Claude Shannon

Updated: 12/30/2019 by Computer Hope
Claude Shannon

Name: Claude Elwood Shannon

Born: April 30, 1916, in Petoskey, Michigan, USA

Death: February 24, 2001 (Age: 85)

Computer-related contributions

  • American mathematician, electronic engineer, and cryptographer known as "the father of information theory".
  • Credited with being he founder of both digital computer and digital circuit design theory in 1937. As a 21-year-old master's student at MIT, he wrote a thesis demonstrating that electrical application of Boolean algebra could construct and resolve any logical, numerical relationship. Its been claimed that was the most important master's thesis of all time. Shannon contributed to the field of cryptanalysis during World War II and after, including basic work on code breaking.

Significant publications

  • Communication Theory of Secret Systems - which was where he first proposed block ciphers.

Honors and awards

  • Harvey Prize (1972).
  • Alfred Noble American Institute of American Engineers Award (1940).
  • IEEE Medal of Honor.
  • Kyoto Prize.

Quotes

"I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I'm rooting for the machines."

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