An Introduction to Cybernetics
An Introduction to Cybernetics is a book by William Ross Ashby, first published in 1956 in London by Chapman and Hall.[1][2] An Introduction is considered the first textbook on cybernetics, where the basic principles of the new field were first rigorously laid out.[3] It was intended to serve as an elementary introduction to cybernetic principles of homeostasis, primarily for an audience of physiologists, psychologists, and sociologists.[1] Ashby addressed adjacent topics in addition to cybernetics such as information theory, communications theory, control theory, game theory and systems theory.
A second English edition was published in 1964 by Methuen & Co. with no changes to the original text, alongside the original preface.[3][4]
An Introduction was translated into many languages. Editions were published in Russian and French in 1957, Spanish in 1958, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian in 1959, German in 1965, and Bulgarian and Italian in 1966.[5]
Reception
Reviews of An Introduction to Cybernetics were mostly positive,[2][4][6] alongside some mixed opinions.[7][8] Positive reviews highlighted Ashby's clear explanations of complex concepts, as well as his inclusion of examples and exercises. Detractors were critical of Ashby's marked new vocabulary, replacing the usual terminology even when unnecessary ("components with independence" in lieu of "degrees of freedom", "decaying variety" as compared to "entropy", "transmission of variety" versus "transmission of information" etc).[6][9] Additionally, some took issue with the philosophical nature of Ashby's claims in a largely mathematically rigorous text.[8]
Table of Contents
Preface
1: What is new
PART ONE: MECHANISM
2: Change
3: The Determinate Machine
4: The Machine with Input
5. Stability
6: The Black Box
PART TWO: VARIETY
7: Quantity of Variety
8: Transmission of Variety
9: Incessant Transmission
PART THREE: REGULATION AND CONTROL
10: Regulation in Biological Systems
11: Requisite Variety
12: The Error-Controlled Regulator
14: Amplifying Regulation
Key Ideas
New Terms
This work introduces a new set of terms for discussing properties of systems, both biological and mechanical. Donald M. MacKay, a pioneer of information theory and cybernetics himself, writes in a review in a 1957 issue of Nature:
Ashby's treatment of the 'decay of variety' in a determinate system is particularly illuminating, and his discussions of the concepts of 'system', 'model', 'black box' and the like are excellent in the clarity with which they distinguish his usage from other people's. [6]
The Law of Requisite Variety
One of Ashby's most important ideas in An Introduction was his "Law of Requisite Variety," also known "Ashby's Law," and "the adequacy principle." [3][10] It serves as an important connection between the ideas that Ashby sets forth in this work and the information theory of Claude Shannon. The law, stated as simply as possible, is "Only variety destroys variety."[3]
Regulation
Influence
This work is best known for pulling together related fields in information theory and relating them to the (as of then) mostly theoretical field, and providing biological applications of general theories of systems. An Introduction is widely seen as a classic, influential text in the field of cybernetics,[10] going beyond the work already done by Norbert Weiner in laying out a basic mathematical theory.
References
- ^ a b Ashby, William Ross (1956). An Introduction to Cybernetics. London: Chapman & Hall Ltd. ISBN 9781614277651.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ a b Walter, W. Grey (1957). Ashby, W. Ross (ed.). "Fundamentals Of Cybernetics". The British Medical Journal. 2 (5045): 629–629. ISSN 0007-1447.
- ^ a b c d Pickering, Andrew (2010). The Cybernetic Brain: Sketches of Another Future. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 147–149.
- ^ a b George, F. H. (1964). "Review of An introduction to cybernetics". Science Progress (1933- ). 52 (208): 697–697. ISSN 0036-8504.
- ^ Husbands, Phil.; Holland, Owen.; Wheeler, Michael (2008). The mechanical mind in history. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT. ISBN 978-0-262-25638-4.
- ^ a b c MacKay, Donald M. (1957). "Variations on a Cybernetic Theme". Nature. 179: 224–225.
- ^ Luce, R. Duncan (1957). "Review of An Introduction to Cybernetics". Operations Research. 5 (3): 449–452. ISSN 0030-364X.
- ^ a b Ullmann, J. R. (1965). "Review of An Introduction to Cybernetics". The Mathematical Gazette. 49 (370): 484–484. doi:10.2307/3612238. ISSN 0025-5572.
- ^ Rothstein, Jerome (1957). "Review of An Introduction to Cybernetics". The Scientific Monthly. 85 (2): 101–101. ISSN 0096-3771.
- ^ a b Novikov, D. A. (2016). Cybernetics: From Past to Future. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control. Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-319-27396-9.