How does James Gleick use imagery in Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything?

Examples of Imagery:

"We are bumping against a speed limit. We can take real time communication only so far - at least until humanity becomes a single organism with parts conjoined as a light-speed consciousness."

"From a cosmic point of view, the velocity of human thought is more or less fixed - attuned in sometimes useful ways to the velocity of an apple falling from a tree, to the rate of the earth's spin, to the leaping speed of a predacious coyote, to the gentle passing of the seasons, to the wavelengths of visible light and audible sound. We are defined by these velocities, among others."