Alpha version, that is, a pre-release — we are still checking and completing the content.
A map of
Marian Mazur's concepts
- 309entriesMarian Mazur's concepts in the dictionary
- 313definitionseach a verbatim quotation with its source
- 704linksa concept used in the definition of another
- 39bridgesbetween the domains of the theory
- 8trailsstep-by-step learning, 107 stops
- 3languagesPolish, English, Chinese
About the dictionary
[DRAFT — pending GM decision]
This site contains a dictionary of the concepts of Marian Mazur, the founder of the Polish School of Cybernetics: 309 entries with 313 definitions, each with its source. The Polish definitions are verbatim quotations from his books; the English definitions are translations of them. The entries are linked to one another — every definition shows the concepts it rests on and the entries that make use of it. The same connections are shown in the concept graph (links: 704), and a separate section presents Mazur's life and works.
[DRAFT — paragraph about the initiative: pending GM decision]
The structure of the theory
Concepts and links that form a system
Concept graph
Dictionary entries as nodes, definitions as the links between them. Click a node to see its definition and neighbours.
Open the graph →Term of the month
homeostat
homeostat稳态器
The homeostat is the organ through which an autonomous system defends its ability to function — the counterpart of an internal organiser that watches over the equilibrium of the whole. From it, links lead to more than a dozen other concepts of Mazur's: from emotion and reflection to motivation, extravertism and introvertism.
homeostat, i.e. an organ for counteracting flows of information and energy that reduce the system's capacity to act upon the environment
Machine translation, under review (draft)
Original:
[…] homeostat, czyli organ do przeciwdziałania przepływom informacji i energii zmniejszających możność oddziaływania systemu na otoczenie […]
Learning trails
From control to the autonomous system
All trails →Exploring
Discovering the Polish School of Cybernetics
- 01
Dictionary
Definitions in their original wording — verbatim quotations from three of Mazur's books, each with its source page.
Open → - 02
Concept graph
704 links between entries. You can see which concepts carry the theory and where work remains to be done.
Open → - 03
Learning trails
8 guided paths through the theory, 107 stops.
Open → - 04
Test yourself
Exercises on the dictionary entries: recognise a concept from its definition, match a definition to a term.
Open → - 05
Guide to the theory
Essays on the three domains and three cross-sections of the theory — information, character, method.
Open → - 06
Summaries of the works
25 summaries of books and articles, chapter by chapter, in our own words.
Open → - 07
Timeline
49 items of Mazur's output from 1956–1999 and the concepts that come from them.
Open → - 08
Notation and formulas
51 symbols and 56 formulas by Mazur, with the notation explained.
Open → - 09
Works
Bibliography: 49 items — books, articles, papers.
Open → - 10
Biography
The life and scientific path of Marian Mazur — every fact with its source.
Open → - 11
Polish School of Cybernetics
What the school is, its domains and the people who built it.
Open → - 12
Mazur and Western cybernetics — Mazur's concepts alongside those of Wiener, Shannon and Ashby
Mazur's concepts alongside those of Wiener, Shannon and Ashby.
Open →
Diagrams
How does a system that steers itself work?
Illustrative diagrams drawn from the dictionary's definitions. Every element leads to its entry.
receptors · correlator · effectors · homeostat · alimentators · accumulator · autonomous system
controlling system · controlled system · control path · control
A chain of definitions
Every definition draws on others
An example from the data: ‘homeostat’. On the left, the concepts its definition uses; on the right, the entries that use it.
Precursor
Marian Mazur
The founder of the Polish School of Cybernetics. This site brings his concepts together in one place, with the exact source of every definition.
Timeline
49 items of output, 1956–1999
Offline
Download the whole dictionary
PDF in three languages — for offline reading and for printing.
Views of the dictionary
- Families of QIT terms (prefix × base)
- Load-bearing concepts — what most definitions rest on
- A Qualitative Theory of Information: definitions in book order
- Mazur and Western cybernetics — Mazur's concepts alongside those of Wiener, Shannon and Ashby
- Domains and the bridges between them: cybernetics, qualitative information theory, theory of character
- Guide to the theory: cybernetics, qualitative information theory, theory of character, Information according to Mazur: from message to transinforming, Character as control: parameters and classes, Mazur's method: agreements, definitions, consequences
- Summaries of Marian Mazur's works