Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Norbert Wiener
- ISBN：1614275025
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Summary
It appears 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 its complexity， as readable by the layman as the trained scientist。"
-- John B。 Thurston， "The Saturday Review of Literature" Acclaimed one of the "seminal books 。 。 。 comparable in ultimate importance to 。 。 。 Galileo or Malthus or Rousseau or Mill，" "Cybernetics" was judged by twenty-seven historians， economists， educators， and philosophers to be one of those books published during the "past four decades"， which may have a substantial impact on public thought and action in the years ahead。" -- Saturday Review
-- John B。 Thurston， "The Saturday Review of Literature" Acclaimed one of the "seminal books 。 。 。 comparable in ultimate importance to 。 。 。 Galileo or Malthus or Rousseau or Mill，" "Cybernetics" was judged by twenty-seven historians， economists， educators， and philosophers to be one of those books published during the "past four decades"， which may have a substantial impact on public thought and action in the years ahead。" -- Saturday Review
Reviews
John Doe
，
I am more into the first half of the book， which basically covers physics mathematics and computer science。 I went completely dumbfound for the later parts which covers biology and physiology stuff。 I have no idea what he was talking about。 But its fine， i get the basic idea， humans are like machines， could be mathematically modeled right？So， modern science is based on mathematics， more specifically， Newtonian physics and later quantum mechanics both were developed hand in hand with intro level I am more into the first half of the book， which basically covers physics mathematics and computer science。 I went completely dumbfound for the later parts which covers biology and physiology stuff。 I have no idea what he was talking about。 But its fine， i get the basic idea， humans are like machines， could be mathematically modeled right？So， modern science is based on mathematics， more specifically， Newtonian physics and later quantum mechanics both were developed hand in hand with intro level algebras to calculus & probability theory and all the way to group theory（abstract algebra）， differential equations， linear algebra and stochastic processes。the philosophical implication of those fundamental thoughts is what Dr。 Wiener was trying to convey。 My understanding is that， first we perceive everything as independent and self contained objects with simple shapes and simple relationships with one another， and that's how we developed basic number system and Rene Descartes' Cartesian system in analyzing algebraic relationships between objects。 on the physics side， the Newtonian physics kicks in。 at that time， space and time are indisputably and inseparably definitive， we takes everything for granted， we recognize the world we live in as a giant mechanical world as if all the motions and all the future could be predicted， since everything obeys the Newton's basic laws。But as mathematics and science develops， the original perception of space and time alters， so does our mathematics system， everything falls into the hand of probability theory， especially in the world of atoms， which means the physics world also agrees， that our mechanical world， after all is not that mechanical and definitive， instead it is stochastic and intricate。 time and space intertwined， the speed and position of a particle could not be decided at the same time without interference， we have to model things as a whole， as an intricate system。Luckily， scientists and mathematicians developed more methods to model the uncertain and imperfect non-Newtonian world， we had information theory， we had computers， with the superpower of statistics（now maybe at the courtesy of machine learning and artificial intelligence）， uncertainty gets measured too， we can develop machines with modern tools that mimic the natural organism， call it astrophysics simulation， weather man's weather simulation， biologist's organism simulation or whatever。 But the point is， we can and we will use mathematical models to abstract all natural phenomenons and figure out the mechanisms of all the "machines"。 。。。more
Filipe Siqueira
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Muita equação pra um sofredor de humanas， mas alguns bons insights
Romilly
，
A classic whiuch introduced the concept of Cybernetics。 Some fascinating references which I had not found elsewhere。
Yates Buckley
，
This is a very important text for anyone interested in the history and philosophy of computation。 Weiner was extremely influential in his ideas post war and thus shaped much of the cultural context of early computer science up to the late ‘60s。 The ideas and theoretical work are still fundamental and echo behind many technological systems today。 A brilliant mind with perhaps too much influence on contemporary ideas giving rise to several unintended consequences。
Ian Channing
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Fascinating book， the maths is hard to follow， but the concepts are world changing
Eddie
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May spend some time soon properly reviewing this。 Stay tuned。Immediate thoughts: Extremely dense， very thoroughly argued。 Advances theoretical basis for modern analytics discipline。 Relevant concepts for data management and other information technology disciplines explained as well。 Written from a seemingly optimistic overall perspective on analytics technology。 Should be read and considered with sufficient knowledge of its historical context。 Requires a fair degree of technical understanding。 P May spend some time soon properly reviewing this。 Stay tuned。Immediate thoughts: Extremely dense， very thoroughly argued。 Advances theoretical basis for modern analytics discipline。 Relevant concepts for data management and other information technology disciplines explained as well。 Written from a seemingly optimistic overall perspective on analytics technology。 Should be read and considered with sufficient knowledge of its historical context。 Requires a fair degree of technical understanding。 Potentially quite relevant for computer scientists， technologists， economists， and the like today。 。。。more
