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| | | | Category Full 1 | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Science & Technology |
| Category Full 2 | TECHNOLOGY / History |
| Category Full 3 | COMPUTERS / Information Theory |
| | | | Inserts/Illus | 1x16pg b&w insert; |
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Jimmy Soni, Author | Rob Goodman, Author |
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| | | About the BookOther FormatsProduct Images | Winner of the Neumann Prize for the History of Mathematics
**Named a best book of the year by Bloomberg and Nature** **'Best of 2017' by The Morning Sun** "We owe Claude Shannon a lot, and Soni & Goodman’s book takes a big first step in paying that debt." —San Francisco Review of Books "Soni and Goodman are at their best when they invoke the wonder an idea can instill. They summon the right level of awe while stopping short of hyperbole." —Financial Times "Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman make a convincing case for their subtitle while reminding us that Shannon never made this claim himself." —The Wall Street Journal "Soni and Goodman have done their research...A Mind at Play reveals the remarkable human behind some of the most important theoretical and practical contributions to the information age." —Nature "A Mind at Play shows us that you don't need to be a genius to learn from a genius. Claude Shannon's inventive, vibrant life demonstrates how vital the act of play can be to making the most of work." —Inc. “A charming account of one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished scientists…Readers will enjoy this portrait of a modern-day Da Vinci.” —Fortune
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| | In their second collaboration, biographers Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman present the story of Claude Shannon—one of the foremost intellects of the twentieth century and the architect of the Information Age, whose insights stand behind every computer built, email sent, video streamed, and webpage loaded. Claude Shannon was a groundbreaking polymath, a brilliant tinkerer, and a digital pioneer. He constructed the first wearable computer, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots. He also wrote the seminal text of the digital revolution, which has been called “the Magna Carta of the Information Age.” In this elegantly written, exhaustively researched biography, Soni and Goodman reveal Claude Shannon’s full story for the first time. With unique access to Shannon’s family and friends, A Mind at Play brings this singular innovator and always playful genius to life.
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| | Jimmy Soni is an award-winning author. His newest book, The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, was a national bestseller and received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, The Economist, Financial Times, and more. His previous book, A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age, won the 2017 Neumann Prize, awarded by the British Society for the History of Mathematics for the best book on the history of mathematics for a general audience, and the 2019 Middleton Prize by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his daughter, Venice.
Rob Goodman is an assistant professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he teaches and writes on topics such as populism, rhetoric, and the history of political thought. He previously worked as a speechwriter in the US House and Senate. He is an award-winning author and coauthor of several books, including Words on Fire: Eloquence and Its Conditions. He lives in Toronto with his family.
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| | “Claude Shannon wrote the ‘the Magna Carta of the Information Age’ and conceived of the basic concept underlying all digital computers. Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman offer a long overdue, insightful, and humane portrait of this eccentric and towering genius.” — Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, The Innovators, and Einstein
“An exceptionally elegant and authoritative portrait of a man of few words but many big ideas. Soni and Goodman’s elucidations of Claude Shannon’s theories are gems of conciseness and clarity, and their case for placing him in the same pantheon as Turing and von Neumann is compelling.” — Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
“Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman have written a fascinating, readable, and necessary biography of a true American genius. This is the book that finally explains Claude Shannon’s character and career as well as the context of his extraordinary life and times.” — Jon Gertner, author of The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
“An avid biography full of freewheeling curiosity and fun. It’s a pleasure getting to know you, Claude Shannon!” — Siobhan Roberts, author of Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway
“Shannon was to information and communication what Newton was to physics. By following his curiosity through the playground of science, he discovered mathematical laws that govern our digital age. The Shannon I worked with comes alive in these pages.” — Edward O. Thorp, author of A Man For All Markets and Beat The Dealer
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