Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy, and the Computer Revolution

by Michael E. Hobart, Zachary S. Schiffman

The late twentieth century is trumpeted as the Information Age by pundits and politicians alike, and on the face of it, the claim requires no justification. But in Information Ages, Michael E. Hobart and Zachary S. Schiffman challenge this widespread assumption. In a sweeping and captivating history of information technology from the ancient Sumerians to the world of Alan Turing and John von Neumann, the authors show how revolutions in the technology of information storage -- from the invention of writing approximately 5,000 years ago to the mathematical models for describing physical reality in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the introduction of computers -- profoundly transformed ways of thinking.

Genres: History, Technology, Philosophy

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 1998

Reviews

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy, and the Computer Revolution gives an interesting concise history of information. It demonstrates the manner in which the term (and its conceptual components) evolved in time. I recommend it to anyone who would like to learn more about information.

[Damian McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

skip chapter 7

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history and exploration of information, its organisation, and use.