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Quantum Memory Power: Learn to Improve Your Memory with the World Memory Champion!
Dominic O'Brien, the 7-time world memory champion shares his ultimate tools for developing the perfect memory. Quantum Memory Power tells you how to harness and unleash your memory power so you will have unlimited capacity.
Quantum Memory Power provides practical applications and exercises to test and strengthen your abilities. By engaging your imagination and creative powers you will gain speed, accuracy and poise in the development of your quantum memory powers.
You will learn:
How your brain operates
To improve your decision making powers
To develop laser-sharp concentration
To build a mental fact file
To increase your self-confidence.
Quantum Memory Power provides practical applications and exercises to test and strengthen your abilities. By engaging your imagination and creative powers you will gain speed, accuracy and poise in the development of your quantum memory powers.
You will learn:
How your brain operates
To improve your decision making powers
To develop laser-sharp concentration
To build a mental fact file
To increase your self-confidence.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2001
223 people are currently reading
1,195 people want to read
About the author
Dominic O'Brien
49 books188 followersDominic O'Brien is a British mnemonist and an author of memory-related books. He is the eight time World Memory Champion.
He began developing his mnemonic techniques in 1987 when he saw Creighton Carvello memorize a pack of 52 playing cards in less than three minutes on the BBC television programme Record Breakers. In order to memorize numbers, O'Brien developed the mnemonic Dominic system, which is similar to the Major System.
He gives lectures, and has been seen on television programmes such as The Human Body.
Dominic O'Brien had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his 1 May 2002 feat of committing to memory a random sequence of 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He was able to correctly recite their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong.
He began developing his mnemonic techniques in 1987 when he saw Creighton Carvello memorize a pack of 52 playing cards in less than three minutes on the BBC television programme Record Breakers. In order to memorize numbers, O'Brien developed the mnemonic Dominic system, which is similar to the Major System.
He gives lectures, and has been seen on television programmes such as The Human Body.
Dominic O'Brien had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his 1 May 2002 feat of committing to memory a random sequence of 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He was able to correctly recite their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 21, 2015
I've read many of the biggest memory related books over the past three decades and certainly have my favorites among them. I've long heard that Dominic O'Brien's Quantum Memory Power: Learn to Improve Your Memory with the World Memory Champion! audiobook was fairly good, and decided that I'd finally take a peek having known for a while about O'Brien and his eponymous Dominic System.
General Methods
Overall, I was fairly impressed with his layout and positive teaching style, though I don't particularly need some of the treacly motivation that he provided and which is primarily aimed at the complete novice. While I appreciate that for some, hearing this material may be the most beneficial, I would have preferred to have some of it presented visually. In general, I wouldn't recommend this as a something to listen to on a commute as he frequently admonishes against doing some of the exercises he outlines while driving or operating heavy machinery.
Given the prevalence of and growth of memory systems from the mid-20th century onwards, I personally find it difficult to believe all of his personal story about "rediscovering" many of the memory methods he outlines, or at least to the extent to which he tempts the reader to believe.
Differences from Other Systems
Based on past experience, I really appreciate his methods for better remembering names with faces as his conceptualizations for doing this seemed better to me than the methods outlined by Bruno Furst. I do however, much prefer the major mnemonic system's method for numbers over the Dominic system for it's more logical and complete conversion of consonant sounds for most languages. The links between the letters and numbers in the major system are also much easier to remember and don't require as much work to remember them. I also appreciate the major system for its deeper historical roots as well as for its precise overlap with the Gregg Shorthand method. The poorer structure of the Dominic system is the only evidence I can find to indicate that he seems to have separately re-discovered some of his memory methods.
I appreciated that most of his focus was on practical tasks like to do lists, personal appointments, names and faces, but wish he'd spent some additional time walking through general knowledge examples like he did for the list of the world's oceans and seas.
While I appreciated his outlining the ability to calculate what day of the week any particular date falls on (something that most memory books don't touch upon), he failed to completely specify the entire method. He also used a somewhat non-standard method for coding both the days of the week and the months of the year, though mathematically all of these systems are equivalent. I did appreciate his trying to encode a set up for individual years, which will certainly help many cut down on the mental mathematics, particularly as it relates to the dread many have for long division. Unfortunately, he didn't go far enough and this is where he also failed to finish supplying the full details for all of the special cases for the years. He also failed to mention the discontinuities with the Gregorian versus the Julian calendar making his method more historically universal. For those interested, Wikipedia outlines some of the more familiar mathematical methods for determining the day of the week that a particular date would fall on.
