Elements of Information Theory 2nd Edition (Wiley Series in Telecommunications and Signal Processing) (Hardcover)

by Thomas M. Cover (Author), Joy A. Thomas (Author) "Information theory answers two fundamental questions in communication theory: What is the ultimate data compression (answer: the entropy H), and what is the ultimate transmission..." (more)
Key Phrases: Elements of Information Theory, John Wiley, Second Edition (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"As expected, the quality of exposition continues to be a high point of the book. Clear explanations, nice graphical illustrations, and illuminating mathematical derivations make the book particularly useful as a textbook on information theory." (Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 2008)

"This book is recommended reading, both as a textbook and as a reference." (Computing Reviews.com, December 28, 2006)

Product Description
The latest edition of this classic is updated with new problem sets and material

The Second Edition of this fundamental textbook maintains the book's tradition of clear, thought-provoking instruction. Readers are provided once again with an instructive mix of mathematics, physics, statistics, and information theory.

All the essential topics in information theory are covered in detail, including entropy, data compression, channel capacity, rate distortion, network information theory, and hypothesis testing. The authors provide readers with a solid understanding of the underlying theory and applications. Problem sets and a telegraphic summary at the end of each chapter further assist readers. The historical notes that follow each chapter recap the main points.

The Second Edition features:
* Chapters reorganized to improve teaching
* 200 new problems
* New material on source coding, portfolio theory, and feedback capacity
* Updated references

Now current and enhanced, the Second Edition of Elements of Information Theory remains the ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in electrical engineering, statistics, and telecommunications.

An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 776 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 2 edition (July 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471241954
• ISBN-13: 978-0471241959
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,044 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intermediate to advanced entry into information theory, October 25, 2000

By	Julius Kusuma (Cambridge, MA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Elements of Information Theory (Hardcover)

Thomas Cover is a well-known researcher for both his excellent and sometimes surprising work in information theory, and his reputation as a teacher. The result here is a very well-written and gentle "overview" of information theory that is designed as a comprehensive introduction to the subject.

One thing to note about this book is that it is by design both an introduction and a survey of information theory, as the title suggests. It starts off with the basic concepts of information theory such as entropy and mutual information, and continues on with brief and gentle reviews of different more intermediate topics such as entropy rates in random processes, introduction to coding, and finally with the channel coding theorem, rate-distortion theorem, network information theory, and other more advanced topics.

While I find that his treatment of the intermediate and advanced topics to be excellent, there are a few weak aspects on this book's treatment of the introductory topics here and there. However, with just a little persistence the reader will be well rewarded by Cover's excellent writing. At each topic, the reader is presented with reason, motivation, intuition and example before delving into the rigorous treatment of the subject. Therefore even the most casual reader will be rewarded with good insights into the different topics in information theory.

That all said, I highly recommend this book to anybody armed with elementary probability who is interested in the general area of communication, signal processing and information theory. Readers who are alergic to math are recommended to start with J.R. Pierce's "Introduction to Information Theory" and readers looking for a casual introduction to the fundamental concepts in information theory are recommended to find a copy of A. Renyi's hard to find "A Diary on Information Theory".

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough and readable intro text, July 22, 1999

By	Roger Peng (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Elements of Information Theory (Hardcover)

Cover and Thomas have written an excellent book on information theory. This book is suitable for an introductory type course but the entire book probably cannot be covered at once. All of the explanations and proofs are very understandable, although the section on types can be a tad confusing at times! I would not recommend this book to someone with a casual interest in information theory, rather to someone who wants a more rigorous treatment of the underlying mathematics.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best pick for the beginner. , January 7, 2002

By	ALAC (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Information Theory (Hardcover)

If you want a single book on information theory, you must have this one. Tom Cover's writing style is great. He wrote a clear, concise, and understandable book on a somewhat involved topic. The notation is neat and clean, something difficult to find in Information Theory books. The problems at the end of each chapter are very useful and a great aid to master the material. There is also a summary at end of each chapter with the main definitions and results just studied. The intuition behind Information Theory important quantities such as entropy and mutual information is well explained through several toy examples and Venn diagrams. The channel coding theorem for example is thoroughly discussed. There is also a sketchy and intuitive proof of the capacity of the AWGN channel based on a sphere packing argument which is given before the more rigorous one comes along. This is the standard text on information theory, deservedly so.