Questions about Claude Shannon

Short answers, pulled from the story.

When was Claude Shannon born and where did he grow up?

Claude Shannon was born on the 30th of April 1916 in the town of Gaylord, Michigan. He grew up in a household where his father was a businessman and probate judge and his mother was a language teacher and high school principal.

What did Claude Shannon write in his 1937 master's thesis?

Claude Shannon wrote A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits in 1937 while he was a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This work applied Boolean algebra to electrical switches and established the logic that powers the entire digital age.

How did Claude Shannon contribute to cryptography during World War II?

Claude Shannon developed a classified memorandum in September 1945 titled A Mathematical Theory of Cryptography which proved that the cryptographic one-time pad was unbreakable if the key was truly random. This work laid the groundwork for symmetric-key cryptography and established him as the founding father of modern cryptography.

What did Claude Shannon publish in 1948 and why is it important?

Claude Shannon published A Mathematical Theory of Communication in 1948 which introduced the concept of information entropy and the term bit. This paper invented the field of information theory and provided the mathematical framework for encoding and transmitting messages in the digital era.

What mechanical mouse did Claude Shannon build in the 1950s?

Claude Shannon built a mechanical mouse named Theseus in the 1950s which was one of the first examples of artificial intelligence. Theseus was a maze-solving machine that used sensors and electromechanical relays to navigate a labyrinth and learn the shortest path through trial and error.

When did Claude Shannon die and what awards did he receive?

Claude Shannon died on the 24th of February 2001 after developing Alzheimer's disease. He received the National Medal of Science in 1966, the Kyoto Prize in 1985, and the Harvey Prize in 1972.