The Computer as Liberator: The Rise of Mechanical System Control

In this essay, on the observance of the 50th anniversary of the founding of ASME’s Dynamic Systems and Control Division, I try to connect the technology of control to the way in which control practitioners think. Despite some tension between the conclusions implied in the introductory paragraphs and conclusions drawn later in the essay, I have left them to stand in their original form to emphasize tensions in control thinking, for which the source might not be apparent. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own, but I must acknowledge the creative proddings of my colleagues in getting these thoughts recorded at all.