Shannon, Claude E.

Shannon, Claude E. (Elwood)

(1916– ) mathematician; born in Gaylord, Mich. His paper, "The Mathematical Theory of Communication" (1958), marked the beginnings of information theory that underlies modern communications engineering and is at the heart of a still-growing body of mathematical analysis. He was affiliated with Bell Laboratories (1941–72) and was also noted for devising an experiment illustrating the capabilities of telephone relays (1952). A National Medal of Science recipient (1966) and member of the National Academy of Sciences, he taught at a variety of universities.