Cybernetics << `sy` buhr NEHT ihks >> is the study of control and communication in machines and animals. Norbert Wiener, an American mathematician, introduced the term cybernetics in his book of the same name, first published in the United States in 1948.
Wiener’s book described the similarities in the functioning of human beings and machines. Wiener and others had observed that both people and machines were purposeful and orderly, sought stability, and used information. One of their most important shared characteristics, according to Wiener, was the use of feedback. Feedback involves the circling back of information to a control device to adjust behavior. For example, when the body temperature of a human being is too high or too low, this information is fed back to the brain. The brain then acts to correct the temperature. A household thermostat uses feedback when it corrects the operation of a furnace to maintain a set temperature.
Cybernetics has prompted attempts to build machines that imitate human behavior, including decision-making and analysis of data. Because such machines accomplish more than the simple mechanization of work, some theorists argue that cybernetics has started a second industrial revolution. Since the 1940’s, the ideas of cybernetics have influenced such fields as biochemistry, computer science, and psychology. Today, many specialized terms have replaced the word cybernetics. In business fields, the term is no longer used.
See also Wiener, Norbert.
