A great introduction to information theory. I really enjoyed learning about the history of language and communication

Found this book to be excellent, albeit hard to understand at times, the author does a good job of explaining abstract, complicated topics, such as bits, quantum theory, mathematics. Definitely an interesting and somewhat challenging read, very informative, no pun intended! Highly recommended for any tech geeks, history buffs, educators, psychologists, and anyone interested math, physics, technology, programming, etc. Gleick is a great non-fiction writer! Found this after reading his Isaac Newton book.

Well written, a great book on a complex subject...

I found it to be an excellent journey through the history of human communication. The book grabbed me right away with the "talking drums of Africa". There were only one or two times during the entire (lengthy) book when I thought the information was getting dense, but whose fault is that? Gleick titled the book "The Information".

I was quite happy with the review that I painstakingly typed into my iPad over the last half hour. iBooks was also impressed. I know this because it immediately crashed and erased everything I wrote. (it devoured my review. beep beep beep beep. it's kind of… a bummer) So, I suppose you'll have to take my (abbreviated) word for it - the book is very good. read it. The gist of my original review is this: Most history books, especially history of science, can't escape the condescension implicit to hindsight. Gleick avoids it by thoroughly describing thought and perception in a world where the telephone (the dictionary. logic. the written word), is not missing, it's just… unimaginable.

Not typical Gleick. Some interesting history, but too much philosophical waxing. Those who are into this style will appreciate this work as it's expressed as a full symphony on information. Those who want something more concise, will find the work long albeit punctuated with some fascinating history. Because I belong to the latter category, I'm not sure I can recommend this to the fan of Gleick's previous work embodied by his books on chaos, and Feynman.

This a fantastic book! Anyone that has ZZZZZZ from reading it should take a nap and pick up Dan Brown. I learned more and was amazed by the intellectual power of the author in making a very difficult topic understandable and interesting. From beginning to end it is a tour de force! Thanks, James Gleick. Jim Clark