Instead of having spent the time outlining the calendar, which is inherently difficult to do in audio format compared to printed format, he may have been better off having spent the time going into more depth memorizing poetry or prose as an extension of his small aside on memorizing quotes and presenting speeches.
I could have done without the bulk of the final disk which comprised mostly of tests for the material previously presented. The complete beginner may get more out of these exercises however. The final portion of the disk was more interesting as he did provide some philosophy on how memory systems engage both lobes of the brain within the right-brained/left-brained conceptualizations from neuropsychology.
While O'Brien doesn't completely draw out his entire system, to many this may be a strong benefit as it forces individuals to create their own system within his framework. This is bound to help many to create stronger personalized links between their numbers and their images. The drawback the beginner may find for this is that they may find themselves ever tinkering with their own customized system, or even more likely rebuilding things from scratch when they discover the list of online resources from others that rely on people having a more standardized system.
O'Brien also provides more emphasis on creativity and visualization than some books, which will be very beneficial to many beginners.
Overall, while I'd generally recommend this to the average mnemonist, I'd recommend they approach it after having delved in a bit and learned the major system from somewhere else.
General Methods
Overall, I was fairly impressed with his layout and positive teaching style, though I don't particularly need some of the treacly motivation that he provided and which is primarily aimed at the complete novice. While I appreciate that for some, hearing this material may be the most beneficial, I would have preferred to have some of it presented visually. In general, I wouldn't recommend this as a something to listen to on a commute as he frequently admonishes against doing some of the exercises he outlines while driving or operating heavy machinery.
Given the prevalence of and growth of memory systems from the mid-20th century onwards, I personally find it difficult to believe all of his personal story about "rediscovering" many of the memory methods he outlines, or at least to the extent to which he tempts the reader to believe.
Differences from Other Systems
Based on past experience, I really appreciate his methods for better remembering names with faces as his conceptualizations for doing this seemed better to me than the methods outlined by Bruno Furst. I do however, much prefer the major mnemonic system's method for numbers over the Dominic system for it's more logical and complete conversion of consonant sounds for most languages. The links between the letters and numbers in the major system are also much easier to remember and don't require as much work to remember them. I also appreciate the major system for its deeper historical roots as well as for its precise overlap with the Gregg Shorthand method. The poorer structure of the Dominic system is the only evidence I can find to indicate that he seems to have separately re-discovered some of his memory methods.
I appreciated that most of his focus was on practical tasks like to do lists, personal appointments, names and faces, but wish he'd spent some additional time walking through general knowledge examples like he did for the list of the world's oceans and seas.
While I appreciated his outlining the ability to calculate what day of the week any particular date falls on (something that most memory books don't touch upon), he failed to completely specify the entire method. He also used a somewhat non-standard method for coding both the days of the week and the months of the year, though mathematically all of these systems are equivalent. I did appreciate his trying to encode a set up for individual years, which will certainly help many cut down on the mental mathematics, particularly as it relates to the dread many have for long division. Unfortunately, he didn't go far enough and this is where he also failed to finish supplying the full details for all of the special cases for the years. He also failed to mention the discontinuities with the Gregorian versus the Julian calendar making his method more historically universal. For those interested, Wikipedia outlines some of the more familiar mathematical methods for determining the day of the week that a particular date would fall on.
Instead of having spent the time outlining the calendar, which is inherently difficult to do in audio format compared to printed format, he may have been better off having spent the time going into more depth memorizing poetry or prose as an extension of his small aside on memorizing quotes and presenting speeches.
I could have done without the bulk of the final disk which comprised mostly of tests for the material previously presented. The complete beginner may get more out of these exercises however. The final portion of the disk was more interesting as he did provide some philosophy on how memory systems engage both lobes of the brain within the right-brained/left-brained conceptualizations from neuropsychology.
While O'Brien doesn't completely draw out his entire system, to many this may be a strong benefit as it forces individuals to create their own system within his framework. This is bound to help many to create stronger personalized links between their numbers and their images. The drawback the beginner may find for this is that they may find themselves ever tinkering with their own customized system, or even more likely rebuilding things from scratch when they discover the list of online resources from others that rely on people having a more standardized system.
O'Brien also provides more emphasis on creativity and visualization than some books, which will be very beneficial to many beginners.
Overall, while I'd generally recommend this to the average mnemonist, I'd recommend they approach it after having delved in a bit and learned the major system from somewhere else.
March 25, 2015
Living with a partner who is in the Guinness Book of Records for memory makes my goldfish memory seem even shorter than it already is so I decided to do something about it. I have memories of having a terrific memory as a child but I really let it slip over the years and now barely remember what I read last week. Case in point, I even forgot to title of this book when trying to tell my partner that I was listening to a memory book. Yes, I almost drowned in the depths of that irony.
