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Claude Shannon: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Claude Shannon, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• There are more possible chess games than atoms in the observable universe

  Claude Shannon estimated a lower bound of around 10^120 possible chess games. The observable universe holds roughly 10^80 atoms. A game with 32 pieces on 64 squares generates more …

  — Claude Shannon, Programming a Computer for Playing Chess

• One 1948 paper invented the bit and gave every signal a speed limit

  Claude Shannon's 'A Mathematical Theory of Communication' treated information itself as a measurable quantity for the first time, defining the 'bit' as its basic unit. It proved th…

  — Claude Shannon, A Mathematical Theory of Communication

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