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Information: A Short History
An essential guide to the ways information has shaped and been shaped by societies
Thanks to recent advances, we now enjoy seemingly unlimited access to information. How did information become so central to our everyday lives? This book traces the global emergence of information practices and technologies across pivotal epochs and regions, providing invaluable historical perspectives on the ways information has shaped and been shaped by societies. Featuring the core articles from the ultimate reference book A Historical Companion, this short history will appeal to anyone seeking to understand our modern mania for an informed existence. The
Tells the story of information’s rise from the premodern era to today, exploring how diverse cultures have created, managed, and shared facts and knowledgeTakes readers from the medieval Islamic world to late imperial East Asia, and from early modern and modern Europe to contemporary North AmericaCovers a broad range of topics, such as networks, bureaucracy, publicity, propaganda, censorship, privacy, intellectual property, digitization, telecommunications, storage and search, and much moreIncludes a new introduction, suggested further readings, and a glossary of key termsBrings together an international team of experts, including Jeremy Adelman, Devin Fitzgerald, John-Paul Ghobrial, Lisa Gitelman, Randolph C. Head, Richard R. John, Elias Muhanna, Thomas S. Mullaney, Carla Nappi, Craig Robertson, Daniel Rosenberg, Will Slauter, and Heidi Tworek
Thanks to recent advances, we now enjoy seemingly unlimited access to information. How did information become so central to our everyday lives? This book traces the global emergence of information practices and technologies across pivotal epochs and regions, providing invaluable historical perspectives on the ways information has shaped and been shaped by societies. Featuring the core articles from the ultimate reference book A Historical Companion, this short history will appeal to anyone seeking to understand our modern mania for an informed existence. The
Tells the story of information’s rise from the premodern era to today, exploring how diverse cultures have created, managed, and shared facts and knowledgeTakes readers from the medieval Islamic world to late imperial East Asia, and from early modern and modern Europe to contemporary North AmericaCovers a broad range of topics, such as networks, bureaucracy, publicity, propaganda, censorship, privacy, intellectual property, digitization, telecommunications, storage and search, and much moreIncludes a new introduction, suggested further readings, and a glossary of key termsBrings together an international team of experts, including Jeremy Adelman, Devin Fitzgerald, John-Paul Ghobrial, Lisa Gitelman, Randolph C. Head, Richard R. John, Elias Muhanna, Thomas S. Mullaney, Carla Nappi, Craig Robertson, Daniel Rosenberg, Will Slauter, and Heidi Tworek
424 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2024
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August 10, 2025
0 reviews??? Given this came out last year and I found it at the english kinokuniya in tokyo i'm confused how no one else has read or rated this. This happens pretty often with Goodreads which is a popular-lit-leaning site, but it's still surprising... there's part of me that wishes academic presses did a bit more work in marketing authors' work, like, at all?
Anyways, this is a collection of writings discussing the development of systems that transmit or store information, all the way back to ancient times to e.g. the importance of paper (And its usage in various contexts), to more recent stuff like how the ideas of computation, information and communication weren't immediately connected as they are now in the form of smartphones or personal computers.
I've only read a few of the chapters but so far they're accessible, well-edited and with good lists of references.
Anyways, this is a collection of writings discussing the development of systems that transmit or store information, all the way back to ancient times to e.g. the importance of paper (And its usage in various contexts), to more recent stuff like how the ideas of computation, information and communication weren't immediately connected as they are now in the form of smartphones or personal computers.
I've only read a few of the chapters but so far they're accessible, well-edited and with good lists of references.
Displaying 1 of 1 review