Stardate 20010702.1737 (On Screen): One of the towering intellects of the twentieth century, whose work affects nearly everything aspect of our lives, is hardly known to the general public. It is amazing that everyone knows who Einstein is, but that knowledge of Claude Shannon is confined to the techy few. But in many ways, Shannon's work was even more important and even more profound.
Shannon's paper in 1948 was one of the most amazing intellectual feats of all time. Most scientific research builds on the past, and when it is completely new it also is usually incomplete, leaving many unanswered questions. But Shannon not only created information theory, he also finished it. Before Shannon's paper it didn't exist. After it was published, it was mature, ready to be converted to engineering practice. I can't think of another example like this in the history of science. (discuss)
