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Between Human And Machine:Feedback, Control and Computing Before Cybernetics

David A. Mindell PhD '96: October 10, 2002; Running Time: 01:18:41

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

Today, the relationship between feedback, control and computing is associated with Norbert Wiener's 1948 formulation of cybernetics. But the theoretical and practical foundations for cybernetics, control engineering, and digital computing were laid earlier, between the two world wars. In his book, David A. Mindell shows how the modern sciences of systems emerged from disparate engineering cultures and their convergence during World War II.

"Between Human and Machine" is published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002, and is available at:
http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/books/titles/s02/s02mibe.htm.

Lecture Details

Location: E34-101/Edgerton Hall

About the Speaker

David A. Mindell PhD '96

Frances and David Dibner Associate Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing Macvicar Faculty Fellow

David A. Mindell is the Frances and David Dibner Associate Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, MIT Program in Science, Technology and Society. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Literature from Yale University in 1988. He earned a Ph.D. from MIT in 1996.