Information Theory is one of the few scientific fields fortunate enough to have an identifiable beginning - Claude Shannon's 1948 paper. The story of the evolution of how it progressed from a single theoretical paper to a broad field that has redefined our world is a fascinating one. It provides the opportunity to study the social, political, and technological interactions that have helped guide its development and define its trajectory, and gives us insight into how a new field evolves. We often hear Claude Shannon called the father of the Digital Age. In the beginning of his paper Shannon acknowledges the work done before him, by such.
