How We Disappear

A Personal History of Information

Thomas S. Mullaney (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

192 Seiten

2026
WW Norton & Co (Verlag)
9781324020783 (ISBN)

Noch nicht erschienen (ca. Juni 2026)
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A brilliant foray into the nature of information, of history, and of making meaning in the face of death and decay.

Our lives are collections of information—from mundane official documents, poignant family photos, and random artifacts to the cues embodied in our genes. Never is this more evident than in the wake of a parent’s death. Yet from all these elusive, even evanescent, data points, history is written and a future is made.

This information is stored on clay tablets and wood pulp; in vinyl grooves, compact discs, and magnetic patterns; and relayed over undersea cables and satellite cell networks. But all information decays. Everything that we put “in formation” eventually collapses into randomness.

In this wide–ranging examination of the micro and macro, world–renowned scholar Thomas S. Mullaney reflects on the deaths of his parents, and on how human lives “disappear.” Lyrical and poignant, his erudite, inspiring meditation offers eye–opening insight on the miracle of existence, and on what it means to forge meaning from a chaotic universe.

Thomas S. Mullaney is an award–winning Stanford historian, Guggenheim fellow, and former Kluge Chair in Technology and Society at the Library of Congress. He is the author of four books on Chinese history and technology and lives in Palo Alto, California.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	23.6.2026
Zusatzinfo	1 illustration
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 210 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Psychologie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Trennung / Trauer
ISBN-13	9781324020783 / 9781324020783
Zustand	Neuware