Symbolic Analysis Relay Switching Circuits by Shannon Claude (4 results)

Wraps. Condition: Good. [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. Spine refolded many times (presumably for reading), multiple marginal edge tears, fraying and several marginal chips. There is also sun darkening to the foreedge of the front wrapper. The text is effectively complete except for a paper puncture/tear to the last two leaves with minor effect to the text of a figure and table but with no loss of meaning. With all a rare survival of an important item. Wraps. We offer an example of the 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 was discovered and the family decided to sell their remaining two copies). REFERENCES: (citing the regular AIEE Transactions publication) Sloane and Wyner, "Claude Elwood Shannon Collected Papers," #1 Hook and Norman, "Origins of Cyberspace," #363. Swartzlander, Earl E. Jr., "Computer Design Development, Principal Papers," Hayden: 1976. Goldstine, Herman H., "The Computer from Pascal to Von Neumann," Princeton University Press: 1980, pp 119-120. COLLECTOR NOTES: Below is our current understanding of the printing history of "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits." Except for Item 1.1a we have personally examined one or more examples (digitally or physically) of each entry. Please note the change of item 1.3 to item 1.1a in the listing based on new information from the current owner of that item. Pre-publication - Master's thesis (note change since our first Shannon catalog) 1.0 The original markup copy, dated 1937 (private collection) 1.1a Unknown duplication process with penciled annotations in an unknown hand (private collection, previously referred to as 1.3) 1.1b A preliminary blue line print, dated 1938, contemporary with and probably made from 1.1a (private collection - your example, previously 1.1) 1.2 The official MIT Libraries archive copy, dated 1940 (MIT Libraries) 1.3 no copy - Previously "The second MIT Libraries archive copy" (now number 1.1a above) While working on his MIT Master's Thesis, Shannon was invited to and presented his work at the Summer conference of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, June 2-24, 1938. The following publication history is related to that presentation. Publication - Shannon's AIEE thesis presentation 1.4 AIEE presentation preprint, dated June 1938 Marked "AIEE Technical Paper 38-80.

Wraps. Condition: Near Fine. [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 family decided to sell their remaining two copies). REFERENCES: (citing the regular AIEE Transactions publication) Sloane and Wyner, "Claude Elwood Shannon Collected Papers," #1 Hook and Norman, "Origins of Cyberspace," #363. Swartzlander, Earl E. Jr., "Computer Design Development, Principal Papers," Hayden: 1976. Goldstine, Herman H., "The Computer from Pascal to Von Neumann," Princeton University Press: 1980, pp 119-120. COLLECTOR NOTES: Below is our current understanding of the printing history of "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits." Except for Item 1.1a we have personally examined one or more examples (digitally or physically) of each entry. Please note the change of item 1.3 to item 1.1a in the listing based on new information from the current owner of that item. Pre-publication - Master's thesis (note change since our first Shannon catalog) 1.0 The original markup copy, dated 1937 (private collection) 1.1a Unknown duplication process with penciled annotations in an unknown hand (private collection, previously referred to as 1.3) 1.1b A preliminary blue line print, dated 1938, contemporary with and probably made from 1.1a (private collection - your example, previously 1.1) 1.2 The official MIT Libraries archive copy, dated 1940 (MIT Libraries) 1.3 no copy - Previously "The second MIT Libraries archive copy" (now number 1.1a above) While working on his MIT Master's Thesis, Shannon was invited to and presented his work at the Summer conference of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, June 2-24, 1938. The following publication history is related to that presentation. Publication - Shannon's AIEE thesis presentation 1.4 AIEE presentation preprint, dated June 1938 Marked "AIEE Technical Paper 38-80, June 1938: Advance Copy Not Released for Publication" and further "A paper recommended by the AIEE committees on communication and basic sciences, and scheduled for presentation at the AIEE summer convention, Washington, D. C., June 20-24, 193.

