IMO Edison and Shannon are both strong candidates for quite different reasons.
Edison solved a bunch of necessary problems in one go when building a working, commercializable lighting system. He did this in an area where many others had only chipped away at corners of the problem. He was not the first to the area...but I don't think there are any strong claims that the area would have come along nearly as quickly if not for him/his team. I talk about this in-depth in a Works in Progress piece on Edison as an exception technical entrepreneur.
Fun question!
IMO Edison and Shannon are both strong candidates for quite different reasons.
Edison solved a bunch of necessary problems in one go when building a working, commercializable lighting system. He did this in an area where many others had only chipped away at corners of the problem. He was not the first to the area...but I don't think there are any strong claims that the area would have come along nearly as quickly if not for him/his team. I talk about this in-depth in a Works in Progress piece on Edison as an exception technical entrepreneur.
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