Fortune's Formula (39 page)

PROLOGUE: THE WIRE SERVICE

Origin of Payne’s wire service: [Allan] May 1999.

“It is my intention to witness the sport of kings”: [Allan] May 1999.

“Yes, of course I do”: [Allan] May 1999.

“If people wager at a racetrack”: Quoted from John Cooney’s
The Annenbergs
in May 1999.

AT&T history: See
New York Times
, July 23, 2004, C3.

“These applicants must know that a majority”: Fonzi 1970, 75.

Mercury in catheter: Fonzi 1970, 74.

“Go to hell”: Reid and Demaris 1963, 27.

Trans-American, Ben Siegel background: See Reid and Demaris 1963, 12–29.

Mobsters took over at time of Siegel’s death: Lait and Mortimer 1950, 212.

“In my opinion, the wire service”: May 1999.

“How can we curb gambling”: Tuohy 2002.

Counterfeit Kewpie dolls, Tropical Park: See Stuart 1985, 1962.

“I feel like I’m getting shot”: Stuart 1985, 176.

“In the old days, I met everybody”: Stuart 1985, 180.

$25,000 bet on Truman:
Life
, Mar. 26, 1951, 33–39.

Kefauver rated Zwillman leader of mob: Stuart 1985, 173.

I. ENTROPY

“It’s said that it is one of the few times”: Biographical film,
Claude Shannon: Father of the Information Age
, produced by UCSD Jacobs School, 2002.

“The moment I met him”: Minsky, e-mail. This is a longer version of a quote used in Johnson 2001.

“It’s like saying how much influence”: Horgan 1992.

“He wrote beautiful papers”: Waldrop 2001.

“Shannon became less active in appearances”: Samuelson, personal letter, June 28, 2004.

“Claude’s vision of teaching”: Waldrop 2001.

“had a very peculiar sort of mind”: Coughlin 2001.

“Some wondered whether he was depressed”: Samuelson, personal letter, June 28, 2004.

“One unfamiliar with the man might easily assume”: “Reflections of Some Shannon Lecturers” 1998, 19.

Five feet ten: Letter, Shannon to M.G.E. Paulson-Ellis, March 8, 1982, Shannon Manuscript Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (hereafter “Shannon’s papers, LOC.”)

Appearance with beard: Photograph in Shannon’s papers, LOC.

Dixieland music: Biographical film,
Claude Shannon: Father of the Information Age
, produced by UCSD Jacobs School, 2002.

Juggled four or five balls, small hands: Liversidge 1987 and Elwyn Berlekamp in “Reflections of Some Shannon Lecturers” 1998, 20.

Atheist: Liversidge 1987; “Claude Elwood Shannon: Information Theorist,” article by Timothy M. Johnson, dated February 10, 1982, in Shannon’s papers, LOC. This unpublished article appears to be a student paper prepared from an interview with Shannon.

Watergate poem: “Washington Fall-out,” typescript in Shannon’s papers, LOC.

List of “Sometime Passions”: This is on a paper in Shannon’s handwriting, in Box 13, Folder 1, of Shannon’s papers, LOC.

Enjoyed burlesque theater: Liversidge 1987.

Family history: Letter, Shannon to Shari Bukowski, October 20, 1981, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

Distant father: Liversidge 1987.

Used barbed wire for telegraph: Shannon biography in Shannon 1993; also biographical film,
Claude Shannon: Father of the Information Age
, produced by UCSD Jacobs School, 2002.

Messenger for Western Union: Wikipedia entry for Claude Shannon, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon.

Didn’t know what he wanted to do, saw postcard: Liversidge 1987.

Bush insisted that Shannon be accepted into mathematics department: Liversidge 1987.

“Apparently, Shannon is a genius”: Letter, Vannevar Bush to Barbara S. Burks, Jan. 5, 1939, Bush Manuscript Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

“a decidedly unconventional type of youngster”: Letter, Vannevar Bush to E. B. Wilson, Dec. 15, 1938, Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

Mathematical connection between heredity and relativity: Letter, Shannon to Vannevar Bush, Mar. 8, 1940, in Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

Intended to publish genetics dissertation: See the letters between Bush and Shannon in Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

Rediscovered five to ten years later: See Shannon (1993), where editors Sloane and Wyner address this issue.

Meeting with Norma, courtship, honeymoon: Norma Barzman, interview.

“Do you think it would be worthwhile”: Letter, Shannon to Vannevar Bush, Mar. 8, 1940, Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

Worked on topology: Letter, Weaver to Vannevar Bush, Oct. 24, 1949, Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

“He got so he didn’t want to see anyone anymore”: Norma Barzman, interview.

