consequences that did not disappoint. The title is quite descriptive of the author's intent, but the message is surprising. The author's style reminds me of the late 1980's James Burke BBC series, "The Day the Universe Changed," by which he captures you with the main element and then by deliberate, intriguing stories of numerous chronological historical events, proceeds to tie everything together. He goes one step further by projecting into the future in a manner that the reader can find both compelling and credible. 5 Stars.
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a difficult book to read, at first time I picked all the errors he makes in the text, but then I thought about it and re-read it. I then understood what Michael Malone was trying to do, a picture of memory, from the first writing (Sumerian) to computers, and I overlooked the obvious mistakes in favor of the whole story. And it is a good story, from cuneiform writing to transistors etc. I recommend it highly to everybody, you will find a lot to learn, but do not quote each statement, you better check it out first.
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With close to eight decades of living under my belt, I find that memory has become a substantially more important and intriguing topic. Michael Malone's book title was, therefore, an immediate attention getter. Although not yet overwhelmed by the logarithmic rate of change in the presentations of this information age, I am determined to try to enjoy the ride as best I can, and that means acquiring a reasonable grasp of the past history on which the suggested Singularity is based. As my own functioning memory is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, getting "involved" in "the process...out there" is even more tantalizing. Having familiarized myself to a degree with Ray Kurzweil's notions as well as being fascinated by the current discussions regarding artificial intelligence, I found Mr. Malone's treatment of "the epic story of human memory" to be an absolutely spot on fit for my hope for a developmental history of memory with its many ramifications. I am a retired physician (ophthalmologist) and have a certain expectation of accuracy from those with claims of most any sort but especially something as eminent as memory. My experience reading this presentation has been one of unusual satisfaction on all counts, including my intellectual curiosity. His writing style successfully illuminates the relevance each epoch he discusses, drawing the reader forward rapidly enough to maintain interest but lingering sufficiently at each stage that we grasp the pertinent details we need to appreciate the next step toward which he leads us. Who would think that it would be fascinating to reconsider the historic place of a paramecium in this journey into the incredible complexity of Big Blue's defeat of Kasparov at the chess table or at Jeopardy? But Malone does it. As a result, I look forward to tomorrow's news with a significantly enhanced anticipation than before I read this book.
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Michael Malone has written a wonderful journey through Western Civilization using the skills and tools needed to past that history from generation to generation as the framework to build his story.
I began reading, expecting to be bored to death. However, I found myself sneaking reading times - staying a bit longer at a restaurant, postponing the start of other tasks, staying up a bit later - all in order to get through the book. Malone begins with the development of speech and moves forward through history.
I found the chapter discussing the "Art of Memory" to be the most fascinating - having never encountered it before. In one chapter the author discusses the influence of well-known inventors, such as Thomas Edison, Thomas Watson, and the work of John Shaw Billings and Herman Hollerith and the development of the Hollerith Punched Card Tabulating Machine in preparation for the 1890 census. In a similar vein, it was also interesting to read the history of George Eastman (the founder of Kodak). Having spent years in the computer industry, it helped to see how the influence of many of these tools also drove the future development of the computer industry. The connections drawn in the book are not always linear - as people living in the same century often influenced each others work - occasionally forcing the author to move in circles as he discusses multiple tools and lives developing tools for recording history.
I do wish there were an accompanying web page - links to pictures or to additional details would add to the value of the book. I can always use Google to find links, but that gives me no way to evaluate the material.Read more ›
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This item: The Guardian of All Things: The Epic Story of Human Memory
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