July 2001
Claude Shannon: Reluctant Father of the Digital Age
A juggling unicyclist transformed "information" from a vague idea into a precise concept that underlies the digital revolution.
By M. Mitchell Waldrop
Pick up a favorite CD. Now drop it on the floor. Smear it with your fingerprints. Then slide it into the slot on the player-and listen as the music comes out just as crystal clear as the day you first opened the plastic case. Before moving on with the rest of your day, give a moment of thought to the man whose revolutionary ideas made this miracle possible: Claude Elwood Shannon.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology