Overview
All the Facts presents a history of the role of information in the United States since 1870, when the nation began a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity and technological and scientific transformations. James Cortada argues that citizens and their institutions used information extensively as tools to augment their work and private lives and that they used facts to help shape how the nation evolved during these fourteen decades. He argues that information's role has long been a critical component of the work, play, culture, and values of this nation, and no more so than during the twentieth century when its function in society expanded dramatically. While elements of this story have been examined by thousands of scholars---such as the role of radio, newspapers, books, computers, and the Internet, about such institutions as education, big business, expanded roles of governments from town administration to the state house, from agriculture to the services and information industries---All the Facts looks at all of these elements holistically, providing a deeper insight into the way the United States evolved over time. An introduction and 11 chapters describe what this information ecosystem looked like, how it evolved, and how it was used. For another vast layer of information about this subject the reader is directed to the detailed bibliographic essay in the back of this book. It includes a narrative history, case studies in the form of sidebars, and stories illustrating key points. Readers will find, for example, the story of how the US postal system helped create today's information society, along with everything from books and newspapers to TV, computers, and the Internet. The build-up to what many today call the Information Age took a long time to achieve and continues to build momentum. The implications for the world, and not just for the United States, are as profound as any mega-trend one could identify in the history of humankind. All the Facts presents this development thoroughly in an easy-to-digest format that any lover of history, technology, or the history of information and business will enjoy.
Full Product Details
Author: James W. Cortada (Senior Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.60cm
, Height: 4.10cm
, Length: 15.70cm
Weight: 1.066kg
ISBN: 9780190460679
ISBN 10: 0190460679
Pages: 656
Publication Date: 05 May 2016
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Many scholars have written about the history of information technology and set it in the context of American history; however, this book opens new territory by discussing the history of information itself in American life. This book is a very welcome addition to our understanding of both the history of information and the history of American life from just after the U.S. Civil War to the present. Cortada is especially strong as he tells how big business and the government have shaped American life. -William Aspray, Bill and Lewis Suit Professor of Information Technologies, School of Information, University of Texas, Austin This encyclopedic compendium provides a brisk and accessible guide to a vast and sprawling theme, which is nothing less than the role of information in the modern United States. It should prove invaluable not only for scholars looking for research topics, but also for general readers intrigued by the evolution of one of the defining hallmarks of our age. - Richard R. John, Professor of History and Communications, Columbia University, and author of Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications Cortada's All the Facts is a pioneering way of thinking about American economic history, beginning with the Pilgrims and continuing until today. He paints on a broad canvas and adroitly manages a torrent of information about information in demonstrating how government, business, military, religious, household, and academic users of information have often incorporated new ways of accessing information with existing ways. He also identifies intriguing paths that he encourages others to explore. -David Surdam, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Northern Iowa Finally, a comprehensive highly readable history of practical information which locates its uses in the daily public, private, and professional lives of Americans who, Cortada ably shows, have always lived in an information age. Essential reading for information professionals like engineers, office managers, clergy, lawyers, and educators and health care workers at all levels, as well as general readers whose lives have been enriched by information that in recent decades has greatly increased in volume and speed of access. -Wayne A. Wiegand, F. Williams Summers Professor of Library and Information Studies, Florida State University
Author Information
James W. Cortada is the author of over two-dozen books on the history and use of information and computing in American society. His most recent book on the history of information is The Digital Flood: The Diffusion of Information Technology Across the U.S., Europe, and Asia (Oxford, 2012). He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota.
