As some of you know from a previous post I’m writing a second book on mnemonics, this one much more tightly focused - I’m memorising List of physical constants - Wikipedia as a bit of a case-study. I left the book alone for close to 18 months and I’m now picking it up again and rewriting - not quite from scratch but taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together again.
Of course, to do this properly, I have to actually have the topic memorised, and I’ve been putting it off in favour of doing all the background work and general learning. It’s time to work on it properly and I may as well use this thread
Today I wrote out:
Cosmological constant - 1.089 × 10⁻⁵² (29)
Planck constant - 6.62607015 × 10⁻³⁴
Reduced Planck constant - 1.054571817 × 10⁻³⁴
Nuclear Magneton - 5.050783699 × 10⁻²⁷ (15)
…and I’ve stored the names of the next five to properly memorise.
(The lack of units is on purpose and the number in brackets is the uncertainty of the constant)
Today’s effort. One of the recalls was wrong, and I’ve added a few more. This is my first full ‘set’ so I’ll be practicing these before adding that many more.
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Column 4
E
F
G
Constant
Exponent
Uncertainty
Value
Exponent Correct
Uncertainty Correct
Value Correct
cosmological constant
-52
29
1.089
Correct
Correct
Correct
Planck constant
-34
Certain
6.62607015
Correct
Correct
Correct
reduced Planck constant
-34
Certain
1.054571817
Correct
Correct
Correct
electron mass
-31
28
9.109383702
Correct
Correct
Correct
nuclear magneton
-27
15
5.050783746
Correct
Correct
Correct
neutron mass
-27
95
1.67492741
Correct
Correct
1.67492749804
tau mass
-27
21
3.16754
Correct
Correct
Correct
proton mass
-27
51
1.672621924
Correct
Correct
Correct
atomic mass of carbon-12
-26
60
1.99264688
Correct
Correct
Correct
This is ‘can I recall the number if I stop and think about it for a moment’. I’d like to get to the point that I can write or even say the numbers about without perceptible hesitation.
Trying a more rigorous review this evening I got:
Constant
Exponent
Uncertainty
Value
Exponent Correct
Uncertainty Correct
Value Correct
cosmological constant
-52
29
1.089
Correct
Correct
Correct
Planck constant
-34
Certain
6.62607015
Correct
Correct
Correct
reduced Planck constant
-34
Certain
1.054571817
Correct
Correct
Correct
electron mass
-31
28
9.109383702
Correct
Correct
Correct
nuclear magneton
-27
15
5.050783746
Correct
Correct
Correct
neutron mass
-27
95
1.674927498
Correct
Correct
Correct
tau mass
-27
21
3.16754
Correct
Correct
Correct
proton mass
-27
51
Correct
Correct
1.67262192369
atomic mass of carbon-12
-26
60
Correct
Correct
1.99264687992
and of course I am kicking myself about the missing two…
What mix of tecniques are you using to memorise all these numbers? I am memorizing things like my credit card number and bank account ( 27 numbers), however things don’t stick as i would like them to
Because it’s for publication, it’s quite systemic. The numbers themselves are all major system and I wrote some python to generate dense, memorable, major system strings for the constants - so the value of the Newtonian constant of gravitation is ‘happy thermos’. The various values are linked as a chain, and I use a simple method of loci to keep the list in my head, although I don’t think I’m putting that in the book.
Today’s recall took 6:27 and everything was correct, but I need to do some writing on these. At the moment the links are a little tenuous and I need to make all the links a bit more vivid. Then I’ll start on the next batch.
