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Index
It is much easier to talk about information than it is to say what it is you are talking about. A surprising number of books, and this includes textbooks, have the word information in their title without bothering to include it in the index.
—Fred I. Dretske (1979)
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Aaboe, Asger, 2.1, 2.2
abacus, 4.1, 8.1
A B C Universal Commercial Electric Telegraphic Code, The (Clauson-Thue), 5.1, 5.2
abstraction
logic and, 2.1, 2.2
in mathematical computation
origins of thinking and
words representing, 2.1, 3.1
Adams, Brooks
Adams, Frederick
Adams, Henry
Aeschylus
African languages; see also talking drums
Aharonov, Dorit
Airy, George Biddell
“Algebra for Theoretical Genetics, An” (Shannon), 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
algebra of logic, prl.1, 8.1; see also symbolic logic
algorithmic information theory, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5
algorithm(s)
to calculate complexity, 12.1, 12.2
to control accuracy and speed of communication, 7.1, 7.2
data compression
to describe biological processes, 10.1, 10.2
to generate uninteresting number, 12.1, 12.2
historical evolution of, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 7.1
Lovelace’s operations for Analytical Engine as
for measurement of computability
for measurement of information, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4
number tables based on, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
for proof of number’s randomness, 12.1, 12.2
to reconstruct phylogeny
scientific method as, 12.1, 12.2
Shor’s factoring, 13.1, 13.2
Turing machine, 7.1, 7.2
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll)
Allen, William
alphabet(s)
as code
evolution of, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1
evolution of telegraph coding systems and, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4
information transmission capacity of, 6.1, 7.1
letter frequency in, 1.1, 7.1
Morse code representation of
order of letters in, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
organization of information based on, 3.1, 3.2
AltaVista, epl.1, epl.2
altruism, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
amino acids, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6
Ampère, André-Marie, 5.1, 5.2
amplitude modulation, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
analog technology, 8.1, 8.2
Analytical Engine, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1
Analytical Society, 4.1, 4.2
Anatomy of Melancholy, The (Burton)
Anglo-American Cyclopedia, The (Borges)
Anglo-Saxon speech, 3.1, 3.2
anthropocentrism
antiaircraft guns and artillery, prl.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 12.1, 12.2
aperiodic crystals, 9.1, 10.1
Arabic numerals
Arcadia (Stoppard), 9.1, 9.2, 14.1
Aristotle and Aristotelian philosophy, prl.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 14.1, 14.2
Armani, Giorgio, 14.1, 14.2
Arte of Rhetorique, The (Wilson)
artificial intelligence, prl.1, 12.1; see also machines, attribution of thinking to
Ashby, W. Ross
astronomy
atomic science, prl.1, 7.1, 8.1, 9.1, 9.2, 12.1
Atwood, Margaret, 11.1, epl.1, epl.2
Auden, W. H.
automata, 4.1, 8.1, 8.2,
8.3
chess automata
aviation radio
Babbage, Charles, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1, 8.2
Analytical Engine of, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1
at Cambridge, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
cryptographic work of, 5.1, 5.2, 7.1
Difference Engine of, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 6.1
early life, 4.1, 4.2
information transmission studies of, 4.1, 4.2
language work of, 4.1, 4.2
Lovelace and, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9
mechanical notation system of, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1
on persistence of thought and information, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3
personal qualities, 4.1, 4.2
railroad studies of, 4.1, 4.2
range of interests and expertise, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6
vision of future of, 4.1, 4.2
Babbage, Georgiana Whitmore
Babel, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, epl.1, epl.2
Babylonian culture, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4
Bacon, Francis
bacteria, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
Baker, Nicholson, 14.1, 14.2, epl.1, epl.2
Balbus, Johannes
Balzac, Honoré de
bandwidth, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 8.1, 8.2, 12.1
ban unit of probability
Banville, John
Barber paradox
Baruch, Bernard M.
