The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

· Sold by Vintage
4.5
41 reviews
Ebook
544
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

From the bestselling author of the acclaimed Chaos and Genius comes a thoughtful and provocative exploration of the big ideas of the modern era: Information, communication, and information theory. 
 
Acclaimed science writer James Gleick presents an eye-opening vision of how our relationship to information has transformed the very nature of human consciousness. A fascinating intellectual journey through the history of communication and information, from the language of Africa’s talking drums to the invention of written alphabets; from the electronic transmission of code to the origins of information theory, into the new information age and the current deluge of news, tweets, images, and blogs. Along the way, Gleick profiles key innovators, including Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Samuel Morse, and Claude Shannon, and reveals how our understanding of information is transforming not only how we look at the world, but how we live.

New York Times Notable Book
Los Angeles Times and Cleveland Plain Dealer Best Book of the Year
Winner of the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
 

Ratings and reviews

4.5
41 reviews
Woken't
March 15, 2016
This is the sort of thing I usually, as a confirmed geek, absolutely love reading - but this was just not enjoyable. Beats the subjects to death, drags on about obscure cretins like Ada Lovelace whose "contributions" are those of any glorified assistant's, and it's just not a pleasant read, especially in the sexist usage of "she" as the universal pronoun and run-on paragraphs. Sadly, this is the second book I've not finished in my five plus decades as a voracious reader; hopefully, it's just me.
3 people found this review helpful
Did you find this helpful?
A Google user
June 2, 2011
The book covers how information has been treated in the precursors of the Information Age up to and including Google, Twitter and DNA databases. There is no standard definition, but there is the theory that the title refers to of Claude Shannon, and the overload of too much (TMI). The only irreversible process, and thus of any cost in terms of physical energy such as heat generation according to Landauer and Bennett, is erasure. The text briefly comments on data mining and machine intelligence, but does not dwell on the directions, not does it consider metadata, ontology, semantic web or augmented reality. Some of the author's previous interests in chaos theory, quantum, entropy and thermodynamics are summarized. It goes more deeply into the abstractions of concepts such as meaning, language, writing, cryptography, paradoxes, numbers, measurement, logic, communication, transmission, computers, networks and genetics along with the major contributions of a host of researchers. There are fifteen chapters and extensive notes and bibliography.
Did you find this helpful?
A Google user
October 29, 2011
This book was a fantastic read. Gleick provides a perspective on information that is historical, theoretical and social. OK, that much you could find out from anywhere. But what's worth knowing is that it's an engaging read, almost a page turner! And Gleick delivers interesting insights into the lives many important characters who advanced the information age (Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, Norbert Weiner, and more). He sums up by addressing the topic of "information glut", which I suspect concerns most readers, and offers an optimistic outlook based on how society has managed with previous leaps-forward in information availability & load.
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

JAMES GLEICK is our leading chronicler of science and technology, and the author of Chaos and Genius, both nominated for the National Book Award, and Isaac Newton, which was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize. His books have been translated into thirty languages.

www.around.com


Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.