The Information

From the best-selling author of Chaos and Genius, a fascinating, thoughtful and provocative look at the most important subjects in the modern era--information, communication, and information theory. Erudite and entertaining, The Information is a fascinating intellectual journey through the history of communication and information. In this wide-ranging meditation, Gleick moves from African talking drums to the invention of writing; from the electronic transmission of code to the story of information theory; and concludes with a eye-opening vision of how our relationship to information has transformed our daily life. On every page Gleick offers startling revelations not only on the history of information but also on its very nature. As he discusses these developments in information technology, Gleick profiles key players--Charles Babbage, Samuel Morse, Claude Shannon--and he examines how our understanding of information is not only transforming how we look at the world, but how we live.