Systems Science: Theory, Analysis, Modeling, and Design - Mobus, George E.

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Résumé :
This book describes a comprehensive approach to applying systems science formally to the deep analysis of a wide variety of complex systems. Detailed 'how-to' examples of the three phases (analysis-modeling-design) of systems science are applied to systems of various types (machines, organic (e.g. ecosystem), and supra-organic (e.g. business organizations and government). The complexity of the global system has reached proportions that seriously challenge our abilities to understand the consequences of our use of technology, modification of natural ecosystems, or even how to govern ourselves. For this reason, complex mathematics is eschewed when simpler structures will suffice, allowing the widest possible audience to apply and benefit from the available tools and concepts of systems science in their own work. The book shows, in detail, how to functionally and structurally deconstruct complex systems using a fundamental language of systems. It shows how to capture the discovered details in a structured knowledge base from which abstract models can be derived for simulation. The knowledge base is also shown to be a basis for generating system design specifications for human-built artifacts, or policy recommendations/policy mechanisms for socio-economic-ecological systems management. The book builds on principles and methods found in the authors' textbook Principles of Systems Science (co-authored with Michael Kalton), but without prerequisites. It will appeal to a broad audience that deals with complex systems every day, from design engineers to economic and ecological systems managers and policymakers....

Biographie:
George E. Mobus is an Associate Professor of Computer Science & Systems and Computer Engineering & Systems in the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma. In addition to teaching computer science and engineering courses, he teaches courses in systems science to a broad array of students from across the campus. He received his PhD in computer science from the University of North Texas in 1994. His dissertation, and subsequent research program at Western Washington University, involved developing autonomous robot agents by emulating natural intelligence as opposed to using some form of artificial intelligence. He is reviving this research agenda now that hardware elements have caught up with the processing requirements for simulating real biological neurons. He also received an MBA from San Diego State University in 1983, doing a thesis on the modeling of decision support systems based on the hierarchical cybernetic principles presented in this volume. Hedid this while actually managing an embedded systems manufacturing and engineering company in Southern California. His baccalaureate degree was earned at the University of Washington (Seattle) in 1973, in zoology. He studied the energetics of living systems and the interplay between information, evolution, and complexity. By using some control algorithms that he had developed in both his undergraduate and MBA degrees in programming embedded control systems he solved some interesting problems that led to promotion from a software engineer (without a degree) to the top spot in the company. Michael C. Kalton is Professor Emeritus of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma. He came to systems science through the study of how cultures arise from and reinforce different ways of thinking about and interacting with the world. After receiving a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Letters, a Master's degree in Greek, and a Licentiate in Philosophy from St. Louis University, he went to Harvard University where in 1977 he received a joint Ph.D. degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Comparative Religion.? He has done extensive research and publication on the Neo-Confucian tradition, the dominant intellectual and spiritual tradition throughout East Asia prior to the 20th century. Environmental themes of self-organizing relational interdependence and the need to fit in the patterned systemic flow of life drew his attention due to their resonance with East Asian assumptions about the world.? ?Ecosystems joined social systems in his research and teaching, sharing a common matrix in the study of complex systems, emergence and evolution. ?The interdisciplinary character of his program allowed this integral expansion of his work...

Sommaire:
George E. Mobus is Associate Professor Emeritus of Computer Science & Systems and Computer Engineering & Systems in the School of Engineering and Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma. He received his PhD in computer science from the University of North Texas in 1994. His dissertation, and subsequent research program at Western Washington University (under National Science Foundation Grant No. IIS-9907102), involved developing autonomous robot agents by emulating natural intelligence as opposed to using some form of artificial intelligence. Mobus was awarded US Patent: #5,504,839, Processor and Processing Element for Use in a Neural Network. He also received an MBA from San Diego State University in 1983, doing a thesis on the modeling of decision support systems based on the hierarchical cybernetic principles presented in this volume and in numerous papers. His baccalaureate degree was earned at the University of Washington (Seattle) in 1973, in zoology. He studied the energetics of living systems and the interplay between information, evolution, and complexity. Before completing his academic pursuits of a Ph.D., he had risen through the ranks of a small controls engineering company in Southern California, from software engineer to the top spot. The credit for success goes to the education he got in systems sciences during his MBA program and helping reshape many of the internals of the company that improved profitability and work conditions....