Claude Shannon Genius Comparable To Einstein Philosophy Essay

Claude Shannon Genius Comparable To Einstein Philosophy EssayThe world is filled with all(prenominal) types of technologies and cultivation. There ar computers that make normally tedious tasks simplier, phones that allows instant communication across the world, CDs that can store large amounts of culture in a small argona. In modern times, we take for granted how much easier our daily life is with these innovations. It truly is a large step from the candles centuries ago to flicking a switch to solve up a room. Of course, this step couldnt engage been taken with protrude the work and studies by Claude Shannon. When described, Claude Shannon is said to have an ever lasting curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Shannon is regular(a) compared to Albert Einstein for his ability to come up with strange yet groundbreaking ideas. He came up with the idea of digital circuitry, found a way to face human genetics with algebra, an of the essence(p) surmise ab come on learning, and h as done a lot of work in cryptology. Even then, that is just scratching the surface of what he has accomplished. Just one of these accomplishments could have forever written him into the textbooks. It is important to note that Shannon, while intelligent, was in no means the most knowledgeable person thither is. Like Einstein, Shannons genius came from his drive to satisfy his curiosity and ability to think outside the box. Claude Shannons pursuit of knowledge led to large technological advancements that shaped the States and the rest of the world.Throughout his absolute life, Claude Shannon has achieved many accomplishments that effectively makes him forever remembered throughout America and, to a lesser degree, the world. Shannon was born in Petoskey, Michigan on April 30, 1916. go growing up, he was talented in the fields of science and mathematics and looked up to a famous distant relative, Thomas Edison. art object his father do mathematics a hobby, it was his grandfather th at helped influence Shannons love for science. Shannon built many small devices such as a telegraph or a upstage controlled model boat in his free time as a child. This child like urge to invent and discover lasted throughout nearly his entire life.During 1932, Shannon graduated high school and then enrolled at the University of Michigan a short time later. Four years later in 1936, Shannon graduated with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering as well as a B.S. degree in Mathematics. After his graduation from the University of Michigan, he entered the Massachusetts bring in of Technology as a research assistant to two further his studies towards a higher degree and work part time. It was during this time that he wrote his police chief thesis on digital circuitry as well as his doctorate thesis for representing genetics with algebra. In 1940 his earned his masters degree in galvanizing engineering and doctorate in mathematics.After his graduation, Shannon went on to work at Be ll Telephone Laboratories. For over a year, he did numerous amounts of works such as creating a new design for switching circuits. In 1941, a committee was formed to design anti-aircraft detectors in order to improve the war effort. Shannon was invited to join, and helped lay off the completed design. It was due to this that the bombing effort against England ended with less casualties than in that location could have been. For the next 15 years, Shannon spent his time amongst many successful and important mathematicians and engineers. This time period is also when Shannon developed his Information Theory, which was published in 1948.Claude Shannons contributions to America received a lot of recognition. For his theory on digital circuits, he received the Alfred Noble Prize reward in 1939. President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Shannon with the National Medal of Science in 1966, and in the same year he was wedded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Medal of Hono r. In 1985, Shannon also received the Kyoto Prize which is comm besides compared to the Nobel Prize in America. Among many other rewards, Shannon also has nearly a dozen honorary doctorates in various universities and was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.Even after he became an adult, Shannon maintained his childish personality, his passion for inventing, and drive to stretch forth his knowledge. In his life, he made numerous divers(prenominal) small toys, many of which he felt were just as important, if not more so, than his theories that changed the world. John Horgan told his puzzle with interviewing Shannon, Im trying to get him to recall how he came up with the theory of information. But Shannonis tired of expounding on his past. Wouldnt I sooner see his toys? (**) Shannon most potential felt that each of his toys were just as important as anything else he thought of. He just wasnt content with coming up with revolutionizing ideas, no, he went to a higher pla ce and beyond to discover everything he could. This is why Shannon was immortalized as one of the greatest thinkers. It wasnt a matter of finding fame and fortune, he was just as content to reach robots that can juggle as he was for creating his famous information theory.It is the fate of every living creature to horizontaltually die, and although Shannons ideals will be forever immortalized, he too could not resist this fate. He died on February 24, 2001, after losing a battle against Alzheimers disease. Shannon is survived by his wife Mary Elizabeth Shannon, along with three children.In the eighteenth century, a genius mathematician named George Boole created a method to solve or model logical statements using algebraic expressions. Boole named his concept Booles system, and is more commsolely known as boolean logic. This logic revolves around ones and zeroes along with logic gates that take input(s) and then give out an output. Another way to think of these ones and zeroes is t rue and false, or on and off. At the time of creation, George Boole received little to no praise for developing this system after all, there didnt seem to be any very use with it. While George Boole died without his system going anywhere, Claude Shannon found out the huge amount of potential George Booles idea had when applied to circuits.While at MIT, Claude Shannon worked with an associate named Vannevar scrub on studying an analog computer called a differential analyzer. This computer used wheel and disk mechanisms in order to solve equations typically encountered in calculus. Shannon noticed that the circuits used in the computer had only two states of being, namely on and off. Reminded of Booles system from his math courses, Shannon thought about the possibility of applying that logic to circuits and realise it could open up a wide range of new possibilities and usages. Shannon used this discovery for his master thesis at MIT, called A Symbolic Analysis of pass and Switchi ng Circuits. H. H. Goldstine, in his book The Computer from Pascal to Von Neumann, called Shannons these one of the most worlds important masters thesis ever written (6).Digital circuitry is based heavy on Booles system. Yet, instead of theoretical ones and zeroes, it uses two states of being on and off. Think of a button that was pressed, will send electricity to a light, thus fervour it up. Now, this doesnt have much variety. Press the button and the light goes on, release it and the light goes off. If a logic gate from boolean logic is