-:'

* s
!

r,.i{SS i:;
(i!rigclsi,
.lii)!)Jfti cs
i(:c, wltilc
m0nleilis
r all thc
i e wholc
c¡rlichc.s

'raticn cf
. ()i' sonlc t n
'r. might lu.
i.e., to a Definitiort of Sy,rten
:lirtitatiYe
r¡sit'ertess A. D. I . t , . 1. . , - A N I D R . ii. IjACIj]{

'',lifferc¡rt
ll ¡' r'esults
3t bcioll!{
: i.iistinc- I. Introltction
ri:¿t:ca.[or philoso¡rhicalt;,pe ¿tr.e
:bct¡t,l-he ¡recisc anrj seli.
-lhc c o ¡ r t a i n o i . a i l r i s e r r i ec o n i ¡ r l e t r _ . l y , i ; : c !
plan of tlre ¡rrcscrlt papef is l¡¡ll¡lrlri¡¡i¡.
it is i:-r to cliscusl; ousl), the qucstion t:f rilc
¡:ro¡rcrticsof systcit::;nlc)rcor I..:ss:tt)s;tt.ilctly; 'Í'hc nreaninE ,)f.ii !li.,.cn iJrrl-,.
:i'l.ii1tli ol' tiliit dgfin:ljon ¡¡i,,,cr,
is. ro definc .r)rr/(rri¿rntiro clcs,.:ritrc at;t_ri.c ccr.tlini¡,lj()c¡if¡ol ¡r)ijcl
.)l-:li)aiIll!: th. ¡_,ropcrirc,i riic:;e Lcquir.crirents;
'.' ihat are con.¡nton Io nta¡ty sys{.c¡lis iucJcecl,orrc rr,,rulclt c iiar..i
1l2iij- and \,,.hicll pres.\edto sup¡il¡,¡ cjefinitio¡i
I serve (C¡characieri¿etl¡cni. of svsrcnlthlli cio:s.
ii,;i This clilllculty arises fior¡r tire r.uncc.ilt
,r"l , r,,
tiyitig to ciefiao; it sinrply is
nol irntcni¡l-,lcro
iii --rc¡;r',::; conipleie anri shar.pdesciiprion.
2. DcJinition c-{ t¿S'J,s!¿ttr"
llroSrcs- In orde¡ to red;-rr:ethe vaeueni:ss
r," hici..i" i¡rlre¡ent i¡l
o u r c l e f i n i : i o n ,\ \ . e n o v , , c i a b o r a t c , : , t )
':; isli¡t r-tJ' Unfbrttrnetely, the rvorrl .,s¡.str:rrr,, has man.v obj ects, r ei a t i otrsIti s,
tlit: tc,.¡ls
colloquiaI n:eanings,sonrc of *.llich llave ¡.t ¿,.¡rda/ ¡¡¡ú¿¿lcs.
no pli¡ce
in a scicntiflc discussion.In orclcr to
excluclesuch
nreanings,anC a.t the sanrc tinle provide 2.1 o¡J¡Ecrs
a starting
point for exposition we state thc
follorving <Iefini_ Object.s are sintply the parts or
tio¡t: ^ con.lponrfn:s
of a s),s¡c;:l, ¿rnd thcse parts are
u¡liintitcd íc
A sysícnt is u set of ol:.iccts togeflrcr ..'ariety. I.,.!c,sr
rlstenls in l¡,hicli rve rviil i,. i,,,.,_
relutiottships betn,ea;t ilrc oL,jec::ts ested co¡lsist of ¡llrysical parts:
\viílt tutd aton.ls, st¿1rs,
lt ¡tí \,<!(i | ¡ ! it.ir c t f r i li ut t,s. srvitchcs,nlasscs,spririgs, rvires,
borics,,ra.,,.,,,,r,
gencs, rnu!,1.1,.'s, !;üsas, ctc. We aiso ¡tcinLit ¡t,;
C)u¡' dcflnition <Jccsirnply of cours..,
rllírt ¿r ol¿i:cJi aL.si¡act o[rjects
syst(-nrhas pro¡>cr.ties, fi¡nctions or ¡rrrrposcstiis_ l'ariablcs, $uch as iua(he¡riüric¿l¡
tinct ñ.o¡it irs cc¡nstirt¡crrtoL¡jccts, eguatioirs, rulcs ancl lar"s. pr.rcess.,,,
rclationslti¡ri.
ancl rrft,ribr¡tcs.
'fhc
"defl;lition" above is ccitainly
tc.¡seiind
\iagueenou{ih ao merit furtl¡er:corllrr.rcllts, 2.2 ¡r"r:r:¡r,¡:.¡:s
thcrfir.si
o f u . i l i c l l s h o u l c t ,i r ¡ a i l f a i r . r . ¡ c : s ,
L.c a,lc,i" ot ¡\ttrib!ii.¡s are pr.o¡r.;i:ticsol
cail:io¡1.Ttr¡: ..definition" is in no objects. l:.or
seilseintcnded ex;inrplc,iir iire prccedin!l
or pretcndedr{) be a defirritionin rli,: cascs,the obj,:ctslisted
nlatly.lnlatical hllvt:, iinlong otlrer.r,
or ¡lhilosophiciil scn:ie. Dcljnitiorrs thc foiloviiug atrritrrtás:--'
ol tl¡e nrath*_
;it('ilti *-i ilc ;l'.¡itrb¿r.r)i'
¡llÍrilül¿trl.,t:1.:c,.1.c.¡s, tire
.. I:rolrr.4. D. i..lallen.l i(, ii. [;,:gcn,,,1.)clinit;o¡l tri
errciJ,, :;iillcii oí tli.l: atorns, iire tiurilber
OI.
Sislcnt," tci isltl iDtrUrluct,.,i:/ciiilirter :itoir'.:; pafti.-1,:.S
ol. ^üsl¿r¡r.r in ille llucleus, tL¿ atoj_rlic
i);9,'r;¡¿rtr¡' 0\'*r,,'\'o:.k : Rcii Tclc nc l..,,irrrui rl_rl.
¡:ir<, \',,\ri
S:'.:.
r'{lfr:)t!'d frc¡r-r (ic¡r,rrrrl .S.r,slclr.r,f
'
tlVSrli,'- i.i.'ll
"
Lir'¡:iirtctl b1' pi-rir,issicrnáf th,:' r¡utlior.i j
'i ,i,, Ur',1; st;¡r::---tc¡¡tl.f l.Ature , d;sian,.:esfronl otllcr sta,.s,
ult¡ironcLal:rrlaitrrics.
i'jlillive I'el6ciry.
8t
 :. :--;:-: ;.1;;ñ:{
i:j.:r.,.";";:
t
:ji'Sl i;IlS, OIIGANIZATfI\, ANt)'iltI L O C T CO I : R L L A - f t O N ] S
sVi; :(-'ii()i. - ip,.'cCoÍ' c)¡lcrat ior), statc.
A nrore con:plcx cxamplc is given by a high-
t i l c s p l i r r ll ¡ r , :
i¡¡¡ssris--dis¡:'l;:r:c:-r^,eni, iüoffrents oi inertia, ¡ro-
f r d e l i r y s o u n d s ) , s t e n rT
. 'hc parts of this systcnl I'fcrc ihc sr¡i,;
¡ ¡ l i . n t L i - .v: ,c l r r c i i y ,k i n et i c e n e r g y ,I n i r s s .
are ntorc nunlerorls, but Íbr sinrplicity tve coukl
t h c l c r i g r l ro i
spr¡ngs-spnrig tension, displacenrent. considcl onl¡, thc turntable and er¡n cf thc ¡.ccord
a f r ¡ n c t i o no i
rvires-tensilc strength, clectricat resistance.<iia- ¡rlaycr, the anrplilier, the speitkcr antl thc cabinet. Thc (crnr'.
nrctcr, lcngth A g a í n , w i t h o u t c o n n c c t i o n s t, h e s ep a r t s i n t h c r n - i¡r rcfcrcnccr
sclves would not bcl¡ave as a st¡unclreproducing are an ab\tl
systenl. With conncctions, in tlris casc clectrical :rncl/or logici.r
2.3 Ir,ct.et¡r)xsl
llps c o u p l i n g o f i n p u i t o o u t p u t , t h c s e¡ r a r t sa n d t h e i r t í¡nclc;is.
The relationships to rvhjch we refer arc rhose attf¡butcs arc related in that thc perfLtr¡rlancein
that "tie the system together." It is, in fact, rhesc cuch stngc is dcpcndent on per.formar¡cein the
relationships that make the notion of ..system'l other stagcs;ntecha¡ricalvibrations in rlre speaker 5. Al:str¿¡
useful. arc related to currsnts and voltagcs in the anlnli-
For any given set of objects it is impossible ro n e r , e t c . i. . .Thc iryo, . . . . , , , , : 1 ,
' I
say that no i;¡ter-relationshipsexist. since,. for providc i:ror,
example, one could always consider as relation- idca of si:;tc¡ ;
ships the distances between pairs of the ob.,jects. 4. Exantplcsof ,.lbstacr or Cotrccptual Syc.fcars ful rval s ol ;i,
It rl'oulcitake us too far afleld to try to bc precise rvill b,; irnnl,:,
and exclude certain "trivíal" relationshipsor ro An cxailplc-ora- ¡6'.'p6ñili,.,nru[T;;"' rr¡cii)0J of sl
introduce a philosophical notion such as causalit¡, by a set of real variables. The nrost obvious '. A iullrilt'
p r o p e r t ! ' o f a r c a l v a r i a b l c i s i t s n u n r e r i c a ls i z e ; 'ItlaSs
as a criterion. Instcad rve will take the arrirude üir(l st'
that the relationships to be considered in the i¡r other rvordsin this exanrpleobject and (trIributc the itlc¡. Ir ,
context..of a. given set o[ objects depend on rhe are closely ¡elared (in lltct, in any cxainplti an i ¡ r t e r e s ta i e
nroblem at hand, important or ioterestingrelarion_ object is ultinrately specified by its attributes). .r, and *c:igil
,. Farniliar relationshipsbetween var.iablestake the
( ,pr being included, trivial or unessentialrelarion- li¡nits b_r,l.lr"r
\iiips excluded. The decisíones to wh¡ch relation- form . of equatir)ns. I]or concreteness,consic.lcr
' A'r=
ships are important and which trivial is up to the trvo variablcs -r, an{l -.jzsatislying the trvo linear :
person deating rvith the problem; i.e. the quesrion c q u ü t i o n s . ''l'hictr is c¡f
of tr¡viality turns out to be relativ¿ to one's at xt+-u:.\':: cr furthcr sug¡1. i
interest.To make the idca explicit, let us consíder an nbsti'oct
(t)
a few simple examples. b t x i ' F b ¿x z = c z realtzaJtoil. .
substitutc'to l
The equationsprovide constraintson the vari- relationship:
3. Exanplesof P/ry.sicalSvstens -\-:_<=. ables; togetlierthe two equationsconstitutea matical one
First, supposethe parts are a spring, a rnass, systenlof linearcquati()l1s;the parts of.the system not hard to r:
and a solid ceiling. Without the obviorrsconnec_ are the variables xr and x2, the relationships being obtains, thr ,,
dcterminedby {he constants and the sinlnlt¡i¡ieous b_v a differ :
tions, thesecomponentsárc unrelated(exceptfor
sclmclogical rclationshipsrhat might be thcught rüst¡'ictions
nn the givenquantitics.Thc systemof algcbraic.ce r
'
o[, suchias being in the sarneroom, etc.). But equations(l) míght bc termed stat'ic,by rvay of This or'¿ r'
t .

