In Shannon's case, given how fundamental his 1937 thesis was (you can use Boolean Algebra to design digital circuits), most other people might have been afraid

In Shannon's case, given how fundamental his 1937 thesis was (you can use Boolean Algebra to design digital circuits), most other people might have been afraid of not being able to top that. My impression was that he was always looking forward to bigger things through his own work and through his students. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_and_Switching_Circuits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_a...