Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies
Language: English
Published by Basic Books, 2015
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: Cheryl's Books, Vinemont, AL, U.S.A.Cheryl's Books
AbeBooks seller since April 17, 2025
Condition: Used - Good
US$ 9.95
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Add to basketItem description from seller
Hardback with dust jacket in good condition.
Seller Inventory # PBLBAUG717B0162688
- Title
- Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies
- Author
- Hidalgo, Cesar
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- Publication year
- 2015
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0465048994
- ISBN 13
- 9780465048991
- Item weight
- 16 ounces
- Dimensions
- 6x0x9
At first glance, the universe seems hostile to order. Thermodynamics dictates that over time, order--or information--will disappear. Whispers vanish in the wind just like the beauty of swirling cigarette smoke collapses into disorderly clouds. But thermodynamics also has loopholes that promote the growth of information in pockets. Our cities are pockets where information grows, but they are not all the same. For every Silicon Valley, Tokyo, and Paris, there are dozens of places with economies that accomplish little more than pulling rocks off the ground. So, why does the US economy outstrip Brazil's, and Brazil's that of Chad? Why did the technology corridor along Boston's Route 128 languish while Silicon Valley blossomed? In each case, the key is how people, firms, and the networks they form make use of information.
Seen from Hidalgo's vantage, economies become distributed computers, made of networks of people, and the problem of economic development becomes the problem of making these computers more powerful. By uncovering the mechanisms that enable the growth of information in nature and society, Why Information Grows lays bear the origins of physical order and economic growth. Situated at the nexus of information theory, physics, sociology, and economics, this book propounds a new theory of how economies can do, not just more, but more interesting things.
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Cheryl's Books
Vinemont, AL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since April 17, 2025
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