
The Information
A History, a Theory, a Flood
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Narrated by:
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Rob Shapiro
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By:
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James Gleick
James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius, now brings us a work just as astonishing and masterly: A revelatory chronicle and meditation that shows how information has become the modern era’s defining quality - the blood, the fuel, the vital principle of our world.
The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanishes as soon as it is born. From the invention of scripts and alphabets to the long-misunderstood talking drums of Africa, Gleick tells the story of information technologies that changed the very nature of human consciousness. He provides portraits of the key figures contributing to the inexorable development of our modern understanding of information: Charles Babbage, the idiosyncratic inventor of the first great mechanical computer; Ada Byron, the brilliant and doomed daughter of the poet, who became the first true programmer; pivotal figures like Samuel Morse and Alan Turing; and Claude Shannon, the creator of information theory itself. And then the information age arrives. Citizens of this world become experts willy-nilly: Aficionados of bits and bytes. And we sometimes feel we are drowning, swept by a deluge of signs and signals, news and images, blogs and tweets. The Information is the story of how we got here and where we are heading.
©2011 James Gleick (P)2011 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...




















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Would you be willing to try another one of Rob Shapiro’s performances?
in a book that includes so many German phrases and words it would be nice to have someone check on Rob's German skillspositive surprise
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Best Tech Book Ever!
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I was drawn to this book because of my interest in Claude Shannon and his work in data compression. When Claude Shannon first appears, his contribution to Information Theory is identified, but the concentration on compression is glazed over. I was personally disappointed, but Gleick returns to Shannon and Shannon-Fano coding and Huffman coding. This probably doesn't apply to many possible readers, but it explains the style of this book, by glazing over certain aspects initially before coming back around and covering them in much clearer detail. It's somewhat offputting, and I may have to re-listen to the book to ensure I got everything from it, but it ensures that all readers are at a similar understanding before moving towards the more intensive theories.
The 4-star rating for the performance is only because there isn't a 4.5 star rating. It is well read, and my only gripe was the slow pace. There were certain aspects, especially early in the history with the conversations about the use of drums as communication, where my mind would wander and come back, and I would feel like I hadn't missed much in what was trying to be communicated. This should reflect on the writing as much as the narrator, but I feel if it had been a bit "zippier" it may have retained my attention better in those slower sections. On the other hand, the methodical reading does allow for much more time dedicated to words and thoughts that are communicated in the story and isn't distracting as the subject matter gets denser.
Comprehensive look at all aspects of Information
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Transformative and deeply intelligent
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It’s an excellent book made to be listened to closely.
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but the worst is unironically quoting dawkins. chapters "Life's own code" and "Into the meme pool" are like spoon of dung into the cup of coffee.
you can compensate it by bill dwmbski's work.
mixed bag. some parts are better than orhers
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Heavy Topics Age Slowly
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I still feel like I want to know more but am thrilled by the world's of possibilities that both books have opened my eyes to.
Perfect companion to Chaos
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Great book
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Excellent
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