UnderstandingUnderstanding

by Richard Saul Wurman

This is a book for people to dip into, as they would walk in and out of the room of a dinner party and embrace their interests. Before Information Architecture, before the rules on how to organize information, before you learn grammar, before you work hard at expanding your vocabulary and go through the exercises of parallel meanings of things as using a Thesaurus and as one writes papers in class, before any learning one must understand. Understanding Understanding precedes the whole process of learning, of giving yourself permission to understand the formations of facts, data, stories, pictures, words, conversations that allow you to understand. This book could be called A Celebration of Conversation or Musings with my Mentors. It is about the fantasy of being the dumbest person in the room and being able to identify all the myriad connections of how others think, talk, explain and visualize. The following is a collection of many of the most interesting idiosyncratic paths of understanding that lead to creation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Personal Development

707 pages, Hardcover

Published July 30, 2017

Reviews

[Warren Mcpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores how we communicate and develop our understanding of a broad range of topics. Chapters focus on a wide range of experts and look at how they understand and develop ideas. In many cases, there is an examination of graphical techniques that are useful. The large format of the book allows the illustrations that inform the content. Relating new information to things we already understand, careful and deliberate use of scale in diagrams helps. Simple organization of information is often helpful to build a greater depth of knowledge.
It was a pleasure to see the author introduce the book at the University of Toronto, and the conversational style was consistent with the way the book wandered through a diverse material. Often returning to maps as a powerful vehicle for organizing information.
The goal of exploring the process of developing knowledge itself, building understanding, is a fascinating one. This book can only be one step on the path you take but it is a wonderful one.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wurman wrote Information Anxiety in the 1990s. He is an excellent thinker. This book was a visual approach to viewing how to address presenting information.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and fun