Review: The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

by James Gleick

A thorough exploration of information theory, how communication functions at its most fundamental. Language, mathematics, cryptography, memory, computing, the history of telecommunication, the history of intuitive human information theory before and after it was formalized.

Most intriguing is the third of Gleick’s informational themes: the Flood, our modern immersion in quantifiable information. The book ends with allusions to Borges’ “The Library of Babel”, a short story that seems ever more apt and readily appreciable as time goes on.

Freeman John Dyson has written a substantive synopsis and review entitled “How We Know”, here: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives...


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