A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits [MIT Preprint of the AIEE paper]

Shannon, Claude E. [Elwood] (enrolled student AIEE)

Published by American Institute of Electrical Engineers [AIEE], New York, 1938

About this Item

[1]-11, 12 pages. 10 15/16 x 8 1/2 inches. Stapled self-wrappers. Hand-applied ink-stamp upper left "A Reprint from the Dept. of Electrical Engineering 141 Mass. Institute of Technology" partially covering the title and author of the paper. An excellent copy of this offprint, with just a touch of wear to the extremities, soft crease lower corners, and minor smudge on rear panel. Wraps. We offer an example of the very rare MIT preprint of Claude Shannon's AIEE paper "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits," a pivotal paper in the history of computing. (see #1.5 in COLLECTOR'S NOTES below for printing precedence). This paper (often referred to as Shannon's famous Master's Thesis) is a fundamentally important work in the history of computing. It demonstrates how to combine the mathematical rigor of Boolean logic with the engineering practice of building circuits, a discipline previously more of an experimental art form than a true engineering discipline. This work provided the foundation for computer circuit design as we know it today, without which the phenomenal growth of computing (see Moore's Law) could not have happened. "In 1936 [after obtaining the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Michigan, Shannon] accepted the position of research assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The position allowed him to continue studying toward advanced degrees while working part-time for the department. The work in question was ideally suited to his interests and talents. It involved the operation of the Bush differential analyzer, the most advanced calculating machine of that era . Also of interest was a complex relay circuit associated with the differential analyzer that controlled its operation and involved over one hundred relays. In studying and servicing this circuit, Shannon became interested in the theory and design of relay and switching circuits. He had studied symbolic logic and Boolean algebra at Michigan in mathematics courses and realized that this was the appropriate mathematics for studying such two-valued systems. He developed these ideas during the summer of 1937, which he spent at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City, and, back at MIT, in his master's thesis, where he showed how Boolean algebra could be used in the analysis and synthesis of switching and computer circuits." (Sloane and Wyner pp xi-xii) The American Institute of Electrical Engineers recognized the significance of Shannon's thesis and invited the young Claude Shannon, an "Enrolled Student AIEE," to present an abstract of his thesis at the June 1938 Summer AIEE conference while still enrolled at MIT. "The thesis, his first published paper, aroused considerable interest when it appeared in 1938 in the AIEE Transactions. In 1940, it was awarded the [1939] Alfred Noble Prize of the combined engineering societies of the United States, an award given each year to a person, not over thirty, for a paper published in one of the journals of the participating societies." (Sloane and Wyner, pp. xi-xii). Herman H. Goldstine notes: "This surely must be one of the most important master's theses ever written.The paper was a landmark in that it helped change digital circuit design from an art to a science." (Goldstine, pp 119-120) "Shannon's paper, written in 1937 at Bell Labs, proved in theory what George Stibitz was demonstrating empirically at Bell Labs at just about the same time with his famous 'Model K' relay calculator.Shannon proved that the two-valued algebra developed by George Boole . could be implemented electrically by telephone relays and used as a basis for designing computer circuits." (Origins of Cyberspace) PROVENANCE: The personal files of Claude E. Shannon (unmarked). One of seven examples from Shannon's files (since our initial catalog, an additional file copy [as here] was discovered and the. Seller Inventory # 28996

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching ...

Publisher: American Institute of Electrical Engineers [AIEE], New York

Publication Date: 1938

Binding: Wraps

Condition: Near Fine