  claude elwood shannon (april 30, 1916 â february 24, 2001) was an american [[mathematicia
1916_births 2001_deaths 20th-century_American_mathematicians American_atheists American_computer_scientists American_electrical_engineers American_engineers American_information_theorists American_systems_scientists Claude_Shannon Communication_theorists Computer_chess_people Control_theorists Deaths_from_Alzheimer\'s_disease Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society Foreign_Members_of_the_Royal_Society IEEE_Medal_of_Honor_recipients Internet_pioneers Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology_alumni Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology_faculty Modern_cryptographers National_Medal_of_Science_laureates Pre-computer_cryptographers Probability_theorists Researchers_in_stochastics Scientists_at_Bell_Labs Unicyclists University_of_Michigan_alumni