hang the spring fronl thc cciling ancl attach-rhe analogyu,ith thc sta(icspringanctmasssystem. p ¡ l . Y S l C l S t - q ;(i

rnassto it and the relationships Thc analogyis clctcrrnincd by thc fact that rhe, s p o k e no l l r ,
(ot physicalcon-
uectedness)thus introcit¡cedgive rise to a more nuntberswllrcil satisfythe equationsare fjxed. T h e r x t c n t r . ,.
. interestingsysre¡n.In particular,nen, relaticn- jtrst as the lcngth of the spring is fixcd in the oenavtor ot
shipsare int;oduccdbetweeilccrtainattributesof mechanical analoguc. b i l i t ; ' rc , f t h , , ' , .
the parts as *,ell. The Iength of rhe spring. lhe O n t h e o r h c r l r a r r d ,i n t r o d u c t i o no f a t i m e qugs¡ion.O¡,,,
distangeof the ¡riassfrom the ceiling, thc spling parlntctert givcsrisc, lcrr.cxamplc,to equat¡ons a q¡\'en s\:s :
. tensionand the size ol the niassare all rela¡ed. of the form a nlathcnttl" ' ,
The systemso <lctcrnlincd a n a l y z i n r ¡t l
is sfntrc;that is, :he d.r
a i t r i b u t c sr l o ¡ l o t c h a n g cr v i t h t i n l e . G i v c n a n : Q t .\'r .t-l?, .r,', In ortler' ,: '
Íl
initiai ciisLrlace ,il,:,lrft'onríts restpositiotri.,n*i.,r.., n r a t i c q lr f l ñ ' | , ' i .
i't\
ihc ¡rrassrvill havc a certain velocit¡,dcpcurii:ig \-/ s p e c r apl f a , , ,
tl.r '
pn thc size of the massand illc spriirgtcr:_::;.n; Lre knorvn
1: : l t t , r ' ¡ - F 1 . r_¿r ' ¡
( LIJ irnport a rri'c
-\¡:ositioncliangcsrvitir rinrc, and in tiris c:isc
\ ..,J s:,,stclltis d¡,rnmic. erous lrs l(
1'l:c systi:nr(3) rliglrt, hy furthcr analog;; rvith
beiravior (.
(

t ) t r F ; ; i1t ' t O No j : : i Y s T i \ f g3
' :l hi!.i!-
thc s¡;ring atrtl ¡ltasj cxantple, i;c ter.rnctir/t',irtrrlir.. such as l-looke's
jii.)iCtli
larv), undc,rtlre given sct of
i I - l c r c t h c s o l u t i o r ' , sl r c f ' u n c ( i o ¡ , so f t i n r r :j u s t u s r c l r i i o n s h i pnst u s t
b e k n o i v n .L l n f ' o r t u n i r t eilty i,s
.'c c()uld t h e l e n g t h o f t l r c s ; r r i n g i n t l t e , - i y r r a r n i. cs 1 , s t e insr ¿r|ii¡'es)/.stcrn indeedthat hasall thcsepropcrties;
;c icüoiü a f u n c t i o r io f i i r n t ' . r:ti)reexactly,systen¡spossL,ss thcsc qualiticsin
c i lb i n c t . Thc ienls "stalic" and "d¡,nanric" arc al\\,a),s <icgrees, the more interestilrgs_\.stetns such as
in ilrc¡n- in referenceto tlie s;ystentof rvhich thc cc¡riutions l i v i n go r l : a n i s m s
e x h i b i t i n gl e s so f a c o n f o r m a n c c
i'oducing a r c a n a b J t i a c I n l o c l c l . A b s t l . a c t n t a t h c ¡ l ] a t i c a l than sinrplcrsystcms
such as rne,:h¿rnical s).stems
i l c c t r i c a¡ anrl/or logical lclarionsl¡ipsarc thcnlsclr.csalr,¡rrvs of rvhicñthe springa¡ld
nrassis a specialcase.
L n c lt h e i ¡ timcicss.
¡ r a n c ei n
c in thc '
6. Dcfinirion of Enrironntent
: spcaker
c arnpli-
5. ¿lhstruct ó)'stc;rrs us I'fr¡tlels :
The tvti. ^v'::.;'rrlesoi' the prcccding section
p r o v i d e ¡ u o r e t h a n i n c i c l c n t a li l l u s t r a r i o n so f t h e
idca of systent; they suggcstone of the ntost fruir-
At this point it seen.ts
tlre notionof ejtvirounrctrr
for ot¡r purposes
rrorthwllileto introcluce
of sl.stems. Environment
can bestbe definedin a nranner
q u i t c s i n r i l a rt o t h a t t ¡ s e dt o d c f i n es l s t c n r ,a s
,,
,'1,,:
i

Sy.:tetns ful rvaysol analyziug plr¡.sicalsl,istürr¡s,

rvill bc imnrcdiate'l¡'rccognizeclas a funtlaniental
a way that foll<¡w's: '' 1
is given
r¡bvious
nreihoclof scicr'¡cc : thc mctlrod-of',r.bstractio¡r.
A rcturn ro rhe siñFleI;--ñle of the coupl,.cl tltc
Forogivettsys|e¡,t.!|t¿e,tlrirottltlelltÍis
set of all objccts a cl,rtqgein t,hose i,,
cll sizc; r n a s sa n d s p r i n g p r o v i t l e sa r l i r . c c ti l l u s t r a t i o no f atlribulcs afcct the sr.stetnutul alsa !ltose
ttí!r¡btrle the iclea. I¡l thc static casc, thc attritrutcsof: objec'ts ¡yhosc attribu¡¿s are clnngec! b¡t
i n t e r c s ta r e t h c s p r i n g c r ) n s t a n tr f , c l i s p l a c c r n c n t tlte bcltavior of tlrc s1.:tery.
:i'it',t¡s5¡. -r, and rveight ifz. Thesc are rclarcd (rvitliin clasric T h e s t a t c n r c ¡ la t b o v e i n v i r c sr h e n u t u r a l q u . _ . s -
limits b.vllooke's larv) b¡, tlrc lincar cquurion, '
\ .nrc tion of rvhcnan'objcct bclongsro a systcm,and
cc)n:;ider ".,r: , , " r v h e n i r b e l o r r g st o t h c e n v i r o n ¡ n e n t ; [ o r i f a n ]
;,o linear K.r = Ll' : ,;ii,(i), object rcacts with a systern in rhe *,ay described
rvhich is of the fornl (l) for one variable. This above
should it not be considerecla parr of rhe ,
furthcr suggcststhc intinlate rc'lationshipbctrr,ecn systcnr?Thc
ansl.cr is b¡' no nica¡ls dcfinitc. ln a
,,) an abstract syste¡11such as ( l) and its plrysical sense, a system
togcther $.ith its environment
realízation. To study rhe ph¡,sical s),stcln; we nlakes up thc universc of all things ol interest in r
substitutefor it an abstract systcm rvith analogous a given contcxt.
Subdivision of this universe inro
he vari- relationshipsand the problern becomes a nlathe- t\\'o sets,
system and environnrent, can be done
ititute a nratical one. ln the dynamic casc as rvcll, it is in many
ways which are ¡n fact quitc arbitrar¡..
e system not hard tc shorv that the san.lesort ol analogy Ultimately
it depcndson the inrenrionsof .the o¡¡e
ps bcing obtrins, the system being replaced in this case who is
studyirig the parricular univeise as ro
itancous b y a d i f f e r e n t i a l c q u a t i o n i n s t e a d o f a l i n e a r u'hich of thc possible
configurarions of objecrsis
a l g e b r a i cc q u a t i o n .
1'stenroI
way of
systcm..
T h i s ¡ > r a c t i c ci s c c r t a i n l y a f a n r i l ¡ a r o n e t o
physicists,clrc¡¡risrsand cngineers; usually it is
to be taken as the system. A fenl examples may
s e r v et o , i l l u s t r a t et h i s i d e a .
'
:
,'
.Ii
''rrt

