Stafford Beer - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 00:46, 14 August 2023
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	==External links==		==External links==
	{{wikiquote}}		{{wikiquote}}
	~~{{Portal\|Systems science}}~~
	{{Commons category\|Stafford Beer}}		{{Commons category\|Stafford Beer}}
	* [https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/library/special-collections-and-archives/special-collections/stafford-beer-collection Stafford Beer papers held at Liverpool John Moores University]		* [https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/library/special-collections-and-archives/special-collections/stafford-beer-collection Stafford Beer papers held at Liverpool John Moores University]

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	{{Short description\|British management consultant and cyberneticist}}		{{Short description\|British management consultant and cyberneticist}}
	{{EngvarB\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{EngvarB\|date=August 2014}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2014}}
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Stafford Beer		\| name = Stafford Beer
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	}}		}}

	'''Anthony Stafford Beer''' (25 September 1926 – 23 August 2002) was a British [[theorist]], consultant and professor at the [[Manchester Business School]].<ref name=MBS>{{cite web\|title=Manchester Business School Alumni\|url=https://www.mbs.ac.uk/about/our-history/\|access-date=13 June ~~2022~~}}</ref> He is best known for his work in the fields of [[operational research]] and [[management cybernetics]].		'''Anthony Stafford Beer''' (25 September 1926 – 23 August 2002) was a British [[theorist]], consultant and professor at the [[Manchester Business School]].<ref name=MBS>{{cite web\|title=Manchester Business School Alumni\|url=https://www.mbs.ac.uk/about/our-history/\|access-date=13 June 2018}}</ref> He is best known for his work in the fields of [[operational research]] and [[management cybernetics]].

	==Biography==		==Biography==
	===Early life===		===Early life===
	Beer was born in [[Putney]], London in 1926. At age 17 he was expelled from [[Whitgift School]] and enrolled for a degree in philosophy at [[University College London]]. But in 1944 he left to join the army, first as Gunner in the [[Royal Artillery]], but he soon received a commission first in the [[Royal Fusiliers]], and then as a [[company commander]] in the [[9 Gorkha Rifles\|9th Gurkha Rifles]]. He saw service in [[India]] and stayed there until 1947. Upon returning to England he was assigned to the Human factors Branch of [[Operations research]] at the [[War Office]]. In 1949, he was demobilised, having reached the rank of captain.<ref name=Tel>{{cite news\|title=Obituaries: Stafford Beer\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1405557/Stafford-Beer.html\|access-date=31 August 2015\|newspaper=The Telegraph\|date=28 August ~~2022~~}}</ref>		Beer was born in [[Putney]], London in 1926. At age 17 he was expelled from [[Whitgift School]] and enrolled for a degree in philosophy at [[University College London]]. But in 1944 he left to join the army, first as Gunner in the [[Royal Artillery]], but he soon received a commission first in the [[Royal Fusiliers]], and then as a [[company commander]] in the [[9 Gorkha Rifles\|9th Gurkha Rifles]]. He saw service in [[India]] and stayed there until 1947. Upon returning to England he was assigned to the Human factors Branch of [[Operations research]] at the [[War Office]]. In 1949, he was demobilised, having reached the rank of captain.<ref name=Tel>{{cite news\|title=Obituaries: Stafford Beer\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1405557/Stafford-Beer.html\|access-date=31 August 2015\|newspaper=The Telegraph\|date=28 August 2002}}</ref>

	He dropped the use of his first name "Anthony" when he was about twenty-one and persuaded his brother, Ian Beer, to sign a statement that he would not use the name Stafford which he also was given.<ref name=Pickering>{{cite book\|last1=Pickering\|first1=Andrew\|title=The cybernetic brain : sketches of another future\|date=2011\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|location=Chicago\|isbn=978-0226667904\|edition=Pbk.}}</ref>		He dropped the use of his first name "Anthony" when he was about twenty-one and persuaded his brother, Ian Beer, to sign a statement that he would not use the name Stafford which he also was given.<ref name=Pickering>{{cite book\|last1=Pickering\|first1=Andrew\|title=The cybernetic brain : sketches of another future\|date=2011\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|location=Chicago\|isbn=978-0226667904\|edition=Pbk.}}</ref>