Steve Hart
，
Not gonna rate this on the scientific merits， cause obviously this book lays the groundwork for a number of things which have been massively influential to a point that can't be understaded。 But those ideas were developed further and more completely in academic publications （rightly so）， while this book touches on some of them in chapters that are heavy in math detail， while other chapter are largely expository。 So after reading this， i'm just kind of curious， who was this book for？ Did it succe Not gonna rate this on the scientific merits， cause obviously this book lays the groundwork for a number of things which have been massively influential to a point that can't be understaded。 But those ideas were developed further and more completely in academic publications （rightly so）， while this book touches on some of them in chapters that are heavy in math detail， while other chapter are largely expository。 So after reading this， i'm just kind of curious， who was this book for？ Did it succeed on communicating what "Cybernetics" is and it how it encompasses feedback control， information theory， pathopsychology， and a whole slew of other topics？ Just seems unlikely。 As a scientist， Wiener is unsurpassed。 As a communicator of Big Ideas and how they fit together， maybe could've used another draft。。。 。。。more
Oleg Dats
，
Think of this book as a part of history。 Must read for those who is interested in the origins of the AI field。Wiener described foundation of a new interdisciplinary subject: Cybernetics。 1。 Newtonian approach will not work。 World systems are statistical in nature and impossible to get time reversersibility。 2。 We should use statistical mechanics to model the world。 Modern subject is Ergodic theory3。 How to predict the future。 Information theory。 Modern subject is statistical time series。4。 Feedb Think of this book as a part of history。 Must read for those who is interested in the origins of the AI field。Wiener described foundation of a new interdisciplinary subject: Cybernetics。 1。 Newtonian approach will not work。 World systems are statistical in nature and impossible to get time reversersibility。 2。 We should use statistical mechanics to model the world。 Modern subject is Ergodic theory3。 How to predict the future。 Information theory。 Modern subject is statistical time series。4。 Feedback is crucial。 Modern subject Optimal control。5。 Binary operations， energy and computation，… basic blocks for software and hardware。 Modern subject: Electrical engineering6。 Gestalt as idea of some object。 Generalization。 We can perceive （vision） a cat from different angles， light conditions， shadow，… but we still see a cat （cat == gestalt）。 Ideas about transformation groups （affine transformatio…）。 Modern subject is computer vision。7。 How math can help us to understand diseases of mind and vice versa。 Modern subject is Neuroscience 8。 Economics and Game theory9。 What is learning and how to teach computer to play chess。 Reinforcement learning。10。 Brainwaves and basic insights。 Even now we have just some typization of brainwaves without deep understanding。As you might see， most ideas live is separate fields now。 Creating a new science was not successful。 Study modern Optimal Control to get more insights。 。。。more
Robert Mason
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3/5 after a casual reading - it may require more than this to take everything in。 I picked this up as I believe it is an important work in the history of communication， but it spends little time on this and is much more broad - from AI and the nature of life to anti aircraft guns that track planes。 The book is extremely well written and some areas of the book feel like they were actually written for a general audience， however it can often get bogged down with maths without giving you the bigger 3/5 after a casual reading - it may require more than this to take everything in。 I picked this up as I believe it is an important work in the history of communication， but it spends little time on this and is much more broad - from AI and the nature of life to anti aircraft guns that track planes。 The book is extremely well written and some areas of the book feel like they were actually written for a general audience， however it can often get bogged down with maths without giving you the bigger picture which often left me wondering why a particular calculation was being done。 As it is a book whose first edition was released in 1949 （with two additional chapters added in the 1960s） some of the information is dated， but it is interesting to see what people thought of e。g。 chess playing computers long before deep blue and some of the ideas are so foundational to a subject that it is still somewhat relevant to think about。 However， from a modern perspective， some of the information seems unimportant for an overview of the subject because it's age。 。。。more
Thomas Warger
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Badly dated now， but some interesting insights from the early years of "information technology。" Badly dated now， but some interesting insights from the early years of "information technology。" 。。。more
Ami Iida
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everything is for science。
William O'Hanley