First edition. SHANNON'S FAMOUS MASTER'S THESIS - INCREDIBLY RARE OFFPRINT. First edition, incredibly rare separately-paginated offprint, one of four known copies, of Shannon's famous MIT Master's Thesis, which Herman Goldstein has called "masterful surely one of the most important master's theses ever written a landmark in that it helped to change digital circuit design from an art to a science" (The Computer From Pascal to Von Neumann, pp. 119-120). While working on his thesis, Shannon was invited to present his work at the Summer Conference of the AIEE, June 2-24, 1938. His presentation was published in December 1938 in the AIEE Transactions; the present offprint of that article is dated 16 September 1938. "Claude Shannon, in his master's thesis entitled 'A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits,' submitted to MIT on August 10, 1937, showed that the two-valued algebra developed by George Boole could be used as a basis for the design of electrical circuits This thesis became the theoretical basis for the electronics and computer industries that were developed after World War II" (). "In 1936 [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. The thesis, his first published paper, aroused considerable interest when it appeared in 1938 in the AIEE Transactions. In 1940 it was awarded the Alfred Noble Prize of the combined engineering societies of the United States" (Collected Papers, pp. xi-xii). "In his paper, Shannon proved that Boolean algebra and binary arithmetic could be used to simplify the arrangement of the electromechanical relays then used in telephone routing switches, then turned the concept upside down and also proved that it should be possible to use arrangements of relays to solve Boolean algebra problems. Exploiting this property of electrical switches to do logic is the basic concept that underlies all electronic digital computers. Shannon's work became the foundation of practical digital circuit design when it became widely known among the electrical engineering community during and after WW2. The theoretical rigor of Shannon's work completely replaced the ad hoc methods that had previously prevailed" (history-/ModernComputer/thinkers/). This copy of the offprint is from Shannon's personal files we are not aware of any copy originating from any other source. Not on OCLC, no copies in auction records. Provenance: The personal files of Claude E. Shannon (unmarked). "Shannon (1916-2001), who died in February after a long illness, was one of the greatest of the giants who created the information age. John von Neumann, Alan Turing and many other visionaries gave us computers that could process information. But it was Claude Shannon who gave us the modern concept of information an intellectual leap that earns him a place on whatever high-tech equivalent of Mount Rushmore is one day established "And that's not even counting the master's dissertation Shannon had written 10 years earlier the one where he articulated the principles behind all modern computers. 'Claude did so much in enabling modern technology that it's hard to know where to start and end,' says [Robert] Gallager, who worked with Shannon in the 1960s. 'He had this amazing clarity of vision. Einstein had it, too this ability to take on a complicated problem and find the right way to look at it, so that things become very simple.' "For Shannon, it was all just another way to have fun. 'Claude loved to laugh, and to dream up things that were offbeat,' says retired Bell Labs mathematician David Slepian, who was a collaborator of Shannon's in the 1950s. Shannon went at math like a stage magician practicing his sleight of hand: 'He would circle around and attack the problem from a direction you never would have thought of,' says Slepian only to astonish you with an answer that had been right in front of your face all the time. But then, Shannon also had a large repertoire of real card tricks. He taught himself to ride a unicycle and became famous for riding it down the Bell Labs hallways at night-while juggling. ('He had been a gymnast in college, so he was better at it than you might have thought,' says his wife Betty, who gave him the cycle as a Christmas present in 1949.) "At home, Shannon spent his spare time building all manner of bizarre machines. There was the Throbac (THrifty ROman-numerical BAckward-looking Computer), a calculator that did arithmetic with Roman numerals. There was Theseus, a life-sized mechanical mouse that could find its way through a maze. And perhaps most famously, there was the 'Ultimate Machine' a box with a large switch on the side. Turn the switch on, and the lid would slowly rise, revealing a mechanical hand that would reach down, turn the switch off, and withdraw leaving the box just as it was. "'I was always interested in building things with funny motions,' Shannon.

First edition. SHANNON'S FAMOUS MASTER'S THESIS . First edition of Shannon's famous master's thesis. Herman Goldstein has called the thesis "masterful surely one of the most important master's theses ever written a landmark in that it helped to change digital circuit design from an art to a science" (The Computer From Pascal to Von Neumann, pp. 119-120). "Claude Shannon, in his master's thesis entitled 'A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits,' submitted to MIT on August 10, 1937, showed that the two-valued algebra developed by George Boole could be used as a basis for the design of electrical circuits This thesis became the theoretical basis for the electronics and computer industries that were developed after World War II" (). "In 1936 [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. The thesis, his first published paper, aroused considerable interest when it appeared in 1938 in the AIEE Transactions. In 1940 it was awarded the Alfred Noble Prize of the combined engineering societies of the United States" (Collected Papers, pp. xi-xii). "In his paper, Shannon proved that Boolean algebra and binary arithmetic could be used to simplify the arrangement of the electromechanical relays then used in telephone routing switches, then turned the concept upside down and also proved that it should be possible to use arrangements of relays to solve Boolean algebra problems. Exploiting this property of electrical switches to do logic is the basic concept that underlies all electronic digital computers. Shannon's work became the foundation of practical digital circuit design when it became widely known among the electrical engineering community during and after WW2. The theoretical rigor of Shannon's work completely replaced the ad hoc methods that had previously prevailed" (history-/ModernComputer/thinkers/). ABPC/RBH records three copies: Bonham's New York, June 14, 2014; Christie's New York, June 14, 2006; Christie's New York, February 23, 2005 OOC copy. The OOC copy realized $15,600. Provenance: "General Electric Co., Salt Lake City' hand-written on top edge of text block. "Shannon (1916-2001), who died in February after a long illness, was one of the greatest of the giants who created the information age. John von Neumann, Alan Turing and many other visionaries gave us computers that could process information. But it was Claude Shannon who gave us the modern concept of information an intellectual leap that earns him a place on whatever high-tech equivalent of Mount Rushmore is one day established "And that's not even counting the master's dissertation Shannon had written 10 years earlier the one where he articulated the principles behind all modern computers. 'Claude did so much in enabling modern technology that it's hard to know where to start and end,' says [Robert] Gallager, who worked with Shannon in the 1960s. 'He had this amazing clarity of vision. Einstein had it, too this ability to take on a complicated problem and find the right way to look at it, so that things become very simple.' "For Shannon, it was all just another way to have fun. 'Claude loved to laugh, and to dream up things that were offbeat,' says retired Bell Labs mathematician David Slepian, who was a collaborator of Shannon's in the 1950s. Shannon went at math like a stage magician practicing his sleight of hand: 'He would circle around and attack the problem from a direction you never would have thought of,' says Slepian only to astonish you with an answer that had been right in front of your face all the time. But then, Shannon also had a large repertoire of real card tricks. He taught himself to ride a unicycle and became famous for riding it down the Bell Labs hallways at night-while juggling. ('He had been a gymnast in college, so he was better at it than you might have thought,' says his wife Betty, who gave him the cycle as a Christmas present in 1949.) "At home, Shannon spent his spare time building all manner of bizarre machines. There was the Throbac (THrifty ROman-numerical BAckward-looking Computer), a calculator that did arithmetic with Roman numerals. There was Theseus, a life-sized mechanical mouse that could find its way through a maze. And perhaps most famously, there was the 'Ultimate Machine' a box with a large switch on the side. Turn the switch on, and the lid would slowly rise, revealing a mechanical hand that would reach down, turn the switch off, and withdraw leaving the box just as it was. "'I was always interested in building things with funny motions,' Shannon explained in a 1987 interview with Omni magazine (one of the few times he spoke about his life publicly). In his northern Michigan hometown of Gaylord, he recalled, he spent his early years putting together model planes, radio circuits, a radio-controlled model boat and even a telegraph system. And when he entered the.