December 14, 2024

Claude Shannon Biography, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Wiki & More

Updated On : April 30, 2018

Short Biography

Claude Shannon was born on 30-04-1916 in Petoskey, Emmet in the state of Michigan, United States. He was an American Mathematician, Engineer, Cryptographer & Scientist.

Other Name: Claude Elwood Shannon
Other Professions: Engineer Cryptographer Scientist

Claude Shannon Complete Bio & Career

Claude Elwood Shannon was a famous American mathematician, cryptographer, and an electrical engineer. He went to Gaylord High School for his graduation. He was interested in electrical, science and mathematics.He even constructed a barbed-wire telegraph system and a radio-controlled model boat at home. He served as Western Union company’s messenger.He attended the University of Michigan where he learned about George Boole’s work. He completed his graduation with two degrees, one in mathematics and other in electrical engineering at MIT. He studied Vannevar Bush's differential analyzer and came up with switching circuits based on George Bool’s concepts.
 
His thesis was published in 1938. He proved the facts that switching circuits can be used for simplifying the electromechanical relays' arrangement in telephone call routing switches and how those can solve all problems solved by Boolean algebra. Later he introduced many circuit diagrams including a 4-bit full adder.The digital circuit design was founded based on his work.He completed his Ph.D. from MIT. He worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and came with his Ph.D. thesis, known as ‘An Algebra for Theoretical Genetics’. He was awarded National Research Fellowship at Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.He got an opportunity to meet influential people such as John von Neumann, Kurt Gödel, Hermann Weyl and  Albert Einstein.
 
He worked at Bell Labs, working on cryptography and fire-control systems for National Defense Research Committee. Later he worked on information theory. He used Norbert Wiener’s probability theory as his tool and developed information entropy. He also introduced sampling theory which was helpful in telecommunications for switching from analog to digital system in later years. He held an endowed chair in MIT in 1956 and started working as faculty in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at MIT till 1978. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had spent few years at nursing home in Massachusetts.

Claude Shannon Popular Videos

Health Issues, Illness and Death Info

Claude Shannon died on 24-02-2001 in Medford, Massachusetts, United States. He died due to Alzheimer's disease, aged 84.

DEATHDAY 24 February,2001 (Saturday)
DEATH PLACE Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts
DEATH COUNTRY United States

Claude Shannon Family, Relatives and Other Relations

He was born to a self-made businessman, a Judge of Probate and a descendant of early settlers of New Jersey, Claude, Sr. and a language teacher and the principal of Gaylord High School, Mabel Wolf Shannon. Thomas Edison was his distant cousin.He married a left-wing intellectual Norma Levor in 1940, but they separated after a year. He then married with a numerical analyst Betty Shannon in 1949.The couple had three kids from the marriage namely Margarita Shannon, Robert James Shannon, and Andrew Moore Shannon. atherine Shannon Kay was his sister. He has 2 granddaughters.

Life's Important Dates Of Claude Shannon

Body Measurements

Skin Colour White
Eye Colour Brown
Hair Colour Black

Personal Info

Home Town Petoskey, Michigan
Nationality American
Religion Christian
Address Medford, Massachusetts, United States
School N/A
College MIT, University of Michigan
Qualification Engineering
Hobbies Reading
Marital Status Married

Shocking / Interesting Facts & Secrets About Claude Shannon

  • He is popularly recognized as "the father of information theory".
  • He considered Thomas Edison as his ‘Hero’ who actually turned out to be his distant cousin.
  • He invented a device which can improve a Person’s Odds and solve a Rubix Cube.
  • On his 100th birth anniversary in 2016, Google honoured him with a doodle.

Claude Shannon Age, Birthday Facts and Birthday Countdown

Claude Shannon was 84 years 9 months & 24 days old age.