The Mathematical Theory of Communication.

Shannon, Claude Elwood, 1916–2001. The Mathematical Theory of Communication / Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver. — Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1949. — First edition, first printing. 117 pp. ; 24 cm. — Octavo. Original tan cloth, spine lettered in black. Includes Warren Weaver’s expository essay, “Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communication,” pp. 3–28; Shannon’s technical monograph, “The Mathematical Theory of Communication,” pp. 29–117. Inscription: Boldly signed by the author in black ink on the front free endpaper recto: Claude E. Shannon. Bibliographic note: Shannon’s monograph was first published in two installments in the Bell System Technical Journal 27 (July–October 1948), pp. 379–423, 623–656, under the title “A Mathematical Theory of Communication.” The present volume constitutes the first separate book publication, with the title revised to its definitive form. The work introduces the binary digit (bit) as the fundamental unit of information; applies entropy as a measure of informational uncertainty; and establishes the mathematical proof of channel capacity — the theoretical maximum rate at which information can be transmitted through a noisy channel with arbitrarily low error. These formulations are recognized as the theoretical foundation of digital communication, computing, cryptography, and data compression. Provenance: Shannon’s autograph material is of exceptional scarcity in both institutional and private collections. He published sparingly, signed rarely, and left a comparatively limited documentary record relative to his significance in the history of science. Signed copies of this work at any condition grade are seldom encountered in the market. Condition: Near fine in original dust jacket, very good. cf. Gertner, The Idea Factory, p. 128; Scientific American (“the magna carta of the information age”).