The development of science consists not only of deepening and widening the already established scientific disciplines but also depends on the emergence of new ones. The emergence and development of new sciences is influenced primarily by two factors: isolation and generalisation. Isolation of scientific disciplines is due to the discovery of new objects of investigation and the emergence of specific scientific trends. This leads to the study of a relatively narrow class of objects which are characterised by their specific approach to both the formulation and the solution of problems. Examples of this type of specific scientific diSciplines include, for instance, chemistry of high molecular compounds and the theory of electrical machines, which are both devoted to the study of a relatively narrow field. In addition there are the more general scientific disciplines, whose characteristics are that they are created for the purpose of studying such natural phenomena as occur in a very wide class of objects. Disciplines of this type are, for instance, the theory of dimensions and the theory of similarity, the theory of dynamic systems and thermodynamics. The very general, as opposed to the very specific, sciences tend by their nature to be more theoretical and depend much more on the language, mathematical or otherwise, used to describe them.

Design Cybernetics: Navigating the New Design cybernetics offers a way of looking at ourselves – curious, creative, and ethical humans – as self-organising systems that negotiate their own goals in open-ended explorations of the previously unknown. It is a theory of and for epistemic practices (learning, designing, researching) that is deeply committed to the autonomy of others and hence offers no prescriptive methodology. Design cybernetics describes design practice as inextricable from conversation – a way of enquiring, developing shared understanding and reaching the new that harnesses reliable control as well as error and serendipity. Recognising circular causality, observer-dependency and non-determinability, design cybernetics extends beyond tenets of scientific research into the creative, ethical and aesthetic domain. From this perspective, design is not an ill-conceived subset of scientific research. Instead, scientific research emerges as a particularly restricted subset of the broader human activity of design. This volume offers a cross-section of design cybernetic theory and practice with contributions ranging across architecture, interior lighting studies, product design, embedded systems, design pedagogy, design theory, social transformation design, research epistemology, art and poetics, as well as theatre and acting. Addressing designers, design educators and researchers interested in a rigorous, practice-based epistemology, it establishes design cybernetics as a foundational perspective of design research. “This is a conceptually elegant, well structured, and comprehensive presentation of design cybernetics. It fills a gap in the literature of the field.” Ken Friedman, Chair Professor, Tongji University “This book offers a valuable and timely introduction to second-order cybernetics as society grapples with complex issues like climate change and rising inequality.” Joichi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab

Organization Structure: Cybernetic Systems Foundation utilizes a cybernetic systems framework for the study of organizations using GST (General Systems Theory) and presents a comprehensive formal view of organizations assessing regulation, coordination and adaptation managements. The use of GST in this book is in sharp contrast to previous attempts. It addresses structural problems totally based on qualitative, non-numerical mathematics. The book lays a framework for initial efforts to investigate the potential of using formal GST to address organizational dilemmas. The text has been tested in several graduate courses. It can serve as an excellent textbook or reference for graduate level research in this field, as well as a reference for researchers in related fields.

A classic and influential work that laid the theoretical foundations for information theory and a timely text for contemporary informations theorists and practitioners. With the influential book Cybernetics, first published in 1948, Norbert Wiener laid the theoretical foundations for the multidisciplinary field of cybernetics, the study of controlling the flow of information in systems with feedback loops, be they biological, mechanical, cognitive, or social. At the core of Wiener's theory is the message (information), sent and responded to (feedback); the functionality of a machine, organism, or society depends on the quality of messages. Information corrupted by noise prevents homeostasis, or equilibrium. And yet Cybernetics is as philosophical as it is technical, with the first chapter devoted to Newtonian and Bergsonian time and the philosophical mixed with the technical throughout. This book brings the 1961 second edition back into print, with new forewords by Doug Hill and Sanjoy Mitter. Contemporary readers of Cybernetics will marvel at Wiener's prescience—his warnings against “noise,” his disdain for “hucksters” and “gadget worshipers,” and his view of the mass media as the single greatest anti-homeostatic force in society. This edition of Cybernetics gives a new generation access to a classic text.

Mindell ponders the orgin of cybernetics beyond Norbert Wiener's 1948 hypothesis. Mindell returns to the time between the World Wars, when four disparate computing research cultures thrived in the United States: the U.S. Navy, the Sperry Gyroscope Company, the Bell Telephone Laboratories, and Vannevar Bush's laboratory at MIT. In each culture, different technical problems, organizational imperatives, and working evironment existed, but they were all researching control, communications, and computing. When President Roosevelt synthesized the four engineering cultures into a representative government committee, they suffused engineering research with good principles and later made it possible for Norbert Wiener's 1948 formulation of cybernetics.