Warren Weaver
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY of COMMUNICATION by Claude E
THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATION by Claude E. Shannon and WarrenWeaver THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS . URBANA· 1964 Tenth printing, 1964 Also printed in paperbound edition, 1963 and 1964 First paperbound edition, 1963 Copyright 1949 by the Board of Trustees of t ho Umvorsity of Illinois. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 49-11922. Preface Recent years have witnessed considerable research activity in communication theory by a number of workers both here and abroad. In view of the widespread interest in this field, Dean L. N. Ridenour suggested the present volume consisting of two papers on this subject. The first paper has not previously been printed in its present form, although a condensation appeared in Scientific American, July, 1949. In part, it consists of an expository introduction to the general theory and may well be read first by those desiring a panoramic view of the field before entering into the more mathe matical aspects. In addition, some ideas are suggested for broader application of the fundamental principles of communi cation theory. The second paper is reprinted from the Bell System Technical Journal, July and October, 1948, with no changes except the cor rection of minor errata and the inclusion of some additional references, It is intcnded that subscquent developments in the field will be treated in a projected work dealing with more general aspects of information theory. It gives us pleasure to express our thanks to Dean Ridenour for making this book possible, and to the University of Illinois Press for their splendid cooperation. -
THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS of the Mcculloch
JHBS—WILEY RIGHT BATCH Top of ID Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 38(1), 3–25 Winter 2002 ᭧ 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (PHYSIO)LOGICAL CIRCUITS: THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF THE Base of 1st McCULLOCH–PITTS NEURAL NETWORKS line of ART TARA H. ABRAHAM This article examines the intellectual and institutional factors that contributed to the col- laboration of neuropsychiatrist Warren McCulloch and mathematician Walter Pitts on the logic of neural networks, which culminated in their 1943 publication, “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.” Historians and scientists alike often refer to the McCulloch–Pitts paper as a landmark event in the history of cybernetics, and funda- mental to the development of cognitive science and artificial intelligence. This article seeks to bring some historical context to the McCulloch–Pitts collaboration itself, namely, their intellectual and scientific orientations and backgrounds, the key concepts that contributed to their paper, and the institutional context in which their collaboration was made. Al- though they were almost a generation apart and had dissimilar scientific backgrounds, McCulloch and Pitts had similar intellectual concerns, simultaneously motivated by issues in philosophy, neurology, and mathematics. This article demonstrates how these issues converged and found resonance in their model of neural networks. By examining the intellectual backgrounds of McCulloch and Pitts as individuals, it will be shown that besides being an important event in the history of cybernetics proper, the McCulloch– Pitts collaboration was an important result of early twentieth-century efforts to apply mathematics to neurological phenomena. ᭧ 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. -
Bio-R/Evolution in Historiographic Perspective: Some Reflections on the History and Epistemology of Biomolecular Science
VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 2007 ISSN: 1833-878X Pages 4-13 Howard HsuehHsueh----HaoHao Chiang Bio-R/Evolution in Historiographic Perspective: Some Reflections on the History and Epistemology of Biomolecular Science ABSTRACT Does the molecular vision of life signify a unique revolution in biology or a more general evolution of the life sciences in the twentieth century? This paper visits this ‘big question’ by reflecting on a series of major debates in the historiography of molecular biology, especially those regarding its origins and the periodization of its development. For instance, while some have suggested that the discipline emerged in the 1930s, others have argued for its birth in the post-WWII era. Above all, the impact of the Rockefeller Foundation and the physical sciences on the formation of molecular biology remains a central topic of discussion among historians of biology. Unlike earlier historians of biomolecular science, recent scholars have also started to pay closer attention to the laboratory and material cultures that had conditioned its historical shaping. This paper argues that, ultimately, these debates all rest upon one fundamental historiographical problem: the absence of a unifying understanding of ‘molecular biology’ among historians (and practitioners) of biological science. This heterogeneous conceptualization of ‘molecular biology’, however, should be viewed as valuable because it allows for multiple approaches to resolving the ‘revolution versus evolution’ debate that together enrich our interpretation of the twentieth-century biomolecular vision of life. 4 BIOGRAPHY Howard Chiang is currently a Ph.D. student in the History of Science Program at Princeton University. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A. -
