Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Memory Code
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1951
WEBSITE: http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/
CITY: Castlemaine
STATE:
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Australian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
DONT CONFUSE WITH AMERICAN CHILDREN”S AUTHOR OF SAME NAME
LC control no.: nr2007011362
Descriptive conventions:
rda
Personal name heading:
Kelly, Lynne, 1951-
Associated place: Melbourne (Vic.)
Birth date: 1951
Affiliation: La Trobe University
Found in: Crocodile, 2006: t.p. (Lynne Kelly)
LC Voyager, June 6, 2007 (hdg.: Kelly, Lynne, 1951-)
Knowledge and power in prehistoric societies, 2015: back
cover (Lynne Kelly is an Honorary Research Associate in
the Department of Arts, Communication and Critical
Enquiry at La Trobe University, Melbourne)
Associated language:
eng
================================================================================
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PERSONAL
Born 1951, in Australia.
EDUCATION:Monash University, B.Eng., 1972; Rusden State College, Dip. Ed., 1973; Deakin University, Grad. Dip., 1984; Melbourne University, M.E., 1994; La Trobe University, Ph.D., 2013.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Science writer. La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, honorary research fellow. Has also worked as an educator; has appeared on national television.
AWARDS:Named the “Skeptic of the Year,” Australian Skeptics, 2004; literary grant, Arts Victoria, 2015.
WRITINGS
Also the author of Avenging Janie, 2003; Words and Images, 2002; Motion: Simple Concepts in Physics, 2001; Maths Wizard, 2000; Sound and Light, 2000; Mathematics by Computer: Iteration, 1996; Challenging Minds: Thinking Skills and Enrichment Activities, 1996; Lasers, 1996; Nuclear Technology, 1991; and, with Jacaranda-Wiley, Practical Computing, 1987.
SIDELIGHTS
Lynne Kelly is an Australian science writer. She earned a number of degrees before completing a Ph.D. in the English Program with a focus on orality from LaTrobe University in 2013. Throughout her career in science, Kelly has worked as a secondary school educator, a researcher, and a science writer. She has presented her work at conferences and seminars around the world and has appeared on television programs and in documentaries.
Crocodile and Spiders
Kelly published Crocodile: Evolution’s Greatest Survivor in 2007. The account looks into the marvel of the crocodile and its close relatives, the alligator and the gharial, from an evolutionary perspective for having survived for such a long time in the natural history of the world. The account covers the anatomy, mating behavior, and predatory techniques of these animals, shedding light on how they have been so successful. She also shows how the animals have evolved in order to stay on top of the food chain. Kelly details man’s relation with the crocodile through various legends from different parts of the world and what role they play in various societies. She also relates the work of conservationists who are trying to prevent their extinction as their habitats shrink. A contributor writing in Science News said that “the book brings to light many of the underappreciated characteristics of these fascinating animals.”
In 2009 Kelly published Spiders: Learning to Love Them. Despite suffering from arachnophobia, Kelly sought to research more about spiders in the hopes that an increased knowledge about them would help her to overcome this fear. She photographed and observed spiders in and around Melbourne for several months while reading up about the many varieties that exist. Kelly writes about the history of arachnophobia and offers tips to other readers who want to overcome this fear. She related that she gave names to the spiders she found living around her house and chronicled their movements and behaviors. The text is interspersed with biological research on the animals. Booklist contributor Nancy Bent lauded that “this book is a triumph.” Bent pointed out that “an extensive bibliography makes this good for projects.”
The Memory Code
Kelly published The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments in 2016. Kelly applied her knowledge of Australian and New Zealander indigenous cultures to prehistoric monuments from around the world to present a new anthropological philosophy on these mysterious sites. In particular, Kelly shows that the oral means of sharing and passing down knowledge in these nonliterate cultures offer a unique parallel to understanding the ancient monuments as sites of ancient knowledge. She looks at place-associative memorization systems, including stars, landscape, songs, dance, handheld totems, and mythological stories, to posit that these would have been central to the formation of such monuments. Kelly uses her daily life as a case study to apply this theory, using a walk outdoors with the dog as an opportunity to test this ancient technique. Kelly offers her own approach to understanding a number of monuments, such as the monolithic moai of Easter Island, geoglyphs in the southern Peruvian desert, stone rows and circles of Neolithic Britain and France, and Stonehenge.
