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New Music for an Old World
The article was written in 1906 and highlights the unique and extraordinary aspects of the Dynamophone (also called the Telharmonium) from the authors perspective. Numerous photos are in…
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Lee de Forest – Audion
On 25 October 1906 Lee de Forest submitted a patent application on a "Device for amplifying feeble electrical currents", which included the first form of the 3-electrode Audion. The device and…
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A Mathematical Theory of Communication
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
Parts I & II By C.E. Shannon Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. With this paper, Claude Shannon provided the theoretical foundation for communication engineering. It describes how inform…
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Quipu
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
Quipus, or Khipus, were used by civilizations of the Andes, such as the Incas and were a means of recording information. The lengths of the chords, colors, and knots were used to record numeri…
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Claude Shannon
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
Often noted as "the father of information theory". "The American mathematician and computer scientist who conceived and laid the foundations for information theory. His theories laid the ground…
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The Antikythera Mechanism
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
An Ancient Greek bronze hand-powered mechanical device that calculated astronomical positions, is described as the oldest known example of an analogue computer. In 1900, off the coast of Antiky…
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Chinese Oracle Bone
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
In ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty, oracle bones were used as a form of divination. Inscriptions were carved on pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron and are the oldes…
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Cave Paintings
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
A form of rock art found in caves typically of prehistoric origin and are representative of a means to convey information. The France Ministry of Culture (Ministere de la Culture) and the N…
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Samuel Morse, American Electro-Magnet Telegraph Patent and Morse Code
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
Samuel Finley Breese Morse, an accomplished painter and inventor, was convinced of the possibility of transmitting words using electricity and wires. In 1840 he patented "Improvement in the Mode o…
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Phoenician Alphabet
Information Theory Inquiry Unit
Sometime around 2,800 years ago, the Phoenicians made a major invention—the vowel! That is, they realized that instead of each symbol representing a syllable (ba, be, bi, bo, bu, ca, ce, ci, co, cu,…
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