Any books that just have blueprints of buildings, ships, etc?

[DartomicTech]

Sorry if I am posting in the wrong area.

Like the title says, are there any books that just have blueprints of buildings, ships, etc? Pretty much just blueprints on structures that are places. I use them for memorization when I study, and books of blueprints would be a lot more convenient than downloading individual blueprints from the internet, and desigining my own, which can take several hours per blueprint.

 

[Klystron]

While not textbooks, I can suggest inexpensive books that contain accurate blueprints. Well researched historical novels often feature contemporary maps and relevant blueprints.

"Das Boot", German for "The Boat", by artist and war correspondent Lothar-Gunther Buchheim contains detailed blueprints of Type VII-C submarines from several views.

"Foucault's Pendulum" by Italian professor and author Umberto Eco contains page after page illustrating early printed maps of the Earth. My hard cover Weaver translation also includes 'negative blueprints'; i.e, drawings, of seminal buildings and locations featured in the plot, including buildings in Italy and Le Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris, France.

If these examples satisfy your criteria for published blueprints of ships and buildings, I can suggest others.

 

[phinds]

Architectural / engineering drawings of any substantial structure are generally 2'x3' or 3'x4' at the smallest. A big too big for a book.

 

[DartomicTech]

Architectural / engineering drawings of any substantial structure are generally 2'x3' or 3'x4' at the smallest. A big too big for a book.

Do you know where I can buy rolls of them?

 

[DaveC426913]

I use them for memorization when I study...

Wait. What?

Do you mean you browse blueprints of things as a way of facilitating studying of some school subject?
Or do you mean you study blueprints of things and memorize them?

Why would want to memorize blueprints?

(Is that because - when you really need to know the electrical schematics and bulkhead layout of an A380 - while sitting in the window seat of an A380 at 38,000 feet - it's generally frowned upon to whip out a blueprint of an A380? )

 

[DartomicTech]

Wait. What?

Do you mean you browse blueprints of things as a way of facilitating studying of some school subject?
Or do you mean you study blueprints of things and memorize them?

Why would want to memorize blueprints?

(Is that because - when you really need to know the electrical schematics and bulkhead layout of an A380 - while sitting in the window seat of an A380 at 38,000 feet - it's generally frowned upon to whip out a blueprint of an A380? )

I look at the blueprints, number the rooms, number different parts within the rooms, visualize myself going through the rooms and looking at the spots in numerical order, and then I conjure up images for words, terms, symbols, numbers, and store them mentally within the spots. It might sound like a lot, but I can study really fast by doing that.

 

[DaveC426913]

I look at the blueprints, number the rooms, number different parts within the rooms, visualize myself going through the rooms and looking at the spots in numerical order, and then I conjure up images for words, terms, symbols, numbers, and store them mentally within the spots. It might sound like a lot, but I can study really fast by doing that.

Forgive my audible blinkage, but what subject are you studying? Do you mean the blueprints are literally just a scaffold upon which you layer the facts and information of some other subject like French or Differential Equations?

 

[phinds]

Do you know where I can buy rolls of them?

You can buy the blank paper from an architectural supply house. I'm not aware that architectural drawings are for sale.

Like Dave, I cannot imagine that the heck you are talking about when you describe your use for them.

 

[DartomicTech]

Forgive my audible blinkage, but what subject are you studying? Do you mean the blueprints are literally just a scaffold upon which you layer the facts and information of some other subject like French or Differential Equations?

Yeah. A lot of memory champions in the World Memory Championships do the same thing, which is something I might compete in at some point, but I'm not as fast as a lot of them right now.

 

[phinds]

Yeah. A lot of memory champions in the World Memory Championships do the same thing, which is something I might compete in at some point, but I'm not as fast as a lot of them right now.

Can you give an example of what you are talking about? I still don't get it.

 

[Baluncore]

AKA memory palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

 

[DartomicTech]

Can you give an example of what you are talking about? I still don't get it.

Here is a really simple example of what I am talking about, as I do a lot more advanced things than this to memorize more information, and more complex information, but it's still pretty much doing the same thing:

Let's say you want to memorize a list of 10 things, after reading through the list just once pretty quickly:
1) Call vet
2) Mend sunglasses
3) Bake Cupcakes
4) Visit Bank Manager
5) Buy Birthday Present
6) Buy Postage Stamps
7) Collect Dry Cleaning
8) Change oil in car
9) Pay Water Bill
10) Change Light BulbLets say you use 10 locations of your house as anchors, which can be broken down into a lot of sub anchors, but I won't do that for this simple example:

