Cybernetics. Inscribed to Donald Campbell

Wiener, Norbert

Published by John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1948

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Inscribed to Philosopher and Social Scientist Donald Campbell Wiener, Norbert (1894-1964). Cybernetics or control and communication in the animal and the machine. 8vo. [2], 194pp. New York: John Wiley & Sons; Paris: Hermann et Cie., 1948. 229 x 152 mm. Original red cloth, red and gray printed dust-jacket (a little chipped). Fine. Inscribed by Wiener to Donald Campbell (1916-96) on the front free endpaper: "To Donald Campbell from Norbert Wiener." First American Edition, following shortly after the French edition that appeared in English the same year. We have never seen or heard of a presentation copy of the French edition, and this is the only the second presentation copy of the American edition we know of. Wiener presented this copy to Donald T. Campbell, the highly influential psychologist, social scientist and information philosopher whose investigations of creative thought led him to come up with the concept of "Blind Variation and Selective Retention" (BVSR), a fundamental principle of cybernetics: "Blind variation and selective retention (BVSR) is a phrase introduced by Donald T. Campbell to describe the most fundamental principle underlying cultural evolution. In cybernetics, it is seen as a principle for describing change in evolutionary systems in general, not just in biological organisms. For example, it can also be applied to scientific discovery, memetic evolution [i.e., the evolution of cultural memes] or genetic programming. As such, it forms a foundation for what has later been called Universal Darwinism" (Wikipedia). Cybernetics, Wiener's widely circulated and influential treatise on feedback, applied theories of information and communication to both biological systems and machines. In it were the roots of various elements of computer science, which by the mid-1950s had broken off from cybernetics to form their own specialties. The work influenced a generation of scientists working in a wide range of disciplines, including information theory, computer learning, and artificial intelligence. Cybernetics was the first conventionally published book (as opposed to technical report) to include a serious discussion of electronic digital computing. Wiener, independently of Claude Shannon, conceived of communications engineering as a brand of statistical physics and applied this viewpoint to the concept of information; writing as a mathematician rather than an engineer, his discussion was theoretical rather than specific. Computer-related words beginning with the "cyber-"prefix, including "cyberspace," originate from Wiener's book. The chapter on "Time series, information, and communication" contained the first publication of Wiener's formula describing the probability density of continuous information. This is remarkably close to Shannon's formula dealing with discrete time published in "A mathematical theory of communication" (1948). Cybernetics also contained a chapter on "Computing machines and the nervous system," a theoretical discussion, influenced by McCulloch and Pitts, of differences and similarities between information processing in the electronic computer and the human brain. It contains a discussion of the difference between human memory and the different computer memories then available. Tacked on at the end of Cybernetics were speculations by Wiener about building a chess-playing computer, predating Shannon's first paper on the topic. Wiley had the first edition of Wiener's book typeset and printed by letterpress in France by the French publishers Hermann et Cie, probably because the French firm was a specialist in mathematical publications. The first edition was thus issued in Paris. The first American edition was printed offset from the French sheets and issued by John Wiley in New York, also in 1948. Because the typesetting was done in Europe Wiener likely did not have the opportunity to read proofs carefully, as the first edition contained many typographical errors which were repeated in the American. Seller Inventory # 43511

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cybernetics. Inscribed to Donald Campbell
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, New York
Publication Date: 1948
Binding: Hardcover
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition