An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise

Behind the familiar surfaces of the telephone, radio, and television lies a sophisticated and intriguing body of knowledge known as information theory This is the theory that has permitted the rapid development of all sorts of communication, from color television to the clear transmission of photographs from the vicinity of Jupiter.To give a solid introduction to this burgeoning field, J R Pierce has revised his well received 1961 study of information theory for a second edition Beginning with the origins of the field, Dr Pierce follows the brilliant formulations of Claude Shannon and describes such aspects of the subject as encoding and binary digits, entropy, language and meaning, efficient encoding, and the noisy channel He then goes beyond the strict confines of the topic to explore the ways in which information theory relates to physics, cybernetics, psychology, and art.Mathematical formulas are introduced at the appropriate points for the benefit of serious students A glossary of terms and an appendix on mathematical notation are provided to help the less mathematically sophisticated.J R Pierce worked for many years at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he became Director of Research in Communications Principles His Introduction to Information Theory continues to be the most impressive nontechnical account available and a fascinating introduction to the subject for lay readers. Best Download An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise by John Robinson Pierce For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr An excellent introduction to the new and complicated science of communication It explores topics of entropy, information as bits, noisy channels and other technical issues with plenty of examples, elaboration and analogy Negatives Though the math and equations never get beyond basic algebra and physics, some of the equations and the relationships between them lack clarity Further, due to the age of the text and despite some recent updates to particular chapters, one is never sure how out An excellent introduction to the new and complicated science of communication It explores topics of entropy, information as bits, noisy channels and other technical issues with plenty of examples, elaboration and analogy Negatives Though the math and equations never get beyond basic algebra and physics, some of the equations and the relationships between them lack clarity Further, due to the age of the text and despite some recent updates to particular chapters, one is never sure how out of touch some of the referenced technology For example, there is no mention of the internet or cell phones which have tackled newer challenges in communication and information theory.Positives Clearly, J Pierce put a lot of thought in the order of the content starting with a prolonged discussion on entropy in both statistical physics and information theory This is a great alternative to reading a text book on the subject The reader will be surprised by the author s sense of humo...Terrific and short introduction to the subject via an incredibly precise and clear writing As advertised it is intended for a general audience, but it is not a dumbed down pop sci book you ll need a fair amount of grit to get through it Perhaps the best takeaway from the book is clearing of the nonsense and confusion that permeates 95% of entropy discussions in print and digital media In one of the early chapters Pierce summarizes and contrasts the usage of the term in physics and communi Terrific and short introduction to the subject via an incredibly precise and clear writing As advertised it is intended for a general audience, but it is not a dumbed down pop sci book you ll need a fair amount of grit to get through it Perhaps the best takeaway from the book is cleari...It s always fun to delve into something written in the 80s It was a nice attempt from Mr Pierce to give an intro into communication theory That s not an easy task since communication theory is a mathematical as well Let s put it as, encoding was an average, with a little be too many binary bitsalthough, let us admit, that from point of view of mathematical readiness, the channel was perhaps too noisy But, the message came through.Generally speaking, there was some intentional degr It s alwa...A gentle yet solid introduction to information theory.I learned a bit and enjoyed the read Another reviewer said it was a gentle thorough introduction to the topic I can t speak to the thorough, not my field, but it was gentle Pierce has a sense of humor, and by golly, I believed that I could do the math if I took a real course in information theory What made it truly interesting to me was the date of revision, 1980, before the big revolution in IT In 1990 I still had to create a program in order to use a program Reading this book was a bit I learned a bit and enjoyed the read Another reviewer said it was a gentle thorough introduction to the topic I can t speak to...Interesting with a lot of applications With moments somewhat old fashioned.Pierce offers here both a philosophical and mathematical account of first principles of information theory at the same time as he sketches an historical overview of the field which veers as much towards hagiography of Shannon as Pierce will allow himself to veer, given his stark plain spokenness Pierce doesn t offer a new approach to information theory, but he is masterful at presenting a concise synopsis of and introduction to the problems and quandaries of the field, foremost among which seem Pierce offers here both a philosophical and mathematical account of first principles of information theory at the same time as he sketches an historical overview of the field which veers as much towards hagiography of Shannon as Pierce will allow himself to veer, given his stark plain spokenness Pierce doesn t offer a new approach to information theory, but he is masterful at presenting a concise synopsis of and introduction to the problems and quandaries of the field, foremost among which seem to be the two eternal conundrums of the information theorist, namely, how to pack as much information into as few bits as possible and, second, how to use good old science and ingenuity to outwit the eternal foe of information theory noise Pierce is fun to read because you can easily imagine a whole tradition of American language users from the Puritans to Hemingway reading and endorsing what seem to be Pierce s practical potions for avoiding wastefulness with words and casting out confo...What exactly is an introduction At what point do you say that a book is far too technical and the material is better fit for people with intermediate experience Of course, it all depends With that said, I think this book does still qualify as an introduction to information theory, but it really pushes the limit Perhaps another way to say it is that this book is better fit for students in a college course, not casual readers with a passing interest in information theory I definitely found it What exactly is an introduction At what point do you say that a book is far too technical and the material is better fit for people with intermediate experience Of course, it all depends With that said, I think this book does still qualify as an introduction to information theory, but it really pushes the limit Perhaps another way to say it is that this book is better fi..._Symbols, Signals and Noise_ lies somewhere in the aether between textbooks and popular science It is certainlyeasy to read than many examples of the former, with careful explanations in plain language of the phenomena being discussed, and intuitive explanations of any important equations or discoveries, yet it is also certainly a deeper treatment than a swathe of modern books which present only gaudy tidbits of information and some patronising examples Pierce stresses that his book woul _Symbols, Signals and Noise_ lies somewhere in the aether between textbooks a...Several conversations with co workers convinced me that I should try to get at least a passing familiarity with information theory, if only for my own benefit I chose this particular book, honestly because it was easily available, with decent reviews, and comparatively inexpensive next to textbooks on the subject The author goes to solid lengths to avoid dropping too much math on the reader, and when it is unavoidable, does a great job getting the interpretation across While a small chunk of Several conversations with co workers convinced me that I should try to get at least a passing familiarity with information theory, if only for my own benefit I chose this particular book, honestly because it was easily available, with decent reviews, and comparatively inexpensive next to textbooks on the subject The author goes to solid lengths to avoid dropping too much math on the reader, and when it is unavoidable, does a great job getting the interpretation across While a small chunk of the book was material I was already familiar with namely Fourier transforms and their properties , the rest was almost entirely new to me Over all, I can say I m quite happy with the book.The...

• English
• 19 June 2017
John Robinson Pierce
• Paperback
• 306 pages
• 0486240614
• John Robinson Pierce
• An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise