Four times in western history: in the 1400s, the early 1800s, the 1880s, and again in the mid-20th century, we learned to duplicate and disseminate the printed word more cheaply. And each time strange events followed. For with each of these changes in the gritty production of glamorous content, expensive and secret bodies of knowledge abruptly became cheap and easy to spread. Once-rare and sometimes disorienting impressions rained down on once-sheltered folks. New and otherwise inexpert hands mixed them into whole new breeds of information, myth, logic, and viewpoints. There were fantastic scientific advances, mass migrations, bold social experiments, financial upheavals, and much bloodshed. In the harrowing decades that followed, powerful new kinds of governments, businesses, and groups came to elbow aside old ones. In all of these periods, there were great, creaking shifts in politics, wealth, religions, and even the way we learn, think, and see. And in the last decade, the costs of producing and distributing printed knowledge have fallen a fifth time, far and fast and almost to free. Paradigms Lost traces the history of the accidents, inventions, forces, eccentrics, and geniuses who accelerated information in the past, examines what happened each time they succeeded, and provides some background for what, if the past is any guide, may be coming.

About the Author
William Sonn is a writer (Outside, Chicago, and The Progressive) and senior publishing and marketing executive. Bill, his family, his dog and his firm (Business Development Communications) reside in Denver.

Reviews
...will please anyone who loves history. * Bookviews *
Must reading for anyone involved in printing, typesetting or graphic design...a fascinating look at the printed word! * Design, Typography, and Graphics Monthly *
...an energetically written history of print technology that shows how changes in type production have had profound effects on society. * Zentralblatt fur Geologie und Palaontologie *
...Sonn's telling of the history of print [is]...engaging. * Color Business Report *
...amazingly detailed....extremely useful as a research tool. -- vol. 67, no. 6 * College & Research Libraries, November 2006 *
Colorado-based historian and writer Sonn describes the inventions and forces that shaped information processes in the past, providing a background for what the future may hold. In a conversational yet information-filled narrative he recounts the evolution of the printed word over the past 160,000 years, lightly touching on "primordial scratches" and proceeding to the birth of type (what he describes as "from hand to lever"), the age of type ("from lever to machine"), and the end of type ("from machine to math"), then concluding with "life after type." * Reference and Research Book News, August 2006 *
William Sonn is at his best... * Times Literary Supplement, January 26, 2007 *
Sonn is an excellent writer and, judging by the wealth of footnotes and extensive bibliography, a dogged researcher, too. * American Printer, December 2006 *
...a valuable documentary record. * Information & Culture, Vol. 42, No. 2 (2007) *



Book Information
ISBN 9780810852624
Author William Sonn
Format Paperback
Page Count 398
Imprint Scarecrow Press
Publisher Scarecrow Press
Weight(grams) 572g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 182mm * 30mm