This audiobook basically has a few techniques (that do work) and then is applied to various situations so you get to practice along to them. As opposed to lots of different techniques. I given the book four stars on the basis that the techniques work though I can see how some people would find the repetition a little tedious.
The examples and references in the book are "hilariously" old, songs from the 1060s, body builders like Charles Atlas, (American) football player William Perry (both of whom I struggled to picture clearly when Dominic mentioned them) and so on. It will probably help to have a updated version of this book.
This audiobook basically has a few techniques (that do work) and then is applied to various situations so you get to practice along to them. As opposed to lots of different techniques. I given the book four stars on the basis that the techniques work though I can see how some people would find the repetition a little tedious.
The examples and references in the book are "hilariously" old, songs from the 1060s, body builders like Charles Atlas, (American) football player William Perry (both of whom I struggled to picture clearly when Dominic mentioned them) and so on. It will probably help to have a updated version of this book.
April 10, 2008
A fantastic memory set. O'Brien's pretty damn charming and the tips are incredible. As with any memory system, it only works if you practice. A great system.
July 15, 2022
تو حوزه تقویت حافظه بهترین کتابی بود که خوندم
April 25, 2017
Mnemonics are real. Like most people, I tinkered with them in school but I certainly never studied the skill of using mnemonics.
Most of the methods are simple to describe but difficult to apply. In a field where there is a lot of peddling, O'Brien, a memory champion, does a good job of introducing readers to a wide range of basic mnemonic skills. This audiobook is more like a workshop with activities. The author was engaging and pleasant. My major complaint is the same for most material in this genre. We need more varied, real life examples. I don't care about memorizing shopping lists, or 5,000 digits, or all the disney songs. I want to memorize complex and abstract ideas. O'Brien, like most mnemonists gives these applications a nod and then teaches you how to memorize easy concrete things.
Nonetheless, I'm willing to wade through a bunch of fluff for the gold.
Most of the methods are simple to describe but difficult to apply. In a field where there is a lot of peddling, O'Brien, a memory champion, does a good job of introducing readers to a wide range of basic mnemonic skills. This audiobook is more like a workshop with activities. The author was engaging and pleasant. My major complaint is the same for most material in this genre. We need more varied, real life examples. I don't care about memorizing shopping lists, or 5,000 digits, or all the disney songs. I want to memorize complex and abstract ideas. O'Brien, like most mnemonists gives these applications a nod and then teaches you how to memorize easy concrete things.
Nonetheless, I'm willing to wade through a bunch of fluff for the gold.
May 26, 2017
This is a practical course in memory techniques. O'Brian was, at the time of writing, World Memory Champion, and had been for many years. He shares his techniques for great memory and runs you through several practical exercises. He talks about how he developed his own memory, little tricks for the things that always give you trouble, like the spelling of certain words, and the cool thing is that he techniques really work.
I listened to this on my morning commute, so once we hit the more advanced exercises, I was a bit lost (had to keep safe in trafic, after all), but even the early exercises I was able to do helped significantly.
The book is well written, and he's an excellent reader - always iffy when the auhor reads. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in improving their memory.
I listened to this on my morning commute, so once we hit the more advanced exercises, I was a bit lost (had to keep safe in trafic, after all), but even the early exercises I was able to do helped significantly.
The book is well written, and he's an excellent reader - always iffy when the auhor reads. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in improving their memory.
Read
March 29, 2015This audio-program is one of the best in its field of memory training for its comprehensiveness, simplicity, progression and professionalism. I benefited greatly from it and I highly recommend anyone seeking to learn and adopt memory enhancement to read it (listen to it) and apply its methods carefully to get the best results.
May 29, 2016
This is by far the best book I have read on memory and focus/ concentration techniques. There are a lot of actual skill builders which one can use for recall or to build your own mind castle of information. The author has done a great job in systemically laying out the information to make it understandable and accessible to readers.
December 1, 2008
This is really a set of cd's. This helps me to help my kids in their studies at school.
February 26, 2025
The best course I've ever taken. Incredibly practical for work and social life.
Gives tools on how to use Loci to remember names, numbers, and important info.
Gives tools on how to use Loci to remember names, numbers, and important info.
January 24, 2016
Stunning book. Exceptional and yet practical strategies. Must read and re-read and implement.
October 4, 2016
Was fine; I liked "You Can Have an Amazing Memory: Learn Life-Changing Techniques and Tips from the Memory Maestro"
July 22, 2024
Filled with useful memory tools and helpful nuggets, but could use an editor.
