# James Gleick's new Book - let's get him here to tell us about it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496 "2011-03-21T19:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/1 "2011-03-21T19:00:48Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=554386&highlight=gleick)from March 2010, \*\*SCSimmons \*\*asks about chaos theory and refers to Gleick’s wonderful book on the topic, Chaos. Who appears to show up but doesn’t comment much? \*\*James Gleick \*\*- see post #2. Sure, it could be a faux-post - but he has a new book out, so how about if we check? The book is [Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood](http://www.amazon.com/Information-History-Theory-Flood/dp/0375423729/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0) - excellent review (featured on the cover) of the NY Times Book Review. [Here is a link](http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/g/james_gleick/index.html)to a page with NY Times info on Gleick. I plan to get this for my brand-spanking-new Kindle once I finish [A Wicked Company](http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Company-Forgotten-Radicalism-Enlightenment/dp/0465014534), by Philipp Blom about the French Salons of the Enlightenment period (pre-Revolution 1700’s) and their impact on thinking today (great book, btw). So - can we get Mr. Gleick to come here and tell us about the book? I wonder if he could comment on his point of view about Information vs. the POV portrayed in Seth Lloyd’s [Programming the Universe](http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Universe-Quantum-Computer-Scientist/dp/1400040922), which also puts Information at the core of grasping our Universe and how it is structured. The username in that previous thread doesn’t connect to an email address, but I am PM’ing him a link to this thread in case he checks or gets updates. And if I am just fooling myself, well, feel free to tease me, but I thought it was worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/2 "2011-03-21T19:55:46Z")
If you do, I promise to review it less harshly. (Wow–I really was vicious in that thread. I think my real problem is with Chrichton, honestly, and Gleick got caught in the crossfire. Mea culpa!) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/3 "2011-03-21T21:27:38Z")
Gleick lists James Gleick’s home page as his home page. Of course, that could be part of the joke. Why not send a PM? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/4 "2011-03-22T12:56:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Why not send a PM? if you mean via the SDMB, yep, I did… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/5 "2011-03-22T14:22:12Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > if you mean via the SDMB, yep, I did… Oops. Sorry, I missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/6 "2011-03-22T14:39:47Z")
In the 1980s and 1990s, he had a column in the Sunday New York Times Magazine that was really interesting and I looked forward to reading, although I don’t think I’ve read any of his books. Also, I doubt anyone else here remembers this, but he was an internet pioneer. In the early 1990s, before browsers like Netscape made it easy to wander all over the internet, he had an internet service called The Pipeline in the New York City area. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-gleicks-new-book-lets-get-him-here-to-tell-us-about-it/575496/7 "2011-04-12T20:38:29Z")
Update: well, we never did hear from Mr. Gleick this time around, but it was worth a try. I just finished his new book - and it is very much a companion to the book I mentioned in the OP, Seth Lloyd’s _Programming the Universe_. But whereas Lloyd looks at the mathematical/physics implications of working with the characteristic of “Information” to be as critical a factor in framing what the Universe is as “Energy/Mass,” Gleick explore how Information, as a discipline, science and, yes, physical attribute has evolved through the ages. Fascinating book. He calls it “The Information” in a way as an \*homage \*to Newton calling his new math “The Calculus” - to connote that Information has as much importance and definition to be regarded that way. Indeed, his argument is that underlying all of the scientific inquiry over the years is the science of Information - all roads lead to it. I need to ponder how the next level of innovative thinking can/will be triggered by this - e.g., what will the next-order insight into the mechanics of the Univers, after the Theory of Relativity, be and how will Information Theory influence the insight? Worth a read.