(Replace these with what you have at your house, that you might walk to each in a particular order)
My house, I would use:
1) Front door from the outside
2) Hallway from front door
3) Coat closet next to hallway
4) Dining room
5) Bedroom
6) Bedroom's sink
7) Bedroom's shower room
8) Kitchen
9) Back porch
10) Living room

I imagine seeing my dog on the phone by the front door outside, I go inside and step on a pair of sunglasses and hear them crunch under my foot. Then the closet door opens with an oven inside that also opens, to reveal a giant pink cupcake that smells good. Then at the kitchen I see the manager from my bank standing by the table. Then in the bedroom I see a giant birthday present box hovering above the bed rotating. Then at the sink I see a mailman standing there covered in postage stamps. At the shower room there is a dryer sitting on top of the toilet that pops open and clothes start flying out. In the kitchen my car just recked through the wall, the hood popped open and I check its oil. The back porch is a girl I know named Bill who is dumping a bucket of water onto herself. Then in the living room is a giant light bulb with arms and legs who is changing its clothes.

It sounds like a lot, but its really fast to do if you have the places prepared. And you can remember a lot more information if you use more techniques.

 

[DartomicTech]

I learned how to do it from this book:

How to Develop A Brilliant Memory Week by Week

I would skip the mind map examples, as mind maps just take way longer, and waste paper and ink. I used to do those before I found this book. Also his section on binary numbers might work, but I skipped that section because his binary number translations are not correct, so I wrote down the binary numbers from 0 to 9 to memorize when I want to train for the world memory championships. I also do some things that aren't in any book I've read that speed things up. When I was in college, sometimes I would just study the few chapters I was going to be tested on, a few hours before the test, and get an A because I remembered everything. I learned how to do this stuff because I got an F in every college course my first term, and I really tried to do good.

I also don't normally use it to memorize formulas, but I have. I normally just practice writing a formula down the same way I used to try to remember spelling words in grade school.

It took me a week to learn the book by using a program that I wrote, and I use my program to study everything:

A program I wrote called GlideCLI

I wrote that program because, while those memorization techniques are great, I would still forget stuff while I studied algebra, and realized that it was due to the forgetting curve (it's really scheduling everything according to a spacing calculation for the repetitions, but it does calculate the forgetting curve too).

I originally used Hermann Ebbinghaus's study schedule for what I would study for math, but writing the schedule every day for everything took more time than it would to study the material. My program uses an actual calculation for the forgetting curve, not a set schedule for everything, and I wrote my own calculation for difficulty to make it more precise than the other programs out there. This program saves a lot of time, as I now no longer need to write any study schedules, and I use it to learn everything I want to learn.

 

[phinds]

Makes sense now. Thanks.

 

[DaveC426913]

Ah. OK, I learned the list: Bun, Shoe, Tree, Door, Hive, Sticks, Heaven, Gate, Wine, Hen.

So, if I wanted to remember to drive to the Hardware Store, I'd picture a Bun with nuts and bolts baked in, etc.

That isn't useful past ten things, but that's about my limit anyway.

 

[phinds]

That isn't useful past ten things, but that's about my limit anyway.

I can imagine someone creating a much longer list and making good use of it, with practice.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why not get plans for role-playing games? Ideally unpopular ones so they are cheap.

 

[DartomicTech]

Why not get plans for role-playing games? Ideally unpopular ones so they are cheap.

What do you mean? I don't know anything about role playing games.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Many involves maps (inside or outside) which can be purchased for a few bucks. That might be an alternative to books.

 

[Klystron]

I recognize most of the authors @DartomicTech studied from the 1960's though not thesis details. Many students, particularly medical professionals, rely on mnemonics to memorize and internalize information.

"A is for Astronomy": Name major bodies of the solar system circa 1960 in distance order:

Sol's Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest ⇒​

​

Sun​

Mercury​

Venus​

Terra​

Mars​

Asteroids​

Jupiter​

Saturn​

Uranus​

Neptune​

Pluto (before reclassification)​

Medical students even set mnemonics to songs to help remember connected lists. Electronics students remember current leads voltage or vice-versa in circuit components via mnemonic:

​

ELI the ICE man ⇒ E = voltage, L = inductance (coil), I = current; C = capacitance.​

​

https://www.electrical4u.com/eli-the-ice-man/

 

[Klystron]

Most cities in North America maintain maps of their territory including elevation in a central office or library that also contains blueprints and diagrams of approved building projects.

Efforts to digitize and offer online access probably differ by locale. Fees and identification may be required or some 'social engineering'; as Steve Wozniak referred to lying. The long sheets of paper, often with transparent overlays, are best studied in person or via camera handled by a cooperative docent. Real estate people and builders might be sources for copies of building diagrams and drawings.

