McLuhan, (Herbert) Marshall

(born July 21, 1911, Edmonton, Alta., Can.—died Dec. 31, 1980, Toronto, Ont.) Canadian communications theorist and educator. He taught from 1946 at the University of Toronto and became popular for his aphorism “the medium is the message,” which summarized his view of the potent influence of “hot media”—television, computers, and other electronic information disseminators—in shaping styles of thinking and thought, whether in sociology, art, science, or religion. He regarded the printed book, a “cool medium,” as fated to disappear. His highly influential works include The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), Understanding Media (1964), and The Medium Is the Massage (with Q. Fiore, 1967).

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica