Claude Shannon Father of Information theory

From fire trumpets to supercomputers

Claude Shannon

 Claude Shannon enjoyed building remote controlled model planes and boats. And, his passion paved the way for the advent of the internet, modern computers and cell phones which controls the ways of the world today. Claude Shannon, the Father of Information Theory, an American engineer, mathematician and inventor was born on April 30, 1916. He would have turned 100 on Saturday. As the world remembers him and Google dedicates a Doodle to Shannon on his 100th birth anniversary, here's a glance at Shannon's life that was. Shannon’s father was a businessman, one of New Jersey’s early settlers. His mother was a language school teacher.
A child prodigy, Shannon was keen on studying science and mathematics at school. He graduated from high school in 1932 and enrolled at the University Of Michigan (MIT). By the time he graduated in 1936, he had a master’s degree each in electrical engineering and mathematics. Soon after, he joined the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to continue his studies in the two fields. He later joined the faculty at MIT but quit soon after as he was more interested in maths and science than students and lectures. In 1937, he published a paper as part of his master’s thesis: A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits. This paper was critically acclaimed and was also published the next year in an electrical engineering magazine. The article was so widely regarded that in 1939, Claude was awarded the Alfred Noble American Institute of American Engineers Award. Howard Gardner even said that the paper was “the most important master’s thesis of the century.” In 1942, he invented signal-flow graphs, after joining Bell Jar labs. This was part of his war time research. He is credited with digital data research, as well as coining the term “bytes” or "bits" for calculating computer data. It was Claude who first visualized a computer made with electrical components instead of motors.
It was at Bell Jar that he met his wife Betty who worked there as a numerical analyst, whom he married in 1949. Google has dedicated a Doodle to Shannon by depicting him as juggling balls in the air. Shannon was famous for cycling around the lab campus while juggling balls at the same time, which is where the idea for the Doodle comes from.
Soon after, though, Shannon took refuge in the basement of his home in Boston where he carried out research work and indulged in hobbies. He invented a host of gadgets such as a flame-throwing trumpet, a device which could solve the Rubik’s Cube, a Roman numeric computer THROBAC and a digital computer called the Minivac 601, among many others. He also designed a box called the ‘Ultimate Machine’, which had a switch on the outside. When the switch was flipped on, a hand from inside the box would emerge and flip the switch back.
Among his other notable inventions was a wearable computer, by which one could beat the odds at a roulette table. His fascination with mathematical theory behind gambling resulted in him making regular trips to Las Vegas, America’s play ground. These trips were accompanied by Shannon’s MIT colleague Edward O Thorp, a mathematician himself, who later published a book called ‘Beat the Dealer’ in 1962. The book was almost a manual on how card counting can help one win over the house at Blackjack. With increasing age, though, Shannon became more of a recluse. He started to publish less and less papers. Rumours, from mental illness to ruining his career by wiling away his time working on frivolous inventions and indulging in fantasies began to do the rounds. He wrote only one paper after 1974.
In 1978, Shannon was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. His health deteriorated more and more just as technology and data innovations gathered steam and the internet boom was beginning to take place. In 1993, he was admitted to a nursing home. He passed away in 2001, leaving behind a legacy that changed the way the world used technology forever. His contributions to the world of science are indispensable. Shannon revolutionized the way humanity used computers and electrical components in hardware. He is credited with being the facilitator for much of the gadgets and comforts of modern life.


Source :www.thestatesman.com