Born in Columbia, Missouri, on November 26, Norbert Wiener (1894–1964) gained prominence as a world-famous mathematician who founded the interdisciplinary field of cybernetics, questioned its social implications, and encouraged scientists and engineers to consider the social consequences of their work. He died in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 18.

A child prodigy, Wiener earned a B.S. from Tufts University at the age of fourteen and a Ph.D. from Harvard at eighteen. As a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he made his mark in the areas of statistical theory, harmonic analysis, and prediction and filtering. While doing research on an antiaircraft system during Word War II, Wiener developed the key idea behind cybernetics: Humans and machines could both be studied using the principles of control and communication engineering. Both were information-processing entities that interacted with the environment through feedback mechanisms to pursue goals.

The...