I read this after reading Lynne Kelly’s Memory Code. This filled in some of the missing gaps for me and things started to click. I really like the principle idea to use “characters” as the basis for a number peg system as he proposes with the Dominic system. However, instead of using his foreign (to me) mapping from numbers to letters, I decided to use the Major System to map numbers to consonant sounds (as I’ve used this before and it’s second nature at this point). Pairing this with a suite of characters (“rapscallions” to use Kelly’s term) and actions makes this very powerful. I actually augmented it along the way with associated objects as well (PAO system). It’s very powerful and I love the idea of having this easy-to-remember number mapping system and pairing it with the method of loci to add order and indexing.
This book is replete with examples and small tests/samples to whet your appetite and test your new systems along the way. I really loved his systems for remembering people and distant memories (everything focuses around the notion location anchors, which really matches well with the way I think and store and retrieve memories naturally anyway). These ideas were new to me and I expect to get great use out of them.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 was for the writing style and rough editing. It’s repetitive to the point where he says something almost word for word the same as he said just a few pages earlier. This is the type of stuff that should have been caught by a simple read-through. I also feel line O’Brien oversells things a bit and also gets a bit too much into pseudo-science and speculation. This doesn’t detract from the useful bits of the book, but it doesn’t fit well and isn’t necessarily practical. On the other hand, some other readers may find his enthusiasm infectious and this could be a basis for further studies or just general motivation.
Overall, I can strongly recommend this book as a starting point for developing some solid mnemonic systems. Lynne Kelly’s book is a great complement to this as well if you’re looking for more breadth and historical context (though perhaps with less focus on modern practical uses).
I read this after reading Lynne Kelly’s Memory Code. This filled in some of the missing gaps for me and things started to click. I really like the principle idea to use “characters” as the basis for a number peg system as he proposes with the Dominic system. However, instead of using his foreign (to me) mapping from numbers to letters, I decided to use the Major System to map numbers to consonant sounds (as I’ve used this before and it’s second nature at this point). Pairing this with a suite of characters (“rapscallions” to use Kelly’s term) and actions makes this very powerful. I actually augmented it along the way with associated objects as well (PAO system). It’s very powerful and I love the idea of having this easy-to-remember number mapping system and pairing it with the method of loci to add order and indexing.
This book is replete with examples and small tests/samples to whet your appetite and test your new systems along the way. I really loved his systems for remembering people and distant memories (everything focuses around the notion location anchors, which really matches well with the way I think and store and retrieve memories naturally anyway). These ideas were new to me and I expect to get great use out of them.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 was for the writing style and rough editing. It’s repetitive to the point where he says something almost word for word the same as he said just a few pages earlier. This is the type of stuff that should have been caught by a simple read-through. I also feel line O’Brien oversells things a bit and also gets a bit too much into pseudo-science and speculation. This doesn’t detract from the useful bits of the book, but it doesn’t fit well and isn’t necessarily practical. On the other hand, some other readers may find his enthusiasm infectious and this could be a basis for further studies or just general motivation.
Overall, I can strongly recommend this book as a starting point for developing some solid mnemonic systems. Lynne Kelly’s book is a great complement to this as well if you’re looking for more breadth and historical context (though perhaps with less focus on modern practical uses).
February 18, 2020
Did the audiobook first, and have been making mental journeys ever since! If you travel a lot his method of memorizing can be beneficial, both for creating journeys and for adding meaning to your vacation. For example, when I visit foreign countries and cities, I make mental notes and assign them a space in my mind as l memory cabinets for a future memory exercise... That corner table in that Paris Cafe with a view of the Eiffel tower, has a journey of 10 locations within a radius of 20 feet. I can mentally walk through that same Cafe I visited three years ago and assign each location a loci for memory. Now whenever I travel, I find myself deliberately immersing myself into the world around me as I catalog more journeys for mental storage, which has given me more appreciation for the culture and people I interact with.
As for the effectiveness of the Domonic system, like any memory system it only works if you put in the time. It's a simple enough method, and the author does a fine job in explaining the system with examples. I just feel that readers who expect to have his level of memory retention after reading this book will be disappointed, and the author probably should tame his promises a bit.
As for the effectiveness of the Domonic system, like any memory system it only works if you put in the time. It's a simple enough method, and the author does a fine job in explaining the system with examples. I just feel that readers who expect to have his level of memory retention after reading this book will be disappointed, and the author probably should tame his promises a bit.
