Rating: 
Summary: A Classic
Review: A book about memory? Mnemonics, eh? Dull stuff...WRONG!!! This is just about the most engrossing scholarly work I have ever read. Quite apart from displaying a masterly grasp of her subject, which is far more interesting than I would have believed before reading the book, Yates throws fascinating light on a number of seemingly unrelated topics: the Roman art of rhetoric, the architecture of the Globe theatre, the foundations of Renaissance syncretism, the rise of the scientific method, the delightful irony of a patron saint of science turning out to be an arch-magician, psychological aspects of imagination... -- the list is a long one. However, for me, it is Yates' illumination of the profound relationship between the scientific method and earlier attempts at mastering the universe by magical means, that stands out as a single, most important aspect of the book. In fact, I would go as far as to say that no study of history and/or philosophy of science can be complete without acknowledging and exploring the relevant insights of "The Art of memory". If you have any interest in human attempts to comprehend and control the universe, a well-thumbed copy of this book should be on your bookshelf!
Rating:
Summary: If "revelatory" weren't such a big word, I'd use it!
Review: A book about memory? Mnemonics, eh? Dull stuff... WRONG!!! This is just about the most engrossing scholarly work I have ever read. Quite apart from displaying a masterly grasp of her subject, which is far more interesting than I would have believed before reading the book, Yates throws fascinating light on a number of seemingly unrelated topics: the Roman art of rhetoric, the architecture of the Globe theatre, the foundations of Renaissance syncretism, the rise of the scientific method, the delightful irony of a patron saint of science turning out to be an arch-magician, psychological aspects of imagination... -- the list is a long one. However, for me, it is Yates' illumination of the profound relationship between the scientific method and earlier attempts at mastering the universe by magical means, that stands out as a single, most important aspect of the book. In fact, I would go as far as to say that no study of history and/or philosophy of science can be complete without acknowledging and exploring the relevant insights of "The Art of memory". If you have any interest in human attempts to comprehend and control the universe, a well-thumbed copy of this book should be on your bookshelf!
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: A unique and detailed historical account of the Art of Memory. This one is a "keeper."
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book
Review: An incredible book and very historical in nature. I would refer to the previous reviews of this book in the light of their individual statements. The reviewers helped me in the purchasing of this book, also Yates, and her research on the art of memory does not disappoint me. In fact, this book has taken me in many different directions regarding memory: Loci, mnemonics, mnemotechnics, history, mysticism, magic, mathematics, Egyptology, alchemy. This book is very special because of the implications that a "art of memory" has on our history, and I believe in our future. This book is not the easiest of reading material (I am no history buff) but is a spectacular read.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely pass on this one
Review: I bought the book because recently I have been into the personal mastery thing like increasing your memory, reading better, and so on. Before I bought the book, I read the preface, and the the promises in it did not deliver. Before I go on I assure you that unlike some reviewers I read this 390 some pages of this book. This is definitely one of those books that Mortimor Adler in their book "How to Read a Book" describes as books that should challege you. And quite a challenge it is. Frances Yates assumes that the reader have knowledge of many things. Like foriegn languages such as Latin, Italian, this book is rife with it and most of it untranslated. Frances Yates also assumes that the reader know of various philosophical idiosycrasies of the known history of man.
The title of the book suggest that it is a book about the history of the art of memory and it is not. I agree with the earlier review of hglee of Avoldone Estates in GA. Definitely pass on this one and move on and forget the title of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A book to change one's world-view
Review: I ran into this book after having learned over 3000 Chinese characters through what turned out to be Art of Memory techniques. (See James Heisig's books "Remembering the Kanji" series. Take it from me, the techniques work.) For anyone who is interested in Renaissance and pre-Renaissance history, art, or culture, I believe this book essential to understanding the mindset. Heartily recommended. For true mental whiplash, read this back to back with Julian Jaynes' "Consciousness as the Breakdown in the Bicameral Mind". You'll never think of Mind or Memory the same way again.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent exploration of a forgotten art
Review: If you are fascinated by history or by scholarship throughout recorded time, you should enjoy this book. Francis Yates has created a detailed examination of memory techniques and their evolution over the course of generations. Beginning in ancient Greece and continuing through the Middle Ages, Yates shows how the art of remembering began as a sort of parlor trick and developed into an important skill in both religion and the occult. The influence from both individuals and cultures is described in a scholarly (yet not annoyingly so) way. While this book is not for everyone, its intended audience should be delighted.
NOTE: This book is not a "how-to" manual for memory. It provides only a very general description of memory methods and is instead an exploration of the history of the art.
An excellent companion piece to this book is _The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci_. Both books were listed in the acknowledgements of Thomas Harris' _Hannibal_.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent exploration of a forgotten art
Review: If you are fascinated by history or by scholarship throughout recorded time, you should enjoy this book. Francis Yates has created a detailed examination of memory techniques and their evolution over the course of generations. Beginning in ancient Greece and continuing through the Middle Ages, Yates shows how the art of remembering began as a sort of parlor trick and developed into an important skill in both religion and the occult. The influence from both individuals and cultures is described in a scholarly (yet not annoyingly so) way. While this book is not for everyone, its intended audience should be delighted.
NOTE: This book is not a "how-to" manual for memory. It provides only a very general description of memory methods and is instead an exploration of the history of the art.
An excellent companion piece to this book is _The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci_. Both books were listed in the acknowledgements of Thomas Harris' _Hannibal_.
Rating:
Summary: It could be used as a manual of spiritual developemen
Review: In my opinion, attempts at use of descripted techniques to increase one's ability in recalling brute informations is simply silly. This book gives us an extremely important information about the use of ancient mnemonic methods for spiritual developement. I think that the first step on this way for inconstant people is just the ability to bear an idea, an image, a mantra in mind along all the day.
Rating:
Summary: A book to change one's world-view
Review: In this era of gigabytes and floppy disks, it is easy to forget that once upon a time we had to commit things to memory. Yates does a wonderful job of recovering the ``art of memory,'' a complex and fascinating set of techniques that were in common use for thousands of years. Orators would construct elaborate conceptual ``memory palaces'' and use them to memorize speeches of staggering length. Well-written and erudite, Yates' book is the best work I know of on this subject. She treats ancient GReek times and the medieval era with equal ease. For further reading on the subject, try Spence's _The MEmory PAlace of MAtteo Ricci_ or Carruthers' _The Book of Memory_.
| 
