Albert Müller Obituary

It is with deep regret that we inform you of the death of Dr. Albert Müller. Albert Müller, who died August 6, 2019, was a great friend of cybernetics and many people in the American Society for Cybernetics. He served as an ASC trustee for almost a decade and supervised the archive of ASC materials and artifacts held at the University of Vienna.

He and Karl Müller (no relation) created the Heinz von Foerster Society in Vienna, Austria. With Karl Müller he assembled the articles for An Unfinished Revolution?: Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory/ BCL 1958-1976. With Heinz von Foerster and Karl Müller, he wrote The Beginning of Heaven and Earth Has no Name: Seven Days with Second Order Cybernetics, which recounts the origins of cybernetics through conversations at Von Foerster’s home in Pescadero, CA.

Albert also gathered the papers of many contemporary cyberneticians, organized them and made them available at the Institute for Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. He gathered the papers of not only von Foerster but also Gordon Pask, Paul Pangaro, Ranulph Glanville, Stuart Umpleby and others. When he came to collect papers for the archive, he praised those who “never threw things away,” which was a curious but interesting window into the mind of an historian.

Cyberneticians will miss Albert’s kind, courteous manner, and his hard work on behalf of the field.

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