Citation
(2001), "Announcements", Kybernetes, Vol. 30 No. 9/10. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2001.06730iab.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
Announcements
Announcements
Claude Elwood Shannon – Founder of information Technology
On Saturday, 24 February 2001, Claude Elwood Shannon, the founder of information technology passed away aged 84. In his fundamental work A Mathematical Theory of Communication in 1948 he layed the basis for statistical communication theory that gained great importance for research and technology. Beyond it he contributed valuable work to Boole's algebra and cryptography. From 1941 to 1972 he worked at the Mathematics Department of the Bell labs, from 1958 he was professor at the MIT. Modern cybernetics would be unimaginable without Shannon's contributions that laid the foundation for information theory, on of the core areas of cybernetics (see Cybernetics Discussion Group – contact: CYBCOM@HERMES.GWU.EDU).
Francisco Varela – leading cybernetician and cognitive scientist
Francisco Varela died on 28 May 2001.
Together with Humbeno Maturana he elaborated the theory of autopoietic systems. Later he focused on the development of a theory of circularity, on enacted cognition and on consciousness research. He is known for his co-authored books The Tree of Knowledge and The Embodied Mind. This is a tremendous loss for the constructivism community (see also: http://www-univie.ac.at/constructivism).