'e fixód.
lh¡ spokcn of as thc creation of a nrathenr3tical tnotlel. ' : :;: . . ,:.,,'ii ,,
Thc extcnt to wlrich a rrrodclaglñIw¡rir rhe acrual 7, Systens aru! Their Enúronnrertts
I i¡t the behavior ol a system is a mcasurc of the ap¡rlica_
b i l i t y . o f t h e p a l t i c u l a r n r o d c l r o t l r e s i r u a t i o l tl n .
i,
F i r s t , I e ti u s r e t u r n t c o n e o f o u r o r i g i n a l ' . , . j

a time q u e s t i o n .O n t h e o r h e r h a n d , t b e e a s er v i r h r v h i c h ,r,
exanrples,thc high-lidclit_r. 56¡¡¡¡¡systcm. Supposc
'¡uatiorrs a givcn s),sler¡'lcan be representcdaccuratcl¡r.by the rvhole . ', r l , li
gystenlis situated in a lir.in-qroqnr,tand
a nratherltaticalnlodcl is a measureof tfre easeof t l l a t a r e c o r d i s b e i n g p l a ¡ , e do v e r ' t h e s y s t e n t .
a n a l y z i n gi h c g i l c r r s ) , s t c n i . T h e c n v i r o n m e n t o f t h e s : . s r c n rc o u l c l c o n i i s t o t
I n o r d c r t o L r ec o n i p l e t e l ya n r e n a b l et o n r a t l l e _ thc recorcj
bcing.¡llayecl,rhe roo¡rr in rvhich it is
nralical analysis, ¡, systL.ntrrrust posscss ftrthcr s i t u a t c ( l ,
and thc listcncr.lt is casily sccn rhat
) s p c c i a l p r o p c r t i e s . I : i r s t , r h e r . c l a t i o n s l r i p rsn u s r each
of thesc objccts bears sonte rclationslii¡t to
O bc knr-rrvncxplicitl¡.; seconcll¡,,the att¡.ibutcs of thc behavior of the systenr: the record clctcrmincs
I l¡l'rportancerlrt¡stbc qua¡lt¡fiablca¡ld not so ¡tun)- t h c
s u c c r j s s i oonf c l e c t r i c a li n t p u l s c sa n t l n r e c h a n i -
elous as ro dcfy lisring,encl finally tlic rnodc of c a l v i b r a t i o n si n t h e v a r i o u ss r a g e so f t h e s ¡ s r c n r .
gy r/ i r h beh¿rvior(as rvoultl be givcn b¡, a plr¡sical lari, Th€
output of the si.stem, in turn, afl'ects rhc
 -'.i:i--::. a-lei .;r;iaa:¡¿Li¡:;;. ; .¿s-c-?if4ÉilÍ.IiüNEiGM.Eñ

L
f ) [ F l N n . l o No F s j ' s r E M g5
t h c i ; i o i ; . i s t t e a i i , l u n g s , k i d n c y s ,e t c . n r i g h t r u c l l , . o l p a r t s
t h a t a r e c o n r p l e t e l yu n r e l a t e d :t h a t i s , a
l l e c o n s i d c r c da s p a r t s o f I h e e n v i r o n m e n t .O n t h e change in
each part depends only on rhat part
other hand, the psychologisr,vrlrile nct com¡.rletcly alonc. The variation
in the set is the physicalsum
neglcctíng viscc¡-alcot¡dirjons, ís prinra.ril_vcc.,rr- o f r h c v a r i a t i o n s
:i o f t l l e p a r t s . S u c h b e , h a v i o ri s
ccrncd '"r'ith patierns of belravior of thc systcn.r callccl ittd<,pctulancc
c ot physicctlsutrtlnt¡üty.
under varior¡s cx:ernal conJitions. It rnay *,ell be Wholenessor coherenceand independenceor
,-) t h a t t h c p s y c h o l o g i s ct o u l d t h e o r e r i c a i l yi r n p r . o v e surnnrativity
are evidently not two properties,but
rs his knorvletJgeb¡. a conrplete plrysiological ap_ extrcr¡tesof
the sanre property. We may speak ol
proach. From the practical stanCpoint tltis nray '100|i
;ü rvholcnessbeing at rhe s¿tnteend of a scale
b e v i r t u a l l y i m p , , r s s i b l eT.h e v a r i a b l e sa n d r h e i r s,ith 0l independence,
but suclruse of (heserer¡ls
r e l a t i o n s h i p s a r e s t i l l b c l . o n d d c s c r i p t i o n a r r c l rvou.ld
v comprehension; rhe frsychologistis left rvitli the While wholcness
be nrercly a matter of verbal convenience.
and indepenclence may be nlatte¡.s
r e a l i z a t i o n r h a t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o no f b e h a v i o r i s of degree,
iI no sensiblemethod of ntcasuringthern
n¡ore fruitft¡l from ¡ nracroscopicpoint of viciv. yet cxists. Ncverthclcis, the property proui,l., u
,, rrsefulqualitative notioh. In fact, sillce all systeins
:Cl havc somc dcgree of wholeness,this propcrty is
10. Sonrc ilfucroscopic properties of S¡.stcttts used by some writers to define ',st,stem.l'
'll Since all systems have rvholcness in sonrc
S o l a r r v c h a v e b c e r r t a l k i n g i ¡ r d e t a i l a b o u t dcgrec, u,c
.t- have no difñculty illustrating the
s y s t e m sa s t l l o r r : : h b y i n r p l i c a t i o n t l l e r c r v c , r ei ¡ l ploperty. Near the l00l end ol the scalewe have
the backgror¡nclsonre sort of uniñecl theorl, oli such systcnrs
iv as passive electrical nctrvor.ksancl
s y s t e n t sA . c t u a l l - v .t h e r c i s a s y c t n o s u c h t h c o r y . , t h e i r n r e c h a n i c l l
r') a n a l o g u e s .A t t h e o t h e r e n c l o f . .
a l t h o u g h a t t c n t p : s h a v e b e e n ¡ n a d c a r o n e . I r i s tile scalc rvc
have difficrrlt¡.fincling cxantples. In
alwa),sa gootl idea rvhcn consideringsr¡cl)gencral f'act, nrost
i)' ''to of the literatnre irscs thc tcrrtr ..hcap"
1 r theo¡'ies be st¡re the r) pes of systcnr undcr. or "complcx" to
describea set of part!'rvlriclr arc
disct¡ssion are clearly understood anci, rvherc n r u t u a l l y
is i n d e ¡ r c n d ü nat n d t h e t e r n r . , s y s r e n r . . ' i s '
gcneralizations to s),stcms of other t),pes arc
used only rvhen some dcgrce
¡tr
claimed, to sec il all rhc ana.logiesancl ccrresDon_ We prelbr .of rvholcncssexists.
|lt to call sets oI parts rvith conrpletc
d e n c e su s e d a r c v a l i d . independencc"degenerates-r.stcn.¡s"
ils because,as rvc
Neverthelcss, therc arle some propertics that noted bcforc, it is impossible to tlen¡. s),srL,matic
ll'
bclong to certain classesof s,,".stenrs, and are rvorth relationshipsin a heap of sancl or odds ancl
its encls,
mentioning briefl-r'.Also, there arc sonte valicl ancl or for
rnechanicallorces acting accortling to thc
uscful analogicsconcerning the behavior ancl pro_ parallclogranl
of forces.
perties of certain types of systems that often aicl
ProgressiveScgrega!iott.The conceptsof rvhole_ ,
in analysis, at least conceptually, of particular nessand
sumntativity can be usedto dcfjneanothcr
systerns.As a notable e.xample, thc concept o[ qrralitative property of¡en obscrvccl in physical
cntropy, useful in thermodl,namicsystcms,lras an systcms.
Most non-abstraci systcntschange with
interesting and valuablc analogue in thc conccpr tinlc.
If thr::'cchanges lead to a gradual transi-
of entrop,v as rjcñnecl for nressage sourccs i¡r tion
.ic f¡'onr rvholencssto sumntativity, t.he s),stent
information (hcor¡'. Other fanliliar cxamplcs arc is '.
irc saicl to undergo progre.ssirc segrc¡¡atiott. We , , r.
found in t he clcsc analogies betrvcen elcctrical. c a n
,ql: i l l u s t r a t e it,h i s v - c r y s i n r p l y w i l . l r c q r r a t i o n , . , , 1 r
nrechanical and - acoustical systenls,. a sinrplc ' ( 2 )
b y l e t t i n g .t h e " n t u t u a l " o r . . t r a n s f e r " t e r n l í ' i t i rl
"'d i n s t a n c eb e i n ga n R - L - C c i r c u i r a n d i r s n l e c h a n i c a l n; '
and l¡, beconrc functions of tinre. If these 'r
analogue, the. couplcd r¡lass,spring and r.csistive '.
:rc tcrnls decreaseto zero as a limit rve rvill ¡¡u. ¡rvu,i' ,,'.'
dcshpot. '
of i n d e p c n d c n st y s t e t n sr e p r c s e n t e cb ly t l r e c q u a t i o n s ,
Propertics thar are ft.equcntly nrcntionerl b1: l,
.ie o r \ \ ' ec a n s a ) 1t h a ( t h e l a l g e r s y s t c m ,c o n s i s t i n go l '
v a r i o u sa u t h o r s t ; r d i s c u s s i n gs y s t c n t s¿ l r e : ,
t \ \ ' o s i t n u l t a n e o ues q u a t i o n s , ' b e c o n r ae s. , d c g e n -r ' . . , .
. l'l/holencssond Itrlepetrlt,ttcc, In ot¡r dcfinitir-rn e ; ' a l c s ) s t e ¡ ) 1 . " .
r€S
,,. : I
o f s y s t e n tw e n o t e d t h a t a l l s , v s t c n thsa v c r e l a t i o n _
:l-
We can clistinguish tu,o ki¡lcls of pr.ogressil,e ,. I
ships lletrvcenobje;ts ancl berrvccnthcir attl.ibutes. s c g r e g a l i o n .
.lt¡ T h e f i r s t , a n c l s i n r p l c s tk i n d , . i ' l l u s -, ; ,
lf cver_vpart ol thc systclrl is so rclatctl (o e\.er-y tlatcd
..1 abovc, corres¡ronclsto dccay. lt is as
o t h c r ' p a r t t h a t u c l r a n g ei n a p a r . t i c u l a ¡ . p ¿ r r tt . l r o L r g h , il
iie- _. t l r r o u g h r r r r - r c l rl a l l d l i n g , t h c p a r t s o f a
c l l u s c si . t c h i t n g ci i l u l ! t h c o l h c r p ¿ l r t sa n i l i n t h c j i g s a * '
p u z z l c . b c c o n r cs o r c - r u n c l ct{h a t a g i v c n . , , . '
l i total s.\sicnt, thc svstcnl is saicl to lrcl¡¿tvcas a p i c c c n o l o n g e r f i t s r h c o t h e r .p i c c c sb e t t c r t h a n
tt'iti¡lc' or coltarattti.y. At th9 othcr cxtrcntc is a scr a n o t h , i r .O r s r r p p o s a
.1,'. e n o p e n - t v i r c a r r i e rt c l c p h o n c , . ' .
(
U6 r i,l r . G ¡ . N I Z A ' l - l O N ,^ N D l ' l Í t i I - O G t C O F R l : L / i ' l l O \ S
S\'.S1'l::,íS

