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The Guardian Of All Things: The Epic Story Of Human Memory (2012)

by Michael S. Malone(Favorite Author)

3.5 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0312620314 (ISBN13: 9780312620318)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

St. Martin's Press

review 1: Occasionally a book turns out to be nothing like I imagined. However, unlike other such books, this had delightful and in intended consequences that did not disappoint. The title is quite descriptive of the author's intent, but the message is surprising. The author's style reminds me of the late 1980's James Burke BBC series, "The Day the Universe Changed," by which he captures you with the main element and then by deliberate, intriguing stories of numerous chronological historical events, proceeds to tie everything together. This author goes one step further by projecting into the future in a manner that the reader can find both compelling and credible. 5 Stars.
review 2: This was one of the best books I have read in a long while. The title, from a quote ... moreattributed to Cicero, tells us that the human perception of the importance of memory is very old. Think for a moment about what distinguishes us , as humans, from other creatures. Is it not our consciousness, not only of ourselves, but of the place we hold in the time/space continuum? Is it not also the fact that we can remember a past and contemplate a future? The author takes us on a fascinating journey through time, showing how humans have grappled with how we can maintain our memories, not only individual, but cultural. Covering numerous disciplines, he begins in anthropology with a description of the evolution of language in early humans. Without language, there is no way to name and store memory. Early man may, he says, have lived very intensely in the present moment, in a way no longer possible to us. Living and working in groups was made possible by, or perhaps led to, the development of spoken language. Once humans had language, how could they keep memories through generations, in order to build on knowledge? At first, and for many thousands of years thereafter, it was through development of natural human memory. The author tells wonderful stories of ancient attempts at enhancing memory, such as through "theaters of memory", specific places with provocative statuary and aids to moving memories from short-term to long-term storage. Systems of writing were a great leap forward in storing memory, and man has ever since developed artificial means to storing memory in preference to strengthening natural memory. Mr. Malone spends the majority of his book taking us on a tour of the development of artificial memory storage, and such a tour guide he is! This is an engrossing tale that winds its way through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance,the Enlightenment, the Industrial Age, right up to the age of computers and artificial intelligence. He tells us of early computer pioneers, leaving us with recent speculations of what the future may hold (Ray Kurzweil's "Singularity" perchance?). He leaves us with a warning, a warning not to place all of our eggs in one memory basket. He notes that current means of memory storage do degrade, and that unimaginable disasters have been unavoidable throughout history. Could all of our electronic systems be destroyed, and with them our national memory? It could happen. He juxtaposes this possibility with a reminder of a 5,000 year old scroll left by one TK from ancient Egypt. The scroll now resides in a museum in California. He reminds us as well of the vellum Bodley 764 bestiary from the 1200s, now quietly resting in a library at Oxford University in England. In our all of our technological hubris, Mr. Malone quietly reminds us, "Still,there is.....a thread that reaches back through the history of mankind to a dream even older than that of immortality. It is for one's brief time on this earth to have meaning, for it to echo down through history if only as the faintest memory. It is the oldest human voice on earth whispering, Don't forget me."Working in a library, as I do, this is my favorite quote from this amazing book:"Meanwhile, as all of your magnetic memory erases itself under this onslaught [from a solar storm], the world's books, quietly resting on shelves in private dens and public libraries (at least those that survived de-accessioning and pulping to make way for computers), will be undisturbed other than by flickering lights and the angry shouts of hobos doing online gambling."I read this book, which is due to be published this August,as an uncorrected proof, in ebook format, kindly provided by the publisher, St. Matin's Press, through Netgalley. Being an old-fashioned book lover, I plan to buy the actual book when it appears in paper and ink, and to read it again. It is that good. less

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