Engineering Theory and Mathematics in the Early Development of Information Theory

A historical study of the development of information theory advancements in the first few years after Claude E. Shannon’s seminal work of 1948 is presented. The relationship between strictly mathematical advances, information theoretic evaluations of existing communications systems, and the development of engineering theory for applications is explored. It is shown that the contributions of American communications engineering theorists are directly tied to the socially constructed meanings of information theory held by members of the group. The role played by these engineering theorists is compared with the role of American mathematical scientists and it is also shown that the early advancement of information is linked to the mutual interactions between these two social groups.