ROBERT FAIRTHORNE AND THE SCOPE OF INFORMATION SCIENCE

Should information science ever succeed in establishing itself as a scientific discipline distinguishable from the other sciences which have already contributed to its presumed field of study, then Robert Fairthorne will be recognized as among its founders. His primary contribution was to define its scope, to clarify its terminology, and to establish its fundamental principles. Maintaining close sceptical watch over the information scene for more than twenty years, Fairthorne dissected the problems of this period of development by applying to them the keen cutting edge of his logic, mathematics, and Shannon information theory. He applied these instruments of analysis and criticism with firmness of purpose, clear insight, and meticulous precision and so evolved a theory of documentation.