Wiener’s Literary Predilections and Initiatives. His Concept of Art

Abstract

Wiener’s literary writings ranged from short story, essay and letter to autobiography and novel. In this literary bent he was more like his mentors Leo Wiener and Bertrand Russell than his mentor G. H. Hardy or his colleague John von Neumann. But unlike some scholars who indulge in hack writing for magazines, Wiener did not regard popular concerns as matters for unscholarly or perfunctory treatment. As a cyberneticist he freely crossed conventional fences in the course of his writings, but he never abandoned high standards of scholarship and a high quality of prose.