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Useful and Enlightening Book

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The book describes how our brain works, and explains the mind map as a graphical tool to apply radiant thinking which is described as a more effective way of using our brain potential. The book is well written, easy to read and follow, full of beautiful images and convincing arguments.

The author explains how to use radiant thinking to maximize our untapped potential. Presented clearly and colorfully, the book explains how we can come up with our own mind maps to help improve our memory, concentration and creativity in planning and structuring our thoughts. I found the book interesting and enlightening as it explains a more natural approach to organize thoughts than what we are trained to think linearly.

This book shows you the various ways that you can create a mind map and how this can be helpful in all subjects. Since reading the book I have been using mind maps to organize my work, learn French, make out my daily to do list, planning meetings, writing minutes and outline papers I will present with some success. The book is well worth reading.

There are no new insights. What a real disappointment!

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How to Mind Map
By Tony Buzan

I want to say this: I really marvel at the marketing savvy of Tony Buzan in spinning more & more books from his original pioneering collection of five books published by the BBC outfit during the seventies, without adding any real value - & or new technological enhancements - to his loyal readers. I find that most of his newer books since then tend to be rehashed or expanded mildly with a slight twist.

This book is no exception. For a greenhorn, this book still stands out as relatively great work. The step by step instructions on doing your own mind maps are very clear & easy to follow. However, the moment you start to compare this book with the author's earlier works, for example, `Use Both Sides of Your Brain' or `Make the Most of Your Mind' or `The Mind Map Book, or `Mind Maps at Work', anyone can see clearly that there are no new insights. What a real disappointment!

I would have thought that, if Tony Buzan had really wanted to add value to his loyal readers, instead of his own pockets, he should probably have created a mind map of the book's contents in the form of a large poster, which can then be folded to form a handy pocket guide for readers. This would have been a great gift to his loyal readers. However, one of his early disciples in the United States, Michael Gelb, had already jumped the gun by producing one good one in the late eighties. Please read my review of Michael Gelb's `The New Mind Map'. In this case, Tony Buzan could still do something better: he could probably make use of his iMindMap software to create an exploded view of the book's contents! He could even put it in a CD or DVD format where readers can access the mind map with a viewer.

To sum up: Has Tony Buzan run out of steam? Sad to say, I believe so.

Learn Mind Mapping and Teach your Kids

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I wish I'd known how to do this in college!

Mind Mapping is great tool with all sorts of uses and this book is short enough for anyone to learn how to do it. Like most "life-hack" type tools, you'll get out of it what you put into it. In other words, you have learn it and use it to get much benefit.

I do recommend it for kids--it's a great, simple way to organize most writing assignments, speeches, and other projects. They'll probably still have to do the old boring Roman numeral outlines, I suppose, but the mind-map can make that much easier, too!

So, Buzan's a bit grandiose--mind-mapping probably won't bring world peace, but hey, neither does anything else!

Good book despite hype

Customer Rating:
This is a good book. It covers mind mapping briefly. It could have been even more brief, but for the rather outlandish claims of its author. Tony Buzan is given to a lot of exaggeration. Shorn of the inflated claims, the book could well have been a small and effective booklet.

The subject of the book is worthy of learning and usage. Mind mapping offers a very easy technique that requires little more than color pens and paper (though rather expensive software is also available). The method is simple -- a central topic in the middle, followed by radiating branches denoting concepts, sub-concepts, and further conceptual breakdowns. Arranging information spatially rather than linearly as in to-do lists and written notes helps place each node of information in context, and also helps the brain "grok" the entire picture all at once.

One thing I find surprising about Buzan's book is -- why did he not mind-map his book itself? It would have been much easier to understand the concepts that way.

I would recommend that you purchase the book by Joyce Wycoff rather than this one. The former book contains some good examples of mind maps and its applications.

For those inclined to using software, FreeMind is an excellent freeware application that helps one create mind maps.

Disappointing

Customer Rating:
If you already know how to write an outline for an essay and you know how to brainstorm then this book isn't worth your time or money. Mind maps are just outlines that include creativity; drawing pictures, pictograms and writing themes on branches radiating out from the center of the page.