Memory
Fragments of a Modern History
Published on 11. September 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
330 pages
978-0-226-08454-1 (ISBN)
Description
The workings of memory have fascinated scientists for hundreds of years, and in Memory: Fragments of a Modern History, Alison Winter shows that our understanding of them has changed dramatically in just the past century, with major consequences for science, medicine, and everyday life. Memories have been declared as reliable as sounds caught on tape, and they have been dismissed as inherently volatile. Researchers have tried to understand what we do when we remember by appealing to motion pictures, filing cabinets, and flashbulbs. Tracing the cultural and scientific history of such drastically opposed convictions, Winter introduces us to the innovative scientists, venturesome medical practitioners, determined police interrogators, and, in some cases, incorrigible sensation seekers who sought to master this mysterious power. Culminating in the climactic "memory wars" of the 1980s and '90s, the story she tells illuminates not only the practices of science and medicine, but also a subject that is absolutely essential to how we all live our daily lives.
Reviews / Votes
"A deft study of twentieth-century memory controversies." (Jenny Diski, London Review of Books) "A splendid book. One might even say a memorable book." (Toronto Globe and Mail) "A riveting account of the past century of work on the science of memory.... Masterful." (Science) "Impressive.... Alison Winter has done an admirable job synthesizing many diverse sources into a tidy cultural history.... A compelling demonstration that the science of memory-like all science-is both a product of and an influence on the culture from which it springs." (Bookforum)"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 15 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight
510 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-08454-1 (9780226084541)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alison Winter is associate professor of history at the University of Chicago and the author of Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain, also published by the University of Chicago Press.