Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd (Strategy and History) (Paperback)

~ Frans P. Osinga (Author)
Key Phrases: joint vision, enmesh adversary, conceptual spiral, Sun Tzu, Patterns of Conflict, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you have any interest in war, this is a book your library cannot do without. Just as America cannot do without John Boyds ideas, although our military has not yet figured that out.
William Lind, Military.com

Osinga provides lucid expositions of the various elements that Boyd synthesized into some truly original formulations and ways of thinking about strategy.

Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs

Osinga’s book should be read by military professionals and academics alike, but also by anyone interested in the social and cultural impacts of science in general, and chaos and complexity theories in particular. Science, Strategy and War will and should remain required reading for years to come.

Sean Lawson, Emergence

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

John Boyd is often known exclusively for the so-called ‘OODA’ loop model he developed. This model refers to a decision-making process and to the idea that military victory goes to the side that can complete the cycle from observation to action the fastest.

This book aims to redress this state of affairs and re-examines John Boyd’s original contribution to strategic theory. By highlighting diverse sources that shaped Boyd’s thinking, and by offering a comprehensive overview of Boyd’s work, this volume demonstrates that the common interpretation of the meaning of Boyd’s OODA loop concept is incomplete. It also shows that Boyd’s work is much more comprehensive, richer and deeper than is generally thought. With his ideas featuring in the literature on Network Centric Warfare, a key element of the US and NATO’s so-called ‘military transformation’ programmes, as well as in the debate on Fourth Generation Warfare, Boyd continues to exert a strong influence on Western military thinking. Dr Osinga demonstrates how Boyd’s work can helps us to understand the new strategic threats in the post- 9/11 world, and establishes why John Boyd should be regarded as one of the most important (post)modern strategic theorists.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (September 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415459524
• ISBN-13: 978-0415459525
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,306 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Insights into a Modern Classic, January 19, 2007

By	C. W. Richards (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd (Strategy and History Series) (Hardcover)

John Boyd's answer to the problem of winning in any form of conflict, the "Discourse on Winning and Losing," is a set of roughly 300 charts, and Dutch AF Col Frans Osinga has set himself the task of guiding his readers through them. It is a formidable assignment. Boyd, you see, did not intend the briefings of the Discourse to be read on their own. For years, he would not give out copies until after the presentation, and it had to be the "whole brief or no brief." It may seem obvious, but it was in briefing format not so much in tribute to Sun Tzu - although The Art of War is, like the Discourse, a set of bullet points - but simply because he didn't feel that there were enough readers inside the Beltway to make it worthwhile.

Osinga accomplishes his mission magnificently. If you are interested in Boyd's problem of how to win regardless, stop right now and order the book. If you have not heard the briefings, my recommendation is to begin with chapter one, then skip back to chapter seven for a summary of Boyd's influence on strategy. Then, download the charts, go back to chapter two, and work your way through the rest of the book. [The briefings are all available on Defense and the National Interest.]

Is it a tough read? Do you know of anything really worthwhile that is easy? Just as there is no royal road to mathematics, there is no royal road to Boyd. I was present at the creation of many of these charts, and I found a lot in this book that was new and helpful in broadening my understanding (for one thing, I have not, as Osinga did, read Boyd's original notes in the source books).

This book is a distilled version of Col Osinga's Ph.D. dissertation, which he completed while serving as a research fellow at the Clingendael Institute of International Relations in The Hague. He has done an excellent job of making academic rigor accessible to the general reader - the only equations, for example, are the ones Boyd used in "Destruction and Creation" - while exploiting the depth of research that a dissertation requires. There are 32 pages of single-spaced notes and 12 of bibliography.

I enthusiastically recommend Science, Strategy and War to all students of strategy, particularly those more concerned with where strategy is going than where it has been.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ!, October 30, 2007

By	J. Scott Shipman (Annandale, VA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd (Strategy and History Series) (Hardcover)

Colonel Osinga has written an important book distilling the strategic thinking of one of the 20th century's most important contributors, Colonel John R. Boyd. I began my "Boyd odyssey" a couple of years ago when I read Robert Coram's excellent biography, BOYD, The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (would recommend this title first to those unfamiliar with Col Boyd). Since reading Coram's book, I've read everything I could find on Boyd and his ideas. Col Osinga's book places Boyd's ideas in an accessible (albeit sometimes dense) format (agree with Col Richards (author of Certain to Win!---a translation of Boyd's strategy into business---and a very good read, as well) that sometimes the best things don't come easy). Col Osinga's book provides Boyd's ground-breaking methods of "how to win" and problem solving---a literal "out-of-the-box thinker"---with emphasis on THINKING.
Personally, after becoming acquainted with Boyd's work (I carry printed copies of his only published work, an essay called Destruction and Creation, in my computer bag read while traveling---giving copies to clients and friends) my business has changed and to a great extent, my life has changed. Boyd's method of synthesizing data from disparate sources has helped me to help clients solve problems and exposed me to areas I would have never investigated otherwise.
This book is important and highly recommended.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to rate this too highly, November 13, 2007

By	D. W. Griffiths - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd (Strategy and History Series) (Hardcover)

The benefits of a book like this (the hardcover edition) lies not only in its scope and intelligence, but also in its physical weight. Where the words themselves fail to penetrate the skulls of second-generation military minds, a sharp blow from above with this book will work wonders in a language they understand. It is only on rare occasions in life that any of us are privileged to be even dimly aware of being in the presence of true greatness. This magnificent work will confirm John Boyd's reputation and enhance - deservedly - that of its highly respected author. It is a book I shall have to read and re-read for some time to get the full benefit, and what a pleasure that is. It is impossible for me to rate this work too highly.