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An Introduction to Information Theory
 
 
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An Introduction to Information Theory (Paperback)

by John R. Pierce (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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An Introduction to Information Theory + The Mathematical Theory of Communication + Elements of Information Theory 2nd Edition (Wiley Series in Telecommunications and Signal Processing)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Second (1980) edition. "Uncommonly good...the most satisfying discussion to be found"—Scientific American. Covers encoding and binary digits, entropy, language and meaning, efficient encoding and the noisy channel, and explores ways in which information theory relates to physics, cybernetics, psychology and art.

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Still the place to start, November 14, 2000
By K. Braithwaite (inkster, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Although old this is still the best book to learn the core ideas of this subject, especially what information "entropy" really means. I read Ash's book, and followed the proofs, but I didn't really grasp the ideas until I read this.

The book is geared towards non-mathematicians, but it is not just a tour. Pierce tackles the main ideas just not all the techniques and special cases.

Perfect for: anyone in science, linguistics, or engineering. Very good for: everyone else.

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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Gem, October 11, 2002
By Clark M. Neily (Allston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Claude Shannon died last year, and it's really disgraceful that his name is not a household word in the manner of Einstein and Newton. He really WAS the Isaac Newton of communications theory, and his master's thesis on Boolean logic applied to circuits is probably the most cited ever.

This is the ONLY book of which I am aware which attempts to present Shannon's results to the educated lay reader, and Pierce does a crackerjack job of it. Notwithstanding, this is not a book for the casual reader. The ideas underlying the theory are inherently subtle and mathematical, although there are numerous practical manifestations of them in nature, and in human "information transmission" behavior. On the other hand, this is a work which repays all effort invested in its mastery many times over.

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Introduction, April 13, 2000
By Chris McKinstry (South America) - See all my reviews
Though first printed in 1961 and revised in 1980 this is the best introduction to information theory there is. Very easy to read and light on math, just as an introduction should be. I expect it will be in print for a very, very long time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Good intro to Information theory
This is a very well written book. It cleared up many problems I had in understanding the basics of information theory. Read more
Published 1 month ago by DonJ

5.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying read.
Pierces`s book met my need very well. Coming from a physics and philosophy background , I was probing the different meanings of entropy, the involvement of Boltzman`s constant etc... Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. G. M. Last

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent explanation for the core concepts
You cannot learn the math of information theory from this book but this book is perfect for you to get the core concepts.

An Excellent place to start!
Published 9 months ago by A. CHIU

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully engaging introduction to Information Theory
This book is a delight to read. It is thoughtfully written so the text flows effortlessly. Everything is described in an intuitive yet concise manner. Read more
Published 9 months ago by K. Jazayeri

5.0 out of 5 stars Best intro book
This is by far the best introductory book on info theory. The author has a talent for making difficult concepts easy and interesting. A definite page turner! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr Wollongong

3.0 out of 5 stars Good intro but dated

The update of this book should have been updated. While it is understandable that at the time of the first print of this book in 1961 the author saw little or no practical... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Glenn L. E. May

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I recently read!
A very good introductory text to information theory. Written in a plain, comprehensive way without too many unnecessary equations. Read more
Published on January 11, 2007 by Oleg Mezentsev

5.0 out of 5 stars Good source of Intuition for Information Theory
This book seeks to explain information theory to the layman, and in that regard the author has done a brilliant job. Read more
Published on December 25, 2006 by nightowl03d

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for the basics of information theory
I give this book five stars because it succeeds brilliantly at what it sets out to do - to introduce the field of information theory in an accessible non-mathematical way to the... Read more
Published on December 7, 2005 by calvinnme

4.0 out of 5 stars Layman's Introduction to Information Theory
This is a good introduction to the concepts of information theory: entropy, stationarity, ergodic sources, efficient coding, error detection, error correction and geometrical... Read more
Published on May 14, 2005 by Kam-Hung Soh

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