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the kind of book that， when you find it amidst the rubble of what was once a library， some four hundred years after the Fall， allows you to start a cult and reconstruct a massive portion of the science that led up to it
Attay Kremer
，
This book is rather unique， and perfect for a specific kind of reader。 Unfortunately， that reader is not me。 We start off with a chapter on science and time， dedicating itself to the difference between Newtonian and Bergsonian time。 From a philosophical perspective， this chapter is on that rare cusp between mind-numbing boredom and usefulness。 For a more science and science fiction oriented person this could be a pleasant and interesting read， but I found it to be mostly busy belabouring obvious This book is rather unique， and perfect for a specific kind of reader。 Unfortunately， that reader is not me。 We start off with a chapter on science and time， dedicating itself to the difference between Newtonian and Bergsonian time。 From a philosophical perspective， this chapter is on that rare cusp between mind-numbing boredom and usefulness。 For a more science and science fiction oriented person this could be a pleasant and interesting read， but I found it to be mostly busy belabouring obvious points and being all around cumbersome in its style。 This strange interplay between a boring style of writing and a blend scientifically oriented manner of thought is carried along through the book， even at its most explosive and fascinating points。 To add to this mess of a read， mathematical explorations are sprinkled across the book， mostly for scientific completeness。 By scientific completeness， I mean that they add very little， and do not help to further construct or expose the main thesis of the book。 All this being said， the book is revolutionary in its thesis: to bridge the gap between vitalist and uniquely humanist philosophies of the world （Wiener mostly identifies Bergson with this view） and materialistic and machinic philosophies of the world。 This gap has been aching to be bridged since its unbecoming formation with Cartesian philosophy。 This bridge is constructed in two layers: the obvious and surface level mechanization of control and feedback loops， and the deeper level of finding in humanity essentially machinic components。 Statistics， feedback and parallel computation form qualitative multiplicities and dureé-tional time， thus forming the "uniquely" human from that which is unmistakably machinic and alien。The book is perfect for the scientifically literate sci-fi enthusiast。 The philosophically inclined should take heed but still read the book， for it bears， from beyond the mask of humanity， the underlying universal machinic nature of everything。 The universe is not united Newtonically， by isolated and simple collision and causal relations， but by a machinic substructure of feedback and parallel action。 。。。more
Nils
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A truly remarkable book， which shows that the real vision of computer scientists at the dawn of the computer age was literally to build an artificial of synthetic brain — albeit rooted in the era’s highly reductive and behavioristic understanding of the brain。 The brain is simply a feedback mechanism based on the binary firing of synapses — and this is exactly what a computer is in material form。But Wiener was also a visionary about what the wider impact that the proliferation of artificial brai A truly remarkable book， which shows that the real vision of computer scientists at the dawn of the computer age was literally to build an artificial of synthetic brain — albeit rooted in the era’s highly reductive and behavioristic understanding of the brain。 The brain is simply a feedback mechanism based on the binary firing of synapses — and this is exactly what a computer is in material form。But Wiener was also a visionary about what the wider impact that the proliferation of artificial brains would entail。 Wiener foresaw that computing would “devalue the human brain，” and result in the elimination of vast swathes of intellectually oriented jobs; he observed further that if these systems were to be deployed on the basis of what he called “the open market，” it would generate a disaster。 “We have contributed to the initiation of a new science，” which， he wrote， “embraces technical developments with great possibilities for good and evil。 We can only hand it over into the world that exists about us， and this is the world of Belsen and Hiroshima。” He suggests that we need to establish a system of economic organization based on values other than profit， that workers will never figure out how to do this on their own， and that this process of revaluation is the responsibility of philosophers and statesmen。Seventy years on， his prediction seems right on the money （as it were）， and the work he called for remains to be done。 。。。more
B。 Tyler Burton
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I like the gist of the narrative， but I'm not one to really dig into the math behind the science of probability for fun， so Wiener flew far above my head。 Turns out I was more interested in the 10，000 ft summary。 I like the gist of the narrative， but I'm not one to really dig into the math behind the science of probability for fun， so Wiener flew far above my head。 Turns out I was more interested in the 10，000 ft summary。 。。。more
Ilknur
，
This is one of the two books I was obsessed with during my college years。 Luckily it is freely available on archive。org
Anthony James
