Norbert Wiener

MIT Building 10 and the Great Dome, Cambridge MA

Wiener Zurich1932

Wiener process 3d

Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American mathematician and philosopher known for his foundational work in cybernetics, a term he coined to describe the study of control and communication in the animal and the machine. Wiener's work laid the groundwork for a wide range of applications, including control systems, electronic computers, and signal processing. His contributions to mathematics also include significant work in stochastic processes and noise theory, which have had a profound impact on electrical engineering and statistics.

Early Life and Education

Norbert Wiener was born in Columbia, Missouri, to a Jewish family. He was a child prodigy, having entered Tufts College at the age of 11. He completed his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 1909 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1913, at the age of 18. His doctoral dissertation was on mathematical logic, a field that was in its infancy at the time. After completing his Ph.D., Wiener traveled to Europe to study under some of the most prominent mathematicians of the time, including David Hilbert and Edmund Landau at Göttingen University.

Career and Contributions

Wiener's early work was in pure mathematics, including harmonic analysis and Tauberian theorems. However, his interests shifted towards applications of mathematics to real-world problems during his tenure at MIT, where he spent most of his academic career. It was here that he began his work in electronic engineering and control systems, which would later evolve into the field of cybernetics.

In 1948, Wiener published Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, a book that had a monumental impact on a variety of disciplines. In this work, Wiener introduced the concept of feedback mechanisms as fundamental to the study of control systems, drawing parallels between biological organisms and machines. This interdisciplinary approach was revolutionary and paved the way for the development of modern computer science, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Wiener's interest in the application of mathematics to practical problems also led him to study random processes and noise. His work in this area provided the mathematical foundation for the study of signal processing and helped to develop methods for filtering and predicting data in systems with random disturbances.

Legacy

Norbert Wiener's contributions to mathematics and science are vast and varied. He is remembered not only for his work in establishing cybernetics but also for his ethical concerns about the impact of technology on society. Wiener was acutely aware of the potential for misuse of automated systems and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, themes that remain highly relevant today.

Wiener received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the National Medal of Science. He was a member of several prestigious societies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.

Selected Works

• Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948)
• The Human Use of Human Beings (1950)
• Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth (1953)
• I Am a Mathematician (1956)

See Also

• Cybernetics
• Control systems
• Stochastic processes
• Signal processing