si'stcnr \r'erc suddeniy dcpt ivcd cl nlilitltcllancc' w h i c h o n e c l c ¡ t r e n o t r s L r b s y s t c nprl a ¡ s a n l a j o t 'o r

' . v o u l dr o i , c l o n r i n a n tr o l e i n t h e o l ) e f a t i o no f t h e s y s t c n t .W e
V a c u u r ¡ 't,u b c s r v o u l d w e a r o u t , p o l c s
antl so ot), an(l cvetltually therc rvotlld'uc a rnal' call this the laat!ing port or sly that the
g,r'o'trpr-rfl.'artsthat no longer bclia,verias a s)'stclll' systc¡¡r is cculcr<'l aroutid this part. A snlall
I'lrc secotld ki¡d oí piogrcssivc scglcgatiotr ciiarrge in the leadi;rg part rvill liren bc reflccted'
correspottdsto giovzih. The systcnr changcs in tltc throughout thc systerrl, causing consiclcrable
direction o f i n c r e a s i n gd i v i s i o n i n t o s u b s ' y s t e l l l s char;gc. It is like a trigger r','itli a sntall change
¿rnclsr¡b-strbsystenls or difieíentiation of functions' i r e i n g a n r p l i f i e di n t h e ¡ o t a l s y s t e m .A n e x a n r p l e
Tlris kind of segregationseemsto appcar rn systcms f r o r n p o l i t i c s might be a total¡taria¡trcgittte,
process or i11 evoit¡tionary dccisions of an'autoct'at ai)'cctingbehavior of the
involving sot.llecreative ,ir';;,.,:;;,,'
and devclopnlcnial processes. An exanlple is c n t i r c s ) ' s t c ¡ l t .
t : i ; " . . :. ,. l l . , l r ' '
crnbr;ronic devclcpnrent,in rvhicll the gernl passes Eithcr progrcssive seglcgaticn of progrcssive
r-;rlic.ir:.;)¡';.,
from vrholenessto a state $'herc it bchaves likc a si'stenratization may be accortrpaniedby progres- li,
i(| í!..iri

sum oi rcgions rvhicl"¡develop indepcndcnily intcl sit'e cetttrulizaliotti as thc systcnrevolvesoitc palt
i ¡ r . ' r ¡ ' ' . i 1 1¡.,;' .
organs. Another exanrple, often ob- einrrgcs as a central and co¡rtrollin$ agcncy. ln
specializ-eci il\\:. .j ' i, '.

in the creation and dcvelopnrcnt ol a new the case of enrbr¡ oliic delelopmcnt' previo'-tsly
served i!|;,-' i;,1r'-;.
notctl, scgrcgation does il()t procecd to tile lirnit
comnlunication s-vstem, occurs , rvhen an idca I,.r,
'
. , , ¡ i . ri : '
and the origir'al f'or seve¡al reaso¡ts, the tllo.st impot'tlint pct'ira¡>s
appears, or a neetl is defined, - i i ( ; . , :. " ; , : i
of a systenr segregates througlr plan- is thnt the brain cnrerg:s ¿!3tile ct.r:ttroilinglil'il.i '
conception j i' :. ". . l
r.;r,ifyirrg part.
ning cfi'ori into subsystcnrs whose dcsign and 1l ' , r ; , ' ; - ' " i ' . r
devclopnrcnt eventually procced ¿tltnost indc- i.i \::'.;.;¡lii.
pendentlY. i i¡;;:r. !ti
P¡ogres.rilc S1's/crrtc !i:aI¡ott. This is sinrpl-v the lL i¡'atural atul ."f ut:',1¡Íuia S¡'stems
', ¡ : r i l,,: ] t : r r . ir