borrowed, say the AND gate, then there is a large amount of possibilties that open up. An AND gate would only give out electricity to the light if and only if it has two sources of electricity flowing into it. If there are two buttons that each lead to the AND gate, than the light would only go on when both buttons are pushed or rather when both buttons give electricity to the AND gate. While this is a simple example of how digital circuitry w orks, there are plenty of other more useful examples including lightning quick mathematical calculations or unchangeable data storage that can be read and editted. Of course, those are rather complex designs to complete.No matter where one looks, digital circuitry is prevalent. It forms of the core of every digital device ranging from something as simple as a bedside lamp to the digital computers used to browse the internet. Without the idea of digital circuitry, the world would be a vastly different place than what it currently is. Electrical engineers immediately adapted his ideas on digital circuitry for their use in World War II. The creation of pocket calculators were made, removing the necassity for slide rules in many jobs. The home computer started to come into existance a couple decades afterwards. Just about everything that was invented decades afterwards and used electricity relied on Shannons thesis. Even technology that was invented forwards Shannons thesis was publis hed could be refurbished into a device far more efficient, accurate, and of a higher quality overall.Communication across distances didnt always start out with crystal clear messages, nor was communication properly understood. Before the mid 20th century, the idea of telegraphs, telephones, television, and akin(predicate) devices were rigid and unadaptable. It was thought that telephones could only send signals that represent voices, and only that. As such, a situation such as sending a video over a phone line would be dismissed as fantasy back then, even though its done currently. This all changed with the publishing of Shannons information theory in his paper, Mathematical Theory of Communication.Claude Shannon didnt just pop out a theory after thinking for a little while. Although he can claim to have developed the information theory fully, he did have help from research a few decades previously. Harry Nyquists paper in 1924, Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed, has multip le important ideas inscribed in it. For instance, he started to stray from the idea of focusing on the content of the signals, and instead focused on the fact that the signals are information. Nyquist also developed a formula to shape that max amount of intelligence that can be described in a message. Of course, it still had its flaws for it only worked on a telegraph wires. Four laters later, in 1928, another engineer named R.V.L. Hartley wrote a paper that improved on Nyquists rule to work on more systems of transmission. This paper emphasised that transmitting information should only depend on making sure the transmission from start to end is distinguished, without outside signals intruding nor one worry about the meaning of the information. Shannon cited the works of both Nyquist and Hartley in his paper, and when interviewed decades later, he mentioned the importance of their ideas to his own (**).Now what is this all important information theory that keeps being mentioned? In its most basic form, it contains two parts. First, it gives the customary idea of on the definition and measurement of information. Information is based on the logarithm of possible symbols availaible. Shannon used the logarithm base of 2, which mean that the smallest unit of information is represented by either a zero or a one, which was called a bit. Sound familiar? The second part of the information theory contains expound on the limits of information being sent, as well as the effect of outside interference, also called noise, on the information. In the past, engineers were limited by how much information could be sent, often thinking it depended on factors like frequency. Shannon use his theory to prove that by using the concept of entropy, or randomness, along with statistical luck to get the maximum amount of information possible. Shannon was also proved how to transmit information error free, despite however much noise there may be.The information theory itself can be co mplex to understand, yet it is simple to understand its many benefits. These benefits that exist solely due to the existance of the information theory are diverse. Not only is the information theory used in communication and computing, but also in psychology, linguistics, and even thermal physics. Many plagiarism signal detection programs use the information theory in order to measure shared information. There is the coding theory, which is in its simplest terms error detection and correction. Computer programmers, for example, are assisted in debugging glitches in software using the coding theory. More important however, is that its the reason why CDs can still function properly even when scratched. The information theory led to data compression techniques, which in turn led to new useful file types such as ZIP and MP3. The theory was also crucial for the function of the internet. Even the success of space exploration programs depended on the information theory to reduce the probl ems of noise and static caused from the enourmous distance betwixt planets.The accomplishments made by Claude Shannon had a large impact on how the United States developed as well as how the world lives today. Just about anything in the world that uses information exists due to Claude Shannons work. Electronics, ranging from simple lamps to supercomputers, are all based upon digital circuitry. While it is arguable that someone would have came up with a similar idea of digital circuitry in the next decade, the United States benefited most from its immediate discovery.Shannon has also worked on cryptology during World War II, managing to help decode opposite transmissions and played a large role in the encryption of US messages. Even presently Claude Shannons influence is felt, new inventions are being created that depend on his ideas. It is much like a tree, where Shannon is the trunk with new innovations being the branches that continue to grow outward.Much of Shannons success is due to his insatiable hunger for knowledge. Most of the worlds state would be content to have done even a tenth of what Shannon has done, yet Shannon himself never was. This is likely because of Shannons child like personality. In his spare time, he developed numerous small trinkets. Not because his goal was fame and fortune, but simply because he wanted to. Why talk about his ground breaking information theory, when his juggling robots are just as important to him? Shannon just didnt want to stop thinking, even at an old age, because inventing and theorizing was fun for him. In an interview he stated, I am more interested in the elegance of a problem. Is it a good problem, an interesting problem? 66 Near the end of his life, he worked on artificial intelligences. Computers that could match the best chess players was an intriguing idea, just like his mouse that could adapt to solve any maze, or a rubix cube solver. While others his age were relaxing in retirement, Shannon enjoyed t hinking of new ideas, theories, and discoveries. Talent or genius isnt determined by the efforts or intelligence of a person, but rather their ability to pursue their options whole heartedly.