March 13, 2018
I finished reading Quantum Memory Power by Dominic O'Brien today. It's actually an audiobook but I am going to count it anyway. It's my second time through it and I wanted to re-read it to start up my memory exercises and goals again. In the previous book I read the author talked about memory briefly and so I decided it was time to get things going again. It's pretty clear that I have a real knack for this stuff due to my crazy imagination. I have some pretty ambitious goals like memorizing all the chapter headings from the Book of Mormon, memorizing more scriptures, and learning how to memorize a deck of cards. It's actually quite easy and very fun if you just apply yourself.
August 13, 2021
I thought the teaching of the techniques was clear, simple, and direct - much to be admired in that. Some difference in terminology and emphasis to other books on mnemonics, which can be helpful for better understanding the underlying ideas and the techniques, especially for beginners.
However, I did find I had to wrestle my cynicism against some of the more sales-pitch type claims; the title itself was a barrier for me, as was some of the language. I did have some resistance to picking the book up because it had the whiff of snake oil about it, but I managed to put that aside and I think there is a good amount to learn from this.
However, I did find I had to wrestle my cynicism against some of the more sales-pitch type claims; the title itself was a barrier for me, as was some of the language. I did have some resistance to picking the book up because it had the whiff of snake oil about it, but I managed to put that aside and I think there is a good amount to learn from this.
January 27, 2019
This audiobook comes with an interesting set of techniques, and plenty of practical exercises.
I like the practical approach, and I was able to memorize some sequences using the tricks I learned in the first section, that was very encouraging. Weaving elements into a story is easy, and it works.
Note: to get the most out of the book, you really need to pause and think about each exercise; it is not compatible with cycling, or other contexts where you cannot pause, rewind, and put your imagination to work.
I like the practical approach, and I was able to memorize some sequences using the tricks I learned in the first section, that was very encouraging. Weaving elements into a story is easy, and it works.
Note: to get the most out of the book, you really need to pause and think about each exercise; it is not compatible with cycling, or other contexts where you cannot pause, rewind, and put your imagination to work.
Read
April 3, 2025Unless you're taking a test, wanting to impress friends as a novelty, or cramming for some type of trivia, this has no real practical purposes. The idea of creating a train of thought that uses your imagination to associate a word or phrase with the imaged idea works to a degree (in my case, weeks later all I could remember were the objects and not the words associated). But if you would like to say, learn a new language, or focus on a new craft that requires your memory to make split second decisions with full understanding, this simply isn't a viable tool.
November 16, 2018
I decided to try this book after reading about the power of mnemonics for learning in Make it Stick. This was a good primer. O'Brien is an engaging and amiable teacher, and he does a good job laying out the most important principles for memory as well as some of his tactics, with lots of training exercises. As a bonus you learn some fun tricks like how to (kind of) count cards in black jack and how to calculate in a matter of seconds what day of the week a given historical date fell on. Try me!
July 17, 2019
Unlike most self improvement books this author really knows what he’s talking about. Afrer reading each section of this book and trying the techniques out it was amazing. I managed to to remember 30 out of 30 random names and objects and after a week I still can remember all of them and recite them backwards and forwards.
I will be reading this again to help me practice the different tips and tricks. I would easily recommend this to anyone and will be buying the other books from this author.
I will be reading this again to help me practice the different tips and tricks. I would easily recommend this to anyone and will be buying the other books from this author.
January 29, 2025
This is a dnf from me. I think I expected a more habit-based method to improve my memory, but upon the first couple of chapters, I found the book to be more about individual methods to help memorize things that will likely show up in a Memory Champion. But a great takeaway for me besides some of the methods that were introduced is the important concept of ALI (Association, Location, Imagination) to help with memorizing. Not a bad book, it's just not what I am looking for.
December 29, 2017
Wow! Incredible! This book really delivers on its promise. The memory techniques are incredibly effective down to the very last one. It's like uncovering a superpower I never knew I had. Thank you Dominic!
January 25, 2025
Wish I had these techniques in school!
The techniques offered definitely work! It was a fun experiment to go through the exercises. Bonus: Now I feel like I have a couple of party tricks in my back pocket.
The techniques offered definitely work! It was a fun experiment to go through the exercises. Bonus: Now I feel like I have a couple of party tricks in my back pocket.
March 9, 2018
Excellent techniques that really works
March 22, 2021
The audio book contains great exercises and it definitely helped me a lot! 😊
April 16, 2021
Great intro into mnemonics and method of loci.
March 27, 2022
Helped me a lot
Made me think differently about the way to think about problems, I can remember numbers more easily and recall them.
Made me think differently about the way to think about problems, I can remember numbers more easily and recall them.
August 24, 2022
This book was amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a guide in memory improvement.
February 15, 2023
I decided to read this book out of respect of the author but, comparing to other memory books this one is rather disappointing
August 19, 2023
This was a good book, it helped me in law school
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews