Moonwalking+With+Einstein+Book+Reviews+&+Related+Research


 * return to main Moonwalking page **
 * Review by Daniel Truax, Physics & Science Education Candidate (Fall 2013, SUNY Potsdam) **

Joshua Foer’s book “Moonwalking with Einstein” is a fantastic story about the author’s journey into the art of remembering everything. After going to the United States memory championship to write an article, he encounters Ed Cooke, a mental athlete from England. Ed tells Josh that many of these people are not incredibly smart, and most are just average people. In fact, he tells Josh that with the proper training he could be the US memory champion in just a year. It is from this point, with help from Ed, Josh starts his training and investigation into the art of memory.

The best part about this book was that it was a combination of scientific research on the brain, and a personal story. It was able to keep me engaged emotionally and intellectually hooked. I wanted to keep reading for the science as well as to see if Josh would be able to achieve his goal. One idea brought up quite a few times in the book is the idea that anyone can be a mental athlete. It’s not about being special, or incredibly smart, it’s about technique. I honestly even found myself skeptical just like the author. Skepticism is what drove Josh to set out on this journey to enhance his memory, and when it got to the memory palace part, I gave it a go. To say the least I was incredibly shocked and surprised at what I was able to do. I was one of those people that memorized that “bad” way the book described by simply going over the same things over and over. Once I created my memory palace to memorize the shopping list, I was absolutely astounded at how well I memorized the list. My favorite part was how it told one to make the situations that involved the images as funny, lewd, and bizarre as possible, the worse the better.

One thing I found very enlightening was quote from British educator and self-styled guru, Tony Buzan. Tony believed that schools go about teaching all wrong. They pour vast amounts of information into students’ heads, but do not teach them how to retain it. I found this to be completely true. Never, throughout my years of education, had I actually been taught techniques on how to study or how to properly memorize information in order to retain it. In fact, today I still pretty much reside on rote memorization of facts, and just forget most of it right after a test. This was one of the sub themes of the book that was hinted at a few times throughout. We can use memory techniques, such as the mental palace, and apply them to education to help students learn more efficiently. History teach Raemon Matthews, from the Samuel Gompers Vocational High School, actually does this. The technique he uses is called mind mapping, which is basically a memory palace on paper that uses branching paths of colors and images to connect information about a topic. Matthews has his students create a very detailed mind map of the entire USA history textbook. These mind maps are massive, and when students come across an essay or multiple choice question, they can visualize their mind maps and see all of the information right in front of them.

Another theme that is hinted at throughout the book, is the effects of technology on our memory. As technology advances and our ability to store information in an easily accessible way causes this unconscious feeling that we do not need to memorize as much. I agree that technology has had a huge effect on the need for internal/personal memory. It has caused the need for these things to decrease. Why bother wasting the mental power of memorizing when I can just google it? I have this minicomputer in my pocket that enables me to access more information than I can possibly comprehend. Even though we have this seemingly limitless oasis of knowledge, I do not think it is a reason to give up on remembering facts, processes, or concepts in my discipline though. Sure, I can simply look up quantum theory, but did I learn anything? Technology should not be an end, but a means to an end. I need to know the facts of physics, the concept, the equations, and their applications. If I’m having trouble, technology can help me remember something I might have misses, or help me figure something out.

Although I learned a lot about the art of memorization from this book, the hardest part is going to be actually using this in my classroom. The way the book is written, it wouldn’t be viable to have the students read it in its entirety. I would have them read parts that focus on the memory palace and the techniques used. One section that I would have them read is where Ed explains the memory palace. “The idea is to create a space in the mind’s eye, a place that you know well and can easily visualize, and then populate that imagined place with images representing whatever you want to remember. Known as the method of the loci by the Romans, such a building would later come to be called a ‘memory palace.’” After having them learn this technique, we can learn how to turn this into mind mapping on paper. Take the mental images one has created in their head, and put it onto paper. This could prove to be useful in remembering how certain topics are connected as well as differentiating two similar situations in physics that require different approaches. This would not be easy to do, and quite honestly I’m not sure how I would go about it. This is something that would take a lot of time and a lot of trial and error.


 * Review by Eric Cassidy, Math Education Candidate (Fall 2013, SUNY Potsdam) **

//Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything// by Joshua Foer, exposes memory for what it really is. Many people try to link having a high IQ to having a good memory. In his book Joshua Foer sees that this is not the case, and proves that someone can drastically improve their memory over time. When Foer first began his journey to becoming the US memory champion, he had no idea how average everyday people much like himself could train their brains to remember vast amounts of information. Through his vigorous training and personal motivation, he was able to do what many would think impossible. This book connects well to education, teaching, and memorization. It explains ideas for memorization that could and in my opinion should be present in the classroom.

