ITEM DETAILS

New York: American Telephone and Telegraph Company 1948. Paper Wrappers. First Edition. Shannon, Claude, A Mathematical Theory of Communication, In the Bell System Technical Journal, Numbers 3 & 4, July and October 1948. Both issues IN ORIGINAL WRAPS. Claude Shannon is credited with founding the field of information theory. Previous to the work done in this paper, the noise found on transmission lines was treated fundamentally differently. The thought previously was to “shout louder” so that the signal could be heard over the noise. With the introduction of the “bit” or binary digit, and the practical introduction of coding theory by Hamming and others, the start of modern transmission technologies were born. Without Shannon’s work, the internet as we know it would not exist. “What began as a study of transmission over telegraph lines [ by Nyquist and Hartley … ] was developed by Shannon into a general theory of communication applicable to telegraph, telephone, radio, television, and computing machines – in fact, to any system, physical or biological, in which information is being transferred or manipulated through time or space” (Aspray, 1985, pp. 119-22) Shannon’s paper was also responsible for introducting the term ‘bit’ (for binary digit) into the published literature, and for giving the term it’s current meaning…” (Origins of Cyberspace 880) In this fundamentally important paper, Shannon laid the foundation for much of today’s interconnected world. Scarce in the original wraps. In The Bell System Technical Journal, Volume 27, 1948 (2 separate issues), pp 379-423 and 623-656. Original wraps. July 1948 has several small chips missing from the front cover (likely insect damage) and minor abrasions to the rear cover. Upper corner tips bumped.. Previous owners’ name? on front cover at top. October 1948 is a crisp clean copy, one of the best examples we’ve seen. Near Fine.

[Book #17723]