The Mathematical Theory of Communication.
SHANNON, Claude Elwood and Warren Weaver.
The Mathematical Theory of Communication.
First Edition of The Mathematical Theory of Communication; Signed by Claude Shannon
Urbana: University of Illinois, 1949.
$175,000.00
In Stock
Item Number: 151212
First edition, first printing. 117 pages ; 24 cm. Octavo. Original tan cloth, spine lettered in black. Includes Warren Weaver’s expository essay, “Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communication,” pages 3-28; Shannon’s technical monograph, “The Mathematical Theory of Communication,” pages 29-117.
Content type: text. Media type: unmediated. Carrier type: volume.
Inscription: Boldly signed by the author in black ink on the front free endpaper recto: Claude E. Shannon.
Bibliographic note: Shannon’s monograph was first published in two installments in the Bell System Technical Journal 27 (July-October 1948), pages 379-423, 623-656, under the title “A Mathematical Theory of Communication.” The present volume constitutes the first separate book publication, with the title revised to its definitive form. The work introduces the binary digit (bit) as the fundamental unit of information; applies entropy as a measure of informational uncertainty; and establishes the mathematical proof of channel capacity, the theoretical maximum rate at which information can be transmitted through a noisy channel with arbitrarily low error. These formulations are recognized as the theoretical foundation of digital communication, computing, cryptography, and data compression.
Provenance: Shannon’s autograph material is of exceptional scarcity in both institutional and private collections. He published sparingly, signed rarely, and left a comparatively limited documentary record relative to his significance in the history of science. Signed copies of this work at any condition grade are seldom encountered in the market.
Condition: Near fine in original dust jacket, very good.
cf. Gertner, The Idea Factory, page 128; Scientific American (“the magna carta of the information age”).
Scientific knowledge grows at a phenomenal pace--but few books have had as lasting an impact or played as important a role in our modern world as The Mathematical Theory of Communication, published originally as a paper on communication theory more than fifty years ago. Republished in book form shortly thereafter, it has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings. It is a revolutionary work, astounding in its foresight and contemporaneity.