oppositc of progrt:ssivesegrcgatlon,a process ln (citr.i tc

I¡.c.,
. rvhich thcre is charlge tou'ard rvholcncss.lt nlali To cnliaucc tltc nreanirtgof "systcrn" rve dís-
! iifirill'i l.1rJr'
tinguish na{ural'si'stctnsand n:an-nlatles}'stell1s.
\ - o r r"l 'uonngs i s to I s t r c n g t h e n i n go f p r e - c x i s t i r r gr e l a t i o n s i t t r c .¡ t i i i ; i ,
¡he par(s, the dcrelopnlent of rciatiotls Errgineers arc clir'cctly itrtcrcsled iti nlan-ltta<le
s ( ) í ta r c s ( i ,
among parts prcviousl¡' unrclatcd, thc grarJtral horvcverin thc envircrnlllent(')ftltcscntan-
s)'stc¡¡rs;
isnls.'.(..)¡i,"'
addition of parts and rclations to a s-vstenr'or nrade systenrs are n¿Itural systcrr,s rvhich also
b ¡ s l r i r c r i ri ;
some combination of thesechanges.As atr cxatnple, rcquire investigationsince thcir propertiesinteract
tr.)tll[)firtuf''
consider the dcvclopnlent of the lottg distance rvith the systcnt undcr sitrtly. Furthermore, therc
duciti;{ v'l: r
telephone nctwork. First, local tclephone cx. arc certain propert¡es th¡rt both types of .systbtns
adl¡tlut.rtrtt:
changcs sprang up abottt the country. Then havc in common; ¡nan-ntadc s)'sten¡sarc olten
ol stohiiit¡
exchangeswcre joined rvith trunk lines. As trans- copies of natural systems or at least are con-
Stablc' .:
mission techniques inlproved, more exchanges structed to perform analogous functio¡rs.
to ccrtain,
rvere added at greater distanccs.Later, toll dialing rc¡tr¡tin w
rvas added, placing the nctwork at tlle command I l.l Narun¡l sYsrEi\ts thcrmostal
of opcrators ancl cvcntually at thc co¡ntnand of s t a D ¡ l l t yl r
clrstomers.The record has been onc.of increasing The description o,l thcsc is the task of the
tl¡c notion
uniflcalion oI the whole systenl. astrononler, physicist, chcnlist, biologist, phys-
and especi
' iologist, ctc., ancl ag¡irr the antotlnt one call say
It is possiblc for progrcssivescgregationand thilt a sys,,
. s5stcttratizationto occur i¡r thc same systenr'Thcsc abot¡t a givcn natural s¡'stcnt.dcpcnds on tlie
n t ¡ ¡ ¡ b c r o f c s s c n t i a vl a r i a b l c si r l v o l v c r . l . . ' u ¡ r s t a b l ei : ' r , .
two proccsscsc¿ltl occur simul(ancotrsly,and go s t a t r i l i t y :I
on indefinitel¡' so that thc systen'rcan exist in Opctr t¿nrl. Clost'¿l Systcttrs. lvlost organic
l'avorablc
some kind of steady state as u'ith the pro':esscsofi systemsafc opeil,rncailingthcy er:changetDaterials,
ology, "r¡
anabolisnr and catabolisrn in thc human body' cnergies, or i¡rfor¡'nationrv'ith thcir ctlv¡rontllcl1ts. trcctcd \"
1'hese processcscall also occur sequentially'Con- ¡\ systclil is closcl if tlierc is no irrrpot'tor export ataxia ár
.
' sider the carly history of Anrcrica during lvhich of energiesin any of.its fortns such as itrlbrttration,
. t'l1()tof cc)
I grou¡rs of pcoplc colorlizcclvarious parts of tltc lrcat, plrysical rtratctirls, etc., ancl thelefore no : Systa;
cor¡¡ttry. These grou¡ls becanlc nlorc alld morc cirange ol contponellts, atl e;*anrpic bciug a the pro¡¡.,;
Cratiuatly' chcnrir-alfeactioll ialtirr¡Iplirccin a scaliil insul¿rted' ' . .. . . .:
, inclepcnclcntof tlrcir l)a[cnt cortntrics. De11&\'lt)l' 1:
thc nerv cottlltry bccantc nttlrc coltcretit as lllore c o n t a i l l e r ' . , r \ n o p e t l s ) ' : ; t c l l ' l ¡ c c o l ¡ i e sc l o s c d i f . il]r¡ Ot¡lDi
.1s
grotlps, it nc\^' irrgrcssor cgrcsse¡ e¡s¡:gics ctrt of'l" ' t h e c o n t r r. ' . ,
,-'-...intc¡'chlttgesoccttrreclbcts'ecn thc
( got'ernnrcnt \\'as fornrc(i, ctc. Whctllcr a givcn s)'stcl)i is tl¡r';tt or cltrf:u(l uc,rcntl .
\-" Cctttrt¿lizuli<¡tt.A cctrtilli-'crl systcrtl is trtlc itl tluperrcls t¡¡r horv ntttch of lhc u¡li',crscis inclutlcd o r i ¡¡ c i p l c
(

DtiFINII'lON or sYsi'Erf g7
tllítjr-rf Cir
in ihe systcnraltd hi.'.r nlr.rchirr th¿ en.¿iron¡lrenr. o c c u r q L r i t cf r e q u e n ( l yi n n a r u r e
)i.üur. \\jc as well; posturL-
tl¡at tl¡e B y a d j o i n i n gt o t l r es _ . : l c n trh a t n : t r t o f t l i c re n v i r o ¡ t - cor¡trol in the ht¡nran bocly is ao
cxelnple. lt is a
A snlall ¡nent rvith rvhich a.r, e>:r:ha¡rge talies place, thc rvell l<ncrvn l'act that. tlre nature, polarity,, and
reflected s)'sie¡n bcco¡nesclo:.3J. F'or .instance,in thsrnlo- degrce of fecdback in a systenr lrave a cj,_.cisi,,.c
¡siderable dynanrics, the seconj la*. is universally applic- effect on thc stability or instability of rhe
s;,stern.
l[ changc able to closed systcns; it seenrs to be violatcd
' Cxanlple for oiganic proccsscs.For the orgi nic system and
its envirorrment, ho,'.evei., ihc sccon(l larv still I 1.2 Ír,rx-u¡,oE sysrEr\ts
r' rcginre,
holds.
:or <¡fthe
Adaptive S¡:sleri:.r.Mi'.ny natural systenls, Ivlan-nlaclcsystemsexhibit many of the prop.
c s p e c i a l l y l i v i n g o n e s , s h o r v a q u a l i r - v u s u a l l y eriies possessed by natural s),stems;sinrplenotions
rogrcssive
'l called adaptatiott.'I'hzi is, thcy possessthe ability such as u,holeness,segregation
Progres- and sunrnrativitl,
t o r e c c t t o t h e i r e n . , i r o l t n t c n t si n a w a y t h a t i s havc meaning for both types
i one part of system. On thc
fur"r."h'^ ',-t somc Sense,to the continucd opera- other hand, it has not been until recently
:gcncy. In that man-
prcviously t i o n o f t h e s y s r o n t .l : ! s a s t h o u g h s y s t e m so f t h i s nade machineshave shorvn what might
be ternled
the limit type have somc piearranged "end" and thc adaptive behavior evcn on a modest
scale. Othei
,t ¡rerhaps beh¿tviorof the systen.:is such that it is lerl to this kinds of ma¡r-¡nadesystenls,such as language
and
e n d d e s p i t eu n f a v o r a b l ee n v i r o n n l e n t acl o n d i t i t r n s . systeilisof social organizaiion, have
- r i l i n ga n d alrvaysshorvn
The "cnd" might be nrcre sur'.,,ival;evolutionary a d a p t i v eb e h a v i o r .
theory is based hcavil'. on tlic notion of adaptation Adaptation for man-mades).ste nls is not strictll,
to environnlcnt. analogousto rhat for natural s),stems;in fact, rühat
There are ntanl, e:<anr¡rlcs of ar'laptivcbchavior nright bc consideretlrnystical bclravior on tllc pa;.r
in thc body. lvlany ci rhcsc nrc nrccha¡ris¡nlthar ol a n¡r(uralsysternis perfectlyex¡>lainable
fclr thi,
!,t' r dis-
t c n d t o k e c p r v i t h i n c c r t a i n p h ¡ , s i o l o g i c alli n r i r s nran-nrades),stenl.r\ny scenringl¡.purposeful
r.rr
'-\.-_,ten]s. various bodil¡. corrdilio¡rssuch as body {entpera- i n t r - . l l i g e nLt, c h a v i o ro n t h e p a r t o l '
a n r a c h i l r eh ¡ s
tui-e, physicaI balance, etc. ñlechanisnls of this been br"r.iltintc ir b.r,its designer.
!nan-nlaoe Atso, aclaprivc
sort are sontctinlcs c¡lled "honreostatic nrechnn- bchal'ior on thc part of a ntachineis
ureseman- ¡rot to cnsure
,hich also isms." One exantplc is thc inbor¡r reaction to cold the sur"'ival ol the niachine neccssarily,
bur instc¿cj
, e si n t e r a c t b ¡ ' s h i v c r i n g , t c n d i n . : t o r e s i s t a d r o p i n b o d y to i¡rsurea speciFredpellbrmance in
'fhcre so¡¡le res¡)ccr.
rore, there tenrpcrature by a conr¡rcnsatingntoventent pro- arc, in addition to the dil't'crcnccs abovc,
of systems ,ducing rvarmtll. Ctosel.vrelated to thc concept of sonlc addition¿rleonsiderationsi¡r connec¡ion rvirh
a d a p t a t i o n , l e a r n i n g a n d e v o l u t i o n i s t h c n o t i o n ¡rran-madesystems rhat seem'to
are often havc less bearinq
ol stability. on natural systems. i: '
: are 9on-
:s. Stabie Systenrs.A system is stable with respqct Contpatibility (or Harntony). Oftcn rhe probbnr
to certain of its variáblesif thesevariablestend to arises of constructing a systenr to match a given
rcmain within deflned limits. The n.¡an-tnadc environment, qr rvhat antounts
to virtually the
therrnostat is an cxanrple of a clevice to inst¡re sanrcthing, ofadding ncw par(s to
already existing
s t a b i l i t y i n t h e t e n r p e r a t u r eo f a h e a r i n gs y s t e n r ; systents,or of connecting two systen.ls
.r-*k o[ the to ope¡.are
.:-. -L.,^ the notion oI stabilir¡' is farniliar also i¡r mcchanics rin tande¡I. There is no guarantce
5¡)rr IJ¡¡JJ- that a systenl
and cspccially in the conrmt¡nicationsfielcl. \otc constructed for a given purpose v¡ill lunction
nc cut) sil):
thi.lt a systcnt n'Iay be stablc in son]c l.cspectsand p r o p c r l y i f i t s e n v i r o n n l e n t i s
,is on t llc changcd (nol alll
u l l s r a b l ci n o t h c r s . A n a d a p t i t , cs y s t e n rn r a i n t a i n s. fountain pcns write unciér water).
Similarly, trvtr
stability for all tho-re variables which nrr.rsr,lbr systcntsinciependentlymight bc qu¡re sr.rtisfactory
it o¡'ganlü
- .-.^¡^-i^l^ favorablc operation, remain rvirh limits. ln physi- in celtain respects, but in tandenr
J lttdLg¡ ¡<rr)r coultl havc
o l o g ¡ , , " n r o t o r c o - o r ' , j i n a t i o n ". i s i n t i m a t e l ¡ .c o n - ' completely difilrcnt and nor ncccssarily
.tronnler,ls. favor:able
't or e\port n c c t c d r v i t h s t a b i l i t ¡ ; c l u n r s i n e s s ,t r e r r r o r , a n c l c h a r a c t c r i s t i c s . r l
ataiia arc c.ramplcs of cleficicnt or irnpaircd Systenrsmight bc cornpatiblc iu sonrc respects
.litirmatio¡1,
',crcfore no r l r L ) t o cr o o r d i n a t i o na n c i i n s t a b i l i t y . a n d i n c o n i p a t i b i ei n o t h e r s ; i t d c p e n d so n t h e p r " r r -
S¡.s/crrs ¡'ith F¿e¿lback.Cer.tain s¡,stenrshavc pose for'rr.hich the systc¡llsare introcluced
u [reing a as w:ell
the I)ropcrty rhat a portion of thcir outputs or as the el'rvit'ortmontalfactors. Also, s¡.stemsn.ta_v
.i iisui¡1"'ti
behavior is fcd back itr thc in¡rut to afTcctsuccccd-l b e c o r n p a r c cal s t o t h e d c g r e eo f c o m p a t i b i l i t y
¡ cl¡:¿J iI rvirn
irtg outptrts. Sucir s-r'str'nts are lbnlilia¡' enorrgh to a g i v c ns y s t e m .I n r e r n r so f t h e l r i g h - ñ d c l i t 1s ,y s t e n r ,
t h e c o n r n r u ¡ t i c a t i o nesn g i n c e r ;s c r v o m e c h a n i s n il n s rve nright consider as an cxarrr¡rlcthc problcrn trf
ri - i e ¡ sic
gcircrill ¿irc rlran-m:dc s),stctr1sutilizing thc m a t c h i n g a s p c a k e r
;i-i,'r.lu¿.,1 to the rest of the ourlir.'
plinciplc of fccdback. 51'srcins witlr fcctlbtck Diflclcnt speakers rvould function wi(h vary¡ng
Y
_--j-_j::-i
*'sr¿:@:'- iiE,fu&l j¡¡',.1;'j:!
Ji;i-i: i-- -;;iljr¿;;:i:r.:l!!j.i-.:-=.:::--:*::-:...i-._r-;,:-.r..
.:.::
'_' -:I:q:J