“for a time it looked as though”: Letter, Weaver to Vannevar Bush, Oct. 24, 1949, Bush’s papers, Library of Congress.

Description, history of SIGSALY: Boone and Peterson 2000.

“A secrecy system is almost identical”: Chiu, Lin, Mcferron, et al. 2001, 50.

“were so close together you couldn’t separate them”: Kahn 1967, 744.

Conversation about bit, ban: Hodges 1983, 249–50.

“It’s a solid-state amplifier”: Liversidge 1987.

Meeting, courtship of Moore: Betty Shannon, interview.

“One was married, and the other”: Betty Shannon, interview.

Planned to write book on information theory: See letters between Riordan and Shannon dated Feb. 9 and 20, 1956, Shannon’s papers, LOC. Riordan pitched the book to an editor from John Wiley, who was enthusiastic. Shannon thanked Riordan but admitted that he still hadn’t gotten around to a first draft.

“I am having a very enjoyable time here at M.I.T.”: Letter, Shannon to Hendrik Bode, Mar. 15, 1956, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“Foreign visitors often spend a day at Bell Laboratories”: Letter, Shannon to H. W. Bode, Oct. 3, 1956, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“flattering”: Letter, Shannon to H. W. Bode, Oct. 3, 1956, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

Affiliation with Bell Labs through 1972: Coughlin 2001.

Salary of $17,000: Letter, M. G. Kispert to Shannon, Feb. 15, 1957, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“started disappearing from the scene”: Fano, interview.

Interrupted oboe practice: Chiu, Lin, Mcferron, et al. 2001, 59.

“He slept when he felt like sleeping”: Chiu, Lin, Mcferron, et al. 2001, 45.

Minsky comment about why Shannon quit working on information theory: Liversidge 1987.

Fano on Shannon’s knowledge of problems: Reported by Boris Tsybakov on http://chnm.gmu.edu/tools/surveys/responses/80/.

“I just developed different interests”: Liversidge 1987.

“Will robots be complex enough to be friends”: Liversidge 1987.

“Dear Sir: Your mechanical robot Bel”: Letter to Shannon from Daniel J. Quinlan, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“We really are not approaching you accidentally”: Letter, Philip H. McCallum to Claude Shannon, May 26, 1983, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“Letters I’ve procrastinated”: Waldrop 2001.

Born about 1898; son (Caesar) not sure:
Forbes
(uncredited writer), June 1, 1970, 22–23.

Kimmel biography: Ruchman 2000 and unpublished interview with Jack Newton; Tudball 2003, 30; Bruck 1994; Thorp, interview. Peter Ruchman interviewed gambler Jack Newton, who knew Kimmel. He sent part of this unpublished material regarding Kimmel to Ed Thorp, who forwarded it to me.

Zwillman biography: See Stuart 1985.

Chose number with fewest bets: Stuart 1985, 29.

Story about Kaplus shooting: Stuart 1985, 42.

40 percent of imported liquor: Stuart 1985, 53.

Kimmel won parking lot in crap game: Bruck 1994, 29.

Kimmel mortgaged parking lots: Bruck 1994, 32, which quotes Eddie Hand on this.

Taught himself calculus, trigonometry, probability: This is from Peter Ruchman’s interview with Jack Newton, some of which was published in Ruchman 2000. Ed Thorp believes that Kimmel had little understanding of math.

Birthdays bet, fly on sugar cube rigged with DDT: Thorp, interview.

Kimmel let Adonis use parking lot: Bruck 1994, 30.

Compared to the National Association of Manufacturers: See Stuart 1985, 72.

1930 report on New York City rackets: Coe 2003.

Involved with Annenberg’s General News: Stuart 1985, 115.

Muzak investment, Chicago Crime Commission report: Stuart 1985, 140.

“said he’d get Longy if it was the last thing he did”: Stuart 1985, 45.

1952 tax lien against Zwillman: Stuart 1985, 198–99.

“Take it easy, Don Vitone”: Stuart 1985, 188.

“This is for you, Frank!”: Reid and Demaris 1963, 69.

“gross casino wins as of 4/27/57”: Reid and Demaris 1963, 69.

Zwillman death, suicide theory discounted: See discussion in Stuart 1985.

“the most precise man I have ever met”: Liversidge 1988, 70.

“Queen Victoria, I know when her reign began”: Tudball 2003, 26.

Race with adding machine for ice cream cones: Liversidge 1988, 70.

Ed and James left alone while parents worked: Thorp, interview.

Ammonium iodide stunt: Thorp, interview.

Robinson Hall discussion of roulette: Thorp 1984, 43–46.

Blackjack article: Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel, and McDermott 1956.

Play all day for $6: Welborn 1974.

Blackjack for wives of craps players: Hiltzik 1995, 19.

