Nearly all who knew them testified to how good a match Betty was for Claude Shannon—in every sense. It wasn’t just the joy he found in her company, though he did. Betty and Claude became professional partners, as well. Albert Einstein famously said of his wife, Mileva Maric, “I need my wife. She solves all the mathematical problems for me.” Claude’s work was very much his own, but there’s no denying Betty’s help in bringing it to fruition; she became one of his closest advisers on mathematical matters. She looked up references, took down his thoughts, and, importantly, edited his written work.
