Memory: How We Can Use It, Lose It and Can Improve It Book

What we remember tells us who we are. So David Samuel's review of the state of memory research is for anyone who has ever pondered how we relate to the past--or where they left the car keys last night. Samuel's brisk chapters review research techniques, the senses and the structure of the brain, and all the different kinds of memory. As well as long and short-term registers (working memory), we probably remember different things--melodies, faces, fragments of a poem, a recipe or a mathematical formula, a fragrance or a fear--in different ways. His writing is straightforward rather than stylish, but he covers a lot of ground and chooses his anecdotes with more care than, say, Steven Pinker. The conclusion that there is no sure way to improve memory yet, though there may be one day, belies the promise of the book's subtitle. But that is probably a fair reflection of the field to which Samuel has devoted a lifetime's work. This is a personal review, but a very broad one. --Jon TurneyRead More