In a review in Library Journal, Angela Forret suggested that “readers interested in preliterate cultures, Neolithic archaeological sites, and memory techniques will find this research thought provoking.” A Publishers Weekly contributor reasoned that “Kelly’s arguments are plausible–and persuasive where links exist between current cultures and predecessors … but her certitude is troublesome.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews found the book to be “a plausible and provocative hypothesis on how methods of memorization may have laid the groundwork for many mysterious extant monuments.” The same reviewer also mentioned that the account is “thought-provoking.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2009, Nancy Bent, review of Spiders: Learning to Love Them, p. 10.
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2017, review of The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments.
Library Journal, February 15, 2017, Angela Forret, review of The Memory Code, p. 111.
Publishers Weekly, December 12, 2016, review of The Memory Code, p. 138.
Science News, July 21, 2007, review of Crocodile: Evolution’s Greatest Survivor, p. 47.
Skeptical Inquirer, July 1, 2005, Benjamin Radford, review of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, p. 58.
ONLINE
Lynne Kelly Website, http://www.lynnekelly.com.au (October 13, 2017).*
About / Contact
fb-author-back7
I am a science writer, working as an Honorary Research Associate at LaTrobe University. My field of research is the memory methods used by those who depended on their memories for everything they knew: oral cultures. I am also a mnemonist, committing vast amounts of information to memory using the memory technologies of indigenous people. Given my poor natural memory, this is an exciting and surprising development from my research and will fuel my next book.
My most recent book is The Memory Code. The academic version of my PhD is published by Cambridge University Press under the title: Knowledge and power in prehistoric societies: orality, memory and the transmission of culture. I have greatly appreciated an Arts Victoria grant for the writing The Memory Code , published in Australia in July 2016 by Allen & Unwin and released as an audio book by Audible. It will be published early in 2017 by Atlantic Books in the UK and Pegasus Books in the US.
These two new books arise from the experience of writing fourteen earlier books and slowly learning my trade. They have also grown out of working in a variety of disciplines which all informed the academic research. The My Books page talks about my three popular science books, my novel, Avenging Janie, and ten books for schools. The popular science books also have their own pages: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, Crocodile and Spiders.
With a background in engineering, physics, mathematics, information technology and gifted education, I have spent decades in teaching. A full Curriculum Vitae can be found here.
I loved my years in education. I loved the research involved in doing a PhD. And now I love having the freedom to draw on all of that and write full time. How lucky am I?
Contact
Education:
Practical Computing (co-author), Jacaranda-Wiley, 1987
Nuclear Technology (co-author), STAV Publishing, 1991
Lasers, Sunshine Books, 1994
Challenging Minds (Aus), Hawker-Brownlow, 1994, (US), Prufrock Press, 1996
Mathematics by Computer: Iteration, Wizard Books, 1996
Motion Kit: Simple Concepts in Physics, Wizard Books, 1996
Sound and Light, Wizard Books, 2000
Maths Wizard, Wizard Books, 2000
Motion: Simple Concepts in Physics, Wizard Books, 2001
Words and Images (co-author), Wizard Books, 2002
Multimedia CD-ROM:
Exploring Chaos and Fractals (co-author), Informit, 1994
Curriculum Vitae
Qualifications
Bachelor of Engineering, Monash University, 1972
Diploma of Education, Rusden State College, 1973
Graduate Diploma of Computing, Deakin University, 1984
Master of Education, University of Melbourne, 1994
Doctor of Philosophy, LaTrobe University, 2013
I completed my PhD at La Trobe University, Melbourne, in the English Program as a non-fiction writer. My field is primary orality – the way cultures store and transmit masses of information when they have no contact with writing. I look at the application of primary orality to archaeology. It is the topic of my academic book with Cambridge University Press, Knowledge and power in prehistoric societies. My new book, The Memory Code, is for a mainstream audience, published by Allen & Unwin in Australia in July 2016, and then in the UK by Atlantic Books and US by Pegasus Books in February 2017. The audio version is published by Audible.
