I was at Tech when Norbert was still in residence as an Institute professor. He could be seen strolling the aisles staring at the ceiling in deep thought, bag of salted peanuts firmly clutched in left hand while he used his right thumb to track against the wall so he didn't walk into people. It's rumored, though the story is probably apocryphal, that on occasion, if a classroom door was left open he would enter the room, circle it, and exit it to continue his stroll. Probably unconnected but this happens to be a perfect algorithm for finding your way out of a maze - not necessarily the quickest but sure fire.
During the war Norbert was a key player in the development of military radar systems. So key, in fact, that he was assigned an FBI agent to watch over him. One of his primary duties was to prevent him from wandering into traffic on Massachusetts Avenue where Tech's primary entrance is located.
Another probably apocryphal story...He arrives at work one day with a note pinned to his lapel. He says nothing about it and his secretary is consumed with curiosity. At last she takes him some papers to sign and gets a chance to read it. It says "Don't give me a ride home today. I have the car." Since Wiener, like Einstein, could almost certainly not "get it together" well enough to drive, I assume this anecdote is the stuff of faculty happy hours. [What is true is Einstein's wife, when asked by an academic organizer what car should be rented for the professor, responded, "Oh, that won't be necessary. Driving is far too complicated for Albert.]
