From Telegraphs to Cybernetics

Throughout Professor Strate' lectures he has illustrated the timeline of events that have strengthened and advanced our ways of communication. A simple machine as the telegraph eventually became the foundation of networking for an array of types of communication. A critical idea that was shared in this class was that of electromagnetism. This is the idea of a field of all types of radiation emitting in all directions to make such things as cellular devices and radio possible. The advancement of such methods as using teletype and the facsimile have become outdated and ancient relative to cybernetics and the modern day computer. Cybernetics was brought about by Norbert Wiener. Cybernetics is the science of control and Mr. Wiener believed that information was essential to control. Claude Shannon developed the information theory. This theory leads us to believe that the fundamental make up of the universe is energy. He also stated that everything has a tendency to lead to chaos whether it was entropic to begin with or not.  Wiener also expressed that every signal that is sent out is degraded in some sense and that to stop degrading we must use amplification and redundancy. Many of these theories are used in everyday life such as in the comparison of network television shows to television commercials. The idea of positional notation has rooted back from cultures and their monetary systems and is now used in many different ways. With time comes discovery and advancement and Professor Strate is diligently leading us through the history of how we have come to communicate in present day.

History of Communication

In wednesday nights' lecture we learned of an array of things from different types of participation in new media to the impacts of the industrial revolution on communication. Many things have evolved such as the printing press and locomotive, but one fact still remains and that is that we have always been in need of more efficient ways to communicate. Professor Strate illustrated that to us through a descriptive display of past events that have lead up to modern day communication and new media. It is interesting to know that to comprehend and actually communicate a language an individual has to think in the way of that language. The creation of symbols to count cows, the creation of an alphabet, and the creation of the mechanical clock all illustrate the level of necessity that our society holds on communication. I am looking forward to all that I am going to learn this semester and know that it will aid in the advancement of my future studies.