You could look it up : the reference shelf from ancient Babylon to Wikipedia by Lynch, Jack (John T.), author instant download

You could look it up : the reference shelf from ancient Babylon to Wikipedia by Lynch, Jack (John T.), author instant download

453 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm, \"Today we think of Wikipedia as the source of all information, the ultimate reference. Yet it is just the latest in a long line of aggregated knowledge--reference works that have shaped the way we've seen the world for centuries. You Could Look It Up chronicles the captivating stories behind these great works and their contents, and the way they have influenced each other. From The Code of Hammurabi, the earliest known compendium of laws in ancient Babylon almost two millennia before Christ to Pliny's Natural History; from the 11th-century Domesday Book recording land holdings in England to Abraham Ortelius's first atlas of the world; from Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language to The Whole Earth Catalog to Google, Jack Lynch illuminates the human stories and accomplishment behind each, as well as its enduring impact on civilization. In the process, he offers new insight into the value of knowledge.\" --, Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-424) and index, Looking it up -- Justice in the earth : laws of the ancient world -- Of making many books : information overload -- In the beginning was the word : the first dictionaries -- A fraction of the total : counting reference books -- The history of nature : science in antiquity -- Easy as ABC : the rise (and fall?) of alphabetical order -- Round earth's imagined corners : mapping the world -- The invention of the codex -- The circle of the sciences : ancient encyclopedias -- The dictionary gets its day in court -- Leechcraft : medieval medicine -- Plagiarism : the crime of literary theft -- New Worlds : cartography in an age of discovery -- Tell me how you organize your books -- Admirable artifice : computers before computers -- To bring people together : societies -- The infirmity of human nature : guides to error -- Ignorance, pure ignorance : of omissions, ambiguities, and plain old blunders -- Guarding the avenues of language :…