The Museum of the Mind by John Mack, British Museum Press, £16.99, ISBN 0714126373
THE people of the Marshall Islands use the most intriguing objects to aid their memory when navigating the Pacific Ocean: stick charts. Attached to a rectangular frame, the sticks show currents and wave characteristics; and tiny cowry shells lashed between them represent islands. Rather than actually providing navigational tools in their canoes, the sailors recall the charts in their minds to interpret state of the sea and steer a course to their destination.
This year, the 250th anniversary of the British Museum, is the ideal time…