	===United Steel===		===United Steel===
	In 1956 he joined [[United Steel Companies\|United Steel]] and persuaded the management to fund an operational research group, the Department of Operations Research and Cybernetics, which he headed. This was based in Cybor House, and they installed a [[Ferranti Pegasus]] computer, the first in the world dedicated to management cybernetics.<ref name=Cabezas>{{cite web\|last1=Cabezas\|first1=Guido\|title=Stafford's Curriculum Vitae\|url=http://www.oocities.org/gicabezas/Beer.html\|website=Guido Cabezas Fuentealba\|publisher=Universidad del BioBio\|access-date=18 August ~~2022~~}}</ref>		In 1956 he joined [[United Steel Companies\|United Steel]] and persuaded the management to fund an operational research group, the Department of Operations Research and Cybernetics, which he headed. This was based in Cybor House, and they installed a [[Ferranti Pegasus]] computer, the first in the world dedicated to management cybernetics.<ref name=Cabezas>{{cite web\|last1=Cabezas\|first1=Guido\|title=Stafford's Curriculum Vitae\|url=http://www.oocities.org/gicabezas/Beer.html\|website=Guido Cabezas Fuentealba\|publisher=Universidad del BioBio\|access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref>

	===SIGMA===		===SIGMA===
	In 1961 he left United Steel to start an operational research consultancy in partnership with [[Roger Eddison]] called SIGMA (Science in General Management). Beer left SIGMA in 1966 to work for a SIGMA client, the [[IPC Media\|International Publishing Corporation]] (IPC). He left IPC in 1970 to work as an independent consultant, focusing on his growing interest in social systems.{{citation needed\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		In 1961 he left United Steel to start an operational research consultancy in partnership with [[Roger Eddison]] called SIGMA (Science in General Management). Beer left SIGMA in 1966 to work for a SIGMA client, the [[IPC Media\|International Publishing Corporation]] (IPC). He left IPC in 1970 to work as an independent consultant, focusing on his growing interest in social systems.{{citation needed\|date=August 2015}}

	===Cybersyn===		===Cybersyn===
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	===Later activity===		===Later activity===
	{{unreferenced section\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{unreferenced section\|date=August 2015}}
	In the mid-1970s, Beer moved to mid-[[Wales]] where he lived in an almost austere style, developing strong interests in poetry and art. In the 1980s he established a second home on the west side of downtown [[Toronto]] and lived part of the year in both residences. He was a visiting professor at almost 30 universities and received an earned higher doctorate (DSc) from the [[University of Sunderland]] and honorary doctorates from the [[University of Leeds]], the [[University of St. Gallen]], and the [[University of Valladolid]]. He was president of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics.		In the mid-1970s, Beer moved to mid-[[Wales]] where he lived in an almost austere style, developing strong interests in poetry and art. In the 1980s he established a second home on the west side of downtown [[Toronto]] and lived part of the year in both residences. He was a visiting professor at almost 30 universities and received an earned higher doctorate (DSc) from the [[University of Sunderland]] and honorary doctorates from the [[University of Leeds]], the [[University of St. Gallen]], and the [[University of Valladolid]]. He was president of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics.

