--- description: To mark his birthday and his achievements, Saturday's Google Doodle honored Claude Shannon, known for his work on digital computing title: Google Doodle Honors Mathematician-Juggler Claude Shannon image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0964e109d11cdc14/6988914dab6d77d4fd6a97d0/claude-shannon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Google Doodle](/tag/google-doodle/) ## Google Doodle Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google Doodle Honors Mathematician-Juggler Claude Shannon  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2016 12:53 PM CUT  Claude Shannon, a mathematician at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, with an electronic mouse which has a 'super' memory and can learn its way around a maze without a mistake after only one "training" run. Claude Shannon, a mathematician at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, with an electronic mouse which has a 'super' memory and can learn its way around a maze without a mistake after only one "training" run.Keystone/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 30, 2016 12:53 PM CUT Claude Shannon, nicknamed “the father of information theory” for his work on digital computing and electronic communication, was also a [juggling unicyclist who would have turned 100](http://time.com/4311107/claude-shannon-100-years/ "undefined") on Saturday. To mark his birthday and his achievements, [Saturday’s Google Doodle](https://www.google.com/doodles/claude-shannons-100th-birthday "undefined") honored Shannon, depicting him juggling a set of ones and zeroes, the numbers he used to transform computing after learning they could be used to represent words, pictures, videos and more. While he was a research assistant at MIT, Shannon drew from [Boolean algebra](http://time.com/3883153/alan-turing-computable-numbers/ "undefined") to pioneer digital computing, using the value of “1” for circuits turned on, and the value of “0” for circuits that were off. Before Shannon moved to MIT, he also became known for a different talent: juggling while riding a unicycle around Bell Labs. Outside of his research lab, Shannon also had a knack for inventions, some of which—including his flame-throwing trumpets and rocket-powered Frisbees—had little practical function. He died in 2001 [at the age of 84](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/27/nyregion/claude-shannon-mathematician-dies-at-84.html "undefined") after suffering from dementia. **Read More:** [Claude Shannon: The Juggling Unicyclist Who Pedaled Us Into the Digital Age](http://time.com/4311107/claude-shannon-100-years/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/"},"headline":"Google Doodle Honors Mathematician-Juggler Claude Shannon","datePublished":"2016-04-30T12:53:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:09:53.855Z","description":"He transformed digital computing and electronic communication","url":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/","keywords":["Google Doodle"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0964e109d11cdc14/6988914dab6d77d4fd6a97d0/claude-shannon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0964e109d11cdc14/6988914dab6d77d4fd6a97d0/claude-shannon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Amazing Mouse","caption":"Amazing Mouse","creditText":"Keystone/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/google-doodle/","name":"Google Doodle"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/","name":"Google Doodle Honors Mathematician-Juggler Claude Shannon"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"7 Tricks to Master Google Search","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/T397FCSK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T15:44:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/T397FCSK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/","duration":"PT1M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4313341/google-doodle-claude-shannon/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```