Winner of the Neumann Prize for the History of Mathematics
"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
"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
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.
