In 1937, he wrote his master's degree thesis, A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits. While studying the complicated ad hoc circuits of this analyzer, Shannon designed switching circuits based on Boole's concepts. In 1936, Shannon began his graduate studies in electrical engineering at MIT, where he worked on Vannevar Bush's differential analyzer, an early analog computer.
He graduated in 1936 with two bachelor's degrees: one in electrical engineering and the other in mathematics. In 1932, Shannon entered the University of Michigan, where he was introduced to the work of George Boole. Both Shannon and Edison were descendants of John Ogden (1609–1682), a colonial leader and an ancestor of many distinguished people. Shannon's childhood hero was Thomas Edison, who he later learned was a distant cousin. While growing up, he also worked as a messenger for the Western Union company. At home he constructed such devices as models of planes, a radio-controlled model boat and a barbed-wire telegraph system to a friend's house a half-mile away. His best subjects were science and mathematics. Shannon showed an inclination towards mechanical and electrical things. Most of the first 16 years of Shannon's life were spent in Gaylord, where he attended public school, graduating from Gaylord High School in 1932.
was a descendant of New Jersey settlers, while Mabel was a child of German immigrants. His mother, Mabel Wolf Shannon (1890–1945), was a language teacher, who also served as the principal of Gaylord High School. (1862–1934) was a businessman and for a while, a judge of probate in Gaylord. The Shannon family lived in Gaylord, Michigan, and Claude was born in a hospital in nearby Petoskey.