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	===Family life===		===Family life===
	He was married twice, in 1947 to Cynthia Hannaway, and in 1968 to Sallie Steadman. His partner for the last twenty years of his life was [[Allenna Leonard]], a fellow cybernetician. Beer had five sons and two daughters, one of whom is [[Vanilla Beer]], an artist and essayist.{{Citation needed\|date=July ~~2022~~}} She exhibited with [[Roger Kohn]].<ref>[http://www.peacockuniversitypress.com ''Prenez, Mangez et Vivez''] Peacock University Press (2006)<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref><ref>[http://www.integratedcircles.com Simon Beer profile], integratedcircles.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.newwavephotos.com/MarkBeer.htm Mark Beer profile], newwavephotos.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref>		He was married twice, in 1947 to Cynthia Hannaway, and in 1968 to Sallie Steadman. His partner for the last twenty years of his life was [[Allenna Leonard]], a fellow cybernetician. Beer had five sons and two daughters, one of whom is [[Vanilla Beer]], an artist and essayist.{{Citation needed\|date=July 2016}} She exhibited with [[Roger Kohn]].<ref>[http://www.peacockuniversitypress.com ''Prenez, Mangez et Vivez''] Peacock University Press (2006)<!--ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref><ref>[http://www.integratedcircles.com Simon Beer profile], integratedcircles.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.newwavephotos.com/MarkBeer.htm Mark Beer profile], newwavephotos.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref>

	==Work==		==Work==
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	==Awards==		==Awards==
	Beer received awards from the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences]] in 1958, from the United Kingdom Systems Society, the [[Cybernetics Society]], the [[American Society for Cybernetics]], and the [[Operations Research Society of America]].{{citation needed\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		Beer received awards from the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences]] in 1958, from the United Kingdom Systems Society, the [[Cybernetics Society]], the [[American Society for Cybernetics]], and the [[Operations Research Society of America]].{{citation needed\|date=August 2015}}

	==Literature==		==Literature==
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	==Further reading==		==Further reading==
	* {{citation \|year=2004 \|editor=Rayward, W. Boyd \|editor2=Bowden, Mary Ellen \|author=Pickering, Andrew \|author-link=Andrew Pickering \|chapter=The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer's Cybernetic Informatics \|title=The History and Heritage of Scientific and Technological Information Systems \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=history+heritage+technological \|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=stafford+beer's+cybernetic&pg=PA29 \|place=Medford, New Jersey \|publisher=Information Today, Inc \|access-date=19 March ~~2022~~}}		* {{citation \|year=2004 \|editor=Rayward, W. Boyd \|editor2=Bowden, Mary Ellen \|author=Pickering, Andrew \|author-link=Andrew Pickering \|chapter=The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer's Cybernetic Informatics \|title=The History and Heritage of Scientific and Technological Information Systems \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=history+heritage+technological \|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=stafford+beer's+cybernetic&pg=PA29 \|place=Medford, New Jersey \|publisher=Information Today, Inc \|access-date=19 March 2013}}

	==External links==		==External links==

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{{Short description|British management consultant and cyberneticist}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Stafford Beer
| image =
| birth_name = Anthony Stafford Beer
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|09|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Putney]], [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|08|23|1926|09|25|df=y}}
| nationality = British
| occupation = Theorist, consultant and professor
| known_for = [[Operational research]], [[management cybernetics]]
| notable_works =
}}

'''Anthony Stafford Beer''' (25 September 1926 – 23 August 2002) was a British [[theorist]], consultant and professor at the [[Manchester Business School]].<ref name=MBS>{{cite web|title=Manchester Business School Alumni|url=https://www.mbs.ac.uk/about/our-history/|access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref> He is best known for his work in the fields of [[operational research]] and [[management cybernetics]].

==Biography==
===Early life===
Beer was born in [[Putney]], London in 1926. At age 17 he was expelled from [[Whitgift School]] and enrolled for a degree in philosophy at [[University College London]]. But in 1944 he left to join the army, first as Gunner in the [[Royal Artillery]], but he soon received a commission first in the [[Royal Fusiliers]], and then as a [[company commander]] in the [[9 Gorkha Rifles|9th Gurkha Rifles]]. He saw service in [[India]] and stayed there until 1947. Upon returning to England he was assigned to the Human factors Branch of [[Operations research]] at the [[War Office]]. In 1949, he was demobilised, having reached the rank of captain.<ref name=Tel>{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Stafford Beer|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1405557/Stafford-Beer.html|access-date=31 August 2015|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=28 August 2022}}</ref>

He dropped the use of his first name "Anthony" when he was about twenty-one and persuaded his brother, Ian Beer, to sign a statement that he would not use the name Stafford which he also was given.<ref name=Pickering>{{cite book|last1=Pickering|first1=Andrew|title=The cybernetic brain : sketches of another future|date=2011|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226667904|edition=Pbk.}}</ref>

===United Steel===
In 1956 he joined [[United Steel Companies|United Steel]] and persuaded the management to fund an operational research group, the Department of Operations Research and Cybernetics, which he headed. This was based in Cybor House, and they installed a [[Ferranti Pegasus]] computer, the first in the world dedicated to management cybernetics.<ref name=Cabezas>{{cite web|last1=Cabezas|first1=Guido|title=Stafford's Curriculum Vitae|url=http://www.oocities.org/gicabezas/Beer.html|website=Guido Cabezas Fuentealba|publisher=Universidad del BioBio|access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref>

===SIGMA===
In 1961 he left United Steel to start an operational research consultancy in partnership with [[Roger Eddison]] called SIGMA (Science in General Management). Beer left SIGMA in 1966 to work for a SIGMA client, the [[IPC Media|International Publishing Corporation]] (IPC). He left IPC in 1970 to work as an independent consultant, focusing on his growing interest in social systems.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Cybersyn===
In mid-1971, Beer was approached by [[Fernando Flores]], then a high-ranking member of the Chilean Production Development Corporation ([[CORFO]]) in the newly elected [[Chile under Allende|socialist government]] of [[Salvador Allende]], for advice on applying his cybernetic theories to the management of the state-run sector of the [[economy of Chile|Chilean economy]].<ref>Third Richard Goodman Memorial Lecture, [[Brighton Polytechnic]], [[Moulsecoomb]], [[Brighton]] 14 February 1973.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Beer|first=Stafford|date=1973-02-14|title=Fanfare for Effective Freedom : Cybernetic Praxis in Government by Stafford Beer|url=http://ada.evergreen.edu/~arunc/texts/cybernetics/Platform/platform.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503180805/http://ada.evergreen.edu/~arunc/texts/cybernetics/Platform/platform.pdf|archive-date=2018-05-03|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-02|website=evergreen.edu}}</ref>

This led to Beer's involvement in the never-completed [[Cybersyn]] project, which aimed to use computers and a [[telex]]-based communication network to allow the government to maximise production while preserving the autonomy of workers and lower management. Although Cybersyn was abandoned after Allende's death during the [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] [[Chilean coup of 1973|coup]] in 1973, Beer continued to work in the Americas, consulting for the governments of [[Mexico]], [[Uruguay]] and [[Venezuela]].

===Later activity===
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2022}}
In the mid-1970s, Beer moved to mid-[[Wales]] where he lived in an almost austere style, developing strong interests in poetry and art. In the 1980s he established a second home on the west side of downtown [[Toronto]] and lived part of the year in both residences. He was a visiting professor at almost 30 universities and received an earned higher doctorate (DSc) from the [[University of Sunderland]] and honorary doctorates from the [[University of Leeds]], the [[University of St. Gallen]], and the [[University of Valladolid]]. He was president of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics.

===Falcondale Collection===
[[File:Falcondale Mansion Hotel - geograph.org.uk - 714659.jpg|thumb|[[Falcondale House]]]]
In July 1994 Beer ran a residential course at the [[Falcondale House|Falcondale Hotel]] in [[Lampeter]]. Nine sessions were recorded as a video learning resource, and are collectively known as the Falcondale collection. They are available [http://opendata.ljmu.ac.uk/6/ online] at the Data Repository of [[Liverpool John Moores University]].<ref name="ljmu">{{cite web |title=Stafford Beer: The Falcondale Collection |url=http://opendata.ljmu.ac.uk/6/ |website=opendata.ljmu.ac.uk |publisher=Liverpool John Moores University |access-date=26 November 2019 |language=en |date=December 1994}}</ref> The sessions covered art, science and philosophy as well as the practical application of cybernetics in society, government, community, management and business. Transcripts were made of the discussions and are also available from the same repository.<ref name="ljmu"/>

===Family life===
He was married twice, in 1947 to Cynthia Hannaway, and in 1968 to Sallie Steadman. His partner for the last twenty years of his life was [[Allenna Leonard]], a fellow cybernetician. Beer had five sons and two daughters, one of whom is [[Vanilla Beer]], an artist and essayist.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} She exhibited with [[Roger Kohn]].<ref>[http://www.peacockuniversitypress.com ''Prenez, Mangez et Vivez''] Peacock University Press (2006)</ref><ref>[http://www.integratedcircles.com Simon Beer profile], integratedcircles.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.newwavephotos.com/MarkBeer.htm Mark Beer profile], newwavephotos.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref>

==Work==
[[Image:Cybernetic factory.svg|thumb|right|320px|Sketch for a cybernetic factory, 1959<ref>Stafford Beer, ''Cybernetic and Management'', English Universities Press, p. 150.</ref>]]

===Management cybernetics===
According to Jackson (2000) "Beer was the first to apply cybernetics to management, defining cybernetics as the ''science of effective organization''". In the 1960s and early 1970s "Beer was a prolific writer and an influential practitioner" in [[management cybernetics]]. It was during that period that he developed the [[viable system model]], to diagnose the faults in any existing organizational system. In that time [[Jay Wright Forrester|Forrester]] invented [[systems dynamics]], which "held out the promise that the behavior of whole systems could be represented and understood through modeling the dynamical feedback process going on within them".<ref name ="Mich 2000">Michael C. Jackson (2000), ''Systems Approaches to Management''</ref>

{{Clear}}

===Cybersyn===
{{Main|Project Cybersyn}}

[[Image:Cybersyn control room.jpg|thumb|240px|left|[[Cybersyn]] operations room, 1972]]
During the [[presidency of Salvador Allende|administration of Salvador Allende in Chile]], in the early 1970s, Beer was closely involved with a visionary project, [[Cybersyn]], to apply his cybernetic theories in government. The project's ultimate goal was to create a network of computers and communications equipment that would support the management of the state-run sector of Chile's economy; at its core would be an operations room where government managers could view important information about economic processes in real time, formulate plans of action, and transmit advice and directives to managers at plants and enterprises in the field.<ref name="RE">Raul Espejo, [http://www.metaphorum.org/proyecto_cybersyn_ingles.pdf Cybersyn] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227180025/http://www.metaphorum.org/proyecto_cybersyn_ingles.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }}, metaphorum.org; retrieved October 2007.</ref> However, consistent with cybernetic principles and the ideals of the Allende government, its designers aimed to preserve worker and lower-management autonomy instead of implementing a top-down system of centralised control. The system used a network of about 500 [[telex]] machines located at enterprises throughout the country and in government offices in [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], some of which were connected to a government-operated [[mainframe computer]] that would receive information on production operations, feed that information into economic modelling software, and report on variables (such as raw material supplies) that were outside normal parameters and might require attention. The project, implemented by a multidisciplinary group of both Chileans and foreigners, reached an advanced prototype stage, but was interrupted by [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|the 1973 coup d'état]].<ref name="RE"/>

{{Clear}}

===Viable System Model===
[[Image:Vsm.gif|thumb|right|240px|Principal functions of the [[Viable System Model]], 1975.]]
{{Main|Viable System Model}}
The Viable System Model (VSM) is a [[model (abstract)|model]] of the organisational structure of any viable or [[autonomous]] [[system]]. A viable system is any system organised in such a way as to meet the demands of surviving in the changing environment. One of the prime features of systems that survive is that they are adaptable. The VSM expresses a model for a viable system, which is an abstracted cybernetic description that is applicable to any organisation that is a viable system and capable of autonomy.

