Warren Weaver Sr.

Warren Weaver (1898-1978) was an American mathematician.

Life

Warren Weaver was born on July 17, 1894 in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison he earned BS in 1916, a civil engineering degree in 1917, and a PhD in 1921. He became an assistant professor of mathematics at Throop College (now California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena, California, 1917-1920 and served as a second lieutenant in the Air Service during World War I. After the war, he returned to teach mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1920–32).

In 1932 Weaver became director of the Division of Natural Sciences at the Rockefeller Foundation until 1955. H3 was also science consultant (1947–51), trustee (1954), and vice president (from 1958) at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. He died on November 24, 1978 in New Milford, Connecticut.

Contributions

Weaver's chief researches were in the problems of communication in science and in the mathematical theory of probability and statistics. His influence was greatly extended by his role approving Rockefeller grants promoting experimental biology and agricultural science, emphasizing improving human nutrition.

Weaver's contribution to documentation is his popularization of Claude Shannon's communication theory and the implication that it could be extended to include meaning.

Publications

For a detailed bibliography see Rees, Mina.Warren Weaver (1894 - 1978) - A Biographical Memoir. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1987, pp 524-529. [1]

The electromagnetic field. With Max Mason. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, [1929].
"Science and complexity." American scientist 36, no. 4 (1948): 536-544.
"Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication." Scientific American 181, no 1 (July, 1949): 11-15.
The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana, IL : University of Illinois Press, 1949. Includes "Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication," by Weaver and "The mathematical theory of communication," by Claude E. Shannon.
"Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication." ETC: a review of general semantics (1953): 261-281.
"Translation." In: Machine Translation of Languages, ed. William N. Locke and A. Donald Booth. New York: Wiley Technical Press, 15-23. New York: Wiley Technical Press.
Science and imagination : selected papers. New York: Basic Books, [1967]
Scene of change; a lifetime in American science. New York: Scribner, [1970]. Autobiography.
Lady Luck : the theory of probability. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1963. Reprinted New York: Dover, 1982.
Science of Change: A Lifetime in American Science. Autobiography.

Awards

Weaver received numerous medals, honorary degrees, and other awards. The Rockefeller Foundation established a Warren Weaver Fellows Program in 1989.

Offices

Weaver served on numerous boards and chaired numerous committees, including:

National Academy of Sciences. President.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellow.

Papers

Columbia University Libraries, New York. Search under; Weaver, Warren.
Rockefeller Foundation Archives, Sleepy Hollow, New York. Multiple collections contain material relating to Weaver.