Dominic O'Brien (10 August 1957) is a British
mnemonist
The title mnemonist refers to an individual with the ability to remember and recall unusually long lists of data, such as unfamiliar names, lists of numbers, entries in books, etc. Some mnemonists also memorize texts such as long poems, speeches, o ...
and an author of
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
-related books. He is the eight time
World Memory Champion and works as a trainer for Peak Performance Training.
He began developing his mnemonic techniques in 1987 when he saw
Creighton Carvello
Creighton Carvello (14 November 1944 – 18 November 2008) was a British mnemonist. Carvello was born in Patna, Bihar, India but lived in the UK from 1949 until his death. His first World Record for memory was in 1979 when he recited the first ...
memorise a pack of 52 playing cards in less than three minutes on the BBC television programme ''Record Breakers''. To memorise numbers, O'Brien developed the mnemonic
Dominic system
The Dominic system is a mnemonic system used to remember sequences of digits similar to the mnemonic major system. It was invented and used in competition by eight-time World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien.
Differences from the major system
The ...
, which is similar to the
Major System
The major system (also called the phonetic number system, phonetic mnemonic system, or Herigone's mnemonic system) is a mnemonic technique used to aid in memorizing numbers.
The system works by converting numbers into consonants, then into words ...
. He has written books about memorisation techniques such as ''How to Develop a Perfect Memory'', ''Quantum Memory Power'', ''Learn to Remember'', ''How to Pass Exams'', ''The Winning Hand'', and ''The Amazing Memory Box''.
He gives lectures, and has been seen on television programmes such as ''The Human Body''.
Dominic O'Brien had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his 1 May 2002 feat of committing to memory a random sequence of 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He was able to correctly recite their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong.
Bibliography
* ''How to Develop a Perfect Memory'' (1993)
* ''How to Pass Exams'' (6 April 1995)
* ''Super Memory Power'' (Books 1–4) (1997)
* ''Learn to Remember'' (2000)
* ''Quantum Memory Power'' (Jan 2001)
* The Amazing Memory Box (27 September 2001)
* ''Never Forget a Number or a Date'' (July 2002)
* ''Never Forget a Name or Face'' (Sep 2002)
* ''Never Forget a Speech'' (21 August 2003)
* ''Never Forget Facts and Figures'' (21 August 2003)
* ''The Amazing Memory Kit'' (13 October 2005)
* ''How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week'' (Nov 2005)
* ''How to Improve Your Memory'' (16 February 2010)
* ''You Can Have an Amazing Memory'' (May 2011)
* ''The Brilliant Memory Tool Kit'' (5 June 2012)
References
External links
Dominic System AppDominic SystemAppearance on Wetten, dass..? in 1989
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Dominic
Living people
1957 births
British mnemonists