The Shannon Weaver Model of Communication Theory Script
Learning Outcome 1. Understand the importance of interpersonal skills related to health care practice 1.1 Analyse the appropriate use of interpersonal skills in three health care scenarios The Shannon Weaver Model of Communication Theory Script When you think about communication issues in the field of health and social care, it is helpful to break down the different components of the communication process. This way, you can think about all the different steps that take place in every interaction between you and a service-user or colleague, and about all the possible barriers or difficulties that might lead to a breakdown in communication. There are many models and theories that analyse the communication process. Here, we are going to look at one of the best-known: The Shannon-Weaver model. This model was first published in 1948, and it has been adapted, modified, and developed in many ways since. Claude Shannon was a mathematician and Warren Weaver was a scientist. They were primarily interested in “machine translation”, and how early computers, radios and televisions transmit information. However, the theory equally applies to human communication, and it remains hugely influential in modern social sciences. It is the foundation of most current communication theories, and for this reason, it is sometimes referred to as “the mother of all models”. The Shannon-Weaver model introduces 5 key stages to the communication process: • The sender • The encoder • The channel • The decoder • The receiver The sender is the person, group or organisation that first thinks of the message that they want to communicate. The encoder takes this message and turns it into signals. -
Rac Research Reports
ROCKEFELLER ARCHIVE CENTER RESEARCH REPO RTS Cross-Cultural Communication Theory: Basic English and Machine Translation at the Rockefeller Foundation by Rebecca Roach University of Birmingham © 2019 by Rebecca Roach Abstract My goal in conducting research at the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) was to identify the ways in which both the Rockefeller (RF) and Ford Foundations (FF) conceived of the relationship between literature and computing in their programs at mid-century. This research is central to my book project, Machine Talk: Literature, Computers and Conversation. In what follows, I lay out the background of this project and a research context that has often highlighted the intertwined emergence of computing and communication theory—and ignored the contributions made by the humanities to the development of this concept. I turn specifically to the RF Humanities Division, outlining its role in supporting early research into theories of communication—particularly cross-cultural communication—which would prove vital to the post-World War Two development of communication theory in the sciences. 2 RAC RESEARCH REPORTS Machine Talk My book project, Machine Talk: Literature, Computers and Conversation, examines two arenas that are often conceived in opposition to each other, namely literature and computing. This polarisation is visible in popular stereotypes around “nerdy” programmers and “purposeless” poets—and reinforced in national agendas that prioritise training in and funding of the sciences at the expense of the humanities, or in simplistic perceptions that arts students might bring “ethics” to a tech industry facing significant diversity and ethical problems. Such framings bolster C.P. Snow’s infamous “Two Cultures” binary, put forward sixty years ago.1 Yet these framings elide the significant material and conceptual common ground that literature and computing share and an intertwined trajectory in the post- World War Two years that has shaped our contemporary digital world. -
Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communication
Recent Contributions to The Mathematical Theory of Communication Warren Weaver September, 1949 ClaudeShannon WarrenWeaver Abstract This paper is written in three main sections. In the first and third, W. W. is responsible both for the ideas and the form. The middle section, namely “2) Communication Problems at Level A” is an interpretation of mathematical papers by Dr. Claude E. Shannon of the Bell Telephone Laboratories. Dr. Shannon’s work roots back, as von Neu- mann has pointed out, to Boltzmann’s observation, in some of his work on statistical physics (1894), that entropy is related to “missing information,” inasmuch as it is related to the number of alternatives which remain possible to a physical system after all the macroscopically observable information concerning it has been recorded. L. Szilard (Zsch. f. Phys. Vol. 53, 1925) extended this idea to a general discussion of information in physics, and von Neumann (Math. Foundation of Quantum Mechanics, Berlin, 1932, Chap. V) treated information in quantum mechanics and particle physics. Dr. Shannon’s work connects more directly with certain ideas developed some twenty years ago by H. Nyquist and R. V. L. Hartley, both of the Bell Laboratories; and Dr. Shannon has himself emphasized that communication theory owes a great debt to Professor Norbert Wiener for much of its basic philosophy. Professor Wiener, on the other hand, points out that Shannon’s early work on switching and mathematical logic antedated his own interest in this field; and generously adds that Shannon certainly deserves credit for independent development of such fundamental aspects of the theory as the introduction of entropic ideas. -
Information Theory." Traditions of Systems Theory: Major Figures and Contemporary Developments
1 Do not cite. The published version of this essay is available here: Schweighauser, Philipp. "The Persistence of Information Theory." Traditions of Systems Theory: Major Figures and Contemporary Developments. Ed. Darrell P. Arnold. New York: Routledge, 2014. 21-44. See https://www.routledge.com/Traditions-of-Systems-Theory-Major-Figures-and- Contemporary-Developments/Arnold/p/book/9780415843898 Prof. Dr. Philipp Schweighauser Department of English University of Basel Nadelberg 6 4051 Basel Switzerland Information Theory When Claude E. Shannon published "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" in 1948, he could not foresee what enormous impact his findings would have on a wide variety of fields, including engineering, physics, genetics, cryptology, computer science, statistics, economics, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and aesthetics.1 Indeed, when he learned of the scope of that impact, he was somewhat less than enthusiastic, warning his readers in "The Bandwagon" (1956) that, while "many of the concepts of information theory will prove useful in these other fields, [...] the establishing of such applications is not a trivial matter of translating words to a new domain, but rather the slow tedious process of hypothesis and experimental verification" (Shannon 1956, 3). For the author of this essay as well as my fellow contributors from the humanities and social sciences, Shannon's caveat has special pertinence. This is so because we get our understanding of information theory less from the highly technical "A Mathematical Theory -
The Way Forward: Educational Leadership and Strategic Capital By
The Way Forward: Educational Leadership and Strategic Capital by K. Page Boyer A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor Bonnie M. Beyer, Chair LEO Lecturer II John Burl Artis Professor M. Robert Fraser Copyright 2016 by K. Page Boyer All Rights Reserved i Dedication To my family “To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.” ~ Nicolaus Copernicus ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Bonnie M. Beyer, Chair of my dissertation committee, for her probity and guidance concerning theories of school administration and leadership, organizational theory and development, educational law, legal and regulatory issues in educational administration, and curriculum deliberation and development. Thank you to Dr. John Burl Artis for his deep knowledge, political sentience, and keen sense of humor concerning all facets of educational leadership. Thank you to Dr. M. Robert Fraser for his rigorous theoretical challenges and intellectual acuity concerning the history of Christianity and Christian Thought and how both pertain to teaching and learning in America’s colleges and universities today. I am indebted to Baker Library at Dartmouth College, Regenstein Library at The University of Chicago, the Widener and Houghton Libraries at Harvard University, and the Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan for their stewardship of inestimably valuable resources. Finally, I want to thank my family for their enduring faith, hope, and love, united with a formidable sense of humor, passion, optimism, and a prodigious ability to dream. -
Boyer Is the Martin A
II “BROAD AND CHRISTIAN IN THE FULLEST SENSE” WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO J OHN W. B OYER OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON HIGHER XVEDUCATION XV THE COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO William Rainey Harper, 1882, Baldwin and Harvey Photographic Artists, Chicago. I I “BROAD AND CHRISTIAN IN THE FULLEST SENSE” William Rainey Harper and the University of Chicago INTRODUCTION e meet today at a noteworthy moment in our history. The College has now met and surpassed the enrollment W goals established by President Hugo F. Sonnenschein in 1996, and we have done so while increasing our applicant pool, our selectivity, and the overall level of participation by the faculty in the College’s instructional programs. Many people—College faculty, staff, alumni, and students—have contributed to this achievement, and we and our successors owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. I am particularly grateful to the members of the College faculty—as I know our students and their families are—for the crucial role that you played as teachers, as mentors, as advisers, and as collaborators in the academic achievements of our students. The College lies at the intellectual center of the University, an appropriate role for the University’s largest demographic unit. We affirm academic excellence as the primary norm governing all of our activities. Our students study all of the major domains of human knowledge, and they do so out of a love of learning and discovery. They undertake general and specialized studies across the several disciplines, from the humanities to the natural sciences and mathematics to the social sciences and beyond, This essay was originally presented as the Annual Report to the Faculty of the College on October 25, 2005. -
Norbert Wiener and Voices from the Past
City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Bawden, D. (2012). Norbert Wiener and voices from the past. Journal of Documentation, 68(5), This is the unspecified version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/3215/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] Editorial Norbert Wiener and voices from the past Circumstances led me recently to re‐read parts of Norbert Wiener's autobiography (Wiener 1956), shortly after writing a brief account of theories of information for a forthcoming book (Bawden and Robinson 2012). What caught my attention was how the lives and work of the proponents of what has been come to be known as information theory were inter‐meshed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Wiener teaches a young Claude Shannon at MIT, but has relatively little contact with him at that stage. -
THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY of COMMUNICATION by Claude E
THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATION by Claude E. Shannon and WarrenWeaver THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS . URBANA· 1964 Tenth printing, 1964 Also printed in paperbound edition, 1963 and 1964 First paperbound edition, 1963 Copyright 1949 by the Board of Trustees of t ho Umvorsity of Illinois. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 49-11922. Preface Recent years have witnessed considerable research activity in communication theory by a number of workers both here and abroad. In view of the widespread interest in this field, Dean L. N. Ridenour suggested the present volume consisting of two papers on this subject. The first paper has not previously been printed in its present form, although a condensation appeared in Scientific American, July, 1949. In part, it consists of an expository introduction to the general theory and may well be read first by those desiring a panoramic view of the field before entering into the more mathe matical aspects. In addition, some ideas are suggested for broader application of the fundamental principles of communi cation theory. The second paper is reprinted from the Bell System Technical Journal, July and October, 1948, with no changes except the cor rection of minor errata and the inclusion of some additional references, It is intcnded that subscquent developments in the field will be treated in a projected work dealing with more general aspects of information theory. It gives us pleasure to express our thanks to Dean Ridenour for making this book possible, and to the University of Illinois Press for their splendid cooperation. -
Translation of Languages: Fourteen Essays, Ed
[Written 15 July 1949. Published in: Machine translation of languages: fourteen essays, ed. by William N. Locke and A. Donald Booth (Technology Press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., and John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1955), p.15-23.] Translation WARREN WEAVER There is no need to do more than mention the obvious fact that a multiplicity of languages impedes cultural interchange between the peoples of the earth, and is a serious deterrent to international understanding. The present memorandum, assuming the validity and importance of this fact, contains some comments and suggestions bearing on the possibility of contributing at least something to the solution of the world-wide translation problem through the use of electronic computers of great capacity, flexibility, and speed. The suggestions of this memorandum will surely be incomplete and naïve, and may well be patently silly to an expert in the field—for the author is certainly not such. A War Anecdote—Language Invariants During the war a distinguished mathematician whom we will call P, an ex-German who had spent some time at the University of Istanbul and had learned Turkish there, told W. W. the following story. A mathematical colleague, knowing that P had an amateur interest in cryptography, came to P one morning, stated that he had worked out a deciphering technique, and asked P to cook up some coded message on which he might try his scheme. P wrote out in Turkish a message containing about 100 words; simplified it by replacing the Turkish letters ç, ğ, ĭ, ö, ş, and ü by c, g, i, o, s, and u respectively; and then, using something more complicated than a simple substitution cipher, reduced the message to a column of five-digit numbers.