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A Mind at Play by Rob Goodman & Jimmy Soni
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A Mind at Play

How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age

$22.04

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Narrator Jonathan Yen

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Length 11 hours 51 minutes
Language English
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the digital revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.

Now, Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman bring Claude Shannon's story to life. It's the story of a small-town boy from Michigan whose career stretched from the age of room-sized computers powered by gears and string to the age of the Apple desktop. It's the story of the origins of information in the tunnels of MIT and the "idea factory" of Bell Labs, in the "scientists' war" with Nazi Germany, and in the work of Shannon's collaborators and rivals. It's the story of Shannon's life as an often reclusive, always playful genius. With access to Shannon's family and friends, A Mind At Play explores the life and times of this singular innovator and creative genius.

Rob Goodman has written speeches and opinion pieces that have appeared on the floors of both houses of Congress, on national television and radio, and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Jimmy Soni is the managing editor of the Huffington Post and a former speechwriter whose writing and commentary have appeared in the Atlantic online and on NPR, among other outlets.

Jonathan Yen was inspired by the Golden Age of Radio, and while the gold was gone by the time he got there, he's carried that inspiration through to commercial work, voice acting, and stage productions. His "versatile baritone" and "distinct and perceptive role-playing" make for "a striking marriage of performance and storytelling." From vintage Howard Fast science fiction to naturalist Paul Rosolie's true adventures in the Amazon, Jonathan loves to tell a good story.

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Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks when you make the switch!

Nowโ€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโ€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Make the switch
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Reviews

"Lucid and fascinating. . . . Soni and Goodman open an engrossing window onto what a mind hard at work can do." ---Publishers Weekly Expand reviews
Get two free audiobooks AND support local bookstores Make the switch