What is memory? It is at the same time ephemeral, unreliable and essential to everything we do. Without memory we lose our sense of identity, reasoning, even our ability to perform simple physical tasks. Yet it is also elusive and difficult to define, and throughout the ages philosophers and psychologists have used metaphors as a way of understanding it. First published in 2000, this fascinating book takes the reader on a guided tour of these metaphors of memory from ancient times to the present day. Crossing continents and disciplines, it provides a compelling history of ideas about the mind by exploring the way these metaphors have been used - metaphors often derived from the techniques and instruments developed over the years to store information, ranging from wax tablets and books to photography, computers and even the hologram. Accessible and thought-provoking, this book should be read by anyone who is interested in memory and the mind.

杜威·德拉埃斯馬是荷蘭著名心理學教授。目前在荷蘭格羅寜根大學主講心理學史。著有《看不見的鍾錶：時間、機器與意識》(1990)《精神失調》等，編有《心靈實驗室》(1992)。他的另一本專著《為什麼隨著年齡的增長時間過得越來越快》(2001)一度成為全國暢銷書(已有中譯本)。