Review

This idea-rich, relentlessly upbeat manual proffers graphic images as an aid to unlock creative thinking or clarify emotions. Drawing loosely on brain research, learning theory and information science, English business consultant/TV personality Tony Buzan (Use Both Sides of Your Brain) and his brother Barry, a professor of international studies, first outline “radiant thinking,” a method designed to enhance one’s associative, nonlinear thought processes. Next they explain how to create “mind maps”-colorful, structured, drawings, cartoonish or complex-as a tool to overcome mental blocks, organize ideas, brainstorm, strengthen one’s memory and imagination, and make meetings more productive. Despite its inflated claims and cluttered presentation, this unusual how-to, replete with exercises, quizzes, dramatic color photos of patterns in nature, and sample mind maps, will challenge and stimulate the open-minded.