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Norbert Wiener

Originator of cybernetics and early theorist of machine intelligence.

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Norbert Wiener

via Wikipedia: Norbert Wiener · see source

Norbert Wiener is considered the originator of cybernetics, the science of communication as it relates to living things and machines.[1] According to a secondary source, Wiener is recognized as one of the earliest thinkers to propose that all intelligent behavior originates from feedback mechanisms potentially replicable by machines, which represented a significant early contribution toward modern artificial intelligence.[2] Wiener's birthplace was Columbia, Missouri, and he was the eldest child of Leo Wiener and Bertha Kahn, as noted in a Wikipedia entry citing Montagnini's 2017 work.[3]

Life and work

Wiener graduated from Ayer High School in 1906 at age 11 and entered Tufts College, receiving a BA in mathematics in 1909 at age 14.[4] Harvard awarded Wiener a PhD in June 1913, when he was only 19 years old, for a dissertation on mathematical logic.[5] After the war, his fame helped MIT recruit a research team in cognitive science.[6] He was a Fulbright scholar at the Collège de France in 1951.[7]

The work Wiener performed on anti-aircraft systems subsequently caused him to develop the field of cybernetics.[8]

What the cited sources add

A 2018 article notes Wiener coined the word "cybernetics" from the Greek word for "steersman" to describe "the scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the machine".[9] The same source states Wiener's 1950 book The Human Use of Human Beings is concerned with "the limits of communication within and among individuals".[9] In the January 1947 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, Wiener published "A Scientist Rebels," an article that called upon scientists to reflect on the moral consequences of their research.[10] Following World War II, Wiener declined all government financial support and avoided participation in military projects.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wiener, "Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the animal and the machine", MIT Press, 1948; Wiener, "The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener on communication, control, and the morality of our machines", 15 June 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Beginnings of AI Research", world-information.org, 11 January 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Montagnini, "Harmonies of Disorder – Norbert Wiener: A mathematician-philosopher of our time", Springer, 2017, p. 4, 61, 249–252 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dr. Norbert Wiener Dead at 69; Known as Father of Automation", The New York Times, 1964-03-19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wiener 1914 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Browder, "Norbert Wiener, 1894-1964", American Mathematical Soc., 1966-12-31; Mehra, "The Historical Development of Quantum Theory", Springer Science & Business Media, 2000-12-28, p. 247; "Cybernetics of the Nervous system", Elsevier, 1965-01-01; Mandrekar, "Proceedings of the Norbert Wiener Centenary Congress, 1994: Michigan State University, November 27-December 3, 1994", American Mathematical Soc., 1997, p. 539–541 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Galison, "The ontology of the enemy: Norbert Wiener and the cybernetic vision", Critical Inquiry, Autumn 1994, p. 228–266; Mindell, "Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics", JHU Press, 2003-04-30, p. 276–288; Mindell, "Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics", JHU Press, 2003-04-30, p. 276–288 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wiener, "The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener on communication, control, and the morality of our machines", 15 June 2018. facts only, no text reused. brainpickings.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wiener, Norbert, "A Scientist Rebels", Atlantic Monthly, January 1947, p. 46 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Norbert Wiener" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Heims, "John Von Neumann and Norbert Wiener: From Mathematics to the Technologies", MIT Press, 1980 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Norbert Wiener (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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