Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind

TammetOwner of "the most remarkable mind on the planet," (according toEntertainment Weekly) Daniel Tammet captivated readers and won worldwide critical acclaim with the 2007New York Timesbestselling memoir,Born On A Blue Day, and its vivid depiction of a life with autistic savant syndrome. In his fascinating new book, he writes with characteristic clarity and personal awareness as he sheds light on the mysteries of savants' incredible mental abilities, and our own.

Tammet explains that the differences between savant and non-savant minds have been exaggerated; his astonishing capacities in memory, math and language are neither due to a cerebral supercomputer nor any genetic quirk, but are rather the results of a highly rich and complex associative form of thinking and imagination. Autistic thought, he argues, is an extreme variation of a kind that we all do, from daydreaming to the use of puns and metaphors.

Embracing the Wide Skycombines meticulous scientific research with Tammet's detailed descriptions of how his mind works to demonstrate the immense potential within us all. He explains how our natural intuitions can help us to learn a foreign language, why his memories are like symphonies, and what numbers and giraffes have in common. We also discover why there is more to intelligence than IQ, how optical illusions fool our brains, and why too much information can make you dumb.

Many readers will be particularly intrigued by Tammet's original ideas concerning the genesis of genius and exceptional creativity. He illustrates his arguments with examples as diverse as the private languages of twins, the compositions of poets with autism, and the breakthroughs, and breakdowns, of some of history's greatest minds.Embracing the Wide Skyis a unique and brilliantly imaginative portrait of how we think, learn, remember and create, brimming with personal insights and anecdotes, and explanations of the most up-to-date, mind-bending discoveries from fields ranging from neuroscience to psychology and linguistics. This is a profound and provocative book that will transform our understanding and respect for every kind of mind.

"How did you do that?"

"Sorry?"

"How did you do that?"

The scientist was looking at me with a puzzled expression. We were not in any laboratory, nor was he asking me about any of my memory, linguistic, or numerical skills. We were standing on a lawn outside the research center where I had come earlier in the day for a variety of cognitive tests. Next to him was my mother, who had accompanied me on the trip from London. We were in the process of having our photo taken together, when after a few moments in front of the camera I relaxed and started to step away. How, the scientist wanted to know, had I been able to perceive the photo being taken when, standing right next to me, he had not heard a click or seen any flash. Was my brain really that extraordinary?

Well, yes, but not for the reasons that the scientist imagined. Though the camera had indeed made no noise when the photo was taken, ithadproduced a pinprick of blurry red light. My autistic mind -- wired in such a way that I am able to spot tiny details that most other people often miss -- had perceived it effortlessly. After I explained this to the scientist, he asked for another photo to be taken. By looking carefully where I told him I had seen the red dot of light appear, he was able to see it, too.

For the record, I will confirm that I have no telepathic relationship with cameras, nor any extrasensory perception for knowing when a photo has or has not been taken. Rather, what I had done that day was simply an extreme form of an everyday act: to see. We rely heavily on our eyes to provide much of the information we obtain about the world around us, and it is for this reason that a significant portion of the human brain is devoted entirely to visual processing.<