When I studied electronics, the students traced through long detailed circuit schematics, marking various 'flows' with color pencils/pens. Great fun and useful memory technique.

 

[The Bill]

What do you mean? I don't know anything about role playing games.

One type of example would be what is called a "module" for a roleplaying game. They frequently contain detailed maps of terrain, buildings, castles, dungeons, spaceships, cities, etc.

Construction diagrams of many historical warships are also available in book or digital file form. I've found that one of the best ways for me to find them is to use the search term PDF on the search engine DuckDuckGo along with the name of the warship. You'll want to use the class name of the warship, usually. So, a search for the USS Fletcher blueprint PDF will probably be more fruitful than a search for USS Black, etc. Many books of such diagrams are available for sale, also. I have a book of construction diagrams for the HMS Dreadnought, for example.

 

[DartomicTech]

I can imagine someone creating a much longer list and making good use of it, with practice.

I'm about to use it to memorize Mathematics Dictionary 5th Edition

Many involves maps (inside or outside) which can be purchased for a few bucks. That might be an alternative to books.

Interesting. I will look into those, thanks!

 

[DartomicTech]

I recognize most of the authors @DartomicTech studied from the 1960's though not thesis details. Many students, particularly medical professionals, rely on mnemonics to memorize and internalize information.

"A is for Astronomy": Name major bodies of the solar system circa 1960 in distance order:

Sol's Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest ⇒​

​

Sun​

Mercury​

Venus​

Terra​

Mars​

Asteroids​

Jupiter​

Saturn​

Uranus​

Neptune​

Pluto (before reclassification)​

Medical students even set mnemonics to songs to help remember connected lists. Electronics students remember current leads voltage or vice-versa in circuit components via mnemonic:

​

ELI the ICE man ⇒ E = voltage, L = inductance (coil), I = current; C = capacitance.​

​

https://www.electrical4u.com/eli-the-ice-man/

Acronyms are good, but nothing beats the Roman Room method.

 

[Baluncore]

Acronyms are good, but nothing beats the Roman Room method.

The reason it is sometimes called a memory palace is that you can construct or explore it in your imagination. Your memory is held by the extensions and embellishments you make to that virtual palace.

I can't help thinking that, having to learn a floor plan first from a blueprint, would make learning more difficult rather than easier. The palace appears in my imagination as I need it.

 

[DartomicTech]

I can't help thinking that, having to learn a floor plan first from a blueprint, would make learning more difficult rather than easier. The palace appears in my imagination as I need it.

I guess its the way I learn them, and organize the routes, that saves a lot of time for me. Using blueprints is not exactly a tip given in any book that I'm aware of. I reuse some of them over and over again for lots of different types of information, like quickly memorizing multiple decks of playing cards (not quick enough to win the memory championship with yet), world lists, name lists, and numbers lists. But some of them I just review what I have in them. It's pretty quick for me to learn a blue print. But I also like to keep a physical record, or digital record, of the blueprints I use. Doing that has come in very useful for me. It's really pretty fast and effortless for me to learn them.

I've also done what I think you're talking about, and just have interconnected places appear in my mind as one big place that I think you're referring to as a palace, and I populate it with what I need to remember. I do that for information that I need to remember in a question-answer format, sometimes. It's really close to what I do with the blueprints. But it really depends on what I think the best way for me to work with the information would be. The thing about the blueprints that could be considered more difficult, which I would consider just more work initially, but pretty easy, is when I draw them myself. Having a library of blueprints that other people have made saves a lot of time for me.

 

[DartomicTech]

One type of example would be what is called a "module" for a roleplaying game. They frequently contain detailed maps of terrain, buildings, castles, dungeons, spaceships, cities, etc.

Construction diagrams of many historical warships are also available in book or digital file form.

Thank you. I've just looked into some module's for rpg books on the internet after i read your comment. Those look very useful for me.

 

[Baluncore]

I've also done what I think you're talking about, and just have interconnected places appear in my mind as one big place that I think you're referring to as a palace, and I populate it with what I need to remember.

A “palace” is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state. A palace has many rooms, off many corridors, that you can fill with structured memories.

 

[DartomicTech]

A “palace” is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state. A palace has many rooms, off many corridors, that you can fill with structured memories.

I know what a palace is. Anyway; my point was that the blueprints make things easier for me, not more difficult. If my explanation as to why that is the case does not make sense to you, then it is probably due to differences in our brains.

 

[berkeman]

I cannot imagine that the heck you are talking about when you describe your use for them.

Welcome to PF.

He seems to use them for practice in memorization and building brain skills. That seems clear from his replies in the thread. Just because you and I wouldn't enjoy doing it that way doesn't make his method invalid. Whatever works for you personally, IMO.