Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Systems science
open-in-new
<h2 id="associated-fields">Associated fields</h2> <p>The systems sciences are a broad array of fields. One way of conceiving of these is in three groups: fields that have developed systems ideas primarily through theory; those that have done so primarily through practical engagements with problem situations; and those that have applied ideas for other disciplines.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h3>Theoretical fields</h3> <h4>Chaos and dynamical systems</h4> <p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Chaos_theory/LTC17vsF">Chaos theory</a> and <a href="/facts/Dynamical_systems_theory/LM6aDhV0">Dynamical systems theory</a></p> <h4>Complexity</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Complex_system/eGG3B1nn">Complex system</a></p> <h4>Control theory</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Control_theory/aIuERpn6">Control theory</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Affect_control_theory/szSW3d4x">Affect control theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Control_engineering/5ckfXmB8">Control engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Control_systems/8CEjIDlS">Control systems</a></li></ul> <h4>Cybernetics</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Cybernetics/4qb58zbt">Cybernetics</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Autopoiesis/zDC1752T">Autopoiesis</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Conversation_theory/UIucm7Xr">Conversation Theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Engineering_cybernetics/F236bXt2">Engineering Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Perceptual_control_theory/XEN3s8mt">Perceptual Control Theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Management_cybernetics/IMtVjzE0">Management Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Second-order_cybernetics/da0CRwMr">Second-Order Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cyber%25E2%2580%2593physical_system/cpYVeuch">Cyber-Physical Systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Artificial_Intelligence/lJGauQwX">Artificial Intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Synthetic_Intelligence/kkkmL58I">Synthetic Intelligence</a></li></ul> <h4>Information theory</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Information_theory/qNLH3U5P">Information theory</a></p> <h4>General systems theory</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_theory/C56Ck7DQ">Systems theory</a></p> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/List_of_types_of_systems_theory/P02BKwcF">List of types of systems theory</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Systems_theory_in_anthropology/Ipp7QlRF">Systems theory in anthropology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Biochemical_systems_theory/h1VDvFrm">Biochemical systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ecological_systems_theory/S3rUuvQG">Ecological systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Developmental_systems_theory/hSz1Uqjq">Developmental systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/General_systems_theory/C56Ck7DQ">General systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Living_systems_theory/dbuGWtz2">Living systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/LTI_system_theory/kEmj0QDC">LTI system theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Social_systems/crIBHftt">Social systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sociotechnical_systems_theory/qTbAsth7">Sociotechnical systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mathematical_system_theory/LM6aDhV0">Mathematical system theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/World-systems_theory/b0BKN2E9">World-systems theory</a></li></ul> <h4>Hierarchy Theory</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Hierarchy_theory/LftRKMyn">Hierarchy theory</a></p> <h3>Practical fields</h3> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Systems_thinking/C56Ck7DQ">Systems thinking</a></p> <h4>Critical systems thinking</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Critical_systems_thinking/a77Ne3Uz">Critical systems thinking</a></p> <h4>Operations research and management science</h4> <p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Operations_research/H5yJkV5n">Operations research</a> and <a href="/facts/Management_science/GVfa43B6">Management science</a></p> <h4>Soft systems methodology</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Soft_systems_methodology/uQGWtkqx">Soft systems methodology</a></p> <p>The soft systems methodology was developed in <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">England</a> by academics at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Lancaster/NTArvTko">University of Lancaster</a> Systems Department through a ten-year <a href="/facts/Action_research/MjoYmUEB">action research</a> programme. The main contributor is <a href="/facts/Peter_Checkland/CIwUbXU4">Peter Checkland</a> (born 18 December 1930, in Birmingham, UK), a British management scientist and emeritus professor of systems at Lancaster University. </p> <h4>Systems analysis</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_analysis/2NwqATNQ">Systems analysis</a></p> <p>Systems analysis branch of systems science that analyzes systems, the interactions within those systems, or interaction with its environment,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> often prior to their automation as computer models. Systems analysis is closely associated with the <a href="/facts/RAND_corporation/zArfRxf9">RAND corporation</a>. </p> <h4>Systemic