Reviews

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

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3.0

Some really fascinating concept and history. Took a little too long to get rolling but was pretty good thereafter.

aeggenberger's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

aligrint's review against another edition

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4.0

Solid and influential. The last 20% is pretty well-known if you're into technology, but the middle section and the account of signal analysis is excellent.

kaki4forks's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely enthralling!

This book is dense with science but is a joy to read. It's amazing how all of the electronics in our lives are the product of a field that is still very young!

dubiousreader's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

lordsprinkles's review against another edition

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5.0

Just finished this. That was outstanding! A brilliantly researched work which has given me an insight into how we got to where we are. It's a tour-de-force and I highly recommend it.

hieronymusbotched's review against another edition

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4.0

Lives up to the FLOOD portion of the subtitle, with a startlingly comprehensive stream of information, facts, figures, and insights into the progress of information, starting with language and ending with quantum computing. Gleick‘s prose style is extremely readable, so the only dips in my interest tended to come from the lack of argument - i.e. I appreciated the largely edgeless account, but the technologies discussed are so inherently political that I‘d have liked him to bare his teeth every now and again.

kjnicholson16's review against another edition

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3.0

Insightful piece on information as a technology using abstract subjects, historical oddities, and the uniqueness of language as the driving themes. Ultimately got a little dense for me, but as a slow read to pick up here and there I think it is worth its weight.

alexisrt's review against another edition

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5.0

I really enjoyed this. The early chapters have a more historical focus, but the material gets more math heavy as it goes on--some of it might get a little too technical for some readers. (I do not have an extensive math background, but was able to follow it.)

About the only small flaw is that Gleick gets so absorbed in the technical side of information science that the impact of the information flood is constrained to the last chapter and epilogue. There was more room for discussing its social and political impact.

hahildebrand's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent and essential on probably the most important subject of our times.