cybernetics

cybernetics
cybernetic, cybernetical, adj.cybernetically, adv.cyberneticist, cybernetician /suy'beuhr ni tish"euhn/, n.
/suy'beuhr net"iks/, n. (used with a sing. v.)
the study of human control functions and of mechanical and electronic systems designed to replace them, involving the application of statistical mechanics to communication engineering.
[ < Gk kybernét(es) helmsman, steersman (kyberne-, var. s. of kybernân to steer + -tes agent suffix) + -ICS; term introduced by Norbert Wiener in 1948]

* * *

Science of regulation and control in animals (including humans), organizations, and machines when they are viewed as self-governing whole entities consisting of parts and their organization.

It was conceived by Norbert Wiener, who coined the term in 1948. Cybernetics views communication and control in all self-contained complex systems as analogous. It differs from the empirical sciences (physics, biology, etc.) in not being interested in material form but in organization, pattern, and communication in entities. Because of the increasing sophistication of computers and the efforts to make them behave in humanlike ways, cybernetics today is closely allied with artificial intelligence and robotics, and it draws heavily on ideas developed in information theory.

* * *

       control theory as it is applied to complex systems. Cybernetics is associated with models in which a monitor compares what is happening to a system at various sampling times with some standard of what should be happening, and a controller adjusts the system's behaviour accordingly.

      The term cybernetics comes from the ancient Greek word kybernetikos (“good at steering”), referring to the art of the helmsman. In the first half of the 19th century, the French physicist André-Marie Ampère (Ampère, André-Marie), in his classification of the sciences, suggested that the still nonexistent science of the control of governments be called cybernetics. The term was soon forgotten, however, and it was not used again until the American mathematician Norbert Wiener (Wiener, Norbert) published his book Cybernetics in 1948. In that book Wiener made reference to an 1868 article by the British physicist James Clerk Maxwell (Maxwell, James Clerk) on governors and pointed out that the term governor is derived, via Latin, from the same Greek word that gives rise to cybernetics. The date of Wiener's publication is generally accepted as marking the birth of cybernetics as an independent science.

      Wiener defined cybernetics as “the science of control and communications in the animal and machine.” This definition relates cybernetics closely with the theory of automatic control and also with physiology, particularly the physiology of the nervous system. For instance, a “controller” might be the human brain, which might receive signals from a “monitor” (the eyes) regarding the distance between a reaching hand and an object to be picked up. The information sent by the monitor to the controller is called feedback, and on the basis of this feedback the controller might issue instructions to bring the observed behaviour (the reach of the hand) closer to the desired behaviour (the picking up of the object). Indeed, some of the earliest work done in cybernetics was the study of control rules by which human action takes place, with the goal of constructing artificial limbs that could be tied in with the brain.

      In subsequent years the computer and the areas of mathematics related to it (e.g., mathematical logic) had a great influence on the development of cybernetics—for the simple reason that computers can be used not only for automatic calculation but also for all conversions of information, including the various types of information processing used in control systems. This enhanced ability of computers has made possible two different views of cybernetics. The narrower view, common in Western countries, defines cybernetics as the science of the control of complex systems of various types—technical, biological, or social. In many Western countries particular emphasis is given to aspects of cybernetics used in the generation of control systems in technology and in living organisms. A broader view of cybernetics arose in Russia and the other Soviet republics and prevailed there for many years. In this broader definition, cybernetics includes not only the science of control but all forms of information processing as well. In this way computer science, considered a separate discipline in the West, is included as one of the component parts of cybernetics.

Additional Reading
Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics, 2nd ed. (1961), presents a very general discussion. Constantin Virgil Negoita, Cybernetics and Applied Systems (1992), combines theory, applications, and methodology.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • cybernetics — cy‧ber‧net‧ics [ˌsaɪbəˈnetɪks ǁ bər ] noun [uncountable] COMPUTING the scientific study of the way in which information is moved about and controlled in machines and in the human brain. In business, cybernetics is mainly concerned with making… …   Financial and business terms

  • CYBERNETICS — and Systems Analysis (A Translation of Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz) (formerly Cybernetics (A Translation of Kibernetika)) (informationswissenschaftl. Veoeffentlichungen) …   Acronyms

  • CYBERNETICS — and Systems Analysis (A Translation of Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz) (formerly Cybernetics (A Translation of Kibernetika)) (informationswissenschaftl. Veröffentlichungen) …   Acronyms von A bis Z

  • cybernetics — (n.) coined 1948 by U.S. mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894 1964) from Gk. kybernetes steersman (metaphorically guide, governor ) + ICS (Cf. ics); perhaps based on 1830s Fr. cybernétique the art of governing. The future offers very little hope… …   Etymology dictionary

  • cybernetics — 1. The term was introduced in 1948 by Norbert Wiener, meaning ‘the theory or study of communication and control in living organisms or machines’. The word was derived from the Greek word kubernetes ‘steersman’. It spread rapidly to refer to… …   Modern English usage

  • cybernetics — [n] science studying brain function to design analagous mechanical systems artificial intelligence, automatic technology, automation, autonetics, electronic communication, radiodynamics, robotization, telemechanics; concepts 274,349 …   New thesaurus

  • cybernetics — ► PLURAL NOUN (treated as sing. ) ▪ the science of communications and automatic control systems in both machines and living things. DERIVATIVES cybernetic adjective. ORIGIN from Greek kubern t s steersman …   English terms dictionary

  • cybernetics — ☆ cybernetics [sī΄bərnet′iks ] n. [coined (1948) by WIENER Norbert < Gr kybernētēs, helmsman (< kybernan, to steer, GOVERN) + ICS] the science dealing with the comparative study of human control systems, as the brain and nervous system, and …   English World dictionary

  • Cybernetics — For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first… …   Wikipedia

  • cybernetics — [20] Cybernetics was first coined in French, as cybernétique, in the 1830s. But then it was used literally for the ‘art of governing’ (it is a derivative of Greek kubernétēs ‘steersman, governor’, from kubernan ‘steer’, source of English govern) …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”