James Gleick Quote

When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal, they identified it immediately as the god he worshiped. After all, he seldom did anything without consulting it: he called it his oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action in his life. To Jonathan Swift in 1726 that was worth a bit of satire. Modernity was under way. We're all Gullivers now. Or are we Yahoos?

James Gleick

When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal, they identified it immediately as the god he worshiped. After all, he seldom did anything without consulting it: he called it his oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action in his life. To Jonathan Swift in 1726 that was worth a bit of satire. Modernity was under way. We're all Gullivers now. Or are we Yahoos?

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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.