Lynne Kelly

I am a science writer and academic fascinated by just how humans manage to know so much stuff - and how we can all learn more. My new book, 'The Knowledge Gene' will come out on 3 September 2024. It explains how humans have been genetically encoded to use music, art, story and our connection to our physical world to store vast amounts of knowledge as a community. It also explains why evolution has maintained neurodivergence is a portion of the population worldwide. We are no longer using the potential that evolution ensured we had because we have sidelined so many of our innate skills - especially music, art and memory palaces. In the more recent of my previous books, 'The Memory Code' tells the story of the extraordinary memory methods used by Indigenous cultures the world over, and why that explains the purpose of monuments like Stonehenge. Then 'Memory Craft' explains the way you can implement these memory techniques in contemporary life to memorise almost anything and keep your brain active. 'Songlines: the power and promise' and 'Songlines for Younger Readers' were written with Indigenous coauthor, Margo Neale. They offer an Indigenous and non-indigenous perspective on the way Australian Aboriginal songlines work to store vast amounts of information in memory. My PhD research provided the foundation for these books. Cambridge University Press has published the academic version, 'Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies' giving a solid peer-reviewed academic reasoning for my ideas. Writing dominates my life. I started with educational books - 10 of them - logical because I was a teacher. I wrote a novel, 'Avenging Janie' and then three popular science books: 'The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal', 'Crocodile: evolution's greatest survivor' and 'Spiders: learning to love them'. I overcame my arachnophobia a bit too well and now I am obsessed by spiders. I simply adore the gorgeous critters. But it will be knowledge systems which will dominate my writing for many years to come. I simply love the stuff!