“It’s not an academic question any more to ask what’s going to happen to a cloud. People very much want to know—and… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
Information theory began as a bridge from mathematics to electrical engineering and from there to computing. — James Gleick Copy Share Image
With the advent of computing, human invention crossed a threshold into a world different from everything that came before. The computer is… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
We have met the Devil of Information Overload and his impish underlings, the computer virus, the busy signal, the dead link, and… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
Strangely enough, the linking of computers has taken place democratically, even anarchically. Its rules and habits are emerging in the open light,… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
The word 'code' turns out to be a really important word for my book, 'The Information.' The genetic code is just one… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
“Memes can replicate with impressive virulence while leaving swaths of collateral damage—patent medicines and psychic surgery, astrology and satanism, racist myths, superstitions,… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
Patents have long served as a fundamental cog in the American machine, cherished in our national soul. — James Gleick Copy Share Image
A bit, the smallest unit of information, the fundamental particle of information theory, is a choice, yes or no, on or off.… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
I'll cheerfully confess to spending a lot of time playing completely disgusting computer games that have no redeeming social value. — James Gleick Copy Share Image
When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that "wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal," they identified it… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
You know, entropy is associated thermodynamically, in systems involving heat, with disorder. And in an analogous way, information is associated with disorder, which seems… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
“No one has even a definitive spelling for Cawdrey’s name (Cowdrey, Cawdry). But then, no one agreed on the spelling of most names: they… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
“Where, then, is any particular gene—say, the gene for long legs in humans? This is a little like asking where is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
A book is not necessarily made of paper. A book is not necessarily made to be read on a Kindle. A book is a… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
“From this point of view, the laws of science represent data compression in action. A theoretical physicist acts like a very clever coding algorithm.… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
Children and scientists share an outlook on life. If I do this, what will happen? is both the motto of the child at play… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
“Your body moves always in the present, the dividing line between the past and the future, but your mind is more free. It can… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
People worry about Twitter. Twitter is banal. It's 140-character messages. By definition, you can hardly say anything profound. On the other hand, we communicate.… — James Gleick Copy Share Image
