Title When information came of age : technologies of knowledge in the age of reason and revolution, 1700-1850 / Daniel R. Headrick

Published Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 246 pages) : illustrations, maps Series OUP E-Books Contents Information and its history -- Organizing information, the language of science -- Transforming information, the origins of statistics -- Displaying information, maps and graphs -- Storing information, dictionaries and encyclopedias -- Communicating information, postal and telegraphic systems -- Information ages, past and present Summary "Although the Information Age is often described as a new era, a cultural leap springing directly from the invention of modern computers, it is simply the latest step in a long cultural process. Its conceptual roots stretch back to the profound changes that occurred during the Age of Reason and Revolution. When Information Came of Age argues that the key to the present era lies in understanding the systems developed in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to gather, store, transform, display, and communicate information." "The book provides a concise and readable survey of the many conceptual developments between 1700 and 1850 and draws connections to leading technologies of today. It documents three breakthroughs in information systems that date to the period: the classification and nomenclature of Linneaus, the chemical system devised by Lavoisier, and the metric system. It shows how eighteenth-century political arithmeticians and demographers pioneered statistics and graphs as a means for presenting data succinctly and visually. It describes the transformation of cartography from art to science as it incorporated new methods for determining longitude at sea and new data on the measure of the arc of the meridian on land. Finally, it looks at the early steps in codifying and transmitting information, including the development of dictionaries, the invention of semaphore telegraphs and naval flag signaling, and the conceptual changes in the use and purpose of postal services." "When Information Came of Age shows that, like the roots of democracy and industrialization, the foundations of the Information Age were built in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries."--Jacket Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-222) and index Notes English Print version record Subject Learning and scholarship -- Europe -- History -- 18th century Learning and scholarship -- Europe -- History -- 19th century Information resources -- Europe -- History -- 18th century Information resources -- Europe -- History -- 19th century Enlightenment. Enlightenment (18th-century western movement) SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture. Enlightenment Information resources Intellectual life Learning and scholarship Speichermedien Informationstechnik Informatiewetenschap. Savoir et érudition -- Europe -- 18e siècle. Savoir et érudition -- Europe -- 19e siècle. Systèmes d'information -- Europe -- 18e siècle. Systèmes d'information -- Europe -- 19e siècle. Mouvement des Lumières. Éducation -- Europe de l'Ouest -- Histoire. Vie intellectuelle -- 19e siècle. Vie intellectuelle -- 18e siècle. Transports et communications -- Europe de l'Ouest -- 19e siècle. Transports et communications -- Europe de l'Ouest -- 18e siècle. Électrification -- Europe de l'Ouest. SUBJECT Europe -- Intellectual life -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045728 Europe -- Intellectual life -- 19th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85045729 Subject Europe Europe -- Vie intellectuelle -- 18e siècle. Europe -- Vie intellectuelle -- 19e siècle. Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780198031086 0198031084 1280473452 9781280473456 9780195185409 0195185404 9786610473458 6610473455 0195180402 9780195180404 1433700263 9781433700262 0197561640 9780197561645

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