A native of New York City, Gleick attended Harvard College, where he was an editor of the "Harvard Crimson", graduating in 1976 with an A.B. degree in English and linguistics. He moved to Minneapolis and helped found an alternative weekly newspaper, "Metropolis". After its demise a year later, he returned to New York and in 1979 joined the staff of the "New York Times". He worked there for ten years as an editor on the metropolitan desk and then as a science reporter.