I’ve just ordered a copy of Alex Wright’s book, GLUT, which sounds fascinating:

What do primordial bacteria, medieval alchemists, and the World Wide Web have to do with each other? This fascinating exploration of how information systems emerge takes readers on a provocative journey through the history of the information age.

Spanning disciplines from evolutionary theory and cultural anthropology to the history of books, libraries, and computer science, writer and information architect Alex Wright weaves an intriguing narrative that connects such seemingly far-flung topics as insect colonies, Stone Age jewelry, medieval monasteries, Renaissance encyclopedias, early computer networks, and the World Wide Web. Finally, he pulls these threads together to reach a surprising conclusion, suggesting that the future of the information age may lie deep in our cultural past.

I found it via Terry Jones’ post about it, with references to that Miscellaneous book. Terry is chasing a database architecture that doesn’t suffer from the old limitations of space-based thought or limited computing resources. Terry promises more in a later post, so we’ll find out…

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