The two had met in the fall of 1948 and discussed the theory. Weaver, perhaps through an excess of enthusiasm, foresaw a world in which information theory could help computers fight the Cold War and enable instantaneous rendering of Soviet documents into English. Inspired, he praised Shannon’s work with exuberance to the head of the Rockefeller Foundation, Chester Barnard. In early 1949, Weaver sent Barnard his own layman’s translation of “A Mathematical Theory of Communication.”
