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The Power of Knowledge: How Information and Technology Made the Modern World

Online ISBN:
9780300198546
Print ISBN:
9780300167955
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Book

The Power of Knowledge: How Information and Technology Made the Modern World

Published online:
18 September 2014
Published in print:
14 January 2014
Online ISBN:
9780300198546
Print ISBN:
9780300167955
Publisher:
Yale University Press

Abstract

Information is power. For more than five hundred years the success or failure of nations has been determined by a country’s ability to acquire knowledge and technical skill and transform them into strength and prosperity. This book approaches global history from a distinctive perspective, focusing on the relationship between information and society and demonstrating how the understanding and use of information have been the primary factors in the development and character of the modern age. The book suggests that the West’s ascension was a direct result of its institutions and social practices for acquiring, employing, and retaining information and the technology that was ultimately produced. This analysis looks at cartography and the hardware of communication, armaments and sea power, mercantilism and imperialism, science and astronomy, as well as bureaucracy and the management of information, linking the history of technology with the history of global power while providing important indicators for the future of our world.

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