I have spent my working career combining secondary teaching, writing and studying. I am now an Honorary Research Associate at LaTrobe University in the School of Arts, Communication and Critical Enquiry. I was awarded an Arts Victoria literary grant for 2015.
Publications
The Memory Code: Allen & Unwin (Aus) and Audible, 2016.
The Memory Code: Atlantic Books (UK), Pegasus Books (US), February 2017.
Academic:
Knowledge and power in prehistoric societies: orality, memory and the transmission of culture, Cambridge University Press, 2015
Grounded: Indigenous Knowing in a Concrete Reality, Rounded Globe, 2016.
Open Access e-book essay available online.
Non-fiction, trade, popular science:
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal (Aus), Allen & Unwin, 2004
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal (US), Basic Books / Thunder’s Mouth, 2005
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, Russian Edition, 2009
Crocodile: evolution’s greatest survivor, Allen & Unwin, 2006
Crocodile: evolution’s greatest survivor (UK), Orion, 2007
Spiders: learning to love them (Aus, US), Allen & Unwin, 2009
Spiders: learning to love them (UK), Orion, 2009
Fiction:
Avenging Janie, Lothian Books, 2003
Non-fiction, Education:
Practical Computing (co-author), Jacaranda-Wiley, 1987
Nuclear Technology (co-author), STAV Publishing, 1991
Lasers, Sunshine Books, 1994
Challenging Minds (Aus), Hawker-Brownlow, 1994
Challenging Minds (US), Prufrock Press, 1996
Mathematics by Computer: Iteration, Wizard Books*, 1996
Motion Kit: Simple Concepts in Physics, Wizard Books *, 1996
Sound and Light, Wizard Books*, 2000
Maths Wizard, Wizard Books, 2000
Motion: Simple Concepts in Physics, Wizard Books *, 2001
Words and Images (co-author), Wizard Books *, 2002
* All Wizard Books publications are now published by Curriculum Corporation.
Multimedia CD-ROM:
Exploring Chaos and Fractals (co-author), Informit, 1994
Online Course Material:
50 Enrichment Units for the Middle Years – EUMY, 2006-8
Magazine and newspaper articles:
Physics and Infinity, Lab Talk, (Science Teachers Association of Victoria), 1984
It’s a Total Internal Reflection, Lab Talk, (STAV), 1985
Book Reviews, Lab Talk, (STAV), 1986/7
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a – total internal reflection, The Australian Skeptic, 1988
Chaos Rules the Classroom?, Classroom 2000, The Age, 1993
Multimedia Authoring, Australian Author, 1994
Managing Change in I.T., The Source, 1996
It’s virtually a school, The Source, 1997
Virtual schooling is online now, News and Views, ICPA, 1997
I.T. and Gifted Students, Gifted, 1998
I.T. and Gifted Students, Vision, 1999
Mirror Gazing: From Critical Reflection Toward Evaluation (co-author), Gifted and Talented International, 2000
How to build a cyberschool that has soul, The Age, I.T. Opinion, 2000
How a native goddess stole my heart, The Age, Extra/Gardening, 2001
Just Killing Time? (co-author), Principal Matters, 2001
The World Skeptic’s Congress, The Skeptic, 2005
Spiders – on the edges of everywhere, Wildlife Australia, 2010
Feminine Magic, The Journal of Performance Magic, 2015
Book Chapters:
Four chapters in Coping for Capable Kids, Hawker-Brownlow, Education, 1993
A Teacher’s Perspective in Geniuses, Prodigies and Savants, Centre for the Mind, 1999
Feminine Magic in Magiculum, EyeCorner Press, 2014
Study Guide:
Australian Biography: Donald Metcalf, Film Australia, 2007
Editing:
Mathematics online units for Britannica.com, 2000
Competitions:
Second Born, 1st Prize, Begonia Writing Short Story Competition, 1992
Conference Presentations and Media
Numerous press and radio interviews were done for The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, Crocodile: evolution’s greatest survivor and Spiders: learning to love them. Press and online reviews were universally very good.
I have presented at many conferences in Australia, New Zealand and the US in areas of Gifted Education, Mathematics, Information Technology, Physics, Management of Change and the Science of the Paranormal. I have presented a number of seminars and conference presentations on primary orality and archaeology in Australia and the US.