===Syntegration and Team Syntegrity===
{{Anchor|Syntegrity}}Syntegrity is a formal model presented by Beer in the 1990s and now is a registered trademark. It is a form of non-hierarchical problem solving that can be used in a small team of 10 to 42 people. It is a business consultation product that is licensed out to consulting firms. The term comes from the words "[[synergistic]]" and "[[tensegrity]]".<ref>[http://www.syntegrity.com/science.html Syntegration: The Science webpage], syntegrity.com; accessed 22 August 2015.</ref>

===POSIWID===
{{Main|The purpose of a system is what it does}}
Stafford Beer coined and frequently used the term POSIWID (the purpose of a system is what it does) to refer to the commonly observed phenomenon that the de facto purpose of a system is often at odds with its official purpose. In an address to the [[University of Valladolid]], Spain in October 2001, he said "According to the [[cybernetician]] the purpose of a system is what it does. This is a basic dictum. It stands for bald fact, which makes a better starting point in seeking understanding than the familiar attributions of good intention, prejudices about expectations, moral judgment or sheer ignorance of circumstances."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beer|first=Stafford|year=2002|title=What is cybernetics?|journal=Kybernetes|volume=31|issue=2|pages=209–219|publisher=MCB UP Ltd|doi=10.1108/03684920210417283}}</ref>

==Awards==
Beer received awards from the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences]] in 1958, from the United Kingdom Systems Society, the [[Cybernetics Society]], the [[American Society for Cybernetics]], and the [[Operations Research Society of America]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

==Literature==
Stafford Beer wrote several books and articles:<ref>[http://www.kybernetik.ch/dwn/Beer_Bibliography.pdf Bibliography Stafford Beer], Cwarel Isaf Institute, Juli 2000.</ref>
* 1959, ''Cybernetics and Management'', English Universities Press.
* 1966, ''Decision and Control'', Wiley, London.
* 1968, ''Management Science: The business use of operations research'', Aldus Books, London, Doubleday, New York.
* 1972, ''Brain Of The Firm'', Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, London, Herder and Herder, USA.Translated into German, Italian, Swedish, French and Russian.
* 1974, ''Designing Freedom'', CBC Learning Systems, Toronto, 1974; and John Wiley, London and New York, 1975. Translated into Spanish and Japanese.
* 1975, ''Platform for Change'', John Wiley, London and New York. Reprinted with corrections 1978.
* 1977, ''Transit''; Poems, CWRW Press, Wales. Limited Edition, Private Circulation.
* 1979, ''The Heart of Enterprise'', John Wiley, London and New York. Reprinted with corrections 1988.
* 1981, ''Brain of the Firm''; Second Edition (much extended), John Wiley, London and New York. Reprinted 1986, 1988. Translated into Russian.
* 1983, ''Transit''; Poems, Second edition (much extended). With audio cassettes: Transit – Selected Readings, and one Person Metagame; Mitchell Communications, Publisher, 2693 Route 845, Carters Point, NB, Canada, E5S 1S2.
* 1985, ''Diagnosing the System for Organizations''; John Wiley, London and New York. Translated into Italian and Japanese. Reprinted 1988, 1990, 1991.
* 1986, ''Pebbles to Computer'': The Thread; (with [[Hans Blohm]]), Oxford University Press, Toronto.
* 1994, ''Beyond Dispute: The Invention of Team Syntegrity''; John Wiley, Chichester.

;Audio
* 1973, Stafford Beer. [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-1973-cbc-massey-lectures-designing-freedom-1.2946819 "Designing Freedom"] The 1973 Massey Lectures RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL TRANSCRIPTION: E1121 "The Real Threat to all We Most Dear",E1122 "The Disregarded Tools of Modern Man",E1123, "A Liberty Machine in Prototype" E1124, "Science in The Service of Man" 1h 53:30.
* 1990, Stafford Beer, [http://www.cybsoc.org/#staff "Forty Years of Cybernetics"], Gordon Hyde Memorial Lecture at the [[Cybernetics Society]] in London, January 1990 (audio file: 1hr 27mins).

