Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the digital revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass. Now, Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman bring Claude Shannon's story to life. It's the story of a small-town boy from Michigan whose career stretched from the age of room-sized computers powered by gears and string to the age of the Apple desktop. It's the story of the origins of information in the tunnels of MIT and the "idea factory" of Bell Labs, in the "scientists' war" with Nazi Germany, and in the work of Shannon's collaborators and rivals. It's the story of Shannon's life as an often reclusive, always playful genius. With access to Shannon's family and friends, A Mind At Play explores the life and times of this singular innovator and creative genius. Jimmy Soni is the managing editor of the Huffington Post and a former speechwriter whose writing and commentary have appeared in the Atlantic online and on NPR, among other outlets. Rob Goodman has written speeches and opinion pieces that have appeared on the floors of both houses of Congress, on national television and radio, and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. Jonathan Yen was inspired by the Golden Age of Radio, and while the gold was gone by the time he got there, he’s carried that inspiration through to commercial work, voice acting, and stage productions. From vintage Howard Fast science fiction to naturalist Paul Rosolie’s true adventures in the Amazon, Jonathan loves to tell a good story. READ BY JONATHAN YEN Running Time: 12 Hours • Unabridged 2017 Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman 2017 Tantor Media, Inc. Published by arrangement with Simon & Schuster, Inc. Jacket design by Lindsey Atkins. Cover photo by Dobri Zheglov found on commons.wikimedia.org. www.tantor.com 36430 ISBN 978-1-5094-6084-7 Playaway pre-loaded audiobooks are the best way to listen, unplugged and uninterrupted. WWW.PLAYAWAY.COM © 2017 Playaway. Patented. All rights reserved. Designed in Ohio. Made in China. 9 781509 460847.