I appeared in a TV segment for Lawrence Leung’s Unbelievable!, shown on ABC TV, June 2011 which was based on The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal. I appeared in an episode for the SBS documentary, Tales of the Unexpected, also based on The Skeptic’s Guide. It was was aired in 2014.
Lynne Kelly
Lynne-Kelly.jpg
Born 1951 (age 65–66)
Residence Castlemaine, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Alma mater
Monash University LaTrobe University University of Melbourne
Occupation
Science writer Researcher Educator
Employer LaTrobe University
Known for
Primary orality Popular Science Skepticism
Website lynnekelly.com.au
Lynne Kelly (born 1951) is an Australian writer, researcher and science educator.[1][2][3][4] Her academic work focuses mainly on the study of primary orality, as well as the mnemonic devices used by ancient and modern oral cultures from around the world.[1][5] She is known for her theory on the purpose of the Stonehenge megalithic, which she believes served as a centre for the transmission of knowledge among Neolithic Britons.[5]
She has been interviewed on different podcasts and radio programs about her work on primary orality, popular science and skepticism.[1][3][4]
Contents
1 Work and education
2 Research on primary orality and memory
2.1 The Memory Code
2.2 Theory on the purpose of Stonehenge
3 Works on popular science
4 Work in skepticism
4.1 Cold reading and tauromancy
4.2 The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal
5 Awards and recognition
6 Bibliography
7 References
8 External links
Work and education
Kelly holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Monash University, a Graduate Diploma of Computing from Deakin University, a Diploma of Education from Rusden State College, a Master of Education from Melbourne University and a Doctoral Degree from La Trobe University.[4]
Kelly's writing also includes educational resources for courses on mathematics, thinking skills and information technology, as well as a novel. Kelly has also published books for popular science audiences on spiders, crocodiles and skepticism.[1][2]
She has previously worked as a teacher and she currently works as an Honorary Research Fellow at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.[1][3][4][6][7]
Research on primary orality and memory
A fundamental part of Kelly's research delves into the transmission of scientific and technological knowledge among small-scale oral cultures such as Australian Aborigines, the Pueblo people and some African cultures.[8][9]
Kelly's research indicates that oral cultures possess a large body of scientific knowledge on animal behavior, plant properties, the landscape, natural phenomena, location of sacred places and water sources. This knowledge is encoded in myths, rituals, chants and mnemonic devices.[8][10]
According to Kelly's theory, the manner of accessing stored information would depend on whether the culture was mobile or more settled. Hunter-gatherer societies would depend on portable mnemonic devices and techniques that would allow them to use the landscape as a mnemonic tool, such as the method of loci. Kelly has observed similar techniques within the modern Australian Aborigines, who use features on the landscape as visual cues to retrieve information. On the other hand, societies that were less mobile but not completely settled would create local replications of the landscape to access information, such as circles of timber or stone, sequences of mounds and other prehistoric built environments.[7][9][11]
Kelly's research also indicates that both nomadic and sedentary societies rely on performance and entertainment as a part of their complex knowledge storage system. The use of songs and rituals is a vital component of retention techniques which further strengthens memorization, and it is ubiquitous among the cultures studied by Kelly. People participating in the performance would sing and tell stories while also touching a mnemonic object, moving around the site, or dancing, as a way to trigger kinaesthetic cues to access the knowledge.[9][11]
Lynne Kelly has spoken against the portrayal of native peoples by the media, and sometimes even in academia, as having a close relationship with their environment but being at the same time simplistic and superstitious. These portrayals tend to focus only on their religion and rituals, and very rarely acknowledge their vast scientific knowledge.[8][9][10][12]
In 2015, Kelly published a book under the title Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, which incorporates the research for her doctoral thesis. This work explores the link between power and the control of knowledge in oral cultures, as well as the different mnemonic techniques and devices used by those cultures. Kelly also suggests a new theory on the purpose of the archaeological sites of Chaco Canyon, Poverty Point and Stonehenge.[13]
The Memory Code
In June 2016, Kelly's doctoral research was published for a general readership under the title The Memory Code. This work comprises the results of Kelly's research, spanning over almost a decade, into mnemonics of Indigenous peoples from around the globe.[14]
Kelly's work on Australian Aboriginals includes the identification of songlines with memory techniques. She has found research stating that up to 70% of these songlines contains knowledge about animals, plants and seasons.[14]
The book created much interest from the media and the public even before its release.[15] Since the publication of The Memory Code, Kelly has been invited to numerous radio shows and public lectures to discuss her work on indigenous knowledge, mnemonics and the application of memory techniques techniques and devices in everyday life. [16][17]
Kelly has been known for trying the same techniques she has researched to memorize long lists of categories and events, including succeeding to memorize all the countries of the world by population order; memorizing a historical chronology of prehistoric and historic events, and a guide of the 408 birds of the state of Victoria. She has memorized those lists and events using the loci method, the help of mnemonic devices, and by creating stories connecting the elements she is trying to memorize.
