Great for those interested in information theory, but NOT for a general or lay audience. "Introduction to Information Theory" by John R. Pierce

Title: An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals, and Noise

Author: John R. Pierce

Reviewer: Richard Sesek (educator, wantrepreneur)

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Topic/Intent of book: As the title suggests, this book introduces the basis for information theory (aka communication theory) which is the foundation for psychologists/human factors professionals and telecommunication engineers.

I selected this book because: Information theory is a foundational concept in human factors engineering and I was looking for some of the background on how the information theory was created (e.g., the history and development of the field).

Recommendation: Yes, but NOT for a general or lay audience. I would recommend this for those studying human factors engineering and looking for a little history of the field. Similarly, those studying wireless engineering and telecom related fields will find this interesting. Even though the math is simplified quite a bit, it may not resonate with readers lacking some proficiency in mathematics such as logarithms. Understanding the underlying theory is a powerful tool for graduate students whose research relates to information transfer.

For the math inclined, the application to theoretical “perpetual motion machines” and other thought experiments, will be interesting. However, many not in a field that uses information or communication theory, this book may be out of reach. My recommendation is therefore not general, but conditional (I will recommend it to specific individuals). While the author intended for this to be a “simplified” presentation of information theory, and it is, I still think it will be difficult to fully appreciate without some math background.

Major lessons from this book: I enjoyed the history and the explanations as to the decisions made while the field was developing and subsequently applied. For example, the letter “E” is the most frequently used letter in typical communications, therefore it was represented by a single “dot” when developing morse code. Less frequently used letters, were represented by more complex and longer sequences (e.g., the “Q” is represented by two “dashes” followed by a “dot” and then another “dash” – requiring substantially longer to transmit than the single “dot” or “beep” of an “E”). These decisions about how to code letters relied on information theory to make sure that the telegraph was as efficient as possible.

The book also addresses how error checking can be “built into” codes in the most efficient ways to minimize message confusion (or at least make the receiver aware of when the data sent may contain errors).

Book Inspirations: I will recommend this book selectively to persons very interested in the field.  I will add it to my human factors engineering class slides as a recommendation for those seeking detailed info on the history and development of the field with the caveat that this book will not appeal to everyone.