Penguin Books Australia

'A splendid overview of an essential aspect of our humanity' 
Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational

On average, people squander forty days annually trying to remember things they've forgotten. Joshua Foer used to be one of those people. But after a year of training, he found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championship. He also discovered a truth we too often forget: In every way, we are thesum of our  memories. 

In Moonwalking with Einstein Foer draws on cutting-edge research, the cultural history of memory and the techniques of 'mental atheletes' to transform our understanding of human remembering. He learns the ancient methods used by Cicero and Medieval scholars. He meets amnesiacs, neuroscientists and savants – including a man who claims to have memorized more than nine thousand books. In doing so, he reveals the hidden impact of memory on our lives, and shows how we can all dramatically improve our memories.
 
At a time when electronic devices have all but rendered our individual memories obsolete, Foer's book is a quest to resurrect the gift we  all possess, but that too often slips our minds.

Joshua Foer was born in 1982. He studied evolutionary biology at Yale University and is now a freelance science journalist, writing for National Geographic and The New York Times among others. Researching an article on the US Memory Championships, Foer became intrigued by the potential of his own memory. After just one year of training, he won the following year's Championship. Moonwalking with Einstein is his first book.