Kelly has received the support and orientation of Australian Aboriginal advisors for her research, particularly of her colleague Nungarrayi, who is Warlpiri.[14]
Theory on the purpose of Stonehenge
Inside Stonehenge, facing northeast, April 2005
According to Kelly's theory, Stonehenge served the purpose of a mnemonic centre for recording and retrieving knowledge by Neolithic Britons, who lacked written language. The knowledge could have included pragmatic information on animal classification and behavior, geography and navigation, land management and crop cycles, as well as cultural knowledge on history, politics, genealogy and religion.[9]
In Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, Kelly suggests that knowledge may have been originally preserved by the nomadic Britons by using the landscape as a mnemonic tool, in a similar fashion to the memorization technique known as Method of loci.[9][10] As the Britons started to settle, they would have needed to modify the way they stored their knowledge as they were not moving as much anymore, so they would have built Stonehenge in an attempt to replicate the landscape locally, allowing them to memorize and store knowledge. The circles and stones or timber posts would have represented the landscape, and each stone would have been associated with a segment of their knowledge system.[10]
Kelly's research also indicates that once the Neolithic Britons' society settled, the ceremonial spaces would have become more restricted and the rituals controlled by the elites.[8][9][10]
Kelly's theory on the purpose of Stonehenge would also explain certain physical features such as circles or lines of posts and ditches at other archaeological such as the Durrington Walls and Avebury, which previously had not been explained.[5][8]
Kelly's theory is sustained by the record of archaeological changes and level of activity registered at Stonehenge. Those changes would be consistent with the social changes the Neolithic Britons would have experienced whilst transitioning from a hunter-gatherer society, where the knowledge was shared by the elders, to a sedentary society whose knowledge was restricted to the elites and transmitted via apprenticeship. This change in the control of knowledge would have eventually made Stonehenge unused and its primary purpose forgotten.[8]
Her theory is also consistent with her previous research on mnemonic techniques used by ancient and modern cultures and the use of temples, myths and legends to pass on and remember knowledge. As the chance of survival for oral cultures is strongly dependent on their ability to store and retrieve information, the great efforts and the participation of the entire community on the construction of a site as large as Stonehenge are explained and justifiable.[8][14]
Works on popular science
Kelly is also known for her contribution to popular science literature. In 2006, she published a book on crocodiles under the title Crocodile: evolution's greatest survivor. In this work, Kelly collects both folklore and human-crocodile interactions from across the world, as well as the biology, behavior and evolution of crocodilians.[7][18][19]
In 2009, Kelly published her book Spiders: Learning to Love Them, where she explores the biology and human perceptions around spiders, as well as offers a guide for spider identification. It is also a recount of the author's personal journey from disliking spiders to being fascinated by them.[20] The book won "Best book in the category of Natural History" in the 2009 Whitley Awards by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.[21][22]
Work in skepticism
Kelly has also been an active promoter of skepticism and educating the public on the importance of critical thinking and science. She has claimed to use magicians' tricks to advance skepticism.[3] She was a founding member of the Australian Skeptics,[3] and has spoken at their national convention in 2003, 2012 and 2015.[23][24][25] In 2004, she was awarded the Skeptic of the Year title by the organization.[26]
Kelly's interest in skepticism derives in part from her concern about how fake mediums and psychics exploit gullible or vulnerable people.[3] She has criticized television shows which present mediums and psychics as a fact, which in her opinion could undermine the understanding of science among teenagers.[3] Kelly also considers that a belief in the supernatural prevents people from appreciating science and the real wonders of the world, and causes unnecessary fear in young people.[3]
Lynne Kelly, Australian Skeptics National Convention 2015
Cold reading and tauromancy
Kelly is also known for her investigation on psychics and cold reading techniques. Kelly has investigated the methods used by psychics to convince their clients of their alleged supernatural powers, and she even experimented performing astrology readings. She later developed her own divination system, which she named Tauromancy, which she uses to debunk psychics by showing how it is possible to create an illusion of a psychic reading just through psychology and by using the client's reactions to the reader's suggestions. Her method includes objects suggestive of magic, such as a purported handwritten and illustrated book with the history of the tradition, a mat, essences, rods and metal masks.[3]
