Dark hero of the information age : in search of Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics / Flo Conway & Jim Siegelman.
Conway, Flo, 1941-; Siegelman, Jim.
2005
QA29 .W497 C66 2005 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection

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Title Dark hero of the information age : in search of Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics / Flo Conway & Jim Siegelman.
Author Conway, Flo, 1941-
ISBN 0738203688 (alk. paper)
Imprint New York : Basic Books, c2005.
Language English
Description xv, 423 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm.
Call Number QA29 .W497 C66 2005
Dewey Decimal Classification 510/.92 B
Summary In the middle of the last century, Norbert Wiener--ex-child prodigy and brilliant MIT mathematician--founded the science of cybernetics, igniting the information-age explosion of computers, automation, and global telecommunications. Wiener was the first to articulate the modern notion of "feedback," and his ideas informed the work of computer pioneer John von Neumann, information theorist Claude Shannon, and anthropologists Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead. His best-selling book, Cybernetics, catapulted him into the public spotlight, as did his chilling visions of the future and his ardent social activism. So why is his work virtually unknown today? And what, in fact, is his legacy? In this book, award-winning journalists Conway and Siegelman set out to rescue Wiener's genius from obscurity and to explore the many ways in which his groundbreaking ideas continue to shape our lives.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references (p. 399-411) and index.
Added Author Siegelman, Jim.
Linked Resources Table of contents
Record Appears in On-Campus Resources > Books
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Prologue: Time past, time present
Pt. 1: The elephant's child. The most remarkable boy in the world
Young Wiener
The Wunderkind and the Frau-Professor
Weak currents, light computers
Wienerwalks
Birth of a science.
Pt. 2: In the court of cybernetics. The knights of circular causality
Breakfast at Macy's
The big bang : cybernetics
Wienerwalks II
Breach and betrayal.
Pt. 3: Aftermath. A scientist rebels
A government reacts
Wienerwalks III
Homage to the elephant's child : The 'satiable soul of Norbert Wiener
Childhood's end.
Epilogue: Time future: surviving the global society.

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