design</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systemic_design/7h6ErLS7">Systemic design</a></p> <p>Systemic design integrates methodologies from <a href="/facts/Systems_thinking/C56Ck7DQ">systems thinking</a> with advanced design practices to address complex, multi-stakeholder situations. </p> <h4>Systems dynamics</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_dynamics/EPI2wWsI">Systems dynamics</a></p><p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Social_dynamics/Smp9d0d2">Social dynamics</a>, <a href="/facts/Jay_Forrester/z3bSVDjz">Jay Forrester</a>, and <a href="/facts/Donella_Meadows/q5GGxyhd">Donella Meadows</a></p> <a href="/facts/System_dynamics/EPI2wWsI">System dynamics</a> is an approach to understanding the behavior of <a href="/facts/Complex_system/eGG3B1nn">complex systems</a> over time. It offers "simulation technique for modeling business and social systems",<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> which deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behavior of the entire system. What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use of <a href="/facts/Feedback/XnuWH3zp">feedback</a> loops and <a href="/facts/Stock_and_flow/zpgeVptu">stocks and flows</a>. <h4>Systems engineering</h4> <p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Systems_engineering/gFwRmkDp">Systems engineering</a> and <a href="/facts/Systems_design/hFWYoaNP">Systems design</a></p> Systems engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary field of <a href="/facts/Engineering/RFVg8H3I">engineering</a>, that focuses on the development and organization of complex <a href="/facts/System/hmqQ4ASX">systems</a>. It is the "art and science of creating whole solutions to complex problems",<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> for example: <a href="/facts/Signal_processing/Npaja6zb">signal processing</a> systems, <a href="/facts/Control_system/8CEjIDlS">control systems</a> and <a href="/facts/Communication_system/5t3Ys2DI">communication system</a>, or other forms of high-level modelling and design in specific fields of engineering. Systems Science is foundational to the <a href="/facts/Embedded_software_development/UUfsAaYY">Embedded Software Development</a> that is founded in the embedded requirements of Systems Engineering. <ul><li><a href="/facts/Aerospace_Engineering/2Ib02w7f">Aerospace systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Biological_systems_engineering/7VP5AeaV">Biological systems engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Earth_systems_engineering_and_management/MV7D2p0J">Earth systems engineering and management</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Electronics/E4JhgISq">Electronic systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Enterprise_systems_engineering/8JYSyMxj">Enterprise systems engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Software_systems/mglVMfTA">Software systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systems_analysis/2NwqATNQ">Systems analysis</a></li></ul> <h3>Applications in other disciplines</h3> <h4>Earth system science</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Earth_system_science/dG9qMCbX">Earth system science</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Climate_Science/bYS7FktY">Climate systems</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systems_geology/8QglyslB">Systems geology</a></li></ul> <h4>Systems biology</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_biology/HTH1z1RA">Systems biology</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Computational_systems_biology/Twanj7Uw">Computational systems biology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Synthetic_biology/rHSNe8j3">Synthetic biology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systems_immunology/sGaCfhYK">Systems immunology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systems_neuroscience/ApgMwt1C">Systems neuroscience</a></li></ul> <h4>Systems chemistry</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_chemistry/mMmtwujv">Systems chemistry</a></p> <h4>Systems ecology</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_ecology/12KumxzS">Systems ecology</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Ecosystem_ecology/Vp8l2pTu">Ecosystem ecology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Agroecology/yt6SEn0V">Agroecology</a></li></ul> <h4>Systems psychology</h4> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Systems_psychology/tt82xDA9">Systems psychology</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Ergonomics/prAcGtDW">Ergonomics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Family_systems_theory/ne5xehgd">Family systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systemic_therapy/otDdwzNK">Systemic therapy</a></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li> Systems science portal</li> <li><a href="/facts/Antireductionism/I6XTLtGc">Antireductionism</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Evolutionary_prototyping/cLqGURoM">Evolutionary prototyping</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Holism/QnIpnLr6">Holism</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cybernetics/4qb58zbt">Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/System_engineering/gFwRmkDp">System engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/System_Dynamics/EPI2wWsI">System Dynamics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systemics/fngtAHSB">Systemics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/System_equivalence/IuBaTThp">System equivalence</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Systems_theory/C56Ck7DQ">Systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Tektology/dJdYFRLl">Tektology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/World-systems_theory/b0BKN2E9">World-systems theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Complex_Systems/eGG3B1nn">Complex Systems</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>B. A. Bayraktar (1979). <i>Education in Systems Science</i>. p. 369.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Kenneth_D._Bailey_(sociologist)/ucBLAq9M">Kenneth D. Bailey</a>, "Fifty Years of Systems Science:Further Reflections", <i>Systems Research and Behavioral Science</i>, 22, 2005, pp. 355–361. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fsres.711">10.1002/sres.711</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Robert_L._Flood/YDYbwjGr">Robert L. Flood</a>, Ewart R Carson, <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=x7O2BwAAQBAJ&q=%22An+Introduction+to+the+Theory+and+Application+of+Systems+Science%22">Dealing with Complexity: An Introduction to the Theory and Application of Systems Science (2nd Edition)</a></i>, 1993.</li> <li><a href="/facts/George_J._Klir/R7aAM6C8">George J. Klir</a>, <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9NHgBwAAQBAJ&q=%22Facets+of+Systems+Science%22">Facets of Systems Science (2nd Edition)</a></i>, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Ervin_L%25C3%25A1szl%25C3%25B3/zKntBJzR">Ervin László</a>, <i>Systems Science and World Order: Selected Studies</i>, 1983.</li> <li>G. E. Mobus & M. C. Kalton, <i>Principles of Systems Science</i>, 2015, New York:Springer.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Anatol_Rapoport/Ehto4zId">Anatol Rapoport</a> (ed.), <i>General Systems: Yearbook of the Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory</i>, Society for General Systems Research, Vol 1., 1956.</li> <li>Li D. Xu, "The contributions of Systems Science to Information Systems Research", <i>Systems Research and Behavioral Science,</i> 17, 2000, pp. 105–116.</li> <li>Graeme Donald Snooks, "A general theory of complex living systems: Exploring the demand side of dynamics", <i>Complexity</i>, vol. 13, no. 6, July/August 2008.</li> <li><a href="/facts/John_N._Warfield/X7tFEG7g">John N. Warfield</a>, "A proposal for Systems Science", <i>Systems Research and Behavioral Science</i>, 20, 2003, pp. 507–520. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fsres.528">10.1002/sres.528</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mike_Jackson_(systems_scientist)/w6dzwrFY">Michael C. Jackson</a>, <i>Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity</i>, 2019, Wiley.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Systems science. <ul><li><a href="http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/">Principia Cybernetica Web</a></li> <li><a href="https://ifsr.org/">International Federation for Systems Research</a></li> <li>Institute of System Science Knowledge (ISSK.org)</li> <li><a href="http://isss.org/world/">International Society for the System Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/American_Society_for_Cybernetics/SUSBD7ha">American Society for Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ukss.org.uk">UK Systems Society</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.cybsoc.org/">Cybernetics Society</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ison, Ray. Systems Practice: How to Act: In situations of uncertainty and complexity in a climate-change world, 2nd ed, 2017. Springer, p. 166. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Ison, Ray. Systems Practice: How to Act: In situations of uncertainty and complexity in a climate-change world, 2nd ed, 2017. Springer, p. 33. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Hammond, Ross A.; Dubé, Laurette (2012). "A systems science perspective and transdisciplinary models for food and nutrition security". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (31): 12356–12363. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10912356H. doi:10.1073/pnas.0913003109. PMC 3411994. PMID 22826247. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3411994" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3411994</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>G. E. Mobus & M. C. Kalton, Principles of Systems Science, 2015, New York:Springer. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Philip M'Pherson (1974, p. 229); as cited by: Hieronymi, Andreas (2013). "Understanding Systems Science: A Visual and Integrative Approach" (PDF). Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 30 (5): 580–595. doi:10.1002/sres.2215.. He defined systems science as "the ordered arrangement of knowledge acquired from the study of systems in the observable world, together with the application of this knowledge to the design of man-made systems". <a href="/wiki/Philip_M%27Pherson" target="_blank">/wiki/Philip_M%27Pherson</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Peter Checkland. 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: Wiley. <a href="/wiki/Peter_Checkland" target="_blank">/wiki/Peter_Checkland</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Anthony Debons. "Command and Control: Technology and Social Impact" in: Advances in computers, Vol. 11. Franz L. Alt & Morris Rubinoff eds. (1971). p. 362 <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation Argonne National Laboratory (2007) Managing Business Complexity : Discovering Strategic Solutions with Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation: Discovering Strategic Solutions with Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation. Oxford University Press. p. 55 <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Derek K. Hitchins (2008) Systems Engineering: A 21st Century Systems Methodology. p. 100 <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>