Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed
New York: American Institute of Electrical Engineers [ AIEE ] 1924. First Edition. [4], 1369 pages. 4to 9 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Publisher's blue cloth with 2 sets of blindstamped rules on front and rear covers and volume title and date in gilt on spine. Endpapers browned as usual, front blank flyleaf separated and laid in loosely. The entire volume #43 of the Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, covering publications of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) from January to December 1924. Printed at the Press of Mellroy & Smith Inc, 22 Thames St. New York. Very Good. Cloth. [24598]
This volume publishes in chronological order "the papers and discussions presented at the four conventions and two regional meetings held under its [ American Institute of Electrical Engineers ] auspices during the year, 1924. The articles have all been printed in the Journal [of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers] either in full or abridged form; they are published here in their entirety with the addition of any discussions for each special group immediately following."
On pages 412-422 we find "Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed", one of two key Nyquist papers (the other being "Certain Topics in Telegraph Transmission Theory" from 1928) which Claude Shannon credited with being foundational works in information theory (along with a work by Hartley). Bibliographically, this paper appears in four places in the first year of publication. First, in the Journal of the AIEE, pages 124-130 (presumably an abridged text based on the page count and publication format), in February 1924. It was published two months later in the Bell System Technical Journal, and also printed separately in the Bell System Publications Monograph series (B-173, publication date unknown, but 1924). And finally, as here, the entire text published presumably at the end of 1924.
This final and best publication [as offered here] includes a final page with discussion of a submitted letter about the paper and commentary by Nyquist, making this the most complete version of this first key paper we are aware of.
"In an effort to improve the speed of data transmission over telegraph wires, Nyquist isolated two key factors - signal shaping and choice of codes...his work was important for presenting the first statement of a logarythmic law for communication and the first examination of the theoretical bounds for ideal codes for the transmission of information...In his 1948 paper 'A Mathematical theory of Communication', Claude Shannon credited Nyquist's paper as being one of the foundations of information theory." Origins of Cyberspace 343 (referring only to the 1924 Nyquist paper but offered in the Bell System Technical Journal).
In our experience, the AIEE Journal and Transactions are far more difficult to find than the Bell System publications. A nice addition to any collection related to the History of Communication.
Price: $1,750.00