The word "Blitz" means "lightning" in German. It was the code name for a new military tactic put in place by Hitler on 7 September 1940, following the failure of aerial attacks against England. 364 German bombers, escorted by 515 fighters, bombarded London from 5pm to 4:30am. From 15 September to 10 May 1941, they bombed every evening in waves of 150 to 200 aircraft. The toll was 40,000 civilian deaths. The bombings only stopped because the Germans failed to defeat the British and decided to turn their attention to Eastern Europeans and the Soviets.
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The cybernetic theory of communication and the principle of feedback were the starting point for this group of students, who found the subject inspiring and felt that the Blitz of London lent itself particularly well to illustrating both concepts.
Norbert Wiener is considered the father of the cybernetic theory of communication, which emerged in the 1940s. The theory was born after he was asked, at the beginning of the Second World War, to study the automatic triggering and control mechanisms of anti-aircraft guns. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cybernetics is the scientific study of how information is communicated in machines and electronic devices, and how this compares with the way information is processed by the brain and nervous system. This framework made it possible to calculate the probable trajectory of an aircraft from its position at a given moment, to anticipate and model the behaviour of Nazi pilots making evasive manoeuvres, and to anticipate and model the behaviour of soldiers and engineers on the ground tasked with shooting down those aircraft. 
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The students' exhibition took place on Monday 11 December from 9:30am to 12:30pm and was divided into two distinct and complementary stands. The first stand featured a paper model of the city of London, complete with miniature houses, small drawn roads, and a replica of the Big Ben tower. This model served as a launch pad for a paper plane game: visitors chose a plane and attempted to knock down the Big Ben tower, with two attempts each and the option to change planes between throws.
The students explain that the feedback mechanism was at work directly in this game, feedback being the mechanism that allows a system to verify whether a message has been correctly understood and to adjust accordingly. Each throw provided information that the player could use to adjust their next attempt. The calculation of the trajectory to knock down the tower also illustrated Shannon's theory of information, which deals with the quantification, storage and communication of information. The winner received a sweet. 
The second stand was an interactive PowerPoint presentation allowing visitors to illustrate the cybernetic theory more concretely through three scenarios, each beginning with a different sender. In the first scenario, an observer from the Royal Observer Corps spots a formation of German aircraft approaching London and transmits the message via telephone and radio. The authorities are alerted in time, RAF fighter planes are deployed, sirens sound, and civilians take refuge in shelters. In the second scenario, radar operators detect a German aerial incursion over the Channel and transmit the information to military headquarters.
Thanks to the speed of detection, British squadrons intercept and disperse the enemy aircraft before they reach urban areas. In the third scenario, a spy within the German services obtains information that a major aerial attack is imminent and contacts British intelligence via coded message. The authorities discreetly reinforce defences around strategic areas without alerting the enemy, and when the aircraft approach, British forces are ready to counter the attack while minimising potential damage. In each of these scenarios, the students demonstrate how the cybernetic model operates: a sender emits a message, the message travels through a channel, a receiver acts on it, and feedback allows the system to regulate itself and respond. The players' choices allowed them to move through the theory in order to save London. |
