The relation between natural history and human history is an interesting one, particularly if a bit of information history can be worked in. Two books published in 2023 take very different and contrasting approaches to this topic. Peter Frankopan's The earth transformed: an untold history is one of those works for which the phrase "big… Continue reading A volcanic earth transformed
Tag: Italy
“The summary of the universe”: thoughts on Venice in the words of Peter Ackroyd
I visited Venice for the first time recently, and wanted to set down some impressions: partly on the nature of the city itself, partly on its history of collections, archives, printing, and recording knowledge. However, I found that these ideas were expressed more evocatively than I could ever manage by Peter Ackroyd in his 'Venice:… Continue reading “The summary of the universe”: thoughts on Venice in the words of Peter Ackroyd
The Occasional Informationist 