(_

E3 s \ ' S ' f f l f s , O R G A N I Z A T I O ñ - ,A N D T I t t l L O G I C
OF It[LATfO¡iS
clegreesoi succcss; rqcnic of the environrncntal
Í 2, Isortorpltisrn
factois nright bc ii-¡esizc ol thc r.oont,ti.icamour:r
ill
of rnoney evailablc lr) sf,end on ilre spcaker, ctc. |:
As h;ls been su_egestccl before, theie arc ilt,
A s¡tcaker rvíth perl^ect11, li:atchcd irn¡rcdancearr<l slaiti:Lrs ¡
in n:anl,scicnccsrvhcre thc lcchniqtrcsarrti lli | .* jrl
e x c e l l c n t m c c h a n i c a lc o n s t r u c t i o nm i g h t p r o d u c c gcncral
structure bears an inti¡nate rcsei.nilance ri
b c a r ¡ t i f u lf c s u l t si n t h e g i v c n s c t t i n g ,b u t i f . i t c o s t
t o s i n l i l a r t c c h n i q u e sa n d s t r u c t u r c si n o t h c r l j e l d s .
a fery thousand dcliars it coulcl casily be calle<l
¡\. correspondencg bctwccn cbjccts
' incornpatiblc rvitl¡ respcct to at least one env¡ron- .o.nc-to-one
tvhich prcsc-rvcsthc relationships betrvcc,¡l
ntcntal factor. iilc t .
objccts is called an ¡sot)rcrpltis¿¡. For. inst¿ince
Op r intizatiott. Conrpatibility consiclera i¡r
tions iead thc clectrical-mechanicalcliiality,
naturally to thc problcn.rof optimizarion. As thc an R_L-C circuit
is isornorphic to its mechanical dual
term implies, it means adapting the systcnr to its since e¿rctl
circuit clcntent has its corresponding ¡leclianical
environment to sccurc the best possible perform_
i n f e r p r c t a t i o na n d t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s \ g r e
allce in sonte respect. Optimum performance in lormally
the same.
one respect docs not nccessarily¡nean optimunl
lsonrorphisntsof this type are rather numcr-
performance in another; again it is a question
ol oirs; in lact, their prevalence has led to
intent on the part of thc systcm planncr. Often, several
attcmpts at unilying various llel<tsof science
tlle facior of intercst in an optiruization problcnr tlle usilg
idca of "systcnt" as a funcla¡ncntalconccpi,
is economic: ho*j nruch banclrvid¡:lto allocate to but
lltcse atterrpts are as yet incomplete. Theie
a tclephone channel, hovr many interofficetr.unks Irorvevcr, arc,
ssveral disciplines with nrorc mcclest
t o p r o r . i d e ,e t c . N o t e t h a t t h e o p t i n t u n rb a n c h v i c l i h
aills tliat h¿rveachievcdnotable success.To guore
- l b r t r a n s m i t t i n ga l l t h e s u b t l e v o i c e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a well-knov,'nnlatlic¡natician
is not the samc as the optin:unr from ¿rncconol.¡tic IW. Fellcr] : t' :
¡,t..

stan(lf,oint, As for practical uscft¡lncss, it stroulc.lbc bci¡¡c rn

¡r-rindthat for a ¡nathcnratical .\r ,:r
rhcoryto ¡"
it is by no means¡recessary that it úe abls to' "ppl¡i"¡1,, trr it1,..,1..-,¡
n,:".i:¡¡.
accurate¡lrodclsof obscrvedphcnonrena.Vcry ri:.;..::'...i.
uitcn
I L3 sysrevs wrrn RANDovNEss in applicationsthe constructiilcrole of rnatlleil:aü",lt !¡ -iC ilil:
is lcssimporrantthan the cconomyof tir.irrgrrt
l1::tl.r
ano cxpcnrncntationrcsulting frorn thc casc
ti,ith
In either natural or ntan-made s),stemsit is which qualitativcly reasonablcworking ¡yp".rl';"r.,
ii,;i.,.1;: i,
can bc elj¡ninatcdby nratheurati.uturfun,ónri. :,:':icnl, ;i
sometimesnecessaryto take into account rando¡t.r no,
cxanrplc,in geology rve are confi.onred;ith iinjun.' ii'¡¡r:ff)fú:iti
behavior. What randomness means and when ro proccsscs rvhich have been going on l:r millions of
introduce it in analysis of a system are questions years,some of them covering the surfaceof the
earth.
that can be hotly debated by philosojhers. I¡r We observethat certainspcciesgo.througtra peri; of i .1.I r;;
practice it is usually introduced as a factor rvhen prosperityand stcadyincreasc, only to diJout,uáá.nly
and without apparent reason.Is it really n...rráii,'.o Íjr.¡ppr.r.
the variables thai rrray affecr a given attribute are assuntecataclysms ir/ l vnl'il
working one_sidely ágiinst ceria,n
so grear in number ci so ,inaccessil¡le that thcrc is spccies,or ro find otlicr eiplanat¡onif it. V"i;;;"_ tiil t,:.str'i:
no choice but to considcr behavior as subjccr to Lotka thcory of strugglefor exisrcnce t.u.h., iir-il.,ot ¡1,.t:
ti i.)c¡':,.
chance. One exaniple is the noise in a vacuum even under constantconditionssituatiortsarc L,cun<r tiic sct r¡:
to a¡isc.rvhichrvould appear to the naive obs¿rvcr
tube due to rando¡lr entission of elcctrons fronl p<i..:siblc
gTagllV.like many of thc cataclysnrsof gcology. ' 'l'o s:
the cathode. Sirnilarly,althoughit is inrpossible io giuc an i..rii," ,, rlc:
Randonl variables entsr in at both the nlicro- nrathematicalthcory of c,,.olutiorr, evin the ,i.il.rt riirc, ¡i ¡s
scopic and macroscopjc levcls. Statisrical nlech_ nrathenratical nrodcl of a stochasticproccss,io-*.,'t.,
ir', phasc
l
l
auics and nrodern ph;,,sicsare both dependcnt on rvith obscrvations. of agc, gcographicaldistriburior¡, I
ano.^s¡zcs ol_ vano[¡s genera and species,nlakes it c¡fl statcs
assuinptionsof microscopicrandonrncss.Economlc possiblcto sinrplicit-v
clcduccvaluable infornrátion'"un..rning
conclitions, nunlbers of potential custonlers,etc- the i¡lfluenceon cvolutionof vaiious n t i n et h e :
foatur, ,u"ih'u,
are n'lacroscopic factors also subjecr to chance sclecrion, nrutationand the like. tn this,unrr'in¿"iiriu" t:-tl(:ltdean
fluctuation. c¡ualitativeargumcnlsare supplemcntetlby u nlór.
convincingqr¡antitative the plane:
The operation of some s),ste¡.nsn,ith rando¡n_ anal),sis.
, lf a s
ness can best be describcd in terms oi stochastic In addi{.ionto thu V.olterra-L<¡rllüi::coiJ.nrcn_ initial su,
processes(also called randonr pl.ocesses .
ol.rintc tio¡led in tht qtrtr(ittio¡rl.:.'9r,i'.,3, iit;r.c ¿rrg other. gardlcljs (
- serics). I:anriliar exampies in rhe ñcld of conr_ thcr_¡rics oi ilrc s.l¡nc :)lit,.¡t.c state,thL.
ul¡il_v;ri;.,.;vurilisub_
nunicatiotls arc r:r¡idonl n.t,-.ssagc sourccs and donl¿ri¡lsof scicncc. ivÍ¿rtlienl¿rticiii Suclr
¡'.*.disturbing Lrioicg_v.lbr
noise in infonnarion tlrcor¡,, ancl rlie ir'lstancc, Iras l¡¿¡tl n : ¿ t( h 3 f i l i l
cotisitierablc suj,-.essin rhis
tbeory of waitir¡g lines in tclephoner.raffic. direction. Thcrc havc bcerr attenrprsat proposing ÍrurI PtOvt]
:l'": /
:'. ,/'
i' ,' ",
it-,,.:- .'
jj'',¡-, '

