The essential message : Claude Shannon and the making of information theory

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves [70]-77).In 1948, Claude Shannon, a young engineer and mathematician working at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, published "A Mathematical Theory of Communication," a seminal paper that marked the birth of information theory. In that paper, Shannon defined what the once fuzzy concept of "information" meant for communication engineers and proposed a precise way to quantify it-in his theory, the fundamental unit of information is the bit. He also showed how data could be "compressed" before transmission and how virtually error-free communication could be achieved. The concepts Shannon developed in his paper are at the heart of today's digital information technology. CDs, DVDs, cell phones, fax machines, modems, computer networks, hard drives, memory chips, encryption schemes, MP3 music, optical communication, high-definition television-all these things embody many of Shannon's ideas and others inspired by him. But despite the importance of his work and its influence on everyday life, Claude Shannon is still unknown to most people. Many papers, theses, books, and articles on information theory have been published, but none have explored in detail and in accessible language aimed at a general audience what the theory is about, how it changed the world of communication, and-most importantly-what path led Shannon to his revolutionary ideas. "The Essential Message" presents an account of the making of information theory based on papers, letters, interviews with Shannon and his colleagues, and other sources. It describes the context in which Shannon was immersed, the main ideas in his 1948 paper-and the reaction to it-and how his theory shaped the technologies that changed one of the most fundamental activities in our lives: communication.by Erico Marui Guizzo.S.M.in Science Writin

Glossarium BITri 2016 : Interdisciplinary Elucidation of Concepts, Metaphors, Theories and Problems Concerning Information

222 p.Terms included in this glossary recap some of the main concepts, theories, problems and metaphors concerning INFORMATION in all spheres of knowledge. This is the first edition of an ambitious enterprise covering at its completion all relevant notions relating to INFORMATION in any scientific context. As such, this glossariumBITri is part of the broader project BITrum, which is committed to the mutual understanding of all disciplines devoted to information across fields of knowledge and practic

Information in formation: Power and agency in contemporary informatic assemblages

This dissertation critically examines the concept of "information" in an effort to understand the ways it participates in contemporary relations of power. Chapter 1 surveys the contemporary social, political, and economic conditions under which information operates today, and elaborates four "grammars" of information prominent in popular discourse. It also unpacks various assumptions implicit in these discourses, and explains the limitations of such popular accounts for theorizing information's role in various social formations. Chapter 2 performs an historical genealogy of information, tracing the concept's articulation in the American context, especially during the postwar period. This chapter discusses the work of Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, who formalized and mathematized the notion of information during this time, their reasons for and aims in doing so, and these theories' implications for conceptualizing information today. Chapter 3 builds on this analysis in order to pinpoint the particular problematic an historical account of information discloses: namely, that of "agency." This chapter traces this problematic's motivating influence through writing in first- and second-wave cybernetics. It demonstrates that critical social theory's current preoccupation with nonhumanistic theories of agency has conceptual roots in this writing, and offers a schematic for assessing accounts of agency that problematize accounts of the phenomenon inherited from the Enlightenment. Chapter 4 offers a "cartography" of contemporary theories of nonhumanistic agency in order to concretely connect these accounts with their forebearers in cybernetics and information theory; it then re-situates Shannonian and Wienerian theories of information in relation to this cartography. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation by returning to information's popular articulations. It explains how a "mixed semiotic" approach to information and information technologies might enhance critical discussions of information politics, and attends specifically to the ways in which various figures of agency shape accounts of these politics.Doctor of Philosoph