| Norbert
Wiener:
Dark Hero of Information Age
 In
the middle of the last century, Norbert Wiener-ex-child prodigy
and brilliant MIT mathematician -founded the science of cybernetics,
igniting the information-age explosion of computers, automation,
and global telecommunications.
Wiener was the first to articulate the modern notion of "feedback,"
and his ideas informed the work of computer pioneer John von Neumann,
information theorist Claude Shannon, and anthropologists Gregory
Bateson and Margaret Mead. His best-selling book, Cybernetics, catapulted
him into the public spotlight, as did his chilling visions of the
future and his ardent social activism. So what happened? Why is
his work virtually unknown today? And what, in fact, is Wiener's
legacy? 
In this remarkable book, award-winning journalists Conway and Siegelman
set out to rescue Wiener's genius from obscurity and to explore
the many ways in which his groundbreaking ideas continue to shape
our lives. Based on a wealth of primary sources (including some
newly declassified WW II and Cold War-era documents) and exclusive
interviews with Wiener's family and closest colleagues, the book
reveals an extraordinarily complex figure, whose high-pressure childhood,
manic depression, and troubled relationships had a profound effect
on his scientific work.
No one interested in the intersection of technology and culture
will want to miss this epic story of one of the twentieth century's
most brilliant and colorful figures.
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