As I cram down information on Boolean Functions (where 1 + 1 = 1, always), my textbook informs that a fellow named Claude Shannon is the source of this current pain.
What a familiar name. I encountered Dr. Shannon in my introductory Discovery Informatics course, where he was identified as the father of Information Theory.
A seriously smart guy, and arguably the father of the internet, the telephone, and any other modern communication system you care to think about.
But, as is the case most of the time with these smart math guys, there is a funny side. From the text:
Shannon had an unconventional side. He is credited with inventing the rocket-powered frisbee. He is also famous for riding a unicycle down the hallways of Bell Laboratories while juggling four balls. Shannon retired when he was 50 years old, publishing papers sporadically over the following ten years. In his later years he concentrated on some pet projects, such as building a motorized pogo stick. One interesting quote from Shannon, published in Omni Magazine in 1987, is “I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans. And I am rooting for the machines.”
Back to Boolean functions………as I try to juggle a few other things while riding my unicycle down the slippery road of life…..
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