Csaba Pleh Pleh Csaba
Cognitive Science Group Megismerestudomanyi Csoport
Department of Psychology Pszichologiai Tanszek
University of Szeged Szegedi Tudomanyegyetem
Szeged
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Hungarian Review of Psychology Magyar Pszichologiai Szemle
editor foszerkeszto
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 06:22:20 -0000
From: Ian Pitchford <ian.pitchford(a)scientist.com>
To: evolutionary-psychology(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [evol-psych] Claude Shannon, Father of Information Theory, Dies at 84
Murray Hill, N.J. (Feb. 26, 2001) -- Claude Elwood Shannon, the mathematician
who laid the foundation of modern information theory while working at Bell Labs
in the 1940s, died on Saturday. He was 84.
Shannon's theories are as relevant today as they were when he first formulated
them. "It was truly visionary thinking," said Arun Netravali, president of
Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs. "As if assuming that inexpensive, high-speed
processing would come to pass, Shannon figured out the upper limits on
communication rates. First in telephone channels, then in optical
communications, and now in wireless, Shannon has had the utmost value in
defining the engineering limits we face."
In 1948 Shannon published his landmark A Mathematical Theory of Communication.
He begins this pioneering paper on information theory by observing that "the
fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either
exactly or approximately a message selected at another point." He then proceeds
to so thoroughly establish the foundations of information theory that his
framework and terminology remain standard.
Shannon's theory was an immediate success with communications engineers and
stimulated the technology which led to today's Information Age.
Shannon published many more provocative and influential articles in a variety
of disciplines. His master's thesis, A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching
Circuits, used Boolean algebra to establish the theoretical underpinnings of
digital circuits. This work has broad significance because digital circuits are
fundamental to the operation of modern computers and telecommunications
systems.
Another example is Shannon's 1949 paper entitled Communication Theory of
Secrecy Systems. This work is now generally credited with transforming
cryptography from an art to a science.
Shannon was born in Petoskey, Michigan, on April 30, 1916. He graduated from th
e University of Michigan in 1936 with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and
electrical engineering. In 1940 he earned both a master's degree in electrical
engineering and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).
Shannon joined the mathematics department at Bell Labs in 1941 and remained
affiliated with the Labs until 1972. He became a visiting professor at MIT in
1956, a permanent member of the faculty in 1958, and a professor emeritus in
1978.
Shannon was renowned for his eclectic interests and capabilities. A favorite
story describes him juggling while riding a unicycle down the halls of Bell
Labs.
He designed and built chess-playing, maze-solving, juggling and mind-reading
machines. These activities bear out Shannon's claim that he was more motivated
by curiosity than usefulness.
In his words "I just wondered how things were put together."
For more information on Claude Shannon, please see Information Theory
[From:
http://www.bell-labs.com/news/2001/february/26/1.html]
Additional information in The Human Nature Daily Review
http://human-nature.com/nibbs/
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