Customer Reviews

An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (Wiley Series on Systems Engineering and Analysis)

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In computing, a timeless classic is anything that is worth reading for any reason other than to obtain a historical context after five years. If that still holds true after twenty five years, then it is truly an extraordinary piece of work. That label applies to this book. It is not about computing per se, but about how humans think about things and how "facts" are relative to time, our personal experience and environmental context.
Human thinking is a complex operation and that is the point of this book. The problems and examples presented are not those in computing, but problems in how we think about the world and how that world can be different from person to person. In many ways, Weinberg anticipates the development of the science of chaos, where small changes lead to disproportionate large changes. His example of the "small" change of a single character is a classic. A man was considering the purchase of a piece of real estate, but when told the cost was fourteen million dollars, sent the response by telegram, "No, price too high." However, somehow a character was dropped, so the agent received the message, "No price too high", purchased the property and so a classic error was invented.
Weinberg uses science and mathematics as the genesis point for most of his examples. The laws of thermodynamics, chance and simulations in state spaces are used to demonstrate the points. As someone with a wide background in science, I found his examples of how scientific thought gives us an anchor but yet alters over time excellent learning material. Thought problems are included at the end of each chapter and they cover many different areas. Some involve mathematics, others science and many could be the point of a vigorous philosophical debate. Together they form the best collection of thought experiments and points of contention that I have ever seen gathered together in one location.
This is a book that is a true classic, not in computing but in the broad area of scholarship. It is partly about the philosophy and mechanisms of science; partly about designing things so they work but mostly it is about how humans view the world and create things that match that view. This book will still be worth reading for a long time to come and it is on my list of top ten computing books of the year.

Weinberg distills the essence from von Bertalanffy's classic and manages to present it in a very accessible fashion. The book has been out of print for quite a while so it is great to see a new edition. The message and information contained in here, although originally published in 1975, is now more relevant than ever.

Weinberg covers many aspects of systems theory beginning with the main stumbling block with the present scientific paradigm: the idea that the universe is mechanistic. His treatment is much more general than Robert Rosen's in "Life Itself" but still conveys why the mechanistic notion is flawed.

He then outlines the general systems theory approach before leading into the idea that a system is simply a way of looking at the world. He then outlines the principle of indifference. This leads straight into two sections outlining various aspects of making observations. Finally he discusses behaviour and then some general systems questions.

Throughout the book he uses many examples from disparate fields in conjunction with questions for further research. It is great to see someone who doesn't preach systems but actually uses the ideas.

Definitely a must-read as we decided how to solve the myriad of issues before us.

This book is a quiet little masterpiece, where its author shares his observations of his world in a personal way. With the same light touch, he also delves into the thought structures behind these observations. This is practical scientific philosophy with a folksy, conversational, almost homespun, style that never gets lost in abstractions or strays far from living examples in everyday life. Its lack of academic bluster and techo-pomposity is refreshing and informal, yet the insights have a power that cannot help but affect your own thought processes. An example ( for me) is the classification of all systems into three types: Determinate, Medium-number, and Statistical. This notion has proven to be fantastically useful over the years. Several other observations took some nerve to put into print. The net effect of the book is, at its end, also inspirational. Here is someone showing all of us how we can deal with the big, bad world in a friendly, humourous, courageous, and empowered way.

If I had to select a book that has influenced my thinking most, it would be this one. This book alone spurred my interest in Systems Research, and is one that I have gone back to re-read many times.

Gerald Weinberg has taken the essence of General Systems Theory and formatted it for the masses. His insight into the methodology, and his ability to combine humor with explanation makes this a must-read in the field. While many of the examples are programming-based, that does not detract from the usefullness of this work.

The publisher needs to understand the importance of this work, and put it back into print!

Weinberg's book will not teach you how to be a systems thinker. It will, however, provide a stimulating discussion and thoughtful examination of an alternative approach to problem analysis and solution. The book is not so much about how the systems approach works or how it can be applied to complex problems as it is an invitation to his readers to explore their perceptions of what they think they know versus what they really do know. Throughout the book, Weinberg follows the strategy of leading the reader through a series of logical discussions designed to bring them face to face with their biases and misconceptions about systems vs. reductionist thinking. In doing so, Weinberg exposes the shortcomings of the reductionist approach to problem solving by demonstrating to his readers that the real solutions to some familiar and apparently simple problems are very complex.

Through his examples, Weinberg shows that by viewing a system holistically within its environment, we may be able to discern patterns of behavior/actions and recognize interactions, interrelationships, and interdependencies among the components that will be missed in a reductionist approach. From that view, we can better understand the system and, perhaps, better predict how it will evolve over time. The success of his approach is demonstrated by the fact that people are still reading and quoting his book 25+ years after it was written.

One facet of this book which I found beneficial may be a drawback for some readers. Weinberg wrote from the viewpoint of a computer programmer and a scientist. A person not versed in either field might have difficulty understanding his examples.

I have re-read this book at least five times over the past 15 years. At each reading, it stimulates new thoughts and insights on diverse topics. It is a shame this book is out of print. It should be part of the general education curriculum for any college degree.

Gerald Weinberg book "An Introduction to General Systems Thinking" is one of the best books I ever read. When I started to think about system theory in the early 70s when my English was too weak to read English books I had only access to several translated books including of course authors like John von Neumann and Ross Ashby and alike. Now I'm doing research on service systems and discovered Weinberg's wonderful book. It's not only a book for experts in the field it is also a book for people who are interested in thinking. It offers a lot of great insights which are easy to understand but also challenge classical ontological thinking. For example it makes clear that a system is a set of entities which "we sat down". It's not pregiven. It is the way off looking at the world. It also makes clear that if science reduces the observable reality there always is another perspective to reduce it which is condensed in the generalized law of complimentary. The content of the book is too rich to be summarized in this short review each chapter is a gold mine but you have to dig.

In addition the book is not only something to read but it is something to work with. After each chapter it contains wonderful exercises and challenging questions. Everybody can train his thinking abilities which I think is very important for learning society. I definitely recommend this book to everybody who wants to improve her or his thinking. Who ever goes to university should, from my perspective, read this book. This book is also an entertaining one as it offers nice surprises in the way we usually think. I am very thankful to Gerald Weinberg that I had the opportunity to read his wonderful book.

This book is excellent. I first read this book in graduate school in 1976, and I continue to find Weinberg's ideas useful. It was outstanding then, and it has held up with time.

"Systems thinking" is a straight forward concept that concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entirety of the system. The reader looking to this book for an exposition of this concept and perhaps examples of its application will be very disappointed.
The operative word in the title of this book is "Introduction." What Weinberg provides is not a discussion of systems thinking as such, but an elegant and well thought out set of proofs that demonstrate why systems thinking actually works and provide the foundation of an underlying theory of systems thinking. This is quite different from most of the literature on systems analysis and systems research, but this book provides a foundation for both of these disciplines. As such it has a unique place in the literature of this subject.

I was searching for an alternative to the out-of-print book 'Quality Software Management, vol.1: Systems Thinking', written by the same Author.
Having read few Sofware Management series books from the same Author, which I rate at the very top of my list, I was biased on very high expectations. Surprisingly, I have found it being quite verbose and in the end, I couldn't get too much inspiration out of it.