Claude Elwood Shannon is commonly referred to as the father of information sciences.

Claude Shannon was born in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1916. His father was a businessman and his mother a language teacher at the local high school. Shannon went to Gaylord High School (where his mother eventually became principal) until he was 16. From there he went to the University of Michigan where he was awarded a degree in mathematics and electrical engineering in 1936. This interest in mathematics and electronics had developed during his early school years. Shannon had constructed many radio-controlled toys and even made a telegraph system that connected to a friend's house some half a mile distant (his system utilized a barbed-wire fence that ran between the two properties). To fund these projects Shannon took to repairing radios in Gaylord. Having obtained his degree from the University of Michigan Shannon took a position as a research...