George Boole and Claude Shannon

Boolean Logic Creator Switching Circuit Creator

ICT Innovators 

George Boole 
1815–1901

George Boole was born 
November 2, 1815 in 
Lincolnshire, England. 
He was a self-taught 
mathematician who sought 
to prove logical statements 
through equations and 
mathematics, rather than philosophy. He created a 
type of algebra known as Boolean Algebra, where 
the variables in an equation are the values TRUE and 
FALSE, usually denoted 1 and 0, and the operators 
include AND, OR and NOT. In electrical circuits, these 
states of True and False are also On and Off. Boolean 
Logic led to the design of digital computer circuits.

I see no limit to the capabilities 
of machines. As microchips get 
smaller and faster, I can see them 
getting better than we are. I can 
visualize a time in the future 
when we will be to robots as 
dogs are to humans. 

Claude Shannon

Almost every problem that you 
come across is befuddled with 
all kinds of extraneous data... 
if you can bring this problem 
down into the main issues, you 
can see more clearly what you 
are trying to do.

Claude Shannon

Shannon’s papers contain the 
first published use of the term 
‘bit’ for a single binary digit

Shannon’s Information 
Theory work contributed 
greatly to modern natural 
language processing 

Silicon Valley is named 
after the silicon used 
to make transistors 

Logic gates, which use 
Boolean Logic, are a 
specific kind of transistor

Claude Shannon 
1916–2001 

Claude Shannon, was an 
American Mathematician 
who in 1937 applied 
Boolean Logic to 
electronics to produce 
Logic Gates. The invention 
of the silicon transistor by 
Bell Labs in 1954 allowed for the implementation of 
Boolean Logic gates to modern, electrical computing. 
This in turn allowed for the development of digital 
circuits that would revolutionise electronics, and are 
still in use today.

Encyclopædia Britannica. (2018). George Boole. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Boole Encyclopædia Britannica. (2019). Claude Shannon. Retrieved 
from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/ClaudeShannon_MFO3807.jpg Images: George Boole, 1815-1864 [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/ClaudeShannon_MFO3807.jpg Claude E. Shannon [Image] (1963). Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/claude-shannon-
the-father-of-the-information-age-turns-1100100 Vectors from www.freepik.com

Fast facts



Boolean Logic Activity – Think like George Boole

Boolean Statements

Statements that are used to connect or define relationships between two parts in a program. When a Boolean 
statement is applied it will result in a TRUE or FALSE answer. This is known as a binary outcome.

Example

Boolean Operators

 

 

 

Boolean Classroom

Can you think of any other examples that might use 
logic gates?

Links two parts together and answer only needs one to be true.

Links two parts together and answer must have both to be true.

Your teacher is going to ask a series of questions about 
the class.

What happens when your teacher uses the Boolean 
operators in their questions?

What impact might these terms have when we are using 
digital systems?

Excludes one part from the others and answer must not have this part to be true.

Logic Gate Symbols

Boolean operators are used in digital systems to control 
output signals and can be represented in a diagram with 
logic gates. 

An example is the diagram of lights in a digital clock to 
the right. 



Boolean Statements

Statements that are used to connect or define relationships between two parts in a program. When a Boolean 
statement is applied it will result in a TRUE or FALSE answer. This is known as a binary outcome.

Example

Boolean Operators

 

 

Boolean School Yard

Think of a destination in your school yard. 

Write four Boolean statements to direct a classmate to this location.

You must use only one of the Boolean operators for each statement. 
You must not name the location anywhere in the instructions. 

Boolean Logic Activity – Think like George Boole

Links two parts together and answer only needs one to be true.

Links two parts together and answer must have both to be true.

Excludes one part from the others and answer must not have this part to be true.

Can you think of any other examples that might use 
logic gates?

Logic Gate Symbols

Boolean operators are used in digital systems to control 
output signals and can be represented in a diagram with 
logic gates. 

An example is the diagram of lights in a digital clock to 
the right.