This book explores the development of general systems theory and the individuals who gathered together around that idea to form the Society for General Systems Research. In examining the life and work of the SGSR's five founding members -- Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, James Grier Miller, and Anatol Rapoport -- Hammond traces the emergence of systems ideas across a broad range of disciplines in the mid-twentieth century. A metaphor and a framework, the systems concept as articulated by its earliest proponents highlights relationship and interconnectedness among the biological, ecological, social, psychological, and technological dimensions of our increasingly complex lives. Seeking to transcend the reductionism and mechanism of classical science -- which they saw as limited by its focus on the discrete, component parts of reality -- the general systems community hoped to complement this analytic approach with a more holistic approach. As one of many systems traditions, the general systems group was specifically interested in fostering collaboration and integration between different disciplinary perspectives. The book documents a unique episode in the history of modern thought, one that remains relevant today. This book will be of interest to historians of science, system theorists, and scholars in such fields as cybernetics and system dynamics.
The Science of Synthesis
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"An important book filling a gap in intellectual history."
About the Author
Debora Hammond is provost and professor of interdisciplinary studies at the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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This review is from: The Science of Synthesis (Hardcover)
Deborah Hammond has done a masterful job with this book. If you are a practicing systems engineer or academic that believes in "holistic" systems engineering then this is a book to read.
She handles a complicated topic extremely well. Understanding the history of the underlying foundations for work in systems is a must. If you are working in Systems of Systems this book is even more powerful and may provide important insights. Kevin MacG. Adams, Ph.D.
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A rich review of an important and largely unknown field,
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This review is from: The Science of Synthesis (Hardcover)
General systems theory with its implications for virtually every aspect of human society represents one of the most important and least understood disciplines of our time. Its history in humanistic psychology and the mathematics of complexity is practically unknown, while the people who created this history are among the great minds of the 20th century. Here Professor Hammond, past president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, illuminates this fascinating history as well as general systems theory itself.
Allan Combs, Ph.D. Professor of Transformative Studies California Institute of Integral Studies
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