The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes
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The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes
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Narrated by:
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Benjamin Schumacher
About this listen
The science of information is the most influential, yet perhaps least appreciated field in science today. Never before in history have we been able to acquire, record, communicate, and use information in so many different forms. This revolution goes far beyond the limitless content that fills our lives, because information also underlies our understanding of ourselves, the natural world, and the universe. Little wonder that an entirely new science has arisen that is devoted to deepening our understanding of information and our ability to use it.
The study and acquisition of information has been around a long time. In human terms, spoken language, writing, art, music, and mathematics are perfect examples; so are Morse code, Mendelian genetics, and radio signals - all understood and used before 1900. But a series of conceptual breakthroughs in the 20th century united what seemed like unrelated phenomena and led to a dramatic new way of looking at reality. Called information theory, this field has been responsible for path-breaking insights.
The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes covers the exciting concepts, history, and applications of information theory in 24 challenging and eye-opening half-hour lectures taught by Professor Benjamin Schumacher of Kenyon College. A prominent physicist and award-winning educator at one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, Professor Schumacher is also a pioneer in the field of quantum information, which is the latest exciting development in this dynamic scientific field.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Science of Information: From Language to Black Holes
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Diogenes
- 21-08-19
Mind bending!
Absolutely brilliant! The lecturer is outstanding and the content fascinating!
A must listen for everyone!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 28-03-22
Information is everything, literally
Did you ever realize where and how humanity came to this point? Through information. What a wild ride to go through this lecture. From the smallest of origin to the grandest of space.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-06-20
A bit technical but really full of insights
There is a bit of math in this that benefits from being seen rather than listened too. DON'T BE PUT OFF BY THE MATH. the concepts and insights are profound and range across, and link many fields of human knowledge, reaching out from quantum mechanics to the edge of the known universe. Makes you think and feel differently about life. It's not the 'meaning of life' but make you feel that 'in the beginning was the information'.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Santiago
- 07-05-20
FASCINATING
Best audio lecture I've listened to this year, if not ever. You will learn some fundamental principles in computer science, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and beyond, and what links these together.
Incredible scope, AND great depth for an audio lecture. It even describes the math when that's simple enough in audio format.
Outstanding lecturer too.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr GS Mccreadie
- 20-09-19
great listen
jampacked with fascinating facts, interesting insights and all bound together by a common unifying thread: information - the source and product of alot. if not everything. captivating and well delivered. really recommend this course.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- JohnH
- 13-10-20
Excellent topic, well presented.
Its a genuinely interesting topic and Professor Schumacher's delivery is engaging. He covers a lot of ground in 30 min lectures, and I found it necessary to read the accompanying pdf whilst listening. I've marked down one star as there are occasionally references to something that is not present in the pdf - I am assuming that the narrator was originally talking to video. Aside from that quibble, I really enjoyed it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-08-22
Entropic
surprising is the lessons contained in this Information science lecture. I need another round of listening to settle my understanding
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Cliente Amazon
- 04-09-19
Excellent book
The book is great. The professor is really energetic and able to motivate the listener to be interested in the topic. It does have some maths in it, but the pdf is really helpful. You can always hear it and then check the pdf later. It takes some more time, but it is worth. I found that the final chapters were increasingly difficulty to follow the maths, but I also didn't check as often in the pdf either.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- TheLG
- 26-08-20
ignore this review
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I downloaded this as it never promised to be a thrilling listen. I didn't listen to much of it but what I did listen to was just so excruciatingly boring that it really did exceed any expectations I had for how boring it could be. ignore this review if you have a sensible reason to learn about the subject. if you are curious whether it can really be that boring I urge you to give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- D.
- 15-02-22
Good content, but too visual
Without the accompanying slides some parts of the lectures are hard to follow or feel very disconnected. Not all of the images (etc.) discussed are included in the PDF either. A great lecture series, not so great as audio only.
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