Traces Set
coordinated by
Sylvie Leleu-Merviel
Volume 1
Informational Tracking
Sylvie Leleu-Merviel
First published 2018 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned address:
ISTE LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.
27-37 St George’s Road111 River Street
London SW19 4EU Hoboken, NJ 07030
UKUSA
iste.co.ukwiley
ISTE Ltd 2018
The rights of Sylvie Leleu-Merviel to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number:2018932684
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-247-2
Contents
Introduction ...........xiii
Chapter 1. The First Information Theories ..1
1.1. Introduction .......1
1.2. The mathematical theory of information
by Shannon ..........3
1.2.1. Beginnings of this theory .........3
1.2.2. Shannon’s generalization .........5
1.2.3. Information and entropy .........6
1.3. Kolmogorov’s algorithmic theory of information .........7
1.3.1. Succinct presentation ...........7
1.3.2. First algorithmic information theory ..8
1.3.3. Second algorithmic information theory 9
1.4. Delahaye’s further developments ......10
1.4.1. Gaps .........10
1.4.2. Information value .10
1.4.3. Raw information content .........11
1.4.4. Pragmatic aspects related to information value ........12
1.5. Final remarks ......13
Chapter 2. Understanding Shannon through Play ........15
2.1. Introduction .......15
2.2. The game of tele-balls .16
2.2.1. Layout and rules of the game ......16。