What do primordial bacteria, medieval alchemists and the World Wide Web have to do with each other? In this fascinating exploration of how information systems emerge, writer and information architect, Alex Wright takes readers on a provocative journey through the history of the information age. Today's well-documented information explosion may seem like an acutely modern phenomenon, but we are not the first generation - nor even the first species - to wrestle with the problem of information overload. Ever since the earliest complex organisms started developing mechanisms for sharing sensory data, life on earth has been engaged in a shared struggle with managing its intellectual capital, forging patterns of information sharing that have exerted a deep influence on the trajectory of human culture. Caught in what designer Richard Saul Wurman referred to as a tsunami of data, we are only beginning to understand the long-term impact of networked information systems in shaping our collective understanding of the world around us. Today we stand at a precipice, in which our old systems are coming unhinged as they strain to support the ongoing expansion of human knowledge. the history of books, libraries and computer science, 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, Wright pulls these threads together to reach a surprising conclusion, suggesting that the future of the information age may lie deep in our cultural past.