A Mathematical Theory of Communication
E1169
A Mathematical Theory of Communication is Claude Shannon’s landmark 1948 paper that founded information theory by rigorously defining concepts like information, entropy, and channel capacity.
All labels observed (6)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T26949 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: A Mathematical Theory of Communication Context triple: [Claude Shannon, notableWork, A Mathematical Theory of Communication]
-
A.
The Computer as a Communication Device
"The Computer as a Communication Device" is a seminal 1968 essay by J.C.R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, networked computing as a medium for human collaboration and communication, foreshadowing the modern internet.
-
B.
As We May Think
As We May Think is a seminal 1945 essay by Vannevar Bush that envisioned hypertext-like information systems and profoundly influenced the development of modern computing and the internet.
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C.
Proceedings of the IRE
Proceedings of the IRE was the flagship technical journal of the Institute of Radio Engineers, publishing influential research in radio, electronics, and early electrical engineering.
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D.
Man-Computer Symbiosis
Man-Computer Symbiosis is a seminal 1960 essay by J. C. R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, cooperative partnerships between humans and computers, laying conceptual foundations for modern interactive computing and the internet.
-
E.
Syntactic Structures
Syntactic Structures is a landmark 1957 book by linguist Noam Chomsky that revolutionized the study of language by introducing generative grammar and challenging behaviorist views of linguistics.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: A Mathematical Theory of Communication Target entity description: A Mathematical Theory of Communication is Claude Shannon’s landmark 1948 paper that founded information theory by rigorously defining concepts like information, entropy, and channel capacity.
-
A.
The Computer as a Communication Device
"The Computer as a Communication Device" is a seminal 1968 essay by J.C.R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, networked computing as a medium for human collaboration and communication, foreshadowing the modern internet.
-
B.
As We May Think
As We May Think is a seminal 1945 essay by Vannevar Bush that envisioned hypertext-like information systems and profoundly influenced the development of modern computing and the internet.
-
C.
Proceedings of the IRE
Proceedings of the IRE was the flagship technical journal of the Institute of Radio Engineers, publishing influential research in radio, electronics, and early electrical engineering.
-
D.
Man-Computer Symbiosis
Man-Computer Symbiosis is a seminal 1960 essay by J. C. R. Licklider that envisioned interactive, cooperative partnerships between humans and computers, laying conceptual foundations for modern interactive computing and the internet.
-
E.
Syntactic Structures
Syntactic Structures is a landmark 1957 book by linguist Noam Chomsky that revolutionized the study of language by introducing generative grammar and challenging behaviorist views of linguistics.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
landmark paper
ⓘ
scientific paper ⓘ |
| associatedWithConcept |
Shannon entropy
ⓘ
Shannon entropy ⓘ
surface form:
Shannon limit
|
| author | Claude Shannon ⓘ |
| coreIdea |
communication as selection of a message from a set of possible messages
ⓘ
distinction between semantic content and technical information ⓘ logarithmic measure of information content ⓘ separation of source coding and channel coding (conceptual) ⓘ use of probability distributions to model message sources ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| defined |
channel capacity as the maximum reliable communication rate
ⓘ
entropy as a measure of information, choice, and uncertainty ⓘ equivocation in communication systems ⓘ rate of information transmission ⓘ |
| field | information theory ⓘ |
| focusesOn |
limits of reliable communication over noisy channels
ⓘ
mathematical modeling of communication systems ⓘ probabilistic treatment of messages and signals ⓘ |
| hasPart |
analysis of noisy channels
ⓘ
discussion of coding and efficiency ⓘ treatment of continuous sources ⓘ treatment of discrete sources ⓘ |
| influencedField |
coding theory
ⓘ
computer science ⓘ cryptography ⓘ data compression ⓘ digital communications ⓘ linguistics ⓘ neuroscience ⓘ statistical mechanics ⓘ telecommunications engineering ⓘ |
| introducedConcept |
bit as a unit of information
ⓘ
channel capacity ⓘ continuous channel model ⓘ discrete memoryless channel model ⓘ information entropy ⓘ mutual information ⓘ noisy channel coding theorem (in preliminary form) ⓘ redundancy in communication ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| laterRepublishedAs |
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
The Mathematical Theory of Communication
|
| laterRepublishedWith | an introductory essay by Warren Weaver ⓘ |
| originalPublicationMedium | journal article ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1948 ⓘ |
| publisher | Bell System Technical Journal ⓘ |
| recognizedAs |
foundational work of information theory
ⓘ
one of the most influential scientific papers of the 20th century ⓘ |
| title | A Mathematical Theory of Communication self-link ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: A Mathematical Theory of Communication Description of subject: A Mathematical Theory of Communication is Claude Shannon’s landmark 1948 paper that founded information theory by rigorously defining concepts like information, entropy, and channel capacity.
Referenced by (16)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
The Mathematical Theory of Communication
subject surface form:
Claude Shannon
subject surface form:
Claude Shannon
this entity surface form:
The Mathematical Theory of Communication
this entity surface form:
Shannon capacity of a channel
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
→
laterRepublishedAs
→
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
The Mathematical Theory of Communication
subject surface form:
Claude Shannon
subject surface form:
Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems
An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise
→
covers
→
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Shannon’s theory of communication
this entity surface form:
Shannon’s information theory
Mathematical Foundations of Information Theory
→
influencedBy
→
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Shannon’s 1948 papers on information theory