A brilliant translation of this classic account of the art of memory and the logic of linkage and combination, the two traditions deriving from the Classical world and the late medieval period, and becoming intertwined in the 16th Century. From this intertwining emerged a new tradition, a grandiose project for an 'alphabet of the world' or 'Clavis Universalis'. Translated A brilliant translation of this classic account of the art of memory and the logic of linkage and combination, the two traditions deriving from the Classical world and the late medieval period, and becoming intertwined in the 16th Century. From this intertwining emerged a new tradition, a grandiose project for an 'alphabet of the world' or 'Clavis Universalis'. Translated with an Introduction by Stephen Clucas.
The Logic and the Art of Memory: The Quest for a Universal Language
A brilliant translation of this classic account of the art of memory and the logic of linkage and combination, the two traditions deriving from the Classical world and the late medieval period, and becoming intertwined in the 16th Century. From this intertwining emerged a new tradition, a grandiose project for an 'alphabet of the world' or 'Clavis Universalis'. Translated A brilliant translation of this classic account of the art of memory and the logic of linkage and combination, the two traditions deriving from the Classical world and the late medieval period, and becoming intertwined in the 16th Century. From this intertwining emerged a new tradition, a grandiose project for an 'alphabet of the world' or 'Clavis Universalis'. Translated with an Introduction by Stephen Clucas.
Compare
47 review for The Logic and the Art of Memory: The Quest for a Universal Language
Related products
Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism
A Change of Heart (The Callaghans & McFaddens #1)
The Night Everything Changed
Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper's Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity
52 Small Changes for the Family: Build Confidence * Deepen Connections * Get Healthy * Increase Intelligence
Speak Peace in a World of Conflict: What You Say Next Will Change Your World
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Avery –
An incredibly valuable book linking together the mystical vision of Ramon Llull and the foundation of the Enlightenment. The concept of a "tree of knowledge" which can be united as a single root is traced from a Catholic origin into its Gnostic-Enlightenment counterpart. One astonishing fact for me is that this book came out in 1960, yet it was reviewed anew when the English editions were released in 2000 and 2006, as if people had never heard of it before (in fact, Dame Francis Yates was perfec An incredibly valuable book linking together the mystical vision of Ramon Llull and the foundation of the Enlightenment. The concept of a "tree of knowledge" which can be united as a single root is traced from a Catholic origin into its Gnostic-Enlightenment counterpart. One astonishing fact for me is that this book came out in 1960, yet it was reviewed anew when the English editions were released in 2000 and 2006, as if people had never heard of it before (in fact, Dame Francis Yates was perfectly familiar with it in 1966). This is starting to solidify my belief that research into the history of Western thought has not been continuously progressing up to the present day as recent books tend to claim, but actually hit a high mark between 1870 and 1970.
Heather Browning –
I found this quite dry and difficult to get through - lots and lots of names and dates. The underlying idea was interesting - the relationship between the mnemonic arts and the attempts to find a unifying 'philosophical language' (also timely, having just come across the idea in Quicksilver!), but I would have enjoyed more development of the idea, and fewer details on the historical writings. That's probably just my personal perspective though, as a non-historian; I find the ideas themselves mor I found this quite dry and difficult to get through - lots and lots of names and dates. The underlying idea was interesting - the relationship between the mnemonic arts and the attempts to find a unifying 'philosophical language' (also timely, having just come across the idea in Quicksilver!), but I would have enjoyed more development of the idea, and fewer details on the historical writings. That's probably just my personal perspective though, as a non-historian; I find the ideas themselves more interesting than the details of who came up with them and how. I also found the ending very abrupt - rather than a wrap-up or concluding remarks, the chapter just ended and that was it. Some summing up of what had been covered and its overall relevance, with perhaps some comments on any further work in the past four centuries, would have helped.
D. Stark –
Excellent book on the origins of the enlightenment via mnemotechnics going back to Aristotle, Cicero and the ars magna and combinatoria of Lull that strived for a "universal key", ie a universal language, best exemplified in Leibniz and continues to this day in computer programming (my own addition, computer programming language and systems are not addressed in this work as it is a historical overview of a movement from classical times to Leibniz documenting a movement towards memory and logic[v Excellent book on the origins of the enlightenment via mnemotechnics going back to Aristotle, Cicero and the ars magna and combinatoria of Lull that strived for a "universal key", ie a universal language, best exemplified in Leibniz and continues to this day in computer programming (my own addition, computer programming language and systems are not addressed in this work as it is a historical overview of a movement from classical times to Leibniz documenting a movement towards memory and logic[viewed as inseparable] cultivating a universal system of signs---a "Universal Key" to all knowledge requiring mastery of mnemotechnics best arrived at in a universal language. Thought of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake and Esperanto a great deal towards the end. Engrossing stuff, to say the least.
Eric –
Very interesting historical overview of the art of memory and the logical system in which it was thought to be useful for producing a universal language. This pursuit had an enormous influence on dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the direction of mathematics and science. More fields should revive these methods in order to facilitate education and broad synthesis.
Douglas Summers-Stay –
The Ars Memoria was a medieval technique for memorization. One would imagine a structure that was intimately familiar, and in each corner or room, place an object that would bring to mind the thing to be memorized. It was considered a type of magic, to be passed down as all magical lore was, in secret. Rossi, however, finds connections between the Art and the combinatoric methods of Ramon Llull, the deductive logic of Aristotle, the scientific method of Bacon, the universal character of Leibniz a The Ars Memoria was a medieval technique for memorization. One would imagine a structure that was intimately familiar, and in each corner or room, place an object that would bring to mind the thing to be memorized. It was considered a type of magic, to be passed down as all magical lore was, in secret. Rossi, however, finds connections between the Art and the combinatoric methods of Ramon Llull, the deductive logic of Aristotle, the scientific method of Bacon, the universal character of Leibniz and Wilkins, and the computatio of Hobbes. In order to memorize something, we need to reduces it to its essentials, to find the symmetries and order underlying it, to find rules that will allow us to reconstruct it in our minds from the smallest amount of actual facts committed to memory possible. In other words, to memorize something is to understand it. (In the field of computer science, this identity between compression and understanding is made formal and exact in the field of data compression and algorithmic information theory.) Bacon had no patience for the magic of it, but thought that the principle of finding the hidden rules to make memorization easier was a useful tool for science.
Waldo Geraldo Faldo –
José Osorio –
John –
Mateo Gonzalez –
Bernard Ryefield –
Sergio Liscia –
Peter –
Angie –
Scott –
Deniz –
Arets Paeglis –
Theophilus –
Pedro –
Piotr Rosół –
TEELOCK Mithilesh –
Michael Thomas Jones –
Dusty –
Erik Hoel –
Anna –
Jesus –
Foppe –
Inna –
Aaron Benarroch –
Alex070205 –
Laurel Jarvis –
Pysko –
Rin –
Robert Ottoboni –
Silvelie –
Michael –
Anderson da Silva –
Ted Ryan –
Natalie –
Yeram –
Naomi Yumi –
Euclides Cantidiano –
John Amador –
Abel –
Kitty Blue –
Olenka –
Kyle –
Jennifer –