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A NEW SCIENCE 19

1909 Wiener graduates from Tufts with a bachelor’s degree in
mathematics
Wiener enters Harvard to study zoology but does not do
well
1910 Wiener switches to Cornell University and studies mathemat-
ics and philosophy; he soon returns to Harvard to pursue
mathematics

1912 Wiener receives his master’s degree in mathematics from
Harvard and obtains his Ph.D. a year later
1913 Wiener begins to tour Europe, visiting prominent mathematicians

1917 As the United States enters World War I, Wiener does work in
ballistics at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds

1919 Wiener accepts a faculty position at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), where he will remain for the
rest of his career
1921 Wiener publishes his first major mathematical paper, on

Brownian motion

1926 Now an associate professor, Wiener marries Margaret
Engemann, an assistant professor of modern languages

1935 Wiener lectures for two years at Tsing-Hua University in
Beijing, China, forming an attachment to Chinese researchers

1939 World War II begins in Europe. Wiener helps with efforts to
rescue Jewish scientists from the Nazis

1945 On January 6 and 7, Wiener’s Teleological Society has its fi rst
meeting

1948 Wiener publishes Cybernetics, his most infl uential work
1950 Wiener increasingly turns his attention to the potential misuse
of technology and automation. He publishes The Human Use
of Human Beings
1960 Wiener retires from MIT and devotes his efforts to discussing
the impact of technology on society