The Information

The Information
Author: James Gleick
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2011-03-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0307379574

From the bestselling author of the acclaimed Chaos and Genius comes a thoughtful and provocative exploration of the big ideas of the modern era: Information, communication, and information theory. Acclaimed science writer James Gleick presents an eye-opening vision of how our relationship to information has transformed the very nature of human consciousness. A fascinating intellectual journey through the history of communication and information, from the language of Africa’s talking drums to the invention of written alphabets; from the electronic transmission of code to the origins of information theory, into the new information age and the current deluge of news, tweets, images, and blogs. Along the way, Gleick profiles key innovators, including Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Samuel Morse, and Claude Shannon, and reveals how our understanding of information is transforming not only how we look at the world, but how we live. A New York Times Notable Book A Los Angeles Times and Cleveland Plain Dealer Best Book of the Year Winner of the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

Computer

Computer
Author: Martin Campbell-Kelly
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2013-07-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 081334591X

Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the history of the computer and shows how business and government were the first to explore its unlimited, information-processing potential. Old-fashioned entrepreneurship combined with scientific know-how inspired now famous computer engineers to create the technology that became IBM. Wartime needs drove the giant ENIAC, the first fully electronic computer. Later, the PC enabled modes of computing that liberated people from room-sized, mainframe computers. This third edition provides updated analysis on software and computer networking, including new material on the programming profession, social networking, and mobile computing. It expands its focus on the IT industry with fresh discussion on the rise of Google and Facebook as well as how powerful applications are changing the way we work, consume, learn, and socialize. Computer is an insightful look at the pace of technological advancement and the seamless way computers are integrated into the modern world. Through comprehensive history and accessible writing, Computer is perfect for courses on computer history, technology history, and information and society, as well as a range of courses in the fields of computer science, communications, sociology, and management.

The History of Information Security

The History of Information Security
Author: Karl Maria Michael de Leeuw
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 901
Release: 2007-08-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080550584

Information Security is usually achieved through a mix of technical, organizational and legal measures. These may include the application of cryptography, the hierarchical modeling of organizations in order to assure confidentiality, or the distribution of accountability and responsibility by law, among interested parties. The history of Information Security reaches back to ancient times and starts with the emergence of bureaucracy in administration and warfare. Some aspects, such as the interception of encrypted messages during World War II, have attracted huge attention, whereas other aspects have remained largely uncovered. There has never been any effort to write a comprehensive history. This is most unfortunate, because Information Security should be perceived as a set of communicating vessels, where technical innovations can make existing legal or organisational frame-works obsolete and a breakdown of political authority may cause an exclusive reliance on technical means.This book is intended as a first field-survey. It consists of twenty-eight contributions, written by experts in such diverse fields as computer science, law, or history and political science, dealing with episodes, organisations and technical developments that may considered to be exemplary or have played a key role in the development of this field.These include: the emergence of cryptology as a discipline during the Renaissance, the Black Chambers in 18th century Europe, the breaking of German military codes during World War II, the histories of the NSA and its Soviet counterparts and contemporary cryptology. Other subjects are: computer security standards, viruses and worms on the Internet, computer transparency and free software, computer crime, export regulations for encryption software and the privacy debate.- Interdisciplinary coverage of the history Information Security- Written by top experts in law, history, computer and information science- First comprehensive work in Information Security

Information

Information
Author: Ann Blair
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 902
Release: 2021-01-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691179549

"Information technology shapes nearly every part of modern life, and debates about information--its meaning, effects, and applications--are central to a range of fields, from economics, technology, and politics to library science, media studies, and cultural studies. This rich, unique resource traces the history of information with an approach designed to draw connections across fields and perspectives, and provide essential context for our current age of information. Clear, accessible, and authoritative, the book opens with a series of articles that provide a narrative history of information from premodern practices to twenty-first-century information culture. This section focuses on major developments in the creation, storage, search, exchange, management, and manipulation of information, as well as the many meanings and uses of information over time. Coverage spans Europe, North America, and many other places and periods, including the medieval Islamic world and early modern East Asia, as well as the emergence of global networks. A second, alphabetical section includes more than 100 concise articles that cover specific concepts (e.g., data, intellectual property, privacy); formats and genres (books, databases, maps, newspapers, scrolls, social media); people (archivists, diplomats and spies, readers, secretaries, teachers); practices (censorship, forecasting, learning, surveilling, translating); processes (digitization, quantification, storage and search); systems (bureaucracy, platforms, telecommunications); technologies (algorithms, cameras, computers), and much more. The book concludes with an informative glossary, defining terms from "analog/digital" to "World Wide Web.""--

A History of Information Storage and Retrieval

A History of Information Storage and Retrieval
Author: Foster Stockwell
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2007-11-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0786437723

Throughout history, humans have sought ways not only to acquire but to preserve knowledge. From when to plant crops to who begat whom, even the earliest people worked to gather and store information. Today, computers and other technologies have almost completely changed the world of information access and storage. This history traces the development of knowledge-collecting from early humans, whose minds served as repositories of culture and lore, through the first libraries and encyclopedias, to the many advances of the twentieth century. Ironically it is with these latest advances that the preservation of knowledge has foundered. For example, CD-ROMs can last no doubt for decades--but the software programs that run them will not, because they are constantly being upgraded. Both well-known and obscure pieces of the information story are explored in this work. From Diderot's encyclopedia, to anonymous librarians of the ancient world, the people who created information storage systems and the systems themselves are all presented. Fully indexed.

A History of Online Information Services, 1963-1976

A History of Online Information Services, 1963-1976
Author: Charles P. Bourne
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 522
Release: 2003-08-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780262261753

A detailed chronology of the early, pre-Internet years of online information systems and services. Every field of history has a basic need for a detailed chronology of what happened: who did what when. In the absence of such a resource, fanciful accounts flourish. This book provides a rich narrative of the early development of online information retrieval systems and services, from 1963 to 1976—a period important to anyone who uses a search engine, online catalog, or large database. Drawing on personal experience, extensive research, and interviews with many of the key participants, the book describes the individuals, projects, and institutions of the period. It also corrects many common errors and misconceptions and provides milestones for many of the significant developments in online systems and technology.

Information and Power in History

Information and Power in History
Author: Ida Nijenhuis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2020-01-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429797885

The relationship between information and power is a relevant subject for all times. Today’s perceived ‘information revolution’ has caused information to become a separate object of study during the last two decades for several disciplines. As the contemporary perspective is dominant, information history as a discipline of its own has not yet crystallized. In bringing together studies around a new research agenda on the relationship between information and power across time and space, presenting various governance regimes, media, materials, and modes of communication, this book forces us to rethink the prospects and challenges for such a new discipline.

A Bibliographic Guide to the History of Computing, Computers, and the Information Processing Industry

A Bibliographic Guide to the History of Computing, Computers, and the Information Processing Industry
Author:
Publisher: Greenwood
Total Pages: 674
Release: 1990-05-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

As millions of people have been exposed to computing through the tremendous growth of microcomputers, there has developed an increasing appreciation of the history of data processing, which dates back many decades before the arrival of the computer. Stretching back to at least the 1860s, such early technologies as adding machines, punch cards, and the office appliance industry are now being recognized for their place in the history of the information processing industry. This work brings together a comprehensive list of sources that offer a general introduction to the literature of the industry. Divided into nine chapters covering topics and historical periods, the bibliography provides an annotated list of published materials describing both the history of the industry and significant items of general interest. Each chapter is introduced with a short review of historically important issues and comments on the literature, and contains contemporary publications as well as more recent material. To give the work a continuing usefulness, ongoing publications, such as computer magazines, are highlighted. Entries are grouped under nearly 100 subheadings, covering such material as contemporary descriptions of hardware and software of the past, seminal technical papers, industry surveys, programming languages, significant individuals and companies, and the role of Japan and microcomputing. All citations are annotated with a brief summary of either the work's contents or its historical importance, while two indexes provide both subject references and author citations. This bibliography will be an important reference source for courses in the history of data processing and business history, and a useful addition to public, college, and university libraries.

Too Much to Know

Too Much to Know
Author: Ann M. Blair
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 581
Release: 2010-11-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300168497

The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of "information overload," yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In fact, says Ann M. Blair in this intriguing book, the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. Blair examines methods of information management in ancient and medieval Europe as well as the Islamic world and China, then focuses particular attention on the organization, composition, and reception of Latin reference books in print in early modern Europe. She explores in detail the sophisticated and sometimes idiosyncratic techniques that scholars and readers developed in an era of new technology and exploding information.

Information Technology as Business History

Information Technology as Business History
Author: James W. Cortada
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 288
Release: 1996-08-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

...looks at computing as business history...from the perspective of the business historian and business manager.