The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanishes as soon as it is born. From the invention of scripts and alphabets to the long-misunderstood talking drums of Africa, Gleick tells the story of information technologies that changed the very nature of human consciousness. He provides portraits of the key figures contributing to the inexorable development of our modern understanding of information:...

Presents responses from 150 of the world's brightest and most influential minds when asked to reveal their favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation of how the human mind, society, and the universe work.

"The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is "one of those tech demi-gods with whom we're all on a first name basis." Bix is 40, with four kids, restless, desperate for a new idea,when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or "externalizing" memory. It's 2010. Within a decade, Bix's new technology, "Own...

Technology has existed for as long as humankind has invented items that improve and enhance daily living. The innovators of technology profiled in this comprehensive resource have affected nearly every facet of life, from transportation and communication to science and entertainment. Their developments have built upon one another, each a stepping-stone toward even greater advances in technology. Their names range from the familiar, such as Thomas...

The question of our time: can we reclaim our lives in an age that feels busier and more distracting by the day? We have all found ourselves checking email at the dinner table, holding our breath while waiting for Outlook to load, or sitting hunched in front of a screen for an hour longer than we intended. Mobile devices and the web have invaded our lives, and this is a big idea book that addresses one of the biggest questions of our age: can we...

When on the first day of middle school Principal Kim announces a Contraption Convention, young inventor Rube Goldberg must conquer his anxieties and a ghostly mystery to come up with something brilliant for the judges and his friends.

"The New York Times-bestselling author and master of the medical thriller returns with a top-notch fusion of groundbreaking medical science and edge-of-your-seat suspense. George Wilson, M.D., a radiology resident in Los Angeles, is about to enter a profession on the brink of an enormous paradigm shift, foreshadowing a vastly different role for doctors everywhere. The smartphone is poised to take on a new role in medicine, no longer as a mere medical...

"From the author of the provocative and influential Glow Kids: Revolutionary research that reveals technology's damaging effect on mental illness and suicide rates--and offers a way out. Dr. Nicholas Kardaras is at the forefront of researchers sounding the alarm about the impact of excessive technology on younger brains. In Glow Kids, he described what screen time does to children, calling it "digital heroin". Now, in Digital Madness, Dr. Kardaras...