A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age

Biographies of extraordinary mathematicians usually also have extraordinarytitles: examples are "The man who knew infinity" (Ramanujan), "A beautifulmind" (Nash). "The man who loved only numbers" (Erdos) or "Perfect Rigor"(Perelman). This applies also for the title for the book under review."A mind at Play" is a book about a Coryphaeus and father of information theory.But as the book title indicates already, Shannon was a person who liked to tinker,both with ideas and objects. It is really strange that no serious biography about Shannonhas been written before. Fortunately this is now done. The book is wellwritten, filled with many details. I learned for example that Shannon,while working at MIT, lived on 5 Cambridge Street, just opposite theWinchester Country club. It is a house I have been running by countless ofmany times. That home - now in the national register of historic places- was called the "Entropy House" by the Shannon family. Claude Shannonalso took up running while living there. I can imagine now while joggingmyself the Mystic lakes, that this was the place where Shannon alsoran his rounds. I really like the attention to details which shows thatthe book is well researched. The reader who wants to visit the graveof Shannon knows to look for that at the Begonia path in Mount AuburnCemetery in Cambridge. (Pilgrims of graves have to be advised however notto visit Shannon while jogging. I took once a jogging detour to visitthe grave of Julian Schwinger, who also rests in Mount Auburn cemeterybut was chased away the guards - by car of course as guards in uniformcan not run as fast as I can ...) The book contains many photographs,concentrated in the later part, just before chapters of "aftershock",acknowledgments and many notes and also a detailed bibliography whichmakes this book the starting point for anybody who wants to research moreabout Shannon. It is a treasure trove for every Shannon fan and also abook explaining the adventure of a genius. There is a nice quote at thebeginning of the book which ends with "One suspects that the geniuseswill be least in the Kingdom of Heaven - if indeed, they ever make it;they have had their reward." You have to get the book to get the fullquote and the full story about this extraordinary mathematician.

A mind at play is a look into the life of Claude Shannon, the father of information theory. In terms of the history of science, those of more of an engineering focus have sometimes been overlooked and Shannon could be considered to be one of those who has fallen into this category. Modern communications networks are founded upon many many layers of ideas but information and coding theory are definitely foundational material to what our current technology utilizes. The authors take a look at Shannon's life with a focus on his general disposition as well as accomplishments. One gets a sense of the great man's life and personality as we as his technical accomplishments.The book is split into three parts beginning with his childhood in Michigan and the early years of computing. Shannon did his undergraduate work in Michigan before going to work with Vannevar Bush at MIT. The authors detail the attitudes of the engineering department and how they were practical tinkerers rather than academic engineers. This attitude was one that stayed with Shannon throughout his professional life.The authors also detail Shannon's first marriage, his overlap with the incredible minds in Princeton at the institute of advanced study and the environment during the war. The authors move onto Shannon's career at Bell Labs which was a unique institution where base scientific research was permitted independently of its commercial applicability. The company was an incredibly vibrant place and produced a large number of Nobel laureates. Also Shannon's personal life is weaved in and the authors give the history of how he met his second wife. The authors discuss how Shannon's professional responsibilities shrank as his fame was at its highs; the playful side of Shannon comes out as he spent hours mastering chess while employed at Bell Labs. The authors detail Shannon's move to MIT and his teaching style; they endeavor to portray Shannon as brilliant but unstructured lecturer who inspired many but was not perfect for all students. They discuss at some length things like Shannon's paper on juggling; again they used an example of something somewhat frivolous to highlight the nature of Shannon and his balance between serious academic and playful engineer.A Mind at Play is a good mixture of personal and professional history and one does get a good sense of Claude Shannon the man rather than just Claude Shannon the information theorist. I enjoyed reading the book but it will definitely disappoint the reader looking for some technical details. It is light on explaining what Shannon is really famous for and how it is used today. Worth the read for the personal side of things but definitely weak on anything else.

As an IT professional I didn't even know who Claude Shannon was, I stumbled upon is name here and there but didn't know the character nor his achievements. A Mind at Play allowed me to learn all of this and more, and I'm glad to have corrected my ignorance, it is a really great book.This book has two sides, as a biography, and as historical explanation of what is Information theory and how it came to be. The technical explanations, never too complex, are nevertheless complete enough to understand the concepts and are well written.Globally, a fascinating book about a fascinating man and the birth of a fascinating field, I can't recommend it enough.---En tant qu'informaticien je ne savais pas qui était Claude Shannon, je croisais son nom ici et là mais ne connaissait ni le personnage ni son travail. A mind at play m'a permis d'apprendre tout cela et bien plus encore, et je suis plus que satisfait d'avoir pu combler mes lacunes sur le sujet, c'est un excellent livre.Le livre a deux axes, en tant que biographie, et en tant qu'explication historique de la théorie de l'information et comment elle est née. Les explications techniques, jamais trop complexes, sont néamoins suffisamment complètes pour comprend les concepts et sont bien écrites.Dans l'ensemble, un livre fascinant au sujet d'un homme fascinant et de la naissance d'un domaine fascinant, je ne peux que le recommander.Notes pour les lecteurs français, le livre est très compéhensible et dans un anglais accessible.

Like one of Claire's speeches I ask myself why we focus on history lessons so much on the Napoleon and Hitlers. I never learned about Claude Shannon in school and that is a crime.

Este livro ajuda a compreender uma importante parcela da vida de um dos maiores gigantes do conhecimento que tivemos na história da humanidade. Ao contrário de quase todo material produzido por Shannon, este livro, que não foi escrito por ele, não traz níveis elevados de conhecimentos sobre matemática, engenharia ou computação.Não é um livro técnico, um Text Book, projetado para estudar algum assunto específico que fora produzido por Shannon. É um livro sobre sua vida e sua obra, se é que podemos separar um do outro.O papel não é tão bom quanto eu esperava que fosse pelo preço que eu havia pago, mas gostei do fato de a versão que eu comprei ter capa dura e acompanhar uma luva muito bonita, que trazia em si a imagem dessa capa, que, embora seja relativamente simples, é bastante elegante, principalmente ao vivo.A meu ver, todo aluno de graduação ou pós-graduação que atue com Teoria da Informação deveria ler esse livro ao menos uma vez. Matemática, Ciência da Computação, Engenharia da Computação, Engenharia Elétrica, Engenharia Eletrônica, Engenharia de Controle e Automação etc. Todos deveriam ler.

La copia che ho ricevuto era fallata e l'ho mandata indietro. Dovrebbe essere un bellissimo libro ma non l'ho ancora letto.

A Mind at Play" is a captivating exploration of the life and genius of Claude Shannon, the father of modern information theory. This meticulously researched biography takes readers on a fascinating journey through Shannon's groundbreaking contributions to the world of mathematics, engineering, and computing. If you're curious about the mind behind the Information Age, this book is a must-read. If you're interested in the history of technology and the brilliant minds that shaped our modern world, "A Mind at Play" should be at the top of your reading list. This book masterfully weaves together the personal and professional aspects of Claude Shannon's life, shedding light on the man behind the theories that underpin today's digital revolution. "A Mind at Play" provides an accessible and engaging narrative about the life of Claude Shannon, making it an ideal choice for both tech enthusiasts and those with a general interest in biography. It's a testament to the power of curiosity and innovation, showcasing how one man's creative thinking revolutionized the way we communicate and process information.

This is a good biography of Claude Shannon and can make a pleasant read. Still, several chapters are extended a bit too thin in technical (or mathematical) explanation and too long in prose, often with not so clear clarification of what this genius actually created.I doubt that if I had no previous technical information on the work of Shannon, I would have understood it from this book.