15 York Valley Cr., North York, Ont., M2P 1A8Tel.: (416) 410-2202, Fax: 489-4688 Books and Managing Complexity Draft: for review only Rainer von Königslöw Version 0.1: June 14, 1997 Copyright 1997, All rights reserved. The history of books Timetable? Cave drawings etc. -- are they early books Hittite tablets etc. -- early accounting? Codification of law? Sacred books oral tradition (e.g., Homeric poems about the Trojan war: Iliad & Odyssey) handwritten - on stone, parchment, papyrus scrolls copied & verified by hand on paper (e.g., medieval manuscripts) the printing press (letters set into lines, repeated impressions) drawings, maps, exploration - understanding the world misc.: book keepers, bookies, burning books Modern management, administration, civil service - based on written records Cross cultural comparison Meaning & symbols phonetic, alphabetic, ... ease of use, %literacy, schooling methods Media: stone, pottery, papyrus, paper, string, ... archival, transportation, amount of info by weight, cost, time Role of writers, readers in society, ...