Re:Entropy as Disorder: History of a Misconception
by hcs on Saturday September 21, 2019 @05:44PM
(#21038089)
Schrödinger used the term "negentropy".
And there's a story that Norbert Wiener used to wander around MIT telling anyone who would listen that information is negative entropy, including Shannon. (I'm having trouble finding it, will edit if I track it down)
Edit: ah, it was Fano who told that story (quoted in "The Cybernetics Moment"):
> Electrical engineer Robert Fano at MIT, recalled that sometime in 1947, Wiener "walked into my office ... announced 'information is entropy' and then walks out again. No explanation, no elaboration."
And there's a story that Norbert Wiener used to wander around MIT telling anyone who would listen that information is negative entropy, including Shannon. (I'm having trouble finding it, will edit if I track it down)
Edit: ah, it was Fano who told that story (quoted in "The Cybernetics Moment"):
> Electrical engineer Robert Fano at MIT, recalled that sometime in 1947, Wiener "walked into my office ... announced 'information is entropy' and then walks out again. No explanation, no elaboration."
More about Wiener's approach and another recounting of the story here: http://news.mit.edu/2011/timeline-wiener-0119