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Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
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Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

4.07  ·  Rating Details ·  306 Ratings  ·  20 Reviews
It appers impossible for anyone seriously interested in our civilization to ignore this book. It is a ‘ must’ book for those in every branch of science . . . in addition, economists, politicians, statesmen, and businessmen cannot afford to overlook cybernetics and its tremendous, even terrifying implications. "It is a beautifully written book, lucid, direct, and despite it ...more
Paperback, Second Edition, 232 pages
Published March 15th 1965 by Mit Press
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Ben
Aug 21, 2007 Ben rated it liked it
Recommends it for: Simon

Most of my reaction to this book is incidental to its content: First, it's funny what once passed for pop science. The reviews on the back from the Saturday Evening Post and others hail its readability for the layman, yet at least 10% of the pages are devoted to difficult equations and proofs, and I had to skip a couple of chapters because the math was way, way over my head.

Second, much of the science Wiener pioneered has been obviated by the development of more powerful tools in neurology and c
...more
Anthony Bello
Aug 30, 2015 Anthony Bello rated it really liked it
Shelves: non-fiction, science
I was surprised to learn that Wiener actually cautioned against applying game theory and its models too generally. Also, I didn't realize that the math of a book this influential, with applications to a diverse range of subjects, would require such an advanced understanding of calculus. Suffice it to say, I was unable to appreciate the finer points of Wiener's mathematical scope. Nevertheless, this book will only get more influential with time, and the easy parts are still worth reading.
Ilya
Mar 02, 2013 Ilya rated it liked it
This is a disorganized book that mixes super-brief mathematical treatment of statistical mechanics, ergodic theory, control theory and stochastic processes with an explanation of the difference between digital and analog computers, and speculations about learning machines and the human nervous system. It finds the same patterns of control and feedback occurring throughout the world, from the nervous system through society, and notes that while automatic control is not new (centrifugal governors ...more
Dan Rera
Jan 09, 2012 Dan Rera rated it really liked it
This was a very interesting book. It had some idiosyncrasies that prevented me from giving it a higher rating, but other than that, the subject matter and breath were fascinating enough for me to certainly recommend it to anyone with any interest in cybernetics as a broad concept.

Let me first say that there were a few chapters in the beginning and end that were needlessly technical and mathematical. It isn’t so much that I object to the existence of mathematical proofs in their proper context, b
...more
Grace
Sep 06, 2012 Grace rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
The book was interesting to read. Cybernetics had everything combined into one book. It covers the biological factors as well as the technological and the historical. It gave me a new perspective on how technology is similar to the human body. An example from the text: “The synapse is a coincidence-recorder, and the outgoing fibre is only stimulated if the number of incoming impulses… ” (29).

Overall the book was fascinating to learn about technology in a new perspective, but because this was fo
...more
Stephen Lee
Jul 28, 2016 Stephen Lee rated it liked it
Not as good as I was expecting. Has some good explanations of mathematical ideas with motivating examples that are absent in a textbook on signals and systems. Even if you can't follow the math (there are some long integral derivations), you can get the gist of what he's saying with some thought.

Most of the book gives a mad-scientist kind of feel (talks of experiments on cats, lobotomies, psychotherapy...).

He doesn't actually explain communication/information theory that well in an introductory
...more
Roberto Rigolin Ferreira Lopes
This is a paradigm shift described with dozen applications and rigorous details. Despite the several equations, Wiener did a great job sharing the historical context and igniting discussions; you may have lots of fun reading his predictions about machines playing chess. As a result, you may never run out of entertainment because there are always new stuff to explore here. Just look around and you will find applications of these tools everywhere.
Kyle
Aug 31, 2009 Kyle rated it really liked it
Wow. If you are perhaps a science/engineering sort who takes to feedback & control theory, you find that you can apply it to anything! Some thinkers have already been there & done that, though, as evidenced by this book. This text has the trappings of an intellectual fashion gone out of style. ...but that's okay by me.

I could see ways to modernize the content and some of the sentiment of the book, but in general the thrust remains inspiring.

If cybernetics was really ever in vogue, I be
...more
George
Mar 07, 2014 George rated it it was amazing
Essential bookshelf
Maureen
Oct 19, 2008 Maureen rated it really liked it
Recommends it for: everyone
Recommended to Maureen by: Brian Eno
Shelves: psychology, science
I stumbled through this book the best I could as a non-mathematician, because a friend suggested I read it. There was also a movement afoot in the psychology world at the time called "Psycho-cybernetics," which borrowed heavily from Weiner's ideas. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Cybernetics to me was Weiner's exploration of human bodies as machines, coupled with the ethical considerations of tinkering with the mechanics.
Bill White
Sep 17, 2014 Bill White rated it it was amazing
Excellent read, though tough at times with some dense math. Worth the struggle to get past it. I have learned that advanced math should not be an impediment to reading dense material. Just skip over it, and if it becomes critical to understand subsequent exposition, go back and review or learn something from Wikipedia, YouTube lectures or the like.
Jeff Rowe
May 21, 2015 Jeff Rowe rated it it was ok
I picked this up after reading "The Information". I'm familiar with Shannon's work on information theory but had never read, and wasn't even aware of Norbert Wiener's contributions. Some nice ideas on feedback control but the vision hasn't gained traction somehow. In the end I think Claude Shannon wins in the Wiener/Shannon visionary cage match.
Malini Sridharan
Aug 22, 2010 Malini Sridharan rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
I wish I could read differential equations the way that I can read words.

I appreciated the thoughtful and prescient discussions of technology and society, and thoroughly enjoyed following his reasoning through both predictions that turned out to be true and theories that turned out to totally wrong.
David
Sep 14, 2008 David rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Norbert Weiner is one of the few authors that can intermingle Latin, German poetry, and differential equations so elegantly. He was one of the best minds of the twentieth century, and this book was his magnum opus that heralded in the modern age.
Anthony Faber
Oct 01, 2012 Anthony Faber rated it really liked it
He pulls too many formulae out of his hat, so I had trouble following the technical parts and the biology is somewhat outdated, but it's a good read, if you skim over the gory details, but there are a lot of gory details.
Katie
Feb 05, 2008 Katie rated it liked it
Shelves: pwned, coursereadings
"Balls out" actually refers to a mechanical technique for controlling the valves of a steam engine, and not to anatomy. Who knew?

I read this for Brian Bingham's Controls course. It was swell!
Avani
Jul 11, 2016 Avani rated it it was amazing
Shelves: favorites
Everyone who thinks about the nature of consciousness, computing, or information needs to read this book.
spencer
Sep 17, 2007 spencer rated it really liked it
This book contains a Fourier transform.
Stephen
Dec 08, 2011 Stephen rated it really liked it
classic visionary stuff
TK Keanini
Apr 08, 2007 TK Keanini rated it it was amazing
Fundamental reading.
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“Let us remember that the automatic machine is the precise economic equivalent of slave labor. Any labor which competes with slave labor must accept the economic consequences of slave labor.” 11 likes
“Information is information, not matter or energy.” 1 likes
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