Tony Buzan, who Joshua explains to be the founder of the World Memory Championship and also a great memorizer “believes schools go about teaching all wrong. They pour vast amounts of information into students’ heads, but don’t teach them how to retain it.” Buzan goes on to say that “What we have been doing over the last century is defining memory incorrectly, understanding it incompletely, applying it inappropriately, and condemning it because it doesn’t work and isn’t enjoyable.” Buzan believes that the art of memory is a more effective way of remembering information through technique. He claims it is faster, easier, and more effective for long term memories. This book elaborates on several of the techniques that can be used to memorize large amounts of information. When students are bombarded with too much information they become overwhelmed and honestly many of them give up. Having a student who loses the desire to learn is something I hope to avoid as an educator. By utilizing techniques in this book students could come to see that their own learning is a growing process that requires time and effort.

The technique known as the memory palace utilizes the brains ability to remember visual images someone has seen, in order to remember other pieces of information. Foer explains from experiments done by chess masters “We don’t remember isolated facts; we remember things in context.” This idea reflects what a memory palace is. A memory palace is a place in one’s mind where they can create a clear visual image where they can place other visuals to be remembered. Remembering information in a memory palace is like remembering a story, which follows steps from start to finish. It is a systematic and precise way of remembering information, and it is how Joshua Foer was able to increase his memory stamina to compete at the US memory championship and win.

Joshua Foer explains in his book that many people believe that people’s capacity to memorize information has been decreasing ever since the invention of writing, and they have good evidence to support this information. We live in a society of constant reminders, where instead of remembering something you need to do you can write it on a post it note and look at it later. Foer starts one of his chapters with “Once upon a time, there was nothing to do with thoughts except remember them. There was no alphabet to transcribe them in, no paper to set them down upon. Anything that had to be preserved had to be preserved in memory. Any story that would be retold, any idea that would be transmitted, any piece of information that would be conveyed, first had to be remembered.” Foer describes our constant reminders as “technological crutches” that make living in the modern world possible, but also have changed how we think and use our brains. For better or for worse, our memory capacity has been altered because of these technological crutches. Students today need to know that just because they write something down in a notebook doesn’t mean they will remember it. They need to be aware that studying is a necessary process that needs to be used in order to remember information. Regardless of it a student wants to use a memory palace as discussed in this book, studying is a student specific task and all students have different successful ways they can remember information.

Foer discusses the idea of forgetting, which was researched by the German psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus. “For normal humans, memories gradually decay with time along what’s known as the “curve of forgetting. From the moment you grasp a new piece of information, your memory’s hold on it begins to slowly loosen, until finally it lets go altogether.” The “curve of forgetting” follows a pattern in which you are losing information, but the more time passes, the slower you are losing that information.

Memorization and the brain is a field that has just recently been getting the attention it deserves. Joshua Foer in an interview considers it to be “the last frontier” because there is still so much to learn. Memorization has been around for thousands of years, and is essential for the education of students. Although I do believe conceptual knowledge is more useful than just memorization, memorizing is necessary for the learning process in any subject area. Foer’s inspirational story of how someone can utilize their memory capacity when properly trained and exercised should provide support to students who feel like they are below the average in their classroom. Foer wasn’t able to achieve success in memorization easily, and students should know that they can’t be expected to achieve success overnight either. This text could be used in my content area by students to encourage and inspire them when they face challenges in math, and I would encourage all of my students to read it.


 * Related Research**


 * Mastropieri, Margo A, and Thomas E. Scruggs. “Enhancing School Success With Mnemonic Strategies.” Intervention In School & Clinic 33.4 (1998): 201. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. **

In this article, the authors aim to describe and provide examples of how mnemonic strategies can be used to increase school learning and memory of students with learning difficulties. The authors had previously visited an inner-city middle school where they practiced these techniques on students with mental disabilities which proved to be very effective. When the authors had came back a year later, one mentally disabled students still remembered the capitals of many states using the techniques! The article goes on to explain the need for these strategies, what they’re for, what makes them effective, and different types of techniques you can try. Many of the points the authors used to explain the effectiveness of mnemonics were similar to those said by Josh in the book.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a good source to use if you want a few mnemonics strategies to try with your students. The authors give a good summary on the usefulness of the three strategies and how to use them. They also give good step by step directions on how to introduce the strategies to your students and teach them how to use it. At the end the authors give a few helpful warning tips about the use mnemonic strategies in a clas. One of these being that you should learn these very well first before trying to get your students to learn them.