2012 Gift Guide: The Information by James Gleick

This a is big book (544 pages) but quite an easy read. It has taken me less than a week to make my way through using both print and ebook versions of the text, depending on which was most convenient at the time. Both copies, as is typical, came from the Los Angeles Public Library, to which I offer my undying appreciation.

Now, granted, I am more than a bit of a geek, but I have come to love overviews of specific scientific concepts. In this book, Gleick follows the path of information in our history. More precisely, he discusses the progression of our understanding of information as it exists in all parts of our lives. The discussion of computers appears surprisingly late in the history. Information existed long before the digital computer. It might also be said that all the scientific theorizing about information that occurred before its introduction were critical to its discovery/invention. Without deep understanding of mathematics and boolean logic, the modern-day computer could not exist.

If you desire a deeper understanding of the information concepts that lie beneath your computer screen — as well as your entire life — The Information can show you the way.

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