Shannon (1940) Algebra for Theoretical Genetics

Claude Shannon's lesser-known work (cf. famous MSc Boolean net thesis), PhD on “An Algebra for Theoretical Genetics” https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/11174

• via Chris Aldrich's blog :

  I’ll note in passing, for those interested, that Claude Shannon’s infamous master’s thesis at MIT (in which he applied Boolean Algebra to electric circuits allowing the digital revolution to occur) and his subsequent “The Theory of Mathematical Communication” were so revolutionary, nearly everyone forgets his MIT Ph.D. Thesis “An Algebra for Theoretical Genetics” which presaged the areas of cybernetics and the current applications of information theory to microbiology and are probably as seminal as Sir R.A Fisher’s applications of statistics to science in general and biology in particular.

See also

• Claude Shannon, population geneticist on Lior Pachter's blog
• James F. Crow (2001) Shannon's Brief Foray into Genetics Genetics
• Ahammad et al. (2004) Claude Shannon and “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” October 19, 2004