[Fis] Foundational Thinkers in Information Science

Fri Jan 9 23:37:02 CET 2026

Dear Krassimir,
Thanks! Now consider our target audience is not graduate students doing
comprehensive reviews, but teenager to college students getting a primer
about the field. There are only ten seats for the top ten, who would you
name? Please try your best!  Best regards, Jason

On Fri, Jan 9, 2026, 2:46 PM Krassimir Markov <itheaiss at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Jason,
> Your question is difficult because there is no principle to be found in
> the answer.
> 1. If these are members of the FIS list, it is one principle.
> 2. Another principle is popularity at the moment.
> 3. A different principle is the formation and affiliation to relevant
> schools in different areas of information science.
> Below I give you the AI answer based on principles 2 and 3.
> Respectfully,
> Krassimir
>
>
> Top 7 Foundational Thinkers in Information Science (principle 2)
>
> 1. Al‑Khwarizmi
>
> *Foundations of algorithmic information* His systematic procedures for
> calculation established the earliest formal concept of algorithmic
> information processing. The very word *algorithm* comes from his name.
>
> 2. Claude Shannon
>
> *Mathematical theory of information* Shannon defined information
> quantitatively, introduced the bit, and created the theoretical basis for
> communication, coding, and digital information systems.
>
> 3. Alan Turing
>
> *Information processing and computability* Turing’s model of computation
> formalized the idea of information transformation by machines and laid the
> groundwork for all digital information processing.
>
> 4. Donald Knuth
>
> *Structure and organization of information processes* Knuth systematized
> algorithms, data structures, and the analysis of information processes,
> shaping the mathematical culture of information science.
>
> 5. George Miller
>
> *Cognitive foundations of information* Miller’s work on memory, chunking,
> and human information processing established the cognitive dimension of
> information science and influenced HCI, IR, and knowledge organization.
>
> 6. Luciano Floridi
>
> *Philosophy and ethics of information* Floridi developed the modern
> “philosophy of information,” introducing the concept of the *infosphere*
> and shaping contemporary thinking about digital ethics, meaning, and
> informational ontology.
>
> 7. Mark Burgin
>
> *General Theory of Information* Burgin created the most comprehensive
> formal framework for understanding different types of information, unifying
> mathematical, semantic, and systemic perspectives across disciplines.
>
>
>
> Foundational Thinkers in Information Science - thematic
> schools   (principle 3)
>
> Information science is an interdisciplinary field that studies the nature,
> creation, organization, representation, processing, communication, and use
> of information. It integrates perspectives from computing, cognitive
> science, philosophy, communication studies, and systems theory. The field
> can be understood through several thematic schools, each illuminating a
> different dimension of informational phenomena.
>
> 1. The Logical and Methodological School
>
> This school provides the formal foundations for understanding information
> as structured, rule‑governed content. Key figures include:
>
>    - Gottlob Frege — modern logic and the structure of meaning
>    - Alonzo Church — λ‑calculus and formal systems
>    - Alan Turing — formal models of computation and information processing
>    - Al‑Khwarizmi — algorithmic procedures as systematic information
>    transformations
>
> These thinkers established the idea that information can be represented,
> manipulated, and reasoned about through formal symbolic systems.
>
> 2. The Information Systems and Architecture School
>
> This school focuses on the technological infrastructures that store,
> transform, and transmit information. Key contributors:
>
>    - John Atanasoff — early digital information processing
>    - John von Neumann — architectures for information storage and
>    manipulation
>    - Charles Babbage — conceptual foundations of programmable information
>    systems
>
> Their work underlies modern information systems, databases, and digital
> infrastructures.
>
> 3. The Representation and Language School
>
> This tradition studies how information is encoded, structured, and made
> accessible. Key figures:
>
>    - Grace Hopper — machine‑independent symbolic representation
>    - John Backus — formal grammars for information expression
>    - Niklaus Wirth — structured information representation and modularity
>
> This school connects information science with linguistics, metadata
> design, and knowledge representation.
>
> 4. The Algorithmic and Structural School
>
> Here the focus is on the organization, transformation, and optimization of
> information. Key contributors:
>
>    - Donald Knuth — systematic analysis of information processes
>    - Edsger Dijkstra — formal reasoning about information flows
>    - Robert Tarjan — data structures as information architectures
>
> This school forms the backbone of information retrieval, indexing, and
> data organization.
>
> 5. The Cognitive and Human‑Information Interaction School
>
> This school examines how humans perceive, interpret, store, and use
> information. Key figures:
>
>    - Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, Herbert Simon — symbolic models of
>    knowledge
>    - George Miller, Ulric Neisser — cognitive structures and memory
>    - David Marr — computational theories of perception
>
> This tradition connects information science with psychology, HCI, and
> knowledge organization.
>
> 6. The Communication and Networking School
>
> This school studies how information flows across systems and societies.
> Key contributors:
>
>    - Vint Cerf, Robert Kahn — global information networks
>    - Leonard Kleinrock — information flow and queuing theory
>    - Tim Berners‑Lee — the Web as a universal information space
>
> Their work defines the modern infosphere.
>
> 7. The Security and Trust School
>
> This tradition focuses on protecting information and ensuring its
> integrity. Key figures:
>
>    - Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman — secure information exchange
>    - Rivest, Shamir, Adleman — cryptographic foundations of trust
>
> This school underpins digital identity, privacy, and secure communication.
>
> 8. The Intelligent Information Processing School
>
> This school studies how information can be interpreted, learned, and
> transformed by artificial systems. Two major lines:
>
>    - Symbolic AI (McCarthy, Minsky) — information as structured knowledge
>    - Neural AI (Hinton, Bengio, LeCun) — information as distributed
>    representations
>
> This tradition shapes modern information retrieval, recommendation
> systems, and machine learning.
>
> 9. The Philosophy of Information School
>
> This school investigates the ontological, epistemological, and ethical
> dimensions of information. Key thinkers:
>
>    - Luciano Floridi — the infosphere and information ethics
>    - Kun Wu — informational metaphysics
>    - Mark Burgin — General Theory of Information
>    - Krassimir Markov — General Information Theory and informational
>    structures
>
> They explore what information *is*, how it relates to reality, and how
> informational processes shape cognition, society, and technology.
>
>
>
>
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