Quanta Magazine
Science seeks the basic laws of nature. Mathematics searches for new theorems to build upon the old. Engineering builds systems to solve human needs. The three disciplines are interdependent but distinct. Very rarely does one individual simultaneously make central contributions to all three â but Claude Shannon was a rare individual. The Bit Player â and someone whose work and research philosophy have inspired my own career â Shannon is not exactly a household name. He never won a Nobel Prize, and he wasnât a celebrity like Albert Einstein or Richard Feynman, either before...