What do Stone Age axes, Toll House cookies, and Burning Man have in common? They are all examples of code in action.
What is "code"? Code is the DNA of human civilization as it has evolved from Neolithic simplicity to modern complexity. It is the "how" of progress. It is how ideas become things, how ingredients become cookies. It is how cities are created and how industries develop.
In a sweeping narrative that takes readers from the invention...