Biography
Claude Shannon
- Born
- 30 April 1916
- Died
- 24 February 2001
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- Information theory, Linking Boolean logic to circuits
Claude Shannon worked out the mathematics that makes the digital world possible. His ideas are less famous than the machines they enabled, but almost every time information is stored, compressed or sent, from a phone call to a saved file, it rests on work he did.
He made two great contributions. The first came in 1937, while he was a student, when he showed that the true-or-false logic of Boolean algebra could be represented exactly by electrical switching circuits. That gave engineers a way to build logic out of switches, and it is the basis of all digital hardware. The second came in 1948, when he founded information theory. He defined information precisely, introduced the bit as its basic unit, and proved fundamental limits on how much can be sent reliably down a noisy channel.
Shannon spent much of his career at Bell Labs and later at MIT, and he had a playful streak, building juggling machines and a mechanical mouse that could solve a maze. Behind the play was one of the most influential minds in the history of computing.
Frequently asked
What is Claude Shannon known for?
He is best known for founding information theory in 1948, the mathematical basis for compressing, storing and transmitting data. He also showed, a decade earlier, that Boolean logic could be built from electrical switches.
What is information theory?
Information theory is the mathematics of measuring, storing and sending information. Shannon introduced the bit as the basic unit and worked out limits on how much data a communication channel can carry.
Did Claude Shannon invent the bit?
He did not invent the underlying idea, but he named and defined the bit as the basic unit of information in his 1948 work, which is why he is so closely associated with it.