What I learned from reading A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman [0:25] Claude Shannon trained a powerful intellect on topics of deep interest, and continued to do so beyond the point of short term practicality[5:50] Insulated from opinion of all kinds[9:09] A simple way to describe the impact of information theory[10:39] Resourceful at a young age[11:50] An ordinary childhood[12:41] Follow your natural drift[14:40] Too many facts; too few principles[16:10] His indecisive nature inadvertently helps him[17:00] An important turning point in Shannon’s life[18:30] Vannevar Bush: The first person to see Claude Shannon for who he was [21:00] The results of Claude Shannon’s thesis[23:20] How Claude Shannon worked in his 20s[25:30] The main takeaway from the book: The world isn’t there to be used, but to be played with, manipulated by hand and mind[30:00] Succeeding with no prior knowledge in the specific field[31:20] Working on what naturally interests you is time well spent[32:45] Working at Bell Labs / The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation[36:49] Fire Control / What he worked on during the war[38:15] Claude Shannon’s work on cryptography[40:05] Take many different ideas from unrelated fields[43:35] Leaving Bell Labs for MIT[48:52] Claude Shannon on investing[1:01:15] Shannon’s design for his own funeral—“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast