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The Magic of Memory
by Thomas Harrington

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The Magic of Memory by Thomas Harrington

A number of effects in magic, and in life, succeed because one person is doing something mentally that other people assume is beyond human capacity. This ebook explores one such phenomenon--memory for numbers, items and events. Over the course of several thousand years a procession of mnemonics pioneers have successively augmented human power to deal with numbers by evolving a collection of clever ways to think more effectively about them. These methods, largely unknown to the general population, have the potential for greatly expanding human mental capacity. For instance, the average human’s “raw” digital or verbal “retention span” is only about seven items. This aspect of human mental capacity is so commonly regarded as a correlate of intelligence that it is a major part of many IQ tests. By learning phonetically reformulated numbers this mental power can be enhanced easily a hundred fold.

First, the system, an extension of the Roth Method is explained. Simple examples to illustrate the use of the system are given in the form of exercises and techniques for memorizing lists such as the periodic table from chemistry, sequences of playing cards, Keno tickets, the birthdates of artists and other assortments of information.

Then, to accommodate the needs of the Mnemonic Power User and to guide the reader who needs to develop his/her own personalized custom mnemonic systems, more intricate applications are offered. These include an original method for determining the day that a given date falls on together with some other “calendar magic” as well as some methods for organizing one’s memorized material using “cluster mnemonics” and mental “trellis-matrices.”

Finally, two “mnemonics dictionaries” of around 120 pages are included for use in constructing and optimizing your personal memory codes. These are also perfect as handy portable pocket references when developing custom coding systems for friends or even when functioning as a professional mnemonist constructing mnemonic frameworks for your customers’ specialized needs.

The ebook is appropriate for all levels of mnemonic sophistication and aspiration. It is well worth your time.

1st edition 2007; 154 pages.
word count: 36022 which is equivalent to 144 standard pages of text