110 – COSMOS Issue 86
Memory Wise: How memory works
and what to do when it doesn’t
by Anne Unkenstein
Allen & Unwin
$29.99IF LIKE MEyou’ve noticed that your mind
isn’t as sharp as it once was, or you think
that a person in your life is showing signs of
memory change, thenMemory Wisecould
be for you. Anne Unkenstein provides an
easy-to-read explanation of how memory
works, changes that occur as we get older,
and issues that can affect memory.
Memory Wise examines issues such
as memory and menopause, working and
learning as you age, Alzheimer’s disease
and dementia. It offers various strategies
for everyday memory, maintaining brain
health and supporting people in the early
stages of dementia.
Unkenstein has drawn on her more
than 25 years of experience as a clinical
neuropsychologist and uses real-life stories
to help illustrate everyday issues of people
going through memory change. “I used
to have a photographic memory and now
I read a novel and can’t recall what I was
reading,” says Vicki, 54. It’s reassuring to
know you’re not alone. There’s a phrase
used throughout the book – that as we get
older, we need to “pay attention to paying
attention”.
It’s easy to navigate through the
chapters and at the end of each one there’s
a list of key points for reminder and easyWRITING
Ilya Mandel
Teaching physics to monks (p. 64)
“Cargo Cult Science” by Richard
Feynman
Every couple of years, I re-read Richard
Feynman’s 1974 Caltech commencement
address, published as a short essay titled
“Cargo Cult Science”. In it, Feynman talks
about the crucial importance of scientific
integrity – as he puts it, “a kind of leaning
over backwards” to be maximally critical of
your own results as a scientist, to be utterly
honest about all of the possible flaws in your
experiment or your model, to check that
your theory really adds some prediction
beyond just matching existing data, and to
hold on to that honesty and integrity in the
face of pressure to get funding or progress
your career.
The exhortation seems, if anything,
more pertinent now than half a century
ago, and all of us can benefit from heeding
Feynman’s advice.Ashley Hay
Ode to green (p. 96)
Nightfishing: Stingrays, Goya and
the singular lifeby Vicki Hastrich
Vicki Hastrich’s beautiful book of essays
could also be described as a collection
of expeditions or explorations. From
her starting point of one small patch of
Brisbane Water, north of Sydney, she
leans into science, art, philosophy, and
nature, letting ideas and connections ebb
and flow – sometimes gently, sometimes
dramatically – from seaweed and rays to
turtles and prawns, invasions and loves.
Hastrich calls herself an amateur –
amateur marine biologist, amateur writer –
but the scope and richness of the knowledge
she pins down here and the existential
shape it makes (for her own self and for
the broader world) speak to consummate
observational skills. When she writes that
Galileo’s “great achievement was to show
us what was already in plain view”, she
could be describing her own work.Natalie Parletta
Hook, line and thinker (p. 80)
The Giver of Starsby Jojo Moyes
I recently unearthed this gem. Based
on events in depression-era America,
the powerful zeitgeist of the story is as
pertinent nearly a century later as it was
then, if not more so. Assorted women
battling their own tragedies and challenges
bond while forming a community library
against the backdrop of rampant ignorance,
sexism, racism and a ruthless coal company
destroying people’s health, homes and
habitats. The women’s extraordinary
courage and ultimate triumph against all
odds inspire us – compel us – to rise up
and tackle the planet’s unfolding climate
catastrophe and mass extinctions.
At a time when many of us feel
despairing and hopeless, stories like this
are a vital reminder that the human spirit
can prevail; that with the Greta Thunbergs
of this world we can defeat Goliath.PODCASTS
Ivy Shih
Windows to the stars (page 32)
Brain on Natureby Sarah Allely
Recently I’ve rediscovered my love of
experimenting and being braver withSTORY TIME
What’s inspiring our
writers right nowreference. For people who feel they need
to obtain further information, there are
contact details of organisations that can
provide advice and support
This book isn’t going to blow your
mind with lots of medical jargon and it
won’t provide you with tips to develop
hyperthymesia (a neurological condition
whereby people remember vast swathes of
their life in vivid detail). Some suggestions
offered are simple common sense, but could
be helpful if you find yourself challenged by
deteriorating memory.
Memory Wiseprovides an insight into
what could be going on “upstairs”. It may
well take away some stigma, or help you
take further action if you are concerned
about your own, or a loved one’s, memory.
SARAH BRENNENZEITGEIST REVIEWS