James Gleick Quote

From this point of view, the laws of science represent data compression in action. A theoretical physicist acts like a very clever coding algorithm. The laws of science that have been discovered can be viewed as summaries of large amounts of empirical data about the universe, wrote Solomonoff. In the present context, each such law can be transformed into a method of compactly coding the empirical data that gave rise to that law. A good scientific theory is economical. This was yet another way of saying so.

James Gleick

From this point of view, the laws of science represent data compression in action. A theoretical physicist acts like a very clever coding algorithm. The laws of science that have been discovered can be viewed as summaries of large amounts of empirical data about the universe, wrote Solomonoff. In the present context, each such law can be transformed into a method of compactly coding the empirical data that gave rise to that law. A good scientific theory is economical. This was yet another way of saying so.

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About James Gleick

James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonfiction, he has been called "one of the great science writers of all time". He is part of the inspiration for Jurassic Park character Ian Malcolm.
Gleick's books include the international bestsellers Chaos: Making a New Science (1987) and The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood (2011). Three of his books have been Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalists; and The Information was awarded the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award in 2012 and the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books 2012. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.