Lynne Kelly – Science Writer

The Knowledge Gene

The Knowledge Gene, my new book, offers scientific evidence for what so many people already know instinctively: that art, music, performance, story and our connection to our surroundings are fundamental to be human. But it goes even further to show that these ancient, innate, universal and uniquely human skills have been fundamental to human culture for at least 70,000 years and are critical in storing information in a way no other species can manage. 

Evolution had a very good reason for keeping a gene that enhanced these skills, despite the tragic disorder it introduces. And it also had very good reasons for ensuring all human populations involve neurodiverse thinkers – those with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, aphantasia among many diversities.

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I am an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at LaTrobe University, and an Honorary Fellow in the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

My ongoing field of research is the memory methods used by those who depended on their memories for everything they knew: oral cultures including Australian Aboriginal, Native American, Pacific and African societies. I explore the memory techniques used as literacy slowly spread, especially in Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Europe as well as glorious mnemonic art forms used across Asia.

In the 2022 Australia Day Honours, I was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for “significant achievement in science education through writing and research”.

I am the author of 20 books, all with a focus on science. I was a teacher for over 40 years and loved my time in the classroom, mainly because I always had such wonderful students. Mostly I taught Physics, Mathematics, Information Technology and General Science. Although my focus was on senior secondary years, I have taught classes from year 3 to tertiary level.

Since completing my doctorate over a decade ago, I have been a full time academic and author.

I have written 10 books for education and a Young Adult novel and numerous articles. I wrote a number of science titles for a general adult audience before returning to university and completing my PhD on Indigenous memory systems and the application to archaeology. That was not my original topic, but once I stumbled across the vast amount of scientific and cultural knowledge stored in memory by Indigenous cultures, I asked the question which changed my life: how the hell do Indigenous elders remember so much stuff?

My Books

An academic monograph of my doctoral research was published by Cambridge University Press.  Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies  gives the full academic justification for my theories about indigenous memory systems and archaeology.

The following four books all became bestsellers in Australia: The Memory Code, Memory Craft, Songlines: the power and promise and Songlines for Younger Readers.

I wrote The Memory Code to share these ideas with a general audience.  I explored the necessity of memory methods to prehistoric cultures. This offers radical new interpretations for their ancient monuments such as Stonehenge, the Nasca Lines and the moai of Easter Island. It is published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, by Atlantic Books in the UK , Pegasus Books in the US and as an audio book by Audible. It is now available in Traditional Chinese (Good Publishing Co., for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) and Czech (Anag Spol). It is translated into Simplified Chinese for Mainland China (China Worker Publishing House).

In Memory Craft, I look at how all these techniques can be applied in every day life in contemporary society, including the implications for education and ageing. These are memory methods everyone can use – and there are lots of them! It is published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, the US by Pegasus Books and in audio by Wavesound. It is now in Russian (Portal, imprint of Labirint Holding). Memory Craft is currently being translated into Simplified Chinese for Mainland China (Cheers Publishing Company).

Wavesound Audiobook listeners – these are the images from MEMORY CRAFT: The PDF for the images can be dowloaded here.

Songlines: the power and promise, is co-authored with Margo Neale, Head of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges at the National Museum of Australia. It offers Margo’s Indigenous (the power) and my non-Indigenous (promise) perspective on Songlines. It is published by Thames & Hudson with the National Museum of Australia. Songlines is the lead book in the First Knowledges series. Songlines was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

Songlines for Younger Readers (again by Margo and me and illustrated by Blak Douglas) was published last year and shortlisted for the ABIA (Australian Book Industry Awards) and awarded Notable Book in the Children’s Book of the Year Awards.

I practice all the memory methods discussed to ensure I really understand how they work. Given my pathetically poor natural memory, I am constantly shocked by how effective they can be. Through working on my 40 memory experiments, I am committing vast amounts of information to memory. I competed in the Australian Memory Championships, taking the Senior (over 60) title in the two most recent events.

In Memory Craft I talk about the two memory aids I use daily, The Bestiary for memorising names and anything using words. I use The Visual Alphabet for anything which needs sequence, such as a speech, shopping list, to-do list or my bird list when out in the field. The images for the Visual Alphabet and the first two pages of the Bestiary are in Memory Craft. I have now published the full Bestiary along with the Visual Alphabet as a pdf file.

Grounded: Indigenous Knowing in a Concrete Reality is an academic essay on Indigenous knowledge systems and the implications for education.

My previous books include the popular science titles of Spiders: learning to love them and Crocodile. My lighthearted scientific analysis of pseudoscientific claims, The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal is published in The US (Basic Books), Australia (Allen & Unwin) and translated into Russian. I have one novel published, Avenging Janie, and ten books for education.

<>My TEDxMelbourne talk on The Memory Code can be found by clicking on the image.

I have ventured into the world of memory athletes. Competing in the 2017 and 2018 Australian Memory Competitions, I took out the Australian Senior Memory Champion title for both events. 

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.

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Current ResearchSaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSaveMy current research focus is the application of these mnemonic technologies in four areas:

1. Education – Indigenous memory systems are being included in formal curriculum at high school and university level, with ongoing research projects investigating the potential.

2. Extending the implications of understanding the knowledge systems of oral cultures across the world and as far back in time as I can find the archaeology.

3. The use of memory techniques for learning foreign languages, in particular comparing the differences in implementation for French and Chinese (Mandarin).

4. Exploring the applications of art for knowledge sake. I have so many projects started, that after The Knowledge Gene is out in the real world, I will be pursuing them with passion.

5. Despite no longer competing formally, I continue to follow Memory Sports closely, especially through Memory League, training only to compete against myself and maintain the skills which earned me the title of Australian Senior Memory Champion in 2017 and 2018

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