
How Information Got Re-Invented - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/51/limits/how-information-got-re_invented
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eggpy
Another decent in-depth book on this topic that I can recommend is The
Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick[0]. A bit dry at
times but somewhat interesting if anyone is looking for a high-level look at
quantifying and managing information.

[0] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8701960-the-
information](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8701960-the-information)

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byproxy
Good book. My only problem was that I felt the breadth of the information
minimized the depth. Seemed like each page could be its own book.

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sp332
Claude Shannon's wife Betty doesn't even get a mention. If you have so much
detail about how he behaved when he was thinking, there's no reason to
minimize her role. [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/betty-shannon-
un...](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/betty-shannon-unsung-
mathematical-genius/)

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mxfh
It's an excerpt from the same book by the same two authors, who are promoting
it in another publication with another focus. It's missing in this article,
which is focussing on the theory, not on his life, but it's in the books big
picture. Maybe they had it in there and pitched an exclusive piece to
different magazines? Who knows.

 _A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age_ by Jimmy
Soni and Rob Goodman.

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sp332
Ok, that makes sense. It just seemed odd to have so much information from his
girlfriend and then not a word about his wife.

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mxfh
Actually it looks like the reason is purely chronological:

This article is about the research and live events following up to the
publication of his seminal work _A Mathematical Theory of Communication_ in
1948 and ends there.

He met his wife Betty in '48 after most of this already happened.

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Animats
Site won't load with cookies blocked.

I wonder what they consider "the birth of the information age"? The Lyons
Electronic Office (first business computer)? The US Social Security
Administration (the first mechanized, nationally centralized data processing
service at scale)? Early Hollerith systems? Pneumatic tubes?

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CharlesW
> _Site won 't load with cookies blocked._

(Right-click + "Open Link in Incognito Window", or your browser's equivalent.)

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Animats
Doesn't help. They must be using a third-party cookie "to show your reading
progress". (Right.)

 _Nautilus uses cookies to manage your digital subscription and show you your
reading progress. It 's just not the same without them. Please sign in to
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GabrielF00
I've started reading the book this is excerpted from: A Mind at Play: How
Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age It's very well written.

