Learning How to Learn: The Ultimate Learning and Memory Instruction

by Jerry Lucas

Book Overview

Learn anything without the drudgery of rote memorization By teaching your mind to make the intangible tangible, you can learn and remember more than you ever thought possible. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930853025
• ISBN13: 9781930853027
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Lucas Educational Systems
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 2.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.9" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Lucas Memory System

An excellent book for anyone that wants more than a simple memory recall. Jerry Lucas offers a comprehensive system.

Learning vs Memorizing?

I wonder if the negative reviews here are based on the title of the book vs the contents? Perhaps if it had been called "Learning How To Memorize" they wouldn't have panned it? But, even if all I do is memorize a list of states and their capitals haven't I learned those facts?No, this book may not teach problem-solving skills, but what it does teach, how to memorize, it does *very* well.I almost didn't buy this book because I've had a copy of The Memory Book for decades and figured this would be a rehash. But there's enough new that it's worth it. Plus, it goes into more detail on the Peg Word system and that's helpful.Chapter 19, Knowing the Day of Any Date, is very cool. That technique is something I use all the time now. I actually figured out a way to calculate the day that (I think) is a little easier than what's explained in the book (write me and I'll send you my secret).If you want to learn how to memorize facts, figures, phone numbers, or whatever, this book will teach you. The techniques may be 2500 years old, but if you're not familiar with them then they're new to you, eh?

Buy it now!

This book will revolutionize the way you think and learn! This book is a must have no matter age, gender or intellectual interest!

Good

I don't have the same criticisms as the previous 2 reviewers. Probably because with Jerry Lucas' background, I expected his book to outline mnemonic techniques and not be a compendium of various learning strategies. Mnemonics are useful for remembering material, just ask any medical student. Just because some techniques are old doesn't mean that they aren't useful. In fact, they have been around this long precisely because they are useful. I used techniques from one of Lucas' previous books, "The Memory Book", in college and found them very helpful for improving recall. This book has many of the same techniques with some new slants. Be selective about the techniques in which you invest your time. I agree that these memory techniques need to be supplemented with other learning strategies but mnemonics have a place in a learner's toolkit as well. I personally thought that this book was good and I am glad that I bought it but there are other books available that teach the same principles for much less money. Kenneth Higbee's book "Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It" covers the subject very well.

Phenomenal book about learning

I read the book in two days. I thought it was a phenomenal book and wish I had read it years ago. Mr. Lucas presents his techniques in a very straightforward, logical format. I have a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and I believe that his system capitalizes upon the latest advances in Neuroscience. The human mind can remember an infinite number of images. In addition, the human mind tends to remember the "unusual." By focusing his learning technique upon these two physiological facts, Mr. Lucas has created a powerful system. In his book, he goes through the Peg system, the Link system, the sound-a-like system, the consonant number system, and various combinations of those systems. He provides multiple exercises to practice the new techniques. The system works! (I was able to memorize the names of the 50 most beautiful people in the world as determined by People magazine in 15 minutes.) Evolutionarily, our minds retrieve visual stimuli much more readily than semantic stimuli. For example, individuals can get post-traumatic stress syndrome from viewing horrific events in war, but has anyone developed PTSD from reading a book?! Our visual association cortex is a massive reservoir that should be tapped. Mr. Lucas has developed a system that trains people to tap that resource.