[GreenKeys] In memoriam: Claude Shannon

Dave Horsfall dave at horsfall.org
Sat Feb 23 22:42:07 EST 2019


Not an Amateur, but...

We lost Claude Shannon on this day in 2001.  He was a mathematician, 
electrical engineer, and cryptographer; he is regarded as the "father" of 
information theory, and he pioneered digital circuit design.  Amongst 
other things he built a barbed-wire telegraph, the "Ultimate Machine" (it 
reached up and switched itself off), a Roman numeral computer ("THROBAC"), 
the Minivac 601 (a digital trainer), a Rubik's Cube solver, a mechanical 
mouse that learned how to solve mazes, and outlined a chess program.  He 
formulated the security mantra "The enemy knows the system", and did 
top-secret work in WW-2 on crypto and fire-control systems.

A busy boy...  I'd like to know more about that barbed-wire telegraph, if 
anyone happens to have any info; hopefully it was more than just using the 
local barbed-wire fence as the wire (which is likely grounded anyway).

-- Dave VK2KFU


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