Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
Wiener (1948) — founding text of cybernetics
Work
1948 book defining cybernetics as the study of control and communication in animals and machines — feedback as the core mechanism.
Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Core ideas (corpus use)
- Feedback — output affects future input; error-correcting loops
- Control and communication — steering requires information flow, not only force
- Unified view — engineering, biology, and organisation as systems amenable to the same loop vocabulary
In this corpus
Foundational reference for Cybernetics — paired with dynamic capabilities (strategic motion) and organisational intelligence (calibrated judgment). First-order loop design in closed-loop control; second-order via von Foerster and meta-loop control.