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, fact-checked September 2026.
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