Kelly has claimed that the effect of a successful reading is so powerful that even though she has revealed in advance to the customers that she is in fact not a real psychic, they refuse to believe that the information and personal details were obtained by mere cold reading techniques.[3][27] On some occasions, Kelly has had to stop the reading as the client has become extremely emotional, with Kelly offering counselling instead, which she has been trained in. She has also said that intelligent people are easier to read as they have a larger pool of references to use to respond to her cues.[3]
In 2003 she wrote a novel for young adults titled Avenging Janie[28] which incorporated cold reading and a cult into the plot.[29] The book was well received. Writer John Marsden said of it, "It's good to be reminded that there are still new plots out there - and writers for young people brave enough to take them on."[30] Cold reading expert Ian Rowland said, "it really is an amazing piece of work."[31]
The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal
Kelly has also written a book on the paranormal from a skeptic's point of view, aimed at a non-skeptical audience, [32] titled The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal. In this work, Kelly explores a range of popular claims and stories about allegedly paranormal events such as crop circles, psychic detectives, and communicating with the dead, providing plausible scientific explanations for each of these phenomena.[3][33]
Awards and recognition
Kelly's book Spiders: learning to love them was awarded a Certificate of Commendation in the "Natural History" class of the 2009 Whitley Awards from the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.[22]
She was awarded an Arts Victoria literary grant for 2015, to develop Ancient Memory Spaces, "a literary non-fiction manuscript demonstrating the memory techniques used by non-literate societies to store and share knowledge of their culture".[34]
In 2004, she was named the Skeptic of the Year by the Australian Skeptics.[26]
Bibliography
The Memory Code: The Traditional Aboriginal Memory Technique That Unlocks the Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Ancient Monuments the World Over (2016) Allen & Unwin ISBN 9781760291327 for Australia and New Zealand in July 2016, and February 2017 by Atlantic Books in the UK and Pegasus Books in the USA.
Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: Orality, Memory, and the Transmission of Culture (2015) Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-1107059375 OCLC 910935575
Spiderwoman (2013) Hampress ISBN 978-1922172204 OCLC 854852622
Spiders: learning to love them (2009) Allen & Unwin ISBN 978-1741751796 OCLC 865288969
Crocodile: evolution's greatest survivor (2006) Allen & Unwin ISBN 978-1741144987 OCLC 123416997
The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal (2004) Allen & Unwin ISBN 978-1560257110 OCLC 62761268
Avenging Janie (2003) Lothian ISBN 978-0734405524 OCLC 156031904
Words and Images (2002) (co-author) Wizard Books ISBN 1876367989
Motion: Simple Concepts in Physics (2001 ) Wizard Books ISBN 1875739351
Maths Wizard (2000) Wizard Books ISBN 1876367350
Sound and Light (2000) Wizard Books ISBN 1875739696
Mathematics by Computer: Iteration (1996), Wizard Books ISBN 1875739548
Challenging Minds: Thinking Skills and Enrichment Activities(1996) Prufrock Press ISBN 978-1882664207
Lasers (1996) The Wright Group
Nuclear Technology (1991) (co-author), STAV Publishing ISBN 0949044180
Practical Computing (1987) (with co-author Jacaranda-Wiley) ISBN 0701622423
Kelly, Lynne. The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments. Pegasus
Angela Forret
142.3 (Feb. 15, 2017): p111.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Kelly, Lynne. The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments. Pegasus. Feb. 2017. 336p. notes, index. ISBN 9781681773254. $27.95; ebk. ISBN 9781681773827. SCI
Preliterate cultures across the globe retained important general knowledge, cultural history, myths, and stories in order to survive. Science writer Kelly (Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies), inspired by her study of the beliefs of traditional Aboriginal Australian song lines and the concept of orality, theorizes that a technique known as "the method of loci" allowed tribal elders throughout the world to memorize this vast encyclopedic knowledge. The key to this approach is relying on specific physical spaces and objects as memory spaces. The author theorizes that ancient monuments such as Stonehenge, passage cairns in Ireland, elaborate stone houses of New Mexico, and statues of Easter Island functioned as "memory places." This fascinating narrative offers fresh interpretations of these physical spaces and their archaeological discoveries. It should be noted that one chapter delves into Kelly's use of modern-day memory spaces to aid her own memorization; however, this book should not be considered a primer. VERDICT Readers interested in preliterate cultures, Neolithic archaeological sites, and memory techniques will find this research thought provoking.--Angela Forret, Clive P.L., IA
