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Works by Joshua Foer

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2011 (25) 2012 (14) atlas (43) audiobook (30) biography (14) brain (41) cognition (15) cognitive science (21) curiosities (19) currently-reading (22) ebook (60) education (18) geography (65) goodreads (34) goodreads import (16) hardcover (14) history (61) journalism (17) Kindle (51) library (21) maps (14) memoir (50) memory (302) mnemonics (64) neuroscience (59) non-fiction (509) own (25) owned (14) psychology (181) read (39) read in 2011 (16) read in 2012 (14) reference (77) remembering (14) science (192) self-help (62) self-improvement (23) to-read (648) travel (207) unread (18)

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I read it through because I got it out from the library, but it is probably best experienced as a reference book to dip into whenever you feel like something a little out of the ordinary. It is unlikely that every single item will appeal to everyone, but anyone who could go through the entire book and find nothing to interest them would be very unusual indeed. From a natural phenomenon like New Zealand's glowworm cave to manmade features like carhenge, escapes of all sort lurk between the pages
 
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cspiwak | 23 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
Humorous, scientific and thought provoking ... I liked it a lot! Joshua Foer (the author) is a journalist who happened to cover the US Memory Championships for Slate magazine and then spent the next year of his life training to be a contestant in that same event. The book covers his adventures and training during the year leading up to his entry in the US Championships. I tried one of the techniques he explains for remembering words and I can still recall the list of words ... and that was a few days ago! (Garlic, cottage cheese, salmon, wine, the socks ... and I'm not great at remembering so I impressed myself.)

But I think what made the book more interesting was that it's not just about his training. He gives arguments for and against memorizing and discusses how human memories were put to use in classical times before we created external storage through writing, post-it notes and computers. There was a lot of food for thought ... one idea to consider is the connection between memory and creativity. Also, amazing to note that there was a book written about memory training between 86 and 82 B.C.
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ellink | 132 other reviews | Jan 22, 2024 |
Atlas Obscura — это большой онлайн-проект, посвященный необычным местам Земли. Необычно интересным, необычно красивым, необычно странным. Тысячи пользователей со всего мира присылали на сайт свои находки. Теперь все это богатство идей для путешествий стало доступно в виде книги-путеводителя. В отличие от объектов Всемирного наследия ЮНЕСКО за этими редко ухаживают: так, ураган в Москве завалил одну из пирамид Александра Голода, а пламенные туркменские «Врата ада» приказал затушить лично глава государства. Вообще в РФ авторы обнаружили восемь достопримечательностей, а всего в книге описаны сотни мест и даже процессов (например, ручная разборка танкеров бенгальцами).

Вкус, конечно, у составителей специфический: такому количеству найденного макабра можно только подивиться, равно как и творениям одиночек-безумцев. Если в Европе они креативят еще в разумных рамках, то в других частях света уже ничто не мешает им развернуться. Атлас стоит прочитать и тем, кто много путешествует. Тогда вы не пропустите полет над структурой Ришат — «Глазом Сахары», а еще обнаружите немало вариантов для совершенно эксклюзивных селфи.
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Den85 | 23 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |
The good news is that anyone can train their memory to do amazing party tricks. The bad news is that remembering the small daily details like where you left your keys would take much too much attention & time using these techniques
½
 
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BBrookes | 132 other reviews | Dec 9, 2023 |

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Works
6
Also by
2
Members
6,273
Popularity
#3,910
Rating
3.9
Reviews
158
ISBNs
70
Languages
19
Favorited
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