CHAPTER 11 



The Language and Concepts 



of Control 



The natural systems are of enormous complexity, and it is clearly neces- 

 sary to subdivide the problem .... 



The first part of the problem [is] the structure and functioning of such 

 elementary units individually. The second part of the problem consists of 

 understanding how these elements are organized into a whole, and how the 

 functioning of the whole is expressed in terms of these elements .... 



The number of cells in the human body is somewhere in the general order 

 of W 15 or 10 m . The number of neurons in the central nervous system is 

 somewhere in the order of 10 w . . . . All artificial automata ["thinking 

 machines''''] made by man have numbers of parts which, by any comparably 

 schematic count, are of the order of W 3 to W 6 . . . . The prototypes for these 

 [living] systems are the modern computing machines .... 



[However], whereas I can conceive of a machine which could reproduce 

 itself, I cannot imagine a machine which could create itself/ (John von 

 Neumann, Vanuxem Lectures, Princeton, 1952.) 



INTRODUCTION 



In the very first chapter of this book we introduced rather superficially 

 the concept of man as an integrated system operating in continuous ex- 

 change with his environment. During the next few chapters we dwelt on the 

 forces, momenta, and energy which comprise this exchange, and showed 

 what these are, their properties, and their effects on the living system. 

 Through the middle of the book we dwelt on the workings of individual parts 



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