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Forret, Angela. "Kelly, Lynne. The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments. Pegasus." Library Journal, 15 Feb. 2017, p. 111. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA481649181&it=r&asid=aa9aa6fbd04931c4f9337b7b845342d6. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A481649181
Kelly, Lynne: THE MEMORY CODE
(Jan. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Kelly, Lynne THE MEMORY CODE Pegasus (Adult Nonfiction) $27.95 2, 7 ISBN: 978-1-68177-325-4
A thought-provoking theory on "memory palaces" and their significance to ancient ancestral civilizations.Science writer Kelly's (Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, 2015) thorough, fascinating examination of indigenous cultures of Australia and New Zealand led her to a new anthropological philosophy on how Stonehenge and other prehistoric monuments were built and their shared purpose. Throughout her doctorate studies, the author invested increasing amounts of time studying the knowledge patterns of primitive, nonliterate societies and the ways in which orality made shared knowledge memorable and applicable. Though widely considered to be intellectually inferior, indigenous cultures like the aborigines of Australia, among many others, developed complex exchanges of encyclopedic knowledge through methods of memory and repetition, perfected over centuries of practice and adaptation. Kelly believes these place-associative memorization systems, whether patterned through songs, dance, mythological stories, stars, landscape, or handheld totems, were instrumental in generating the knowledge necessary to construct what have become some of the world's most mystifying architectural wonders. Deepening her research, the author applied these mnemonic techniques to her own life, experimenting with local landscapes and honing personal memory skills with representational imagery; she used activities as simple as a walk with her dog to illustrate and apply this ancient technique. Most interestingly, Kelly then applies this theory to the ancient monuments that have confounded and fascinated mankind for centuries. These include Stonehenge, which the author brilliantly and painstakingly analyzes in time period stages, the extraordinary monolithic moai of Easter Island, the expansive geoglyphs in the southern Peruvian desert, and the stone rows and circles of Neolithic France and Britain. Kelly believes all of these were constructed as memory aids to ancient elders, and she generously addresses each location with cleareyed, occasionally dense, yet absorbing prose while drawing important attention to a radical new idea about the real purpose of these historic marvels. A plausible and provocative hypothesis on how methods of memorization may have laid the groundwork for many mysterious extant monuments.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kelly, Lynne: THE MEMORY CODE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475357277&it=r&asid=12ceffd7880a28a5e26c800febfccae1. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475357277
The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments
263.51 (Dec. 12, 2016): p138.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments
Lynne Kelly. Pegasus, $27.95 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-68177-325-4
In this intriguing, if not entirely persuasive, book, Australian science writer Kelly (Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies) links many prehistoric sites of monumental architecture to the need of preliterate cultures to memorize vast numbers of important facts. She begins by examining the techniques currently or recently in use that allow memory keepers among the Australian Aboriginal people, Navajo, Dogon, and others to retain information on hundreds of animal and plant species as well as culturally significant topics such as genealogies and customs. This is accomplished through the technique that the Greeks referred to as "the method of loci," encoding knowledge to physical or mental spaces. Kelly describes her own use of these techniques, but not in enough detail for her work to truly be useful as a primer. She devotes the bulk of the book's second half to linking such specific monumental sites as Stonehenge to her idea that a wide range of these sites were used by their creators as memory-encoding spaces. Kelly's arguments are plausible--and persuasive where links exist between current cultures and predecessors, such as the Pueblo and the Ancestral Puebloans of Chaco Canyon-but her certitude is troublesome, and the conclusion that "the method of loci is the universal driver" is not supported by this work. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments." Publishers Weekly, 12 Dec. 2016, p. 138. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475225100&it=r&asid=54e5580d8ddf8ab88925aebea7067c16. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475225100
Spiders: Learning to Love Them
Nancy Bent
106.5 (Nov. 1, 2009): p10.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2009 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Spiders: Learning to Love Them.
