Foundation of "the science of control and communication theory, named ‘cybernetics’ by Wiener, from the Greek word ‘kubernetes’ or steersman. Automation, information feedback, regulators in engineering and biology, and bionics fall within its domain. His deep collaboration with Arturo Rosenblueth (a distinguished Mexican collaborator of Walter Cannon’s at Harvard) on this approach greatly extended its applicability to biological systems, including, very importantly, the nervous system" (Larry W. Swanson). 

Wiener's book was also the first commercially published book on electronic computing. Strangely, the first edition was published in English in Paris by Hermann, a publisher that specialized in mathematics. The first American edition issued by Wiley, later in 1948, was printed offset from the French sheets, reprinting the numerous typesetting errors present in the French publication of this English text. Though highly technical, the book caught the attention of a wide range of readers, most of whom could probably not understand the mathematics, and even though the American edition was reprinted several times to meet demand, Wiener did not correct the errors until the second edition, (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1961).