Grammatical man
Just as physics made sense out of the mysteries of earth, air, fire, and water, it can be said that the science of information enriches and unifies an amazing diversity of modern sciences, from physics and mathematics to biology and linguistics. Because symbols, messages, and codes are the stuff not only of computers and telecommunications, but also of living organisms and the forms of human knowledge, information, and thus information theory, is universal. This is the first book to tell the story of information theory, how it arose with the development of radar during World War II, and how it evolved. This thought-provoking book describes how the laws and discoveries of information theory support controversial revisions to Darwinian evolution, begin to unravel the mysteries of language, memory and dreams, and stimulate provocative ideas in psychology, philosophy, art, music, computers, and even the structure of society. The insights of information theory make us look at our world in an entirely new and different way--but perhaps its most fascinating and unexpected surprise is the suggestion that order and complexity may be as natural as disorder and disorganization.--From publisher description.
Stats for nerds
7recommend
13mentions
8people
2010–2021years
85% recommend15% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Funny you mention that story, I came across it for the first time about 3 days ago in a book I was reading -- Grammatical Man. It's one of the best reads I've found on the history of information theory. Funnily enough the friend that lent it to me isn't even a tech person, he's an electrician who's more interested in occultism and esotericism than mathematics and technology.
Every time I read about the 20th century history of computing, it sounds like it was a wild time. Every advance or discovery seems to have some humorous anecdote attached to it.
- In no particular order, and some of these being more "highly underrated" as opposed to "unknown", with the notable exception of Smith's Wealth of Nations which is disturbingly un- and mis-read:
1. Grammatical Man, by Jeremy Campbell (1982)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/grammatical-man-information-e...
My introduction to information theory and its diverse set of interrelated applications and phenomena.
2. Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity, by William Ophuls (1977)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/ecology-and-the-politics-of-s...
Distills the Limits to Growth issue to its essence, and looks at the political implications, with a set of estimates of political developments which have played out closely.
3. An Inquiry to the Nature and Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (1776)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/inquiry-into-the-nature-and-c...
The best-known, but least-read, and most mis-read book on this list. Smith isn't perfect and has flaws. But his message is extraordinarily misunderstood and misrepresented. Even where he is wrong, he is instructive.
4. Commercialism and Journalism, by Hamilton Holt (1909)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/commercialism-and-journalism/...
A short but extraordinarily illuminating read on the influence of money and advertising on the press, coming near the beginning of the era of mass media.
5. Unix Power Tools, by Mike Loukides et al (1997)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/unix-power-tools/oclc/2584502...
The book that really got me "over the hump" in understanding the Unix environment and tools. Now somewhat dated, though still highly useful.
6. A Short History of Progress, by Ronald Wright (2004)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/short-history-of-progress/ocl...
An exploration of the story, question, and future, of progress.
7. Entropy and the Economic Process, by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (1971)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/entropy-law-and-the-economic-...
A re-thinking of economics taking thermodynamics into account. Famously difficult to read, but well worth the effort.
8. On the Damned Human Race, by Mark Twain (1962)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/mark-twain-on-the-damned-huma...
A darker, angrier, more bitter side of Twain, cracking open the sanitised version those familiar with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn will know, and giving an insight to the darker side of late 19th and early 20th century America.
9. Energy and Civilization, by Vaclav Smil (2017)
https://www.worldcat.org/title/energy-and-civilization-a-his...
A re-casting of history, not according to spiritual or cultural progress, Great Men, or social dynamics, but the access to and utilisation of energy sources.
10. Resistances to the Adoption of Technological Innovations, by Bernhard J. Stern (1937)
https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/pag...
A fascinating exploration of the organised opposition to numerous significant technological innovations through the ages, contrary to the conventional story told by mainstream economic and innovation models and stories. Stern's research assistant at the time he was working on this topic went on to become known as a science fiction author, and based one of his first works on this notion: Isaac Asimov.
On the question of compiling such lists: I've recently started keeping a research journal in which I'm trying to capture works of significance that I've read, vaguely inspired by both index-card methods (such as Zettelkasten or POIC) and bullet journals.
The organisation is "BOTI" -- best of the interval.