By Lynne Kelly.
2009. 272p. illus. Allen & Unwin/Jacana, paper, $19.95 (9781741751796). 595.4.
Love spiders, hmmm? Most readers, when faced with the hairy, multi-eyed visage of the jumping spider pictured on the cover would just as soon keep their arachnid prejudice. Yet confirmed arachnophobe (she had nightmares of giant spiders attacking her) Kelly trained herself to love spiders, and in a few months of observing and photographing the spiders around her Melbourne home became a confirmed arachnophile. She first discusses arachnophobia in general and traces the theories as to its roots as a genuine phobia. Her method for overcoming her fear was to first locate spiders around her house and name them. She then began to photograph them and observe their habits. In the course of describing her spiders and their ways, Kelly also imparts what she learned from reading and from scientists, weaving an amazing amount of spider biology into her narrative. While we read of Theresa the wolf spider, Legless the black house spider, and Itsy the orb weaver, we not only painlessly learn about spiders in general; we now care about these individual spiders. This book is a triumph.--Nancy Bent
YA/C: An extensive bibliography makes this good for projects. NB.
Bent, Nancy
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Bent, Nancy. "Spiders: Learning to Love Them." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2009, p. 10. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA212325345&it=r&asid=400b7f55e3617121e782d3eb0d040fe5. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A212325345
Crocodile: Evolution's Greatest Survivor
172.3 (July 21, 2007): p47.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2007 Society for Science and the Public
http://www.sciencenews.org
CROCODILE: Evolution's Greatest Survivor LYNNE KELLY
A living relic of the past, the crocodile is at once attractive and terrifying. Kelly, a science teacher and writer, takes a close look at these fierce predators, which often appear in the legends of people living near the crocs' native habitats, ranging from Africa to India and the Americas. She describes the anatomy, mating behavior, and predatory techniques of crocodiles and their close relatives, alligators and gharials. She notes that despite their dinosaurlike appearance, crocodiles have evolved greatly over millions of years. Although hunters have sought out crocodiles for their hides and as a source of food, they have also slain the creatures in great numbers out of sheer primal fear. And it's a fear well earned, claims Kelly, who describes in detail a crocodile attack. Modern-day conservationists have sought to preserve the crocodile's habitats in an attempt to prevent its extinction. The book brings to light many of the underappreciated characteristics of these fascinating animals. Allen & Unwin, 2007, 272 p., b&w images and color plates, hardcover, $24.95.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Crocodile: Evolution's Greatest Survivor." Science News, 21 July 2007, p. 47. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA167584817&it=r&asid=8967f86dd3f9ada8e6d213260cfa6b92. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A167584817
The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal
Benjamin Radford
29.4 (July-August 2005): p58.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2005 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
The Skeptics Guide to the Paranormal. Lynne Kelly. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005. 260 pp., $14.95, paperback. Lynne Kelly's The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal "offers a bite-size, non-academic approach to debunking hugely popular superstitions and mysteries." Kelly, a math and science teacher, covers about two dozen topics, including crop circles, alien abductions, reincarnation, spontaneous human combustion, psychics, astrology, monsters, and the Bermuda Triangle. Each topic is indeed presented in bite-size chunks for the layperson, but as a result, the discussions are at times frustratingly superficial, sacrificing clarity and accuracy. Despite these debits and others (e.g., sporadic references, the lack of an index) the book is useful as a layperson's survey of paranormal topics.
Radford, Benjamin
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Radford, Benjamin. "The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal." Skeptical Inquirer, July-Aug. 2005, p. 58. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA133837540&it=r&asid=1218ef07962e0d52055fac92d0833812. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A133837540