Overview
- Presents the key concepts of systems science/complex systems
- Informs theory in the natural and social sciences and practice in systems engineering and other professions
- Provides interdisciplinary ideas accessible to readers without advanced knowledge in mathematics
Part of the book series: IFSR International Series in Systems Science and Systems Engineering (IFSR, volume 35)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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ESSAY: Ontology of Problems
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Front Matter
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COMMENTARY: Recovery of Coherence
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Front Matter
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NOTES: Systems Theory
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book develops the core proposition that systems theory is an attempt to construct an “exact and scientific metaphysics,” a system of general ideas central to science that can be expressed mathematically. Collectively, these ideas would constitute a nonreductionist “theory of everything” unlike what is being sought in physics. Inherently transdisciplinary, systems theory offers ideas and methods that are relevant to all of the sciences and also to professional fields such as systems engineering, public policy, business, and social work. To demonstrate the generality and importance of the systems project, the book structures its content in three parts: Essay, Notes, and Commentary. The Essay section is a short distillation of systems ideas that illuminate the problems that many types of systems face. Commentary explains systems thinking, its value, and its relation to mainstream scientific knowledge. It shows how systems ideas revise our understanding of science and how theyimpact our views on religion, politics, and history. Finally, Notes contains all the mathematics in the book, as well as scientific, philosophical, and poetic content that is accessible to readers without a strong mathematical background.
Elements and Relations is intended for researchers and students in the systems (complexity) field as well as related fields of social science modeling, systems biology and ecology, and cognitive science. It can be used as a textbook in systems courses at the undergraduate or graduate level and for STEM education. As much of the book does not require a background in mathematics, it is also suitable for general readers in the natural and social sciences as well as in the humanities, especially philosophy.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Elements and Relations
Book Subtitle: Aspects of a Scientific Metaphysics
Authors: Martin Zwick
Series Title: IFSR International Series in Systems Science and Systems Engineering
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99403-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99402-0Published: 04 July 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99405-1Due: 04 August 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-99403-7Published: 03 July 2023
Series ISSN: 1574-0463
Series E-ISSN: 2698-5497
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 702
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Complex Systems, Applications of Mathematics, Philosophy of Mathematics, Complexity