Systems Theory

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'''Systems theory''' is an interdisciplinary field which studies [[System|systems]] and their [[Organization|organization]] as a whole. It was founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, William Ross Ashby and others between the 1940s and the 1970s on principles from physics, biology and engineering and later grew into numerous fields including philosophy, sociology, organizational theory, management, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Cybernetics is a closely related field. In recent times [[Complex System|complex systems]] has increasingly been used as a synonym. Examples of [[System|systems]] are organisms, organisations or societies. == Development == All of the System "C"-Theories below - cybernetics, catastrophe theory, chaos theory,... - have the common goal to explain complex systems which consist of a large number of mutually interacting and interwoven parts. Steven Strogatz said in his book "Sync": "Every decade or so, a grandiose theory comes along, bearing similar aspirations and often brandishing an ominous-sounding C-name. In the 1960 it was cybernetics. In the '70s it was catastrophe theory. Then came chaos theory in the '80s and complexity theory in the '90s.". *1950 General Systems Theory (founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy) *1960 [[cybernetics]] (W. Ross Ashby, Norbert Wiener) Mathematical theory of the communication and control of systems through regulatory feedback. Closely related: "[[control theory]]" *1970 [[catastrophe theory]] (René Thom, E.C. Zeeman) Branch of mathematics that deals with bifurcations in dynamical systems, classifies phenomena characterized by sudden shifts in behavior arising from small changes in circumstances. *1980 [[chaos theory]] (David Ruelle, Edward Lorenz, Mitchell Feigenbaum, Steve Smale, James A. Yorke) Mathematical theory of nonlinear dynamical systems that describes bifurcations, strange attractors, and chaotic motions. *1990 [[Complex Adaptive System|complex adaptive systems]] (CAS) (John H. Holland, Murray Gell-Mann, Harold Morowitz, W. Brian Arthur,..) The "new" science of complexity which describes emergence, adaptation and self-organization was established mainly by researchers of the [http://www.santafe.edu Santa Fe Institute (SFI)] and is based on agents and computer simulations and includes [[Multi-Agent System|multi-agent system]]s (MAS) which have become an important tool to study social and complex systems. CAS are still an active field of research. == References == * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Theory Wikipedia Entry]

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