Great Disasters in Human History: Still Burning Books in the Age of Information

Abstract

It is no coincidence that many key advances in human knowledge, industry, and achievement are related to the acquisition, storage, and dissemination of information. World history has its inception in the development of writing. The great empires of the ancient world acquired cohesion and stability through the codification of written laws, and lasting fame for their literature and libraries. The preservation and transmission of this literary heritage in the western world is seen as one of the great achievements of the monasteries and manuscript tradition, and the continuity and flourishing of literature and learning in the Near and Far East preserved these cultures from any so-called 'Dark Ages'. With the dawn of the modern era came the Gutenberg press, which not only enabled the rapid dissemination of information and literature but also fostered freedom, enlightenment, and leisure for the literate masses as well as the privileged few. Now, in the digital era, sustained by the personal computer and internet, anyone, anywhere, can access or disseminate information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We are living in the age of information.