From alphabets to iPhones, humans have experimented with data storage for millennia. In the modern age, though, information is beginning to overwhelm the physical world. The puzzle of information packing-how to cram knowledge into the tiniest space possible-has fueled technological development at least since the emergence of Chinese letters 8,000 years ago. In his new book, The Information, journalist James Gleick argues that information is "the blood and the fuel, the vital principle" of our lives. Delving deep into the history behind today's data-driven world, Gleick explores the mysterious drumming language of the African talking drum, whose irregular rhythms carried messages through the jungles of the Congo. He considers musical compositions likejohann Sebastian Bach's 18th-century "Well-Tempered Clavier" as data streams that could capture sounds as varied as wind, cricket chirps, or the clatter of a horse-drawn cart But for Gleick the pivotal moment initiating our data-drenched era came in 1948, when mathematician Claude Shannon conceived of the bit as a unit of information. Shannon's work propelled us headlong into the flood of Hogs, emails, tweets, and news updates that shape our lives today.
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机译：从字母到iPhone，人类已经尝试了数千年的数据存储。但是，在现代时代，信息开始淹没物理世界。至少从8000年前中文字母出现以来，信息打包的难题-如何将知识塞入尽可能小的空间-一直在推动技术发展。记者詹姆斯·格里克（James Gleick）在他的新书《信息》中认为，信息是我们生活的“血液和燃料，至关重要的原则”。深入了解当今数据驱动世界背后的历史，格里克（Gleick）探索了非洲会说话的鼓的神秘鼓声，这种不规则的节奏在刚果丛林中传递着信息。他认为像约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫（Johann Sebastian Bach）18世纪的“温和轻快”这样的音乐作品是数据流，可以捕获各种声音，如风，声或马车的the声，但是对于格里克来说，启动我们数据的关键时刻是： 1948年，数学家克劳德·香农（Claude Shannon）将位设计为信息单元，这是一个充满干旱的时代。香农（Shannon）的工作将我们带入了影响我们今天生活的大量猪，电子邮件，推文和新闻更新。
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