Daniel Tammet
A biographical tale of a high functioning autistic savant. Daniel can calculate long math expressions, “sees” numbers as colors with special shapes and speaks 10 languages (including one he has created!). Not just your typical “disability memoir”. He is profoundly articulate and gives many literary examples and historical anecdotes to highlight info on memory, neuroplasticity, mathematics, language and synaesthesia. ( )

The book is written by a savant by the name of Daniel Tammet. He has some special abilities in language and in numbers. His discussion regarding the mind is reasonable although at times basic. His discussion of how to improve rational skills is rudimentary. The novelty of the book is really the author and not so much in the content. I mildly recommend the book. ( )

written by Daniel Tammet, the savant who also wrote Born on a Blue Day, this is an insight into the mind and how it works - hopeful for the aged as those neural pathways do keep connecting! ( )

Really fascinating look at how our brains work. I need to go back and read his first one, Born on a Blue Day. ( )

This is a rather interesting book by a high-functioning person with Aspergers. He posits that there is a continuum between so-called normal into the various levels of autism. This seems plausible to me. Tammet writes well, and his first book, Born on a Blue Day, was quite widely read. He takes us through various theories of intelligences, such as Howard Gardner's eight kinds of intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, body-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic). Tammet takes us into memory and how story helps memory. I myself have some vey detailed memories, and have early childhood memories back to age 3 and remember many numerical types of numbers (e.g. bus frequencies), but I don't remmber names well, so as a whole I'm not outstanding as a whole.

His forays into language learning and understanding, and into the instinct for numbers were quite well done. Towards the end, a little carp came into the book. This is a popular volume, and not systematic, but is worth the read. ( )