Evidence Performed by Claude Shannon

  • Name
    Development of A Mathematical Theory of Communication
  • Description

    The rapid expansion of telecommunications in the post-war era lacked a fundamental theory to determine the maximum capacity of any communication channel or how to eliminate transmission noise. Claude Shannon published his monumental 1948 paper, introducing the world to the "bit" as a unit of information, defining information entropy, and establishing the channel capacity limit. This single-handedly established the field of Information Theory, providing the blueprint for all modern digital communication, data compression, and internet architecture.

  • Start Date
    1945-09-01
  • Duration
    3 years
  • Type
    Professional
  • For
    Bell Laboratories
  • Title
    Research Mathematician
  • Primary Responsibilities
    Formulating mathematical models for communication channels, noise, and information transmission rates Inventing the concept of informational entropy to quantify the uncertainty or surprise in a message Publishing peer-reviewed papers that established the absolute theoretical limits of data compression

Used Skills