Moonwalking with Einstein
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foerby Joshua Foer and Mike Chamberlain (Narrator) Joshua Foer
Shares rank 8 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended as an enjoyable, quick introduction to memory and mnemonics, for readers new to the subject. Some find the memory athlete dialogs boring.
Recommended as an enjoyable, quick introduction to memory and mnemonics, for readers new to the subject. Some find the memory athlete dialogs boring.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Enjoyable, quick, fun read
“It's an enjoyable and quick read on the topic, would definitely recommend.”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Aging brains blend memories together instead of just forgetting them” “Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun read.”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Engineering Memory: On learning to memorize first 100 digits of pi (2024)” Good intro to memory and mnemonics
“it is a good introduction to the world of memory for people unaware of the potential of memory”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Thought-Provoking Books” “If you have any interest in memorization or mnemonics, it's a great read.”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What non-fiction do you read?” Well-regarded book on memory
“there's a nice explanation of its origins in Moonwalking with Einstein”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “The origins of the school system aimed to produce independent, critical thinkers” “A great book about it is Moonwalking with Einstein”
Comment from 27 Oct 2026 in “A Man from the Future: Why Johnny Can't Stop Abstracting”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Moonwalking with Einsteinby Joshua Foer and Mike Chamberlain (Narrator) Joshua FoerThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A great book about it is Moonwalking with Einstein”
“Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun read.”
“It's an enjoyable and quick read on the topic, would definitely recommend.”
“there's a nice explanation of its origins in Moonwalking with Einstein”
“If you have any interest in memorization or mnemonics, it's a great read.”
“it is a good introduction to the world of memory for people unaware of the potential of memory”
“it sometimes feels boring when the author dedicates too much space to dialogs with memory athletes”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.