“In 1948, while working for Bell Telephone Laboratories, he published a paper in the Bell System Technical Journal entitled "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" that not only introduced the word bit in print but established a field of study today known as information theory. Information theory is concerned with transmitting digital information in the presence of noise (which usually prevents all the information from getting through) and how to compensate for that. In 1949, he wrote the first article about programming a computer to play chess, and in 1952 he designed a mechanical mouse controlled by relays that could learn its way around a maze. Shannon was also well known at Bell Labs for riding a unicycle and juggling simultaneously.”

“Code is not like other how-computers-work books. It doesn't have big color illustrations of disk drives with arrows showing how the data sweeps into the computer. Code has no drawings of trains carrying a cargo of zeros and ones. Metaphors and similes are wonderful literary devices but they do nothing but obscure the beauty of technology.”

“To a programmer, an operating system is defined by its API.”

“She shrugged. "I'm surprised your mother didn't inform you of my presence. Or Belle. She has spoken about you a great deal."His eyes narrowed as his heart sank. "You've become friendly with Belle?" He saw all his hopes for a flirtation with this girl going up in smoke.”

“There are smiles that actually travel along telephone wires, although no engineer at Bell Laboratories could explain how it works.”

“Designers can learn from library science. In trying to deliver information, what are the cognitive frameworks or resistances to absorbing information? We're always trying to make information delivery as painless and seamless as possible. Even to the point that the person has no conscious perception of how the information is delivered. - Micki Breitenstein via way of Kim Baer's book, Information Design Workbook”

“If only one person were perfectly informed there could never be a general crisis. But the only perfectly informed person is God, and he does not play the stock market.”