Claude shannons information theory built the foundation. Information theory studies the quantification, storage, and communication of information. I taught an introductory course on information theory to a small class. Claude shannon and the invention of information information is what our world runs on.
Price points to diagrams in a book that resemble paper fans. Claude elwood shannon april 30, 1916 february 24, 2001 was an american mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as the father of information theory. Information theory a tutorial introduction james v stone stone information theory a tutorial introduction sebtel press a tutorial introduction book cover design by stefan brazzo riginally developed by claude shannon in the 1940s, information theory laid the foundations for the digital revolution, and is now an essential. Shannon introduction t he recent development of various methods of modulation such as pcm and ppm which exchange bandwidth for signaltonoise ratio has intensi. What were claude shannons most important contributions to. Nov 05, 2015 claude shannon father of the information age duration. Claude shannon, the father of the information age, turns 1100100. Claude shannon, whos 100th anniversary is this year, deserves your attention as a genius of the computer age.
A mathematical theory of communication harvard university. To sum it up, if you want to really understand what entropy means in terms of information theory, then this is the book for it. Claude shannon, the father of information theory you may not have heard of claude shannon, but his ideas made the modern information age possible. Claude shannon and the making of information theory core.
Claude shannon and the making of information theory. This important book, the first published collection of papers by claude e. Claude shannon, father of information theory internet. There is background about his growing up, his career, his contributions to the development of information theory and computation more generally, and about his professional and academic career. Mar 17, 20 claude shannon may be considered one of the most influential person of the 20th century, as he laid out the foundation of the revolutionary information theory. With the fundamental new discipline of quantum information science now under construction, its a good. Claude elwood shannons realization that all information could be transmitted in a series of 1s and 0s laid the foundation for a revolution in the spread of information. The first two samples were constructed by the use of a book of random numbers in conjunction with. This book is an excellent introduction to the mathematics underlying the theory. It deals with concepts such as information, entropy, information transmission, data compression, coding, and related topics. This task will allow us to propose, in section 10, a formal reading of the concept of shannon information, according to which the epistemic and the physical views are different possible models of the formalism. Shannon published his masterpiece, a mathematical theory of communication, giving birth to the science called information theory. In the pantheon of cool people who made the modern information era possible, hes right up there. Claude shannon father of the information age youtube.
For more information about shannon and his impact, see the article by michelle effros and h. Scientific american called it the magna carta of the information age. His work and its legacy, published with the permission of the ems newsletter. The life of the man called the father of information theory.
Information theory is the mathematical treatment of the concepts, parameters and rules governing the transmission of messages through communication systems. And the best way ive found is to explain some of the brilliant ideas he had. Slides of the corresponding talk are also available. This is the seminal work that may be said to include the basic concepts, definitions and theorems of information and communication theory. Shannon, is a fascinating guide to all of the published articles from this worldrenowned inventor, tinkerer, puzzlesolver, prankster, and father of information theory. Information theory, sport, betting and the stock market. Jan 16, 2008 considered the founding father of the electronic communication age, claude shannon s work ushered in the digital revolution. It assumes little prior knowledge and discusses both information with respect to discrete and continuous random variables. He created the field of information theory when he published a book the mathematical theory.
If you want to know about claude shannon who wrote a seminal article on information theory in 1948 this is a great book. Information theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Shannon published in bell system technical journal in 1948. Claude elwood shannon is considered as the founding father of electronic. Information theory was not just a product of the work of claude shannon. While the jones 2 book does not provide a basket full of lemmas and deep insight for doing research on quantifying information, it is a. He developed the mathematical theories and techniques that make possible the analysis of switching circuits, computers and communications. Vint cerf savours a life of claude shannon, informationtheory pioneer and wildly inventive tinkerer. It turns out that there were three certified geniuses at btl bell telephone laboratories at the same time, claude shannon of information theory fame, john pierce, of communication satellite and. The subtitle how claude shannon invented the information age is one reason. This book contains the collected papers of claude elwood shannon, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. I used information and coding theory by jones and jones as the course book, and supplemented it with various material, including covers book already cited on this page.
The approach is on a theoretical level and is intended to com. Information theory a tutorial introduction o information. A mind at play is a very interesting book for many reasons. You can use the internet without understanding any of claude shannons work. Apr 30, 2016 t his equation was published in the 1949 book the mathematical theory of communication, cowritten by claude shannon and warren weaver. Shannon 1 introduction and summary the problems of cryptography and secrecy systems furnish an interesting application of communication theory1. Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics, electrical engineering, and computer science which originated primarily in the work of claude shannon and his colleagues in the 1940s. Claude shannon may be considered one of the most influential person of the 20th century, as he laid out the foundation of the revolutionary information theory. Claude shannon information theory is the mathematics of. Claude shannons 1948 paper a mathematical theory of communication is the paper that made the digital world we live in possible.
