SOVIET CYBERNETICS TECHNOLOGY: I. SOVIET CYBERNETICS, 1959-1962

The three most recent volumes of Problems in Cybernetics, a collection of research reports published more or less annually, form the bulk of the Memorandum Chaps. 3-5. Chapter 1, a translation of an excerpt from the book Philosophic Questions on Cybernetics, points out the growing pains of the new discipline and touches on the effort to reconcile cybernetics with other disciplines which may view its accomplishments and possibilities with skepticism. A detailed consideration of the controversy surrounding the subject is contained in the article in Chap. 2. Chapter 6 presents a typical general survey of cybernetics, written for the non-technician. It defines the principles of design, construction, and use of computers, and analyzes computer applications in national economic planning, the ferrous metal industry, and in transportation. Finally, a brief item, translated from the Czech, presents two cybernetics research projects at the Computing Center of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.