Barwise, Jon
Bates, John
Bateson, Gregory, 8.1, 8.2
Baudot code
Bavelas, Alex
Beethoven, Ludwig von, 11.1, 15.1, epl.1
Bell, Alexander Graham, 6.1, 6.2
Bell, Gordon
Bell Laboratories, prl.1, prl.2, prl.3, prl.4, 1.1, 3.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1, 8.2
Bell System Technical Journal, prl.1, 6.1, 7.1
Bell Telephone Company
Bennett, Charles H., 11.1, 11.2, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 13.7, 13.8, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 15.1
Benton, Billy
Benzer, Seymour, 10.1, 10.2
Bernoulli numbers, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3
Berry, G. G., 6.1, 6.2
Berry’s paradox, 6.1, 6.2, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3
Bible
Bierce, Ambrose
Bigelow, Julian
binary operations
coding systems for, 5.1, 5.2
representation of relay circuits as
in telegraphy, 7.1, 8.1
in use of alphabetical ordering systems
see also bit(s)
biology
entropy and, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
evolutionary, 10.1, 11.1
fundamental particles of
of human ecosystem, 10.1, 10.2
information processing in, prl.1, prl.2, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4
molecular, 9.1, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
purposeful action in processes of, 9.1, 9.2
see also genetics; neurophysiology
biosphere, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3
bit(s)
as basis of physics, prl.1, prl.2, 13.1, 13.2
biological measurements
cost of information processing
data compression strategies, 12.1, 12.2
decision-making requirements
definition of, prl.1, 7.1
first usage
growth of measuring units, 14.1, 14.2
meaning and
measurement of cosmos in, prl.1, 14.1
purpose
transmission by fire beacon, 1.1, 1.2
black holes, prl.1, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4
Blair, Ann
Blair, Earl
Bletchley Park, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1
Blount, Thomas, 3.1, 3.2
Bodleian Library, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1
Bohr, Niels, prl.1, 6.1, 13.1
Boltzmann, Ludwig, 9.1, 9.2
Bombe machine
book burning
Boole, George, prl.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.1, 6.2, 8.1, 8.2, 12.1
Borges, Jorge Luis, 14.1, 14.2, epl.1, epl.2
botanical dictionaries, 14.1, 14.2, 15.1
Bradley, Henry, 3.1, 3.2
Brahe, Tycho, 4.1, 15.1
brain; see neurophysiology
Brassard, Gilles, 13.1, 13.2
“Breakdown of Physics in Gravitational Collapse, The” (Hawking)
Brecht, Bertolt
Breguet, Abraham-Louis, 5.1, 5.2
Brenner, Sydney, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3
Brewster, David, 4.1, 8.1
Bridenbaugh, Carl, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3
Briggs, Henry, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
Brillouin, Léon, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3
Brin, Sergey, 14.1, epl.1
Broadbent, Donald, 8.1, 8.2
Brosin, Henry
Brown, Robert
Browne, Thomas, 1.1, 1.2, 5.1
Brownian motion, 6.1, 6.2, 8.1
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom
Buchanan, James
Bullokar, John
Burgess, Anthony
Burney, Venetia
Burton, Robert, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3
Bush, Vannevar, prl.1, prl.2, 5.1n, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 7.1
Butler, Samuel, 2.1, 10.1, 10.2
butterfly effect
Byron, Augusta Ada; see Lovelace, Ada
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 4.1, 4.2
bytes
Cage, John, 12.1, 12.2
Cairns-Smith, Alexander, 10.1, 10.2
calculators, calculating machines
analog and digital
Babbage’s Analytical Engine, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1
Babbage’s Difference Engine, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 6.1
definition of “calculation,” 7.1
Differential Analyzer, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
in evolution of information technology, prl.1, 4.1
use of relay circuits in
see also computation; computer(s); machines
calculus, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, epl.1
Campbell, George, prl.1, prl.2
“Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?” (Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen)
Carnot, Nicolas Sadi
Carpenter, Margaret
Carreras, José
Carrington, John F., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Carroll, Lewis, 5.1, 5.2, 14.1
Carty, John J.
catalogues of information, 5.1, 14.1, 15.1
botanical, 14.1, 14.2
of cryptographic techniques
genes as, 10.1, 10.2
for libraries, 3.1, 3.2
search techniques for, 15.1, epl.1, epl.2, epl.3
of telegraph messages
see also dictionaries
Catholicon (Balbus)
Cawdrey, Robert, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14
Cawdrey, Thomas
cellular processes, prl.1, prl.2, 9.1, 9.2
Celts
Central Dogma
“Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed” (Nyquist)
Chadwyck-Healey, Charles
chain letters, as examples of memes, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3
Chains (Karinthy)
Chaitin, Gregory, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 12.9, 12.10, 12.11, 12.12, 12.13, 12.14, 12.15
Champernowne, David
Chandler, Raymond
Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan
channels
applications of information theory
definition of
multiplexed
psychological formulation
quantum, 13.1, 13.2
transmission capacity of, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5,
7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1, 8.2
writing as, 2.1, 2.2
see also bandwidth
chaos theory, 8.1, 10.1, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 14.1, 14.2
Chappe, Claude, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
Chappe, Ignace, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3
Chappe, Pierre
Chappe, René
Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, 4.1, 4.2
Cherry, Colin
chess-playing machines, 8.1, 8.2
China, 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1
Chomsky, Noam
chromosomes, 6.1, 7.1, 9.1, 9.2, 10.1, 10.2
Churchill, Winston, prl.1, prl.2, 7.1
circularity
in defining words, 3.1, 3.2
Gödel’s critique of Principia Mathematica, 6.1
in paradoxes
Clark, Josiah Latimer
Clarke, Roger T.
classification, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2
Clausius, Rudolf, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3
Clauson-Thue, William, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3
Clement, Joseph, 4.1, 4.2
clocks, synchronization of, 1.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4
cloud, information, 14.1, 14.2
clustering
Clytemnestra
code
attempts to reduce cost of telegraphy, 5.1, 5.2
Babbage’s interest in
cipher and compression systems for telegraphy, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6
Enigma, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3
genetic, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10
in Jacquard loom operations
Morse, prl.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, 11.1
as noise
for printing telegraph
Shannon’s interest in, prl.1, 6.1, 7.1
telegraphy before Morse code, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
see also cryptography
coding theory, 8.1, 8.2, 10.1, 12.1
cognitive science, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4
Colebrooke, Henry
collective consciousness, epl.1, epl.2, epl.3, epl.4, epl.5
Colossus computing machine
Columbus, Christopher
combinatorial analysis, 6.1, 10.1, 10.2
communication
by algorithm
with alien life-form, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5
Babbage’s mechanical notation for describing, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1
constrained channels of, 2.1, 2.2
disruptive effects of new technologies in, 15.1, 15.2
emergence of global consciousness, epl.1, epl.2, epl.3
evolution of electrical technologies for, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2
fundamental problem of, prl.1, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1
human evolution and, prl.1, prl.2
implications of technological evolution of, 15.1, 15.2
information overload and, epl.1, epl.2
knowledge needs for, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3