Indeed the diversity and directions of their perspectives and interests shaped the direction of information theory. Which is the best introductory book for information theory. It deals with concepts such as information, entropy, information transmission, data. This paper is dedicated to his memory and the memory of claude shannon, who. Virtually all electronic forms of communication today are indebted to shannons work. Claude shannon was a mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as the father of information theory. Shannon award, the highest honor in the field of information theory.
This equation was published in the 1949 book the mathematical theory of communication, cowritten by claude shannon and warren. Shannon 1 2 which contained the basic results for simple memoryless sources and channels and introduced more general communication systems models, including nite state sources and channels. Includes his seminal article the mathematical theory of communication. The brilliant life of claude shannon, inventor of the information age. Information theory information theory before shannon to understand the contributions, motivations and methodology of claude shannon, it is important to examine the state of communication engineering before the advent of shannons 1948 paper. It is a great biography of a mathematician whose life and production are not that wellknown. The life and work of information theorys founding father. Considered the founding father of the electronic communication age, claude shannons work ushered in the digital revolution. Its interesting how information theory, las vegas and wall street have been intertwined over the years.
Shannonshannon, claude elwood, 19162001, american applied mathematician, b. Claude shannon, american mathematician and electrical engineer who laid the theoretical foundations for digital circuits and information theory, a mathematical communication model. Last updated on november 7, 2019 information theory is a subfield of read more. What are some standard bookspapers on information theory. It was founded by claude shannon toward the middle of the twentieth century and has since then evolved into a vigorous branch of mathematics fostering. Jimmy soni and rob goodman have finally rectified this injustice. The mathematical theory of communication 75 copy quote. Information theory was born in a surprisingly rich state in the classic papers of claude e. Jul 25, 2017 what were claude shannon s most important contributions to math and technology. Developed by claude shannon and norbert wiener in the late 1940s, information theory, or statistical communication theory, deals with the theoretical underpinnings of a wide range of communication devices. He not only pioneered binary logic and arithmetic, he invented a whole new subject area information theory and still had time to have fun with computer chess and theseus, the amazing maze running relay mouse see the video. Claude shannon 19162001 made a contribution of signal importance to the modern world when he was only 21. Shannon is noted for having founded information theory with a landmark paper, a mathematical theory of communication, that he published in 1948. A mathematical theory of communication is an article by mathematician claude e.
T his equation was published in the 1949 book the mathematical theory of communication, cowritten by claude shannon and warren weaver. Jul, 2017 vint cerf savours a life of claude shannon, informationtheory pioneer and wildly inventive tinkerer. After graduating from the university of michigan in 1936 with bachelors degrees in mathematics and electrical. The article was the founding work of the field of information theory. What were claude shannons most important contributions to math and technology. The concept of entropy was an important feature of shannons theory, which he.
It was renamed the mathematical theory of communication in the 1949 book. This fascinating program explores his life and the major influence his. Claude shannon father of the information age duration. He is the creator of modern information theory, and an early and important contributor to the theory of computing. It was the result of crucial contributions made by many distinct individuals, from a variety of backgrounds, who took his ideas and expanded upon them. It was originally proposed by claude shannon in 1948 to find. In kahns book, the codebreakers, he stated, shannon has managed to quantify the. An elegant way to work out how efficient a code could be, it. A mathematical theory of communication claude shannon. A tutorial introduction, by me jv stone, published february 2015.
A basis for such a theory is contained in the important papers of nyquist1 and. It was renamed the mathematical theory of communication in the 1949 book of the same name, a small but significant title change after realizing the generality of this work. The fact that there has never been a comprehensive biography of claude shannon, the father of information theory, has seemed a particularly egregious oversight as the world has hurtled further and further into the information age. A tutorial introduction is a highly readable first account of shannon s mathematical theory of communication, now known as information theory. A student of vannevar bush at the massachusetts institute of technology mit, he was the first to propose the application of symbolic. Claude shannons information theory built the foundation for the digital era born 100 years ago, shannon devised the math that made computers powerful. With the fundamental new discipline of quantum information science now under construction, its a good time to look back at an extraordinary. Masters thesis, massachusetts institute of technology. Claude shannon engineering and technology history wiki. During his acceptance lecture, at an international symposium in chicago, he. I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans. This page is dedicated to everything claude shannonthe father of information theory. Yet, unfortunately, he is virtually unknown to the public. In this paper a theory of secrecy systems is developed.