The Information：A History, a Theory, a Flood

JamesGleick,theauthorofthebestsellersChaosandGenius,nowbringsusaworkjustasastonishingandmasterly:arevelatorychronicleandmeditationthatshowshowinformationhasbecomethemodernera’sdefiningquality—theblood,thefuel,thevitalprincipleofourworld.Thestoryofinformationbeginsinatimeprofoundlyunlikeourown,wheneverythoughtandutterancevanishesassoonasitisborn.Fromtheinventionofscriptsandalphabetstothelong-misunderstoodtalkingdrumsofAfrica,Gleicktellsthestoryofinformationtechnologiesthatchangedtheverynatureofhumanconsciousness.Heprovidesportraitsofthekeyfigurescontributingtotheinexorabledevelopmentofourmodernunderstandingofinformation:CharlesBabbage,theidiosyncraticinventorofthefirstgreatmechanicalcomputer;AdaByron,thebrilliantanddoomeddaughterofthepoet,whobecamethefirsttrueprogrammer;pivotalfigureslikeSamuelMorseandAlanTuring;andClaudeShannon,thecreatorofinformationtheoryitself.Andthentheinformationagearrives.Citizensofthisworldbecomeexpertswilly-nilly:aficionadosofbitsandbytes.Andwesometimesfeelwearedrowning,sweptbyadelugeofsignsandsignals,newsandimages,blogsandtweets.TheInformationisthestoryofhowwegothereandwhereweareheading.