Shannon , Claude Elwood

Shannon , Claude Elwood
(1916–) American mathematician
Born in Gaylord, Michigan, Shannon graduated from the University of Michigan in 1936. He later worked both at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Bell Telephone Laboratories. In 1958 he returned to MIT as Donner Professor of Science, a post he held until his retirement in 1978.
Shannon's greatest contribution to science has been in laying the mathematical foundations of communication theory. The central problem of communication theory is to determine the most efficient ways of transmitting messages. What Shannon did was to show a precise way of quantifying the information content of a message, thus making the study of information flow amenable to exact mathematical treatment. He first published his ideas in 1948 in A Mathematical Theory of Communication, written in collaboration with Warren Weaver. The resulting theory found wide application in such wide-ranging fields as circuit design, computer design, communication technology in general, and even in biology, psychology, semantics, and linguistics. Shannon's work made extensive use of the theory of probability; he also extended the concept of entropy from thermodynamics and applied it to lack of information.
Shannon has also made important contributions to computer science. In his paper A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits (1938) he drew the analogy between truth values in logic and the binary states of circuits. He also coined the term ‘bit’ for a unit of information.

Scientists. . 2011.

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  • Shannon, Claude Elwood — ▪ 2002       American mathematician and computer scientist (b. April 30, 1916, Petoskey, Mich. d. Feb. 24, 2001, Medford, Mass.), laid the theoretical foundations for modern mass communications and came to be regarded as the “father of the… …   Universalium

  • Shannon, Claude (Elwood) — born April 30, 1916, Petoskey, Mich., U.S. died Feb. 24, 2001, Medford, Mass. U.S. electrical engineer. Shannon earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT in 1940. He had a long career as a research mathematician at Bell Laboratories (1941–72) and as …   Universalium

  • Shannon, Claude (Elwood) — (30 abr. 1916, Petoskey, Mich., EE.UU.–24 feb. 2001, Medford, Mass.). Ingeniero eléctrico estadounidense. Shannon obtuvo un Ph.D. en matemática en el MIT en 1940. Tuvo una larga carrera como investigador matemático en los Laboratorios Bell… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Claude Elwood Shannon — (* 30. April 1916 in Petoskey, Michigan; † 24. Februar 2001 in Medford, Massachusetts) war ein amerikanischer Mathematiker und Elektrotechniker. Er gilt als Begründer der Informationstheorie. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Werk …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Claude Elwood Shannon — Claude Shannon Claude Shannon Nom de naissance Claude Elwood Shannon Naissance 30 avril 1916 Gaylord, Michigan, États Unis Décès 24 février 2001 (à 84 ans) Nationalité …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Claude Elwood Shannon — (Míchigan, 30 de abril de 1916 24 de febrero de 2001), ingeniero electrónico y matemático estadounidense, recordado como «el padre de la teoría de la información». Contenido 1 Biografía 2 Referencias …   Wikipedia Español

  • Shannon, Claude — ▪ American engineer in full  Claude Elwood Shannon  born April 30, 1916, Petoskey, Michigan, U.S. died February 24, 2001, Medford, Massachusetts       American mathematician and electrical engineer who laid the theoretical foundations for digital …   Universalium

  • Claude Elwood Shannon — noun United States electrical engineer who pioneered mathematical communication theory (1916 2001) • Syn: ↑Shannon, ↑Claude Shannon, ↑Claude E. Shannon • Instance Hypernyms: ↑engineer, ↑applied scientist, ↑technologist …   Useful english dictionary

  • Claude Shannon — Claude Elwood Shannon (1916 2001) Born April …   Wikipedia

  • Claude Shannon — Claude Elwood Shannon (* 30. April 1916 in Petoskey, Michigan; † 24. Februar 2001 in Medford, Massachusetts) war ein amerikanischer Mathematiker. Er gilt als Begründer der Informationstheorie. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Biographie 2 Siehe auch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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