Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)
1868
James Clerk Maxwell publishes his theoretical analysis of Watt’s governor
James Clerk Maxwell’s “On Governors”, his theoretical analysis of Watt’s governor published in 1867 and 1868, a device used for regulating the speed of steam engines, was a significant contribution to the understanding of feedback control systems. It stands as a foundational moment in the history of cybernetics, as mentioned in the Cybernetic Serendipity catalog.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random.
Sources
People
James Clerk Maxwell, James Watt
Movements
cybernetics
Filed under
- Ideas
- automation, control, self-regulation
- Technologies
- cybernetics, feedback control, steam engine, Watt's governor
- People
- James Clerk Maxwell, James Watt
- Works
- On Governors
- Exhibitions
- Cybernetic Serendipity
Related moments
Echoes across time
- 1961 · Automat und Mensch Kybernetische Tatsachen und Hypothesen by Karl Steinbuch
- 2018 · Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers at the V&A
- 1979 · Cybernetic Symbiosis, Berkeley: Lawrence Hall of Science
Le Random editorials
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Chapter 2’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify