In that paper, Shannon calls it H as it is like a measure of entropy in Boltzmann's H theorem...
**************************************** Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biology Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 USA phone 479-575-6359 fax 479-575-4010 email [email protected] **************************************** ________________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [[email protected]] on behalf of Resetarits, William [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 10:37 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Why is the Shannon (or Shannon Weiner, Shannon-Weiner) diversity index abbreviated with the letter H? The Shannon Index is derived from the paper below. It was originally developed as a measure of the information content of a signal. I had a pdf I would post, but the file is corrupted. Shannon, C. E. (1948) A mathematical theory of communication. The Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379423 and 623656. William J. Resetarits, Jr. Professor Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79409-3131 Phone: (806) 742-2710, ext.300 Fax (806) 742-2963 http://www.festivalofecology.org/100-influential-papers http://www.unifr.ch/biol/ecology/sayingseco.html On 3/26/14 10:22 AM, "Jorge A. Santiago-Blay" <[email protected]> wrote: >Hello Ecolog-L: > >Does anyone know why the Shannon (or Shannon Weiner, Shannon-Weiner) >diversity index abbreviated with the letter H? > >Is the answer related to the first letter of the last name of Hulbert >(citation below)? > >Hulbert, S. H. 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: a critique and >alternative parameters. Ecology 52:577-585. > >If you now the answer, just shoot me an email ([email protected]). > >Gratefully, > >Jorge > >Jorge A. Santiago-Blay, PhD >blaypublishers.com >http://blayjorge.wordpress.com/ >http://paleobiology.si.edu/staff/individuals/santiagoblay.html