“Are you working on anything else”: Thorp 1998.

“We had a very informal house”: Chiu, Lin, Mcferron, et al. 2001, 58.

Dusty unicycles and penny farthings: Liversidge 1987.

Items in Toy Room: Photo supplied by Arthur Lewbel. Five pianos, piccolos, sousaphones: Liversidge 1987.

“What it was was a collection of rooms”: Thorp, interview.

“the biggest Erector set you could buy”: Liversidge 1987.

Reconditioned wheel, ivory balls: Thorp, interview.

Importance of tilt; ice idea: Thorp, interview.

Nick the Greek story: Smith and Noble 1961, 69.

“she wasn’t any bargain beauty”: Smith and Noble 1961, 70.

“Off and on, I have been working on an analysis”: Letter, Shannon to Vannevar Bush, Feb. 16, 1939, Bush papers, Library of Congress.

Orange juice analogy: I’ve loosely adapted a statement in Kelly and Selfridge 1962: “It is impossible (practically) to make good synthetic orange juice.”

“an important influence on my life”: “A Conversation with Claude Shannon,” transcript of interview with Robert Price, Dec. 20, 1983, Shannon’s papers, LOC.

“Entropy House”: Rogers n.d.

“I didn’t like the term”: Aftab, Cheung, Kim, et al. 2001.

“To make the chance of error”: Waldrop 2001.

Use more bandwidth, more power: Aftab, Cheung, Kim, et al. 2001, 15.

“No Shannon, no Napster”: Waldrop 2001.

“proudest and rarest creations”: Quoted in Liversidge 1987.

“This, of course, involves not only”: Shannon 1949.

Influence on garden design: Liversidge 1987.

Scientology cites Shannon, information theory: www.dianeticstheevolutionofascience.org/chapters/eos_glossary.pdf. Philip K. Dick appears to allude to this odd blend of science, religion, and science fiction in his 1957 novel
Eye in the Sky
, a tale of a religious cult that, “using the invaluable material of Shannon and Weaver…[,] was able to set up the first really adequate system of communication between earth and Heaven…”

Hubbard quote about starting a religion: In 1938 George Orwell wrote, “I have always thought there might be a lot of cash in starting a new religion…” It’s reported that eight witnesses, including writer Theodore Sturgeon, heard Hubbard say this, or a close variant, on five different occasions circa the late 1940s. The Church of Scientology denies that Hubbard made any such claim. See discussion at www.religio.de/therapie/sc/relstart.html.

“Information Theory, Photosynthesis, and Religion”: Elias 1958.

Date of birth: See short bio in “Contributors” section of
IRE Transactions on Information Theory
, Feb. 1962, 189.

Kelly early biography: B. F. Logan, interview; 1930 census record for Corsicana, Texas.

Flier for Naval Air Force: B. F. Logan interview;
Newark Evening News
, Mar. 19, 1965.

Kelly description: Manfred Schroeder, interview.

“a lot of fun, the life of the party”: B. F. Logan, interview.

Took shoes off at work: Betty Shannon, B. F. Logan, interview. See also IEEE Oral History of John Pierce.

Interest in guns: B. F. Logan, interview.

Resistor circuits to model football: B. F. Logan, interview.

Feet up, chain-smoker: B. F. Logan, Manfred Schroeder, and Betty Shannon, interviews.

Schroeder and Kluver rated Kelly second only to Shannon: Schroeder, interview.

Story about climbing Kresge Auditorium: Robert Fano, interview.

Vocoder at 1939 World’s Fair: Lucent web site (http://www.belllabs.com/news/1997/march/5/2.html), Smithsonian Speech Synthesis History Project (http://www.mindspring.com/~ssshp/ssshp_cd/ss_home.htm).

“Imagine that we had at the receiver”: Pierce 1980, 140.

Kelly’s work on speech synthesis: Lucent web site (http://www.belllabs.com/news/1997/march/5/2.html)

“television drama of high caliber and produced by first-rate artists”:
Popular Mechanics
, 1939.

FCC ban on giveaway shows, Supreme Court decision: See
Business Week
, Aug. 27, 1949, and Apr. 10, 1954.

Contestants and areas of expertise: See DeLong 1991, 180–82.

West Coast gambler: Shannon 1956b, which says that Kelly “was inspired by news reports” about this.

“gambler with a private wire”: Kelly 1956, 918.

“Although the model adopted here is drawn”: Kelly 1956, 926.

“inside information”: Thomas Cover, interview.

AT&T worried about title, bookies: Berlekamp 1993.

Shannon refereed Kelly paper: Thorp, e-mail.

Photograph of Hoover in sexual situation: Summers 1993 claims that Meyer Lansky had such a photograph.