Loading Your Own Encyclopedia Magnifica Memory acquisition and use
For a few of Abe Lincoln’s jokes, see Paul Zall’s (2007) Abe Lincoln’s Legacy of Laughter: Humorous Stories By and About Abe Lincoln or Alexander McClure’s Abraham Lincoln’s Humorous Stores, El Paso Norte Press (2006); of course Mr. Lincoln is the real author of these books.
For Napoleon’s mid-war change of battle plans, see, e.g., McLynn F (2002) Napoleon: A Biography, Arcade Press.
For a little more insight into the unbelievable abilities of Kim Peek, see The Life and Message of the Real Rain Man: The Journey of a Mega-Savant (2008) by Fran Peek (with Lisa Lyn Hanson)
For general references about memory, see Learning and Memory: From Brain to Behavior by Gluck MA et al (2007); or Essentials of Human Memory, Revised (2013) by Badderley AD; for a pretty nice, breezy argument that YOU are more-or-less the sum total of your memories, with a nice explanation of tricks of remembering that can make you seem a lot smarter than you are, see Moonwalking with Einstein: the Art and Science of Remembering Almost Everything (2012) by Joshua Foer.
For a science-based treatment of the classes of memory, the processes that underlie their formation, and the localization of remembering to different brain regions/systems see Squire LR and Kandel ER (2000) Memory: From Mind to Molecules, H. Holt, New York.
If you really want to know more about the hippocampus and memory, Gluck et al (ibid.) is a good place to start. When you graduate, move up to the Squire and Kandel book (ibid.) — then to a research synopsis book like The Hippocampus Book (Andersen P, et al., eds; 2007). There are tens of thousands of studies relevant to our subject of plasticity and memory written about the hippocampus alone. You have a lot of reading to do to get up to date!To begin to appreciate how the hippocampus hangs your memories on the fabric of place and time, you might begin with Sheri Mizumori’s (2008) Hippocampal Place Fields: Relevance to Learning and Memory (Oxford U Press). For a historical perspective, see Memory’s Ghost: the Nature of Memory and the Strange Tale of Mr. M, Hilts J (1996); or Edwin Borings earlier cited History of Experimental Psychology describing memory studies beginning in the 19th Century.
