Customer Reviews

When Information Came of Age: Technologies of Knowledge in the Age of Reason and Revolution 1700-1850

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This is an interesting, clearly written, well organized introduction to the history of information technologies. The author explains the role of classification in the increase in knowledge, introducing major contributors to Western science: Linneaus, Lavoisier among others.

I simply loved this book. It is written in a very lighthearted style, despite being filled with abundant scholarly observations, notes, and references. The amazing collection of very pertinent and relevant (although not original) anecdotes is particularly delightful. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest not only in History per se, but also in Economic History, the History of Technical Change and Innovation, the History of Ideas and so on. For people with an interest in dictionaries, statistics, and maps this book will add a wealth of contextualized information and knowledge (no pun intended...) hardly available in any other single source, sewing many pieces of history coherently with a history of technical change line. A must have in learned layman libraries.