Scientific knowledge grows at a phenomenal pace--but few books have had as lasting an impact or played as important a role in our modern world as The Mathematical Theory of Communication, published originally as a paper on communication theory more than fifty years ago. Republished in book form shortly thereafter, it has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings.  It is a revolutionary work, astounding in its foresight and contemporaneity.  The University of Illinois Press is pleased and honored to issue this commemorative reprinting of a classic.
 
 

Claude E. Shannon is a research mathematician at the Bell Telephone Laboratories and Donner professor of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Warren Weaver, at present a consultant on scientific projects to the Sloan Foundation, has had a distinguished academic, government, and foundation career. Both authors have received numerous awards and honors.