A mathematician, Shannon’s master’s thesis described how digital information could be transmitted by automated switching circuits. At Bell Labs in 1948, Shannon published A Mathematical Theory of Communication — the foundation of information theory — which developed the concept of communicating in binary code, the basis of the entire digital communications revolution from cell phones to the Internet.
Shannon even developed the concept of error correction, which makes the communications accurate. “Without him, none of the things we know today would exist. The whole digital revolution started with him,” said AT&T fellow Neil Sloane. Shannon died February 24 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 84.