The history of information

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posted Jul 29 @ 10:45 AM by Tim Carmody · gift link

This timeline of the history of information has some outstanding rabbit-holes: multiple entries on the history of magnetic card readers, Plimpton 322 (a cuneiform tablet called “the most famous original document of Babylonian mathematics”), and a whole series on crimes, forgeries, and hoaxes. The most developed entries and companion essays are on books and the book trade (the proprietor is an antiquarian bookseller), and the whole thing has got a noticeably Western Civ slant, but there’s something here for everyone.