Systems theory

Systems theory or systemics is an interdisciplinary field which studies relationships of systems as a whole. Modern systems theory was founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, William Ross Ashby and others between the 1940s and the 1970s on principles from philosophy, physics, biology and engineering and later grew into numerous fields including philosophy, sociology, organizational theory, management, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Cybernetics is a closely related field. In recent times complex systems has increasingly been used as a synonym.

References

• Daniel Durand (1979) La systémique, Presses Universitaires de France
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968). General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications New York: George Braziller
• Gerald M. Weinberg (1975) An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (1975 ed., Wiley-Interscience) (2001 ed. Dorset House).
• Niklas Luhmann Soziale Systeme. Grundriss einer allgemeinen Theorie, Frankfurt, Suhrkamp, 1994
• Herman Kahn, Techniques of System Analysis