Product Description

Owner of “the most remarkable mind on the planet,” (according to the US's Entertainment Weekly) Daniel Tammet captivated readers and won worldwide critical acclaim with the 2006 Sunday Times bestselling memoir, Born On A Blue Day, and its vivid depiction of a life with autistic savant syndrome. In his fascinating new book, he writes with characteristic clarity and personal awareness as he sheds light on the mysteries of savants’ incredible mental abilities, and our own.

Tammet explains that the differences between savant and non-savant minds have been exaggerated; his astonishing capacities in memory, math and language are neither due to a cerebral supercomputer nor any genetic quirk, but are rather the results of a highly rich and complex associative form of thinking and imagination. Autistic thought, he argues, is an extreme variation of a kind that we all do, from daydreaming to the use of puns and metaphors.

Embracing the Wide Sky combines meticulous scientific research with Tammet’s detailed descriptions of how his mind works to demonstrate the immense potential within us all. He explains how our natural intuitions can help us to learn a foreign language, why his memories are like symphonies, and what numbers and giraffes have in common. We also discover why there is more to intelligence than IQ, how optical illusions fool our brains, and why too much information can make you dumb.

Many readers will be particularly intrigued by Tammet’s original ideas concerning the genesis of genius and exceptional creativity. He illustrates his arguments with examples as diverse as the private languages of twins, the compositions of poets with autism, and the breakthroughs, and breakdowns, of some of history’s greatest minds.

Embracing the Wide Sky is a unique and brilliantly imaginative portrait of how we think, learn, remember and create, brimming with personal insights and anecdotes, and explanations of the most up-to-date, mind-bending discoveries from fields ranging from neuroscience to psychology and linguistics. This is a profound and provocative book that will transform our understanding and respect for every kind of mind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94490 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Review
‘Entertaining and informative about an impressive range of subjects . . . EMBRACING THE WIDE SKY is fun and inspirational’ (FT Weekend )

'Packed with his clear summaries of fascinating experiments . . . Recent debate has bumped up this book from delightful to vital' (Daily Telegraph )

'What’s remarkable is that Tammet’s many wanderings always seem measured and logical. . . truly fascinating.' (Guardian )

‘The book is full of information such as this, packed with his [Tammet’s] clear summaries of fascinating experiments.’ (Sydney Morning Herald )

'Far from a one-dimensional prodigy, his is a rich multi-textured intelligence. A beautiful mind.' (Scotsman Magazine )

About the Author
Daniel Tammet is a writer, linguist and educator. A 2007 poll of 4,000 Britons named him as one of the world’s “100 living geniuses”. His website company, Optimnem, has provided foreign language instruction to thousands around the globe. His last book, the Sunday Times bestseller Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, has been translated into 18 languages. He lives in Avignon, in the south of France.

Customer Reviews

A gentle and intelligent book comparing autism and the "normal" mind.
A book about the mind will inevitably cover ideas you have seen elsewhere - don't think that because this book is written by someone on the autistic spectrum you will find it completely weird. And that's the point - Daniel Tammet comes across as interesting, facinated in the world around him and having a far better understanding of autism than the those who have built their careers on the subject.

A particularly illuminating moment for me came with a comment about a study into children with autistic-spectrum disorder, comparing their creativity with a control group. One question was "how would you make this toy more fun?" - the control group did better than the kids with ASD. But as Tammet explains, for someone who sees detail before they see broader issues (and as Tammet says of himself, someone who sees the scratches on the table before they see the table), this is such a sloppily-worded question that it's incredibly difficult to answer. What kind of fun? Fun for whom? When?

Understanding this, and taking savant skills out of the realm of the superhuman & into the real world, is one of the book's key strengths. The principal weakness is that Tammet isn't an incredibly engaging writer and can come across as a bit stiff and stilted at times - but this is in the nature of his brain, so it would be a bit foolish to expect otherwise and considered in this context he writes with great skill. The book challenges preconceptions about autism without being judgmental or confrontational, and has left me thinking quite a bit about the nature of the brain. Well worth the purchase.

Starts well but tails off badly
I really enjoyed Born on a Blue Day and the first few chapters of this book continue in the same vein: a charming and fascinating tour around the brain and its workings, this time looking at "normal" brains as much as Daniel's own, and expanding to include other writers' and scientist's views as well as Daniel's experiences. I have seen a lot of the content elsewhere and in places this book did seem to take claims at face value rather than critically evaluating them if they fitted with the author's world view.

The writing is straightforward and functional rather than inspired, but by no means dull or clunky. The concept of using autistic experiences to better understand non-autistic minds works well and there are some interesting ideas presenting in a simple and accessible pop-sci way.

Where it all started to fall apart for me was around Chapter 8 where the focus moved beyond the brain and started to look at wider social issues. In this section complex issues were addressed from a surprisingly elitist, simplistic and close-minded perspective which made for an irritating and uncomfortable read and ultimately spoiled a decent book. I've never enjoyed being told what to think, particularly where the basis is a gross over-simplification of a complex issue. To usefully understand our shades-of-grey world you need both intelligence, and the ability to tolerate ambuguity, and I think the latter is what is missing from this book and costs it a star or two.

An interesting insight as to how our minds work
David is on the autistic spectrum and is a savant. He explains what this means and talks about how scientific researchers have worked with him to try and discover how his brian functions. He discusses his highly defined talents and tells us how he invented a new language, learned Finnish in a week and how he sees numbers. He then takes us on a journey of discovery using his experience and research to illustrate and identify the potential for using our brains to their maximum benefit.
Very uplifting and a highly recommended read.