Forty years of Kybernetes

Citation

Rudall, B.H. (2011), "Forty years of Kybernetes", Kybernetes, Vol. 40 No. 9/10. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2011.06740iaa.001

Forty years of Kybernetes

Article Type: Editorial and preface From: Kybernetes, Volume 40, Issue 9/10

40th anniversary volume issues 1-10, 2011

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of this journal, five special double issues have been compiled. This final contribution includes papers, articles and celebratory birthday greetings from our readers and contributors who have supported and encouraged the continuing publication of Kybernetes.

Since 1987, all the anniversary milestones have been celebrated and marked by the compilation of anniversary issues. These have included the 20th, 25th and 30th years of the publication, with each birthday issue containing invited papers from our leading cyberneticians, systemists and management scientists.

This anniversary volume is no exception, and each special issue published highlights the journal’s aim to include a wide range of topics and their important applications in its pages.

This final double issue includes invited contributions from some of the many enthusiastic supporters of the journal and historical presentations about the journal’s foundation and progress over the last four decades.

We are grateful to all our contributors who have joined us in our celebrations and, in particular, to those who have accepted the publisher’s invitation to prepare “invited papers” for inclusion in these issues.

As is our usual practice the regular journal sections, together with selected submitted papers, are also included.

It is, of course, our hope at this time that the journal will not only maintain its enviable reputation but will also continue in its role as one of the most successful global contributors to systems, cybernetics and management science. Over the last 40 years, it has published contributions from some of the world’s most distinguished scientists including several Nobel Prize winners. It has also included the work of many hundreds of young authors and those researchers who are in need of encouragement and assistance in their endeavours.

Dr Alex M. Andrew, who has been associated with this journal since its inception, and is one of its most dedicated contributors and a leading cybernetician, was invited to look at Kybernetes over the last decades and pick out some of its influential authors and supporters. He selected the following, who of course, represent but a few of those who actively gave encouragement to Kybernetes and who published, exclusively, in its pages.

Gordon Pask – who is particularly remembered by many of our currently active authors and Guest Editors: Bernard Scott, Nick Green and Ranulph Glanville.

Stafford Beer – who was a very supportive patron of the journal and who frequently wrote articles and papers exclusively for Kybernetes. He is, of course, remembered by Allenna Leonard, and also Raul Espejo, Markus Schwaninger and Roger Harnden, who are contributors and/or Guest Editors of this journal.

Heinz von Foerster – special issues/articles have been included over many years and he has been remembered by Ranulph Glanville, Stuart Umpleby and many other active journal supporters.

Norbert Wiener – is particularly remembered by our Patron, and President of WOSC. Robert Vallée. His work has been continually referred to and discussed here with contributions by Pesi Masani as well as by Charles Musés.

Warren McCulloch and the group around him, including Walter Pitts, Jerry Lettvin, Pat Wall and Brad Howland, and in particular by Alex Andrew himself.

Many readers and contributors will, undoubtedly, have their own remembrances of past journal contributors who worked in their own fields. We are happy to recognise these too, as well as some of our authors who have achieved “celebrity” or, indeed “cult” status in their distinctive roles and outstanding achievements such as, for example, founding the World Wide Web.

Finally, there would be no 40th anniversary without the dedication and hard work of the past and present editorial teams both in the Editorial Office here in Wales, UK, and of course, at Emerald Group Publishing, who took over Kybernetes in 1988 from the journal’s founder, Professor John Rose.

Brian H. RudallEditor-in-Chief