;Video
* 1990, Stafford Beer, {{YouTube|7COX-b3HK50|The Intelligent Organization}} Stafford Beer at Monterrey Tec, March 1990 illustrated by Javier Livas
;About Stafford Beer
* 1994, Harnden, R and [[Allenna Leonard|Leonard, A.]] (Eds.), ''How Many Grapes Went into the Wine: Stafford Beer on the Art and Science of Holisitic Management''; John Wiley, Chichester.
* 2002, Rosemary Bechler and Rob Passmore, ''"Stafford Beer: the man who could have run the world"'',<ref name="openDemocracy">{{cite web | title=Stafford Beer: the man who could have run the world | website=[[openDemocracy]] | url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/611/ | access-date=2021-03-06}}</ref> [[openDemocracy]], 7 November 2002
* 2003, Whittaker, David, ''Stafford Beer: A Personal Memoir''; (Includes an interview with Brian Eno) Wavestone Press, Charlbury
* 2004, "Ten pints of Beer: The rationale of Stafford Beer's cybernetic books (1959‐94)", ''[https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0368-492X Kybernetes]'', Vol. 33 No. 3/4, pp. 828–842. [https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920410523724 https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920410523724]
* 2006, Jonathan Rosenhead, "IFORS' Operational Research Hall of Fame Stafford Beer", in ''[[International Transactions in Operational Research]]'' Vol 13, nr.6, pp. 577–581.
* 2009, Whittaker, David, (Ed.) ''Think Before you Think: Social Complexity and Knowledge of Knowing''; (Selected writings of Stafford Beer with life chronology), Foreword by Brian Eno, Wavestone Press, Charlbury

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation |year=2004 |editor=Rayward, W. Boyd |editor2=Bowden, Mary Ellen |author=Pickering, Andrew |author-link=Andrew Pickering |chapter=The Science of the Unknowable: Stafford Beer's Cybernetic Informatics |title=The History and Heritage of Scientific and Technological Information Systems |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=history+heritage+technological |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76OOQannpBgC&q=stafford+beer's+cybernetic&pg=PA29 |place=Medford, New Jersey |publisher=Information Today, Inc |access-date=19 March 2022}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Portal|Systems science}}
{{Commons category|Stafford Beer}}
* [https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/microsites/library/special-collections-and-archives/special-collections/stafford-beer-collection Stafford Beer papers held at Liverpool John Moores University]
* [https://www.informatics.indiana.edu/edenm/EdenMedinaJLASAugust2006.pdf Designing Freedom, Regulating a Nation: Socialist Cybernetics in Allende’s Chile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627154712/https://www.informatics.indiana.edu/edenm/EdenMedinaJLASAugust2006.pdf |date=27 June 2017 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061108225159/http://www.vanillabeer.org/Stafford_Beer.htm Stafford Beer Biography from Vanilla Beer]
* {{YouTube|_hjAXkNbPfk|"What is Cybernetics?" by Javier Livas}}
* [https://www.informs.org/content/view/full/272741 Biography of Anthony Stafford Beer] from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

;Organizations
* [http://www.cybsoc.org/contacts/people-Beer.htm Cybernetics Society Memorial]
* [http://www.metaphorum.org/ The Metaphorum Group – Developing Stafford Beer's Legacy in Management Cybernetics]
* [http://www.scio.org.uk/ Systems & Cybernetics in Organisations (SCiO) – "focus on practice and members support activities." accessed 3 July 2009]
* [http://www.esrad.org.uk/resources/vsmg_3/screen.php?page=home/ Introduction to the Viable Systems Model and use in Cooperatives]
* [http://www.cybersyn.cl/ Web site of the cybersyn project]

{{Cybernetics}}
{{Systems}}
{{Society for General Systems Research Presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Stafford}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Cyberneticists]]
[[Category:People educated at Whitgift School]]
[[Category:British operations researchers]]
[[Category:Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester]]
[[Category:British consultants]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery soldiers]]
[[Category:Royal Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Gurkha Rifles officers]]
[[Category:Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences]]