Tony Buzan Explained

Anthony Peter "Tony" Buzan (; 2 June 1942 – 13 April 2019)^[1] was an English author and educational consultant.

Buzan popularised the idea of mental literacy, radiant thinking, and a technique called mind mapping,^[2] inspired by techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Joseph D. Novak's "concept mapping" techniques.^[3]

Early life

Buzan was born in Palmers Green, Enfield, Middlesex, and was an alumnus of Kitsilano Secondary School in Vancouver. His brother is the academic Barry Buzan. Buzan completed his undergraduate studies in psychology, English, mathematics and science at the University of British Columbia, and was a charter student at Simon Fraser University in 1965–66 where he spent a year as a graduate student and the inaugural president of the Simon Fraser Student Society.^[4] During his time at SFU, Buzan became very involved in Mensa, going on to become editor of the International Journal of Mensa.^[5]

Career

He was a promoter of mnemonic systems and mind mapping techniques. He launched his own software programme to support mind mapping called iMindMap in December 2006 with Welsh entrepreneur, Chris Griffiths. The Buzan Organisation holds trademarks on the phrase "Mind Maps" in the context of self-improvement educational courses in the UK,^[6] the USA^[7] and Germany.^[8] The trademark does not appear in the records of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.^[9]

Following his 1970s series Use Your Head for the BBC,^[10] many of his ideas were set down in a series of five books: Use Your Memory,^[11] Master Your Memory, Use Your Head, The Speed Reading Book and The Mind Map Book. He was author or co-author of more than 80 books altogether.^{[12] [13]} His five BBC books had, by 2003, sold over 3 million copies.^[14]

As a popular psychology author, Tony Buzan wrote on subjects relating to the brain, "genius quotient (GQ)", spiritual intelligence, memory, creativity and speed reading. He was the founder and President of the Brain Foundation (not to be confused with various medical-related bodies with the same name) and also the Brain Trust Charity, the World Memory Championships^[15] and the World Championships of the Brain. He was a co-founder of London's Mind Body Spirit Festival as well as the Mind Sports Olympiad,^[16] and World Brain Day.

He died aged 76 at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford of a heart attack.^{[17] [18]}

Selected bibliography

• Spore One – Structure in Hyperspace, 25 September 1972,
• Use Your Head, January 1974,
• Speed Memory, 27 January 1977,
• Make the Most of Your Mind, February 1984,
• Speed Reading, 20 May 1971,
• Use Your Perfect Memory, Plume Penguin Group, January 1991,
• Use Both Sides of Your Brain, Plume Penguin Group, Jan 1991,
• The Mind Map Book, 6 September 1993,
• Concordea, December 2006
• Requiem For Ted, December 2006
• Use Your Memory, BBC Publications,
• Master Your Memory, BBC Publications,
• The Memory Book, BBC Publications, 2010,
• Mind Maps for Business, BBC Publications, 2010,
• Brain Training for Kids, Proactive Press, 2012,
• The Most Important Graph in the World, Proactive Press, 2012,
• Modern Mind Mapping for Smarter Thinking e-book, Proactive Press, March 2013

External links

• • • Open2.net Biography OpenLearn/Open University.
• IOctopus mindmaps Mind mapping service based on the Tony Buzan principle.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Gravest of News!. Tony Buzan.com. 13 April 2019. 14 April 2019.
2. http://www.open.ac.uk/infoskills-researchers/developing-mindmapping.htm Mind Mapping
3. Corcoran, Leonie (2015) "How Tony Buzan used mind maps to doodle his way to millions", Irish Times, 1 June 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2018
4. Web site: SFU Student Presidents: Where are they now?. The Peak. 14 December 2015. en-CA.
5. Web site: We Were Here First. The Peak. 14 December 2015. en-CA.
6. , UK
7. http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4qhaee.2.17 Mind Maps Trademark, USA
8. https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/2015931/DE Mind Maps Trademark, Germany
9. Web site: Canadian Intellectual Property Office. strategis.ic.gc.ca.
10. Saeed, Saeed (2013) "Tony Buzan on how 'the brain works on images'", The National, 12 March 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2018
11. News: Pulson, Barbara . Memory Man! . Liverpool Echo . 2 July 1986 . 30 November 2018 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
12. Lantin, Barbara (2000) "Simple - it's all in the mind", Daily Telegraph, 24 October 2000. Retrieved 30 November 2018
13. News: O'Kelly, Ita . Are you making the most of your brain power? . Irish Independent . 23 October 2002 . 30 November 2018 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
14. "Internationally renowned best-selling author of mind- and memory- improvement books, Inventor of Mind Map®" (press release), BBC, 4 March 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2018
15. Web site: A Memorable 26 years for the Mind Sport of Memory – The World Memory Championships. The World Memory Championships.
16. http://www.worldmemorychampionships.com/wmsc/ About WMSC
17. Web site: RIP Tony Buzan, headmaster of the human race. 2019-04-23. TheArticle. 2020-01-06.
18. Web site: The loss of a beautiful mind: Bidding adieu to Tony Buzan. Gupte. Vallari. Ltd. People Matters Pte. 2019-04-18. People Matters. en-US. 2020-01-06.