I
i ¡

:jt,l

ii..'....'."..j.i;'.....':.._.=-l-..l'.lTT

DEtlNIrloN OF SYSTEIT 89
,.,,i
:
l;,:: . a.tileLilcrnatical rheory of iristory, cyberneücs is For a sysrem to be sratc-<jere¡.nlinedlitis

,,'.,.ur" in- the cotn¡rltl¡ricationfielcl rlith tlrc siud¡' ,.;:'rhe be- a systernof equations of the form
havior of living organisnrs,dentograplr¡,is a stu.ly :
,, u,,a, u"¿ ' I
:, ,"rr.r^""" of the growth and spread of populations, etc., but. dxr -- : ,

il.i,' objccts .. ,
l , : : . , , . ^ ^ r ¡ . , Po lI e t o .

l.;il;;:',partiaI,isneitheraccidentalnormyStical.Itjust
ir"{:r:r

4r 9 Usgr Ul ttt .rtlatyLtLtB

,"
ffi,i-:
ffi
ru ¡lrust{.{Ls s(J¡l¡coI U l ' 9 I n a C f O S C O p l Cp f O p C f t ¡ C S "-"' J{¡rrir¡Lu'. ... ,,.. .'... ,.:,.. ... ;
'::.
discusscd,and to enhance fur.the¡ in a nrgre con- As,exarnptes,fit'st of a systctn ivl¡ich is stnte-,.' :r : :::',1:ri
crete way the rrreaning

ii..;;;;"üii.:;¿;;;;.o.'i.,"".i"n.,".¡.i""'",ii,"
i,,1l,L1l"i:ji
system, anclrvidcsprcacltions
it has simpleproperries l - ,, ,j.,',',,.:l

'ii:irri-ilrtrr.. (5) : ;:.-,:' ,,'¡

"
$ aipcriod oi , , ., . ' l3.l'pen¡x¡r¡oN oF SrATE-DETERIIINED x'2: b+,t' ' ' i','
Suppose
thara sysrem
is compretery:;::il:. it.' .'i,i
;"!:!lqd*ll

' ,;,..,-- i,i"Lt;

[l,Jir.'*i'1i,,,, '.'i :t]::.H
+:il1;,*1','*"ll:'ñ:'

firl:.:
r.l l:. '
: t . :
 !F+
/
' ./:

'li,,${i:¡; :;;;; ¡,il.Ti,,t

..r.1:!"...':
l i

An-D TIIE LOGIC'OF R[LAl'lOr-S

S ' r ' S ' t l i i v i sO
' RC^NIZ'\1'ION' t h c p . t r t; i i , .
90 in. nrechanics'
matly ficlds'Thc nrostfanriliarare iri düicrri,it.,
)i1- 6'i'bt+t2 circiiit thr:orye , t c .T h a t t h c ¡ ' s h o u l df r c q u e n t l y ' ()nc rir.
(7)
occur is bcrnc out by the unCerly'ing.structurc;
(that is, r)'p. (4' !í.
x2 = b + t *lranevcr a systcnris stale'tlelertt¡itrerl
progress' or lirle of
is not sta(e.deterlllillcd. The c.urvcs. i" ,11::^:i* frotlr a giverrstatcthe future
<lerermined)' it can ' be 9r
tinrethe verticcsdo bcl'avior' is conrplctely ,t. .,

arc again parabolas,bur this o f t l r i s t 1 ' p e .

e i v e nn a r a g o t a á e s c L i b ebd) , e q u a r i o n s
n o r a u r i eo n t h e . * , o ^ , . , ; ; i ; ; ; ; fanrily (sec Tl'i:i appl,
pa'abolas of the
will interscctotl'er c h a n* s co i t
(?) arrdsubstituting oF srArE-DErt:RNTINED sYsrE\ts
Figure lb). By dilierenriating 13.2r,nopenrrEs proporr
.is
We can usethc syst'em (4) ro illustratesonreo[ c x a r n p l et
Url the concepts we l¡ave spoken of previously' a is posit
systcm¡s
In caseIr, . ., f, are all zero,-the is ncgatir
I r,",i..'ift, it thcvariables toodo cfi-angewith time* coursc tn,
case' the systern is dynamic;
iiirrit is not'the with
; ;;,';;t" of the variables does change
of the systcm is
i*".-ii,t ,"grec of "wholeness" : A sccl
of the functions /" ;,
''-']".
;;;;;";;;,i ;v rhc naturc
strongly 4r' t"tl
ii.".rt of ,ht" functionsdepends
the svstcnr sliorvs a high r' i.y
;;i'ca.J oi t¡c variaules, ' ; i
i r ,' ,
a change in anv va'iable , i

;;-;;; rvholcnrgss; ' : "l

'i
l

changesin all the ¡'est'

I
"i apprcciablc
i,,i"-"ff.i,t
iunctionsdepends
lr"^lt*'"in"r. ito"o ir eachof the ,h"lrolu, ,1, .
doesttot
;;;;it ;;" o[ the vnriablcs' svstcm the
( l(a). In particular' i[ tl:e
Figure ir"".t:l ,""* cor'nectious' .:: " , . 1I , ¡ ' l . l , i i i :, : l

cquationstlegetleratc to the fornr

t ;
,.'
I lle cuf\ - ':
$ ;r,i"'i (e)
( 13 ) a p P '

Vf a,b&z+%i ' large. Tl :'1,

d.r.
:¿ = f"t""l, and aris ;,
' .,
processc
a cha.ngein atly i s ' l i t n i t ( ' i t: 'r li
thc parts function independcntly' ' '
only on'the condition of that Specific''
""rilüi.-.i.n.ntling d.ilscrib. ,
variablc.
"';;t ,.
iit" otncrhand,thepair"l:qt'l1tlt Tl:* ", r, tne,.g.I.Q:. ,
illustrate the typeot r"iatiqntttips that rnigirt'{i ,r , living s¡ , , ,,',
characterizc a systemwitl¡ rúholcness' ',,:railw'aY :
r rr ', .
BfeO,alt,
tl,r r plr¡'siclI
*- = 'f t 't¡
I. ',: ' : .' F i s u r cl ( b ) ' 'i' ol formcd
ij:' ,r, (10)
owtlfor .1.
the culves so dcflned . forrnetl.
in (7) it can be scin. tlllat = x,'+x,z
equAtlols' ' : ' ' ' *
satisfy the difl'erential
.. solutir)f
otlrcr in a c-otrt' . .. . ,
cl-v, Irr (10) cach varilrblcrflects tlte , Pf€tttiri
.
-Il :'"''' tl-t,:"ilil;l
l8)
trre
Ttlll;il,li,lT:,yste,,rniigr'Lrra¡e
variabl. ,
\-/ Iil lc¿te(:
'
''l:l. , 1, rvould¡ .. ,'.
, , ,1¡, ., ,;
- - - = t
t'. ; . ' t '
' : df I ,. r . ., ! . : '
t . crlnsitj':
dx'
j:ri (1t)
not
' . . . . - , .is. -not
rvliich - tnc rornr (4) sincc u ¡ depcnds
- . - o! '
trutc.l I
'
: : i.ht !ii.
o niy on ¡r but on ¡ as well'
"'l''S;;i;t
.
(4) arisc itt
of cquerions o[ tlie form
{

DI¡TINII'ION OF SYSTEM
9t
I n.¡cchanicS, t h e p a r t r c p r c s e n t cbdy . r 1 p l a ¡ , i n gt h ec e n t r a rl o l c again, for sinrplicity, the two-variablc case u,herc
J frequcntly i n d c t e r m i n i ncgh a n g cisn r h cs y s t e m . lincs of bchavior are a family of curves in thc
lg structr¡t'e; O n e s i m p l ef o r m i n v , , h i c ler q u a t i o n s< ¡ f t i r e ¡rlanc. For á givcn region in the planc, a l¡ne oi
,cl (tlnt is, type (4) frequcnrlya¡¡rcaris behavior fron1.a.¡¡oint in tl.rercgion is stabie if ír
.s,or line of ncver lcaves the region. This corresponds rr.ith. ,- -
., it can be dx
o*; x(0) : .¡o (r2) o u r c a r l i e r d e f i n i r i o no f s r a b i l i r y ; i l l q t . , i s ,i f t h e
l-- line of behavior is confi¡redto a certain piéscribed
regio¡r when startitrg from a point in the region,
This applies, for iñstancc, rvhcnever the ratc of
\ED SYSTII\ÍS
it follows that the variables involr.ed or" .on_
change of the nun¡ber of clerne¡rtsin a s),stclll
strained to operate rvithin given linlits. As a
late sonrc of is proportional to the nunlber already thcre; for 'simple
exarnplesuppose a vehicle is operating on
lusly. exanrpleto unlintitcd gro.,\'thol populations *.hen
a fuel supply, and that the velocity of the vehicle
rc systcm is a is positive, or to thc decay of radiunr whcn a
depends on the rate of florv o[ fuel rvhich is in ,
, g e w i t ht i m e . is negative. The solution (line of beliavior) is of'
turn contro"l.lcd by a governor sensitiveto velocity.
is dynamic; coursc thc L,,,,wncnti¿rl
The governór, for instancc, might be arrangs<.Ito l
change rvitlr X: Xo€¿l (r3) ¿.llorv an .increasing rate of florr, until a critical
.lre systenris velocity is attaincd and then cut tiorvn the rate of
'unctions A second siniple exr'.;r'rplc
/i, ol this type is llorv until the velocity <.trops belcw anorher critlcal
:rtds strongly levcl,and thcn incrcasethe flow again, etc. piotting i
dx
;hows a high
- : 2x -r bx2 x(C¡ : (l4) ,a typical linc of beh¿rvior(r.ate of llt.riv against , . , 1
any variable d/ "u vclocity), one sccs rllat a closctl loop (of a slrapc
all thc rcst. , < O dependingon the detailsof tirc systcnr)is obrained. . l
ions depcnds Thc systcm is stable bccauscbotlr rate of fuel Ílorv
the solution of which lras thc fornr
.cnr does not ancl vclocity arc co¡lstrainccl to val.y rvirhin
:U' it thc QXo prcscribedlinrits.
(t5)
(a+bxs)e-"'-bxs

T h e c u r v cd e s c r i b cidn ( 1 5 )i n c o n t r a s t o t h a t i n 14. Sununur¡,otul ¿ldlitional Renorks

, , ,'
(e) ( 1 3 ) a p p r o a c h etsh c l i n r i r i n gu a l u e * X a s f q e r s
'l-his
b - The precctlingsectionsdiscrrssthe notion of
large. curvc is usually callcd a Iogistic curve, syste¡n and introduce.so¡ne relatedidcasfrequently
and arises in applications concerned with growth encountcred in thc literaturepertainingto s),stems
processésobcurring in situations rvhcrc the growth in geueral.Wc admit tllat the icleasso introduce<l
hange in any
is linrited by factors analogous fo saturation. and the examplesillustratingthem are for the ,;
iition of that
Specific instances in which growth proccsses are most part simpleand familiarones,and that the
describcd fairly well by a logistic curve ilrcludc level of soghisticationinvolveclis considerably
lations below
that might
the growth of human populations in a línlitcct belorvthat requiredfor solutionof actual'technical
li"'ing space (from dcmography), thc grorvth of a problems. ,
rail*'ay or conrmunications netu,ork in a given Thc,roleof thc scicntistor cngineeris complcx
area, and the law of autocatalytic r.eaction(fr.onr and important.His work involvesantong other
ph¡sical chenristry) dcscribing horv a compound thingsanalyscsof systcms,syntlrcsisof s¡.stcnrs,
(lo) for¡¡red in a closcd ¡'eactio¡tvessel catalyzcs its and_evaluation of systerns operatittns.
' o r v n f o r m a t i o n u n t i l a l t t h e m o l c c u l c sa ¡ . c t l . a n s - 1'o analyzesysten.ls, a scieniistmust be awarc
for¡:-¡ed. of mc¡dels availableas aids to analysisas rr.ell¿rs
The r'xanr¡rlcsabove arc gir.en bccausc (he their linlitations.K¡¡owledgeof u,hen to use a
r3l lt.I n COfll- s o l u r i o n sa r c s i n r p l ea n d h a v e n r a n y f a r r r i l i a ri n r c r - nlathematicalrnodel,.a¡id rvhichnrodel to useiis
prciations. The generalcasc, in wlrich tltcre are ¡¡ v i t a l ; a p p r c c i a t i o no f t h e i n r e r - p l a yb e t u . e e na :
eht have rhe variables and hence l equations. is nrorc com_ theorctical'and an empiricalapproach;tos¡:sten15 .:,1
plicatecl; exarnpleslvith rnore than onc variable analysisis equally csscntial.There arcrnroclcls
rviluld rcquire ntore nlathcnlaticalnotation tl-¡ani( other than ¡nathc¡liatical oncs;at tintesa ph.vsical
seernsworth\\,hilc to inclucle,and so $,ill not bc nrodel,rvherhera scaiemodelof the actuaisis¡.fii . : 1 1 t : . ,
considcrcd. or an analogyto it is far ¡norceffective
/ l l \ aud accurare,
Finally, the notion of stability can bc illus_ f o r a n a l ¡ ' s iosf a g i v c ns ) s t e ntth a n i s a n a b s t r a c t
( trated fo¡' state-dcternrinedsystcmsby consiclering ¡¡rodclwhlch litsrpoorly and is overl¡"complex. ':
thc lines o[ bchavior in phasc s¡racc. Consiclcr On lhc other hanrl, as ¡¡lentionccl in thc secrion

I
 :li:i:,tl

Í¡,

S Y S ' ¡ E l l S , C ) l t C i \ i . , i t Z A T l O l i ,A N D T I " I E
LOC¡C OF REL^.t-rOt;S
,i .. on isonroiphistrr,thcre are occasionsrvhen
a .scientistis cónfrontedrvith a problem
,, . nrathcrnaticalniodr.l, even though sirnple and differentin nature so¡newhat
from analysisor synthesisof
i i , rclatiycly inaccurate,can introduce ,urpr¡r¡,.,g systems.
' Ofterroneísconccrnccl rviththecvaluation
;r. cleriflcarions:and simplifications. Thc .sect¡onon of large scalcopcrarionsr,vhich
' ,state-detcrnrincd sysfcmswas inclu<Jccl must.be .ir¿¡"¿
to cnr¡rha- rvith<¡utinterru¡>ring the procoss;
; sizcthis idea; to bestate-deter¡nined o gooá-r*uirpr"
a systemmust , is a traffic study in an operaring
' ha,.cver-v ,"l."pfroitti';,ruf
i, specialpropertiós,and it wouid be naive I ofljce. Deciding
what,rtre,Ievcl-of
.{
; . to iuspectrthatcomplexsystemsof interestare so requirescertaincriteriarvhere ü;i;;;;;;;;;
sínrple.; ofteri.ñoqu"niiiu,iu.
i; _ i Yet, rvith the proper'amountof careand cl'lteflacxist. For
instance,in evaluatinga trafñc
i:.',; ..undcrstanding, one can use the framovorkeof systcnl,one must dccitle
rvhat cffect ¿JaVs tlave
,j. statc-deterntincd s).ste¡ns rvith good resultsin sur- on the.qualityrof service.
lli:'¡l. nricinr'l.r 'diverse
|;i,-..^ -l¡..^¿i^-- ^ ------:-..
ft tn. trum" ,.'.u¡.. ¡,
i _ r - : :l,plllinsly
j.--t----o-r rsituations.
¡ruqrrv¡¡). Appreciation
ñ l,p¡gLtdt¡u¡l ofI
o providing dial tone, an averagedelay
,{-;: similaritiesor isomorphisnrsoften leads to d¡s_ of a few.
is probabl¡,,unacceptable, iwhereas u
;:1' covering'ncrv and unsuspected connectionsan(l linytes
i¡;.: unificatíooS:. ; \. - -' similar average delay lor overseas\";"i." i,
conrmonplace.It is often necessary
iiil i i 5tn,¡esis; of s),stemsis much more difficult. lo adopt
arbitrary levelsof performanceas standard;
tfere scienCeand engineeringbegín to take on this again
ij:'; 'aspccts requiresa conlbinationof sound jujg*.nt
:;':; of art. A systemsdesigneror plannernot ;ancl a knowlcdge
of environment.
f;,:,: ,only must construct systemsthat rvork harmoni_ I¡r sumntary,a scienristin his analysis,evalu-
. .
i . ously individuallyand in tanderrr,he nrust also atton and synthesisof systen.¡s
knorva lot about the environmentthat the systenl. primarily is not concerned
¡ rvith the piccesof harctrvare that make
i 1 . , , i,t ' i n t e n d e dt o n r a t c h .C o n s i d e r a r i oonf e n v i r o n - . up a.systcnt,but rvith.theconccptof systenras a
H,.i'.: menral factors requíresforesight'andcxperience; wnole; lts ¡nternal
relations,and its behaviorin
ü:i.,.:no onc can ever foresecall the variablesof inr_ thc givc'
,¿' ' -tanceand a choice cnvironnrent.f n rfrispop.r-;-,;;;;;';;r,."
¡' of which to includeis ofren explicitly a few
of thc not¡onsconccrning,frt.n.,
f,'..;.
I , ' \' r v .r'licult
onc to make. and environntentthat enter irnplicittyoi tacitly
Fing.lly,in evaluatingsystenrpe¡formance,the into
f ri,: , : any pieceof scientific'work.

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