Rise of the Machines:
the lost history of cybernetics
Overview
What does "cyber" even mean? And where does the idea come from?
We live in an age increasingly defined by technology. But as we check our emails, board a plane, or read about the latest Russian hack, we rarely ask how the ideas that shaped our modern world originated.
Thomas Rid's revelatory history of cybernetics pulls together disparate threads in the history of technology: from the invention of radar and pilotless flying bombs in World War Two, to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, cryptocurrencies, and present day fears about cyber security.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Hardback
- 234mm x 153mm
- 416 pages
- 9781925228649
- GBP£20.00
- 29 August 2016
Praise
‘The major disruptions in our modern society all belong to one big story. A common theme connects war machines, computer networks, social media, ubiquitous surveillance and virtual reality. For 50 years or more the same people and the same ideas weave through these innovations united by the term cyber, as in cyberspace and cybernetics. Read this amazing history and you'll go: aha!’
‘Rise of The Machines isn’t just an insightful history of Cybernetics, but also a fascinating journey with the 20th century thinkers — from tech giants and eccentric mathematicians to science fiction writers and counterculture gurus — who have shaped how we understand machines and ourselves.’
About the Author
