The History of Cybernetics

Origins

Since cybernetics is an interdisciplinary field, it is hard to pinpoint a single root source or cybernetic theory. Most historians cite antiquity as the source of cybernetics. The word "cybernetics" itself was first used by the ancient Greeks in reference to systems of self-governance. Later, engineers and students of mechanics began to apply scholarly scrutiny to the principles that governed their work. The Greek engineer Ctesibius, who famously invented a self-controlling water clock in the second century B.C.. is among the first recorded individuals to take a cybernetic approach to his work. Greek mathematician Heron (a student of Ctesibius himself) and Chinese engineer Su Song are also commonly thought of as early practitioners of cybernetics.

Cybernetics gained newfound popularity during the Enlightenment. The priority granted to rational thought and the reliance on scientific systems to eliminate human error made cybernetics especially appealing to individuals of this era. As scientists and engineers studied mechanical systems, they applied corrective measures to the new systems they created. An example of this is the steam engine, invented by James Watt. It included a system that controlled its own speed without additional input from a human user.
In 1867, James Clerk Maxwell published an article titled "On Governors" in which he theorized at length about Watt's engine and other similar technological systems. This paper prompted the birth of the field of control theory. Control theory, which examines the behavior of dynamical systems, is closely associated with cybernetics today.

Modern cybernetics began in the 1940s. The growing university system in the United States, along with technological advancements during World War II, brought together practitioners from a variety of fields, including electrical engineering, control theory, network theory, mechanical engineering and mathematical logic as well as traditional scientific disciplines such as neuroscience and evolutionary biology. What members of these diverse subjects found they had in common was an interest in gaining a better understanding of the systems they studied and created in the course of their work. Jay Wright Forrester and Gordon S. Brown, electrical engineers working together at MIT in the service of the United States military, popularized cybernetics in their work and brought it a great deal of academic credibility. Forrester went on to develop the field of system dynamics and pioneered early computer programming.

Other notable figures in the development of modern cybernetics include mathematician Norbert Wiener, psychiatrist William Ross Ashby, and Warren Sturgis McCulloch. who was perhaps the first self-labeled "cybernetician." John von Neumann became an important figure in cybernetics through his theories concerning self-replicating mechanical systems.
In the 1950s and '60s, cybernetics shifted to focus more on specific applications, primarily artificial intelligence. This narrowing of what had been a broad and inclusive field led to declining interest in cybernetics which lasted until the 1970s. At that time, a new generation of researchers and theorists revived cybernetics in their respective fields, which again were wide in scope.

Today, cybernetics is an important element of many academic and scientific fields. Some of these are classified as "pure cybernetics" and seek to understand the rules that govern systems. These ideas are useful in the practical fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, computer science (in all its forms), and control systems. Cybernetics is also important throughout engineering and mathematical fields.
Biology also makes frequent use of cybernetics in its study of natural systems. Bioengineering is something of a bridge between cybernetics and traditional biology, combining living systems with engineered technology.
Finally, cybernetics has emerged as a significant branch of sociology when it is used in the study of the behavior of groups of individuals and the structure and growth of societies.