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Regarding the coining of entropy is just an example of the creative genius of Von Neumann: When Shannon first derived his famous formula for information, he as
by 1cvmask 6y ago
Regarding the coining of entropy is just an example of the creative genius of Von Neumann:
When Shannon first derived his famous formula for information, he asked von Neumann what he should call it and von Neumann replied “You should call it entropy for two reasons: first because that is what the formula is in statistical mechanises but second and more important, as nobody knows what entropy is, whenever you use the term you will always be at an advantage!
http://www.spatialcomplexity.info/what-von-neumann-said-to-shannon http://www.spatialcomplexity.info/what-von-neumann-said-to-s...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_(information_theory) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_(information_theory)
- toomanybeersies 6y agoFunny you mention that story, I came across it for the first time about 3 days ago in a book I was reading -- Grammatical Man. It's one of the best reads I've found on the history of information theory. Funnily enough the friend that lent it to me isn't even a tech person, he's an electrician who's more interested in occultism and esotericism than mathematics and technology. Every time I read about the 20th century history of computing, it sounds like it was a wild time. Every advance or discovery seems to have some humorous anecdote attached to it.
- 1cvmask 6y agoI hope you like this biography on Paul Erdos. Great read. If you like it recommend it to others. I have gifted it to many friends and even to those who are not mathematicians, STEMmy or mathematically inclined. Hope you get a chance to read it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Loved_Only_Numbers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Loved_Only_Numbers