I will start a two-page spread, dated, of a specific class of entries -- works, videos, authors, ideas, etc. -- and when that closes, start another. Periodically (about every month, for now) I'll select the best of those works for a BOTM list, and at the end of a year, a BOTY list.
Or at least that's the idea.
This may address the question of keeping track of the most significant works (or authors, concepts, ideas, etc.) over time, which otherwise tend to become a bit of a jumble.
The BOTI list and periodic aggregations themselves resemble round-robin databases, or ring or circular buffers or files, though without actually rewriting each specific list. The initial capture levels remain accessible (in the journal) for revisiting, should something prove to have been more significant on subsequent reflection than initially appeared.
- All the books below have shaped my thought process to a significant degree. I started reading late but I'm fortunate enough to have stumbled upon these gems.
"Debt: The First 5000 Years": This is truly a magnum opus. Until I read this I had taken money, economy, market etc., for granted. And I had held onto the widely accepted, but naive, view that economic systems somehow grew out of barter systems. The range of topics discussed, and the way author shows how seemingly independent concepts are intertwined, is truly astonishing. I'm on my 2nd read.
"Thinking, Fast and Slow": This book made me truly appreciate the value of psychology. I didn't even know the existence of a vast domain called behavioral science until I read this book. Now I'm deliberately conscious about the decisions I take and retrace my thought process multiple times just to make sure that I haven't fallen pray to some of the cognitive biases.
"The Tell-Tale Brain": While I did know that human brain is a unique organ this book opened my eyes to its layered complexities. For instance, how "seeing" is not a single step but a multi step process. From image formation, to identifying the object, to evoking emotional response.
"QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter": The book with the highest signal to noise ratio. I finally understood what science is about, a way to model nature and to keep refining it to fit the observation. There are no true/false theories/models only those that explain nature's behavior better or worse. Nature is agnostic to all our theories and models. She's just the way she is. For details read about double slit experiment.
"How the World Works": This one along with "Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order" has greatly shaped my mental model about the workings of contemporary world. I now understand why does military gets all the funding, why do powerful governments tend to keep its subject under perpetual fear, why is it that the cost of education has been sky-rocketing.
"The Hanging of Afzal Guru and the Strange Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament": A glimpse into the working of Indian justice system.
"Broken Republic": This is by far the most accurate description about current affairs in India. How India is being hollowed out and how its most vulnerable section is the one fighting against it.
"Grammatical Man: Information, Entropy, Language and Life": I'm currently reading it (20% through) and it has already made a big impact. The meaning of information is deep and subtle and pervades not just human being but the life itself.
"The Order of Time": The book that well and truly shook the foundation that I had taken for granted for my entire life. That space and time aren't something absolute and are personal has had a profound impact on me.
"The Upanisads": A truly remarkable work of human mind. Just to think about some of the concepts uplifts my mood.
- There's a fantastic book on Shannon called "Grammatical Man", by Jeremy Campbell - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KHFL0W
- Three Scientists and their Gods: This book foreshadows the meaning and purpose of science+tech https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214570.Three_Scientists_...
Scifi: The Three Body problem (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-...) for its whole encompassing narrative about human future and some of it will be real (fusion instead of chemical fuel, pulse propulsion and other social consequences)
Ardor: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20931250-ardor if you ever wanted to understand ancient indian philosophy. Heavy read, not recommended for fun but more as quest
FoxTales: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/412167.Foxtales about how software was developed in the midwest free of all the fashion/hipsterism currently in vogue and building a community of users for your software
The elements of networking style: If you ever wanted to know the politics of how networking RFCs are made: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2298785.The_Elements_of_... and design choices made to build modern day internet
Unwritten Laws of Engineering: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13122143-unwritten-laws-... is an old and timeless way detailing what it means to engineer
High Performance Browser Networking: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17985198-high-performanc... if you ever wanted to know what happens inside a browser
The Computer and the Brain: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/358880.The_Computer_and_... where the master compares the machine with our brain
The Grammatical Man: If you ever wanted to know the importance of structure and constraint in everything: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/722028.Grammatical_Man
- The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose
The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra
Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav
The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris
The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek
The Worldly Philosophers, by Robert Heilbroner
The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant
Grammatical Man, by Jeremy Campbell
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig
Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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