The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood
By (Author) James Gleick
HarperCollins Publishers
Fourth Estate Ltd
24th May 2012
1st March 2012
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Library and information sciences / Museology
020.9
Winner of Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books 2012
Physical Properties
Paperback
544
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 35mm
370g
Description
Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books 2012, the world's leading prize for popular science writing.
We live in the information age. But every era of history has had its own information revolution: the invention of writing, the composition of dictionaries, the creation of the charts that made navigation possible, the discovery of the electronic signal, the cracking of the genetic code.
In The Information James Gleick tells the story of how human beings use, transmit and keep what they know. From African talking drums to Wikipedia, from Morse code to the bit, it is a fascinating account of the modern ages defining idea and a brilliant exploration of how information has revolutionised our lives.
Reviews
An audacious book which offers remarkable insight. Gleick takes us, with verve and fizz, on a journey from African drums to computers, liberally sprinkling delightful factoids along the way. This is a book we need to give us a fresh perspective on how we communicate and how that shapes our world. The Royal Society Winton Prize Judges
Mind-stretching but enlightening the power and breadth of the ideas involved cannot but make you marvel. Daily Mail
MagisterialIt is not merely a history of information, but also a theory and a prospectus. To describe it as ambitious is to engage in almost comical understatement. Matthew Syed, The Times
A deeply impressive and rather beautiful book. Philip Ball, Observer
The fascinating story of how humans have transmitted knowledgebroad and occasionally brilliant. Sunday Times
This is a work of rare penetration, a true history of ideas whose witty and determined treatment of its material brings clarity to a complex subject. Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph
Author Bio
James Gleick's three books, Chaos, Genuis,and Faster,have been translated into nearly thirty languages. Gleick, a former reporter and editor of the New York Times,lives in New York. >