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This is a good read if you want to try and trace how mid-twentieth century scientific thought developed。 There are some interesting sections that can be read in a stand alone manner。 However， a lot of the material is now very dated from a scientific perspective。 There is a section of "Language， Information and Society" that is still very strong today regarding markets and games though。 This is a good read if you want to try and trace how mid-twentieth century scientific thought developed。 There are some interesting sections that can be read in a stand alone manner。 However， a lot of the material is now very dated from a scientific perspective。 There is a section of "Language， Information and Society" that is still very strong today regarding markets and games though。 。。。more
Joseph Carrabis
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Cybernetics:。。。 is a foundational read。 Much of my technology has involved 2nd order work and my patents rely on Wiener's work as a basis。Good stuff。 Not for the light-hearted， though。 Cybernetics:。。。 is a foundational read。 Much of my technology has involved 2nd order work and my patents rely on Wiener's work as a basis。Good stuff。 Not for the light-hearted， though。 。。。more
Stephen Lee
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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 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 sense in its modern form， but as always seeing how and why ideas were developed leads to deeper understanding。 。。。more
Avani
，
Everyone who thinks about the nature of consciousness， computing， or information needs to read this book。
Anthony Bello
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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。 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。 。。。more
Alexander Curran
，
Weiner gives an ethical and comical account of mentalism and cybernetics。 A materialist approach which acts as a warning yet for the date 1965 that it was published seems out of date in some areas。 It is caught between philosophical investigations that meet scientific experiements being weighed with qualitative and quantative deductions， formatted by the materialist method of outling problems and then stating possible solutions。 Cybernetics is a warning about computing being misused or transform Weiner gives an ethical and comical account of mentalism and cybernetics。 A materialist approach which acts as a warning yet for the date 1965 that it was published seems out of date in some areas。 It is caught between philosophical investigations that meet scientific experiements being weighed with qualitative and quantative deductions， formatted by the materialist method of outling problems and then stating possible solutions。 Cybernetics is a warning about computing being misused or transforming humanity for the worse， yet I find the reality of our present day is the complete opposite， with a technological optimism permeating our current paradigm。 。。。more
Roberto Rigolin F 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。
Bill White
，
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。
George
，
Essential bookshelf
Ushan
，
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 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 on steam engines were invented by James Watt in the 18th century， and analyzed by James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th， as mentioned in this book）， ever more powerful electronic digital computers will carry it to a new level。 The book warns that humanity needs to be super-careful not to become a sorcerer's apprentice from the fairy tale， and have its power taken away by mindless computers。 In the next 65 years， computers did become far more powerful， but they did not usurp power from humanity because they operate on data humans give to them， and if humans have an incentive to lie， garbage will both flow into the computers and come out of them。 The Soviet economy was a classic example。 If a factory manager was given a production plan， his compensation depended upon the fulfillment of the plan， but his suppliers let him down， he had an incentive to lie and to bribe any inspectors， and so on down the supply chain through the entire economy。 As a child I heard adults say that the Soviet State Planning Committee had an American VAX computer acquired in circumvention of CoCom restrictions; a Cray would add and multiply fake numbers much faster， but the sums and products would be no less fake。 A more modern example is the Enron bankruptcy scandal。 If Enron executives reported fake profits， no stock-trading computer could understand that they are fake and make them stop; only human prosecutors and judges could。In the Soviet Union in the early 1950s there was an ideological campaign against cybernetics， "a reactionary pseudoscience"， "an ideological weapon of the imperialist reaction。" Having read this book， I still don't understand the reason for the campaign。 The idea that there are some common control and feedback patterns between mechanisms， animals， the human mind and human society can be construed as contradicting Marxism-Leninism， which proclaims the primacy of matter over immaterial information; at around the same time， genetics was also persecuted， and the idea that the development of an organism follows from the information in its DNA was denounced as a bourgeois pseudoscience。 But then， every branch of non-Communist human thought can be construed as contradicting Marxism-Leninism。 。。。more
Anthony Faber
，
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。 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。 。。。more
Jeff Rowe
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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。 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。 。。。more
Grace
，
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 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 for a class， I would not have chosen it to read on my free-time unless I wanted to fall asleep。 。。。more
Dan Rera
，