Principia Cybernetica Web ©


Author: C. Joslyn,
Date: Jan 1992

Parent Node(s):

Cybernetics and Systems Science Compendia

One possible use for Principia Cybernetica is the movement towards a detailed encyclopedia of Cybernetics and Systems Science. There are a number of existing dictionaries, encyclopedias, databases, compilations, and source books (both electronically and traditionally published) that are relevant. From the perspective of general knowledge, [ADM52] is an excellent example of a traditional intellectual encyclopedia. It embodies a wealth of semantic and bibliographic richness, detailed development of many great ideas in intellectual history, and connections and cross-references among them. Other traditional encyclopedia projects include [GEWGOS75,KLU88] in mathematics, and [EDP67,FLA79] in philosophy.

In Cybernetics and Systems Science proper, many people have approached the general task of compiling large amounts of useful information. There have been efforts on the part of scholarly organizations, like the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS, formerly the Society for General Systems Research (SGSR)), to develop lists of terms and concepts held in common with Cybernetics and Systems Science. There are bibliographies of systems literature [TRRHOW84], at least four dictionaries of cybernetic terms [AM84,FRC91,KRK84,MUA68], and one encyclopedia of Systems Science [SIM87]. An important contribution is the large pamphlet Education in the Systems Sciences [SNB90], detailing a great deal of information about the whole nature of Cybernetics and Systems Science and how it is carried out around the world. [CLB84] includes a substantive glossary of systems terms. We should note the GENSYS project, directed by Len Troncale, which has an ambition similar to Principia Cybernetica.

Bibliography of Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Glossaries, Principiae, Manifestos, Textbooks, Histories, Sourcebooks, and Others Related to Cybernetics and Systems


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