cyberneticsn.
/ˌsʌɪbəˈnɛtɪks/, U.S. /ˌsaɪbərˈnɛdɪks/ 1. With singular agreement. The field of study concerned with communication and control systems in living organisms and machines.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > [noun] > science or knowledge of > theory of communication and control
cybernetics1948
1948 N. Wiener Cybernetics 19 We have decided to call the entire field of control and communication theory, whether in the machine or in the animal, by the name Cybernetics.
1958 Listener 18 Sept. 413 The claim of cybernetics is that we can treat organisms as if they were machines.
1980 Washington Post (Nexis) 20 Mar. a1 They were sitting around the laboratory tables talking about electrons and cybernetics and rotary engines.
1990 CU Amiga Apr. 88/3 Neural networks have long been connected with the technology of Cybernetics (the communication and control of people and machines).
2002 A. Feenberg Transforming Technol. (rev. ed.) iv. 102 Cybernetics attempted to show that..living things could be explained on..the same principles of feedback, homeostasis, and control that apply to machines.
2. In extended use: the field of study concerned with the integration of living organisms and electronic or other technological devices; robotics. Cf. bionics n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > types of machine generally > [noun] > automatic > automaton or robot > science or study of
robotics1941
robotology1946
cybernetics1959
1959 J. Griffin tr. J. Rostand Can Man be Modified ii. 56 Intelligent people are wondering very seriously whether the robots of cybernetics do not present us with a valid image of life and of thought.
1979 D. Adams Hitch Hiker's Guide to Galaxy xi. 73 The marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as ‘Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun to Be With’.
1993 M. Benjamin Question Identity 18 Using cyborg fiction, she deals with the posthuman..that results when the human body is plugged into machinery or when mechanical appendages or prostheses are welded to the human body. Cybernetics offers numerous metaphors for boundary violation.
2006 Canberra Times (Nexis) 23 Dec. b5 A robot that walks like a man will be one of the biggest developments in cybernetics.
Derivatives
cyberneˈtician n. = cyberneticist n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > people who study work or technology > [noun]
technologist1815
technographer1900
human engineer1916
job analyst1917
methods engineer1939
systems engineer1940
cyberneticist1949
cybernetician1950
human factors engineer1959
nanotechnologist1986
1950 Social Forces 29 34/1 The cybernetician's chess playing machine and much of human activity are purposive.
1962 Listener 1 Nov. 718/1 Cyberneticians, as the people who practise cybernetics now appear to call themselves, can build a larynx with which an injured man can speak.
2001 S. Johnson Emergence Notes 263 No cybernetician had said the valves thought, no more than anyone would say that the nerve cells thought.
cyberˈneticist n. an expert or specialist in cybernetics.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > people who study work or technology > [noun]
technologist1815
technographer1900
human engineer1916
job analyst1917
methods engineer1939
systems engineer1940
cyberneticist1949
cybernetician1950
human factors engineer1959
nanotechnologist1986
1949 Amer. Math. Monthly 56 279 His striking results..will doubtless be of great interest to psychologists, physicists, and the cyberneticists.
1970 Nature 12 Sept. 1167/1 The cyberneticist's approach to the concepts of psychology is not..in evidence here.
2007 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 3 Aug. g50 Benz has employed engineers, cyberneticists, mathematicians, computer scientists and psychologists on its investigation team.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1948