A Mathematical Theory of Communication
1948 — entropy, channels, and the limits of reliable transmission
Work
1948 Bell System Technical Journal papers founding information theory — entropy, mutual information, channel capacity, and processing limits.
Primary publication. Shannon, C. E. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27(3), 379–423; 27(4), 623–656.
Standard reprint. Shannon & Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication (University of Illinois Press, 1949).
Claims we use in Genesis
- Entropy — foundational measure of uncertainty; connects deterministic vs probabilistic processing steps to epistemic uncertainty.
- Data processing inequality — formal underpinning of L0–L3: deeper processing cannot increase mutual information with ground truth.
- Channel capacity — each pipeline